I grew up around people who weren’t afraid to work. I remember admiring my grandfather, who had a service station. He kept the books and ran the business, estimated how much fuel he would need and ordered it so that it would arrive before he ran out, but late enough that he would have room in his tanks for the truckload. He pumped gas, washed windshields, checked oil, replaced belts and wiper blades and bulbs and chatted with customers. He was competent in the shop, knowing how to diagnose problems, tear down an engine or transmission and get it back together properly. He was an acceptable welder and knew how to make field repairs. But he also was a decent cabinet maker and carpenter. He built his own shop and could tell you how the roof of any building was trussed just by looking at the outside. He did all of the repairs around their home and took care of the yard and garden. After he retired he made rag rugs and did his own car repair.

My dad was like him. He was a pilot and the owner of his own business, but he also was a certified engine and airframe mechanic and did all of the mechanical inspections for the planes in the area. He knew how to fix roofs and design a good building. He designed the trusses for a feed warehouse that spanned the entire building. Those trusses were built out of 2x2’s instead of larger lumber because a truckload of 2x2’s was blown off the road and he bid and won the salvage. That roof is still there today, having withstood 100 mile winds and heavy snow loads. When he went into the farm machinery business, there wasn’t a job in the shop that he couldn’t do. He ran the business. He was its best salesman. He could find parts for a customer and make up a new hydraulic hose if needed. He diagnosed mechanical problems in the shop and directed his diesel mechanics. He would go to work and do repairs for a customer when there was no one else to put on the job. He could drive the truck and run the winch.

When I became a minister, I was careful to avoid the label of the incompetent academic. I know that there are plenty of ministers who know nothing about cars and car repair. We sort of have a reputation about not knowing much about mechanical things and not paying enough attention to building repairs. Ministers sometimes come off as those who are afraid of physical labor and I didn’t want to be that way. In my first parish I got right in there with all of the projects. When we shingled roofs, I was up there with the workers driving nails. When we put new siding on a building, I was there with hammer in my hand. I also helped on area ranches when we visited, showed up for branding and vaccinations, drove a school bus, got involved and got greasy in shops, changed my own oil in my car, mowed the church lawn and shoveled the snow for the church, the parsonage and the neighbors.

I’m older now and am not as capable of physical labor as I once was. I still enjoy hard work, but I get tired a bit more quickly and I don’t change the oil in my vehicles any more. I do a lot of minor home repairs and can paint, but I’m quick to call a plumber or electrician when I need professional skills.

I have learned that there is a relationship between intellectual work and physical work. We humans are body infused with mind infused with spirit and we are at our best when we are attend to our whole beings. We were made to walk and to work. We have great capacities for lifting heavy objects and working the large muscles of our bodies. Physical work stimulates our minds as well. We think better when we are physically active. I have a very comfortable chair at my desk in the church office, but I can tell when I’ve been spending too much time in that chair. Muscles are meant to be stretched and used and exercised.

I think we’ve got it wrong when we afford status to different jobs. Some of the finest people I know do work that others shy away from. There’s no shame in hard work, but there are jobs that don’t give much social status. A few years ago, I dug up the cover of our septic tank and had an extension put on the cover so that it could be more easily serviced. There are lots of rocks in my yard and after a couple of days of digging, I had the septic company bring out their mini excavator to help move some rocks and finish the job. After the placed the heavy concrete extension and new cover on the tank, I took some ice tea out to the workers and we sat in the yard and visited as they drank their beverage and put away their tools. One of the workers was impressed with the amount of hand shoveling I had done and commented on it. Later in the conversation he said, “I don’t mind working for rich people. Sometimes they’re really snooty and rude to us, but I don’t mind. After all, I know that when I drive away I can live without them, but they can’t live without me.”

He’s right. We all need septic workers and garbage truck drivers and the people who fix the potholes in the road and run the street sweepers. We all need laborers and janitors and waitresses.

Vocation - the calling of God - doesn’t distinguish between classes of people. When people are doing God’s work, there is no one job that is better than another, there is no job that is less honorable. Jesus’ disciples argued about status and class and he always dismissed their arguments.

I have deep respect for people who are willing to work and I pray that I will continue to be counted among their number.

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