Blessing of Backpacks and Briefcases

This past weekend, we tried our first-ever 'Blessing of the Backpacks and Briefcases' to celebrate Labor Day and Back-to-School. We invited everyone, even retirees, to bring a symbol of their vocation, work, or study, to help celebrate and prepare for the year ahead. And after the worship, we had an ice cream social, because that's how we roll around here.

The introduction and prayer we used is as follows:

Introduction

Friends, God has called all of us as God's own children, and each of us, whether child or adult, one who studies, or works, or is retired, has a purpose and place in this world to which God has called us.  God calls some of us to work in physical labor, and others of us to work in offices, and yet others of us to work in situations of danger.  God calls us to be teachers and students, paramedics and nurses, builders and landscapers, social workers and musicians, to every vocation we might possibly know, and even to ones we’ve never known before.

I invite you at this time to bring the symbols of your vocation forward if you desire, or, if you prefer, remain seated and simply place these symbols in front of you in your lap. If you didn't bring something but would still like to participate, you may wish to lift or your hands in front of you with your palms open.

Let us pray.

God, you have given us minds to think and to learn, and gifts and talents and skills to use in order to provide for ourselves a living in this world.  

God, for those of us who study, we thank you for the opportunity to go to school and for teachers and staff who care about us.  We ask for your presence with us, especially when we struggle with new lessons, or face difficult situations with our classmates.  We ask that you will give us courage to ask questions, to speak up for ourselves or others who may be faced with teasing or bullying, and that as we travel to and from school, play on the playground, or walk the hallways, that we may do so in safety.  God, help us to hear your calling in our lives, to particular fields in which we might be most useful and also find meaningful, and help us to know that you will continue to guide us as we seek to follow you.

God, for those of us who work, who are looking for work, or those of us retired from our labors, we ask that you are present with us also.  Remind us that in all places and with all people we are bearers of your love.  Help us to be patient, to be courageous, to accept new challenges, to apply new skills, to never stop learning in the vocation to which we are called.  Help us listen constantly for new directions in which we may be called, until the day you finally call us home.

Lord, lend your blessing to us, now on this Labor Day Weekend, and always.  Amen.

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I would also enjoy using the above setting while allowing a few moments for anyone who wished to speak to share a little about the symbols they have brought. This is especially meaningful to hear from retirees and those who have had to end their vocations earlier than they may have chosen due to a variety of circumstances. Another option may be to ask who might wish to share where they have heard God calling them into a vocation, either in the past, or now being called forward into the future.

What To Do….?

Psalm 81: 10-16; Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14

The scriptures tell us today what to do in any number of situations:  How to behave at a banquet or party, and how to host a banquet or party as God would have us do.  How to behave towards our spouse, or towards total strangers.  How to remember people most folks might prefer to forget.  So, on the surface, it’s a little like a shopping list of what to do.  

But, especially around Labor Day Weekend, there is a bigger question looming under the surface of the texts, and that is:   what is God calling us to do in this life?  (Sort of like, ‘why are we here?’) And that leads us to the word, Vocation.

Vocation is more than a job; it is that specific purpose in this life to which God calls us.  And we might hear that calling as a still soft voice; or an endless fascination; or discovering a new skill and finding out how much it brings us joy; or discovering a need and having an idea how to fill it.  As Frederick Buechner once said, “vocation is the place where your deep passion and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

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Do you remember that book that was making the rounds a few years back, called the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People?  Great book.  I have no real complaints about the book.  However,

I’ll be honest, the Scriptures today in Hebrews and Luke read like the “7 Habits of Highly Un-Successful People.”  After all, if you really wanted to get ahead, wouldn't you take the most advantageous spot at the table, wouldn't you follow the money, wouldn't you do whatever it takes to get to the top?  

But we know, it is so lonely at the top, and the pressure to succeed at all costs, often leads to empty homes and broken relationships.

There is a beautiful cartoon circulating this week by Bill Watterson (and how much more Presbyterian can we get that Calvin and Hobbes)?   You can see it here:  http://imgur.com/gallery/V6KoHbF but I want to read what he writes.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement.  In a culture that celebrates avarice and excess as the good life, a person who is happy doing his own work is often considered an eccentric, even a subversive.  Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success.  Someone who takes on an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake.  A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential.  As if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.  You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you are doing.  There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.  To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.

Friends, God asks us to do things that may not get us to the top, but that lead us to even better places in our lives.  Let’s review those 7 Habits that God offers instead:

Do for those who cannot pay us back.

Sit at the lowest place, not the best.

Show hospitality to strangers.

Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison;

Remember those who are tortured, as though you were being tortured;

Keep lives free from love of money and be content with what you have; and

Do not neglect to do good and share what we have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

It is not a path to success as the world might call it.  But it is a path that will be extraordinary. We might be afraid to go down that path sometimes, and wonder if we’ve really done the right things.  However, in those moments, remember that we can know, as Paul writes, that God will never leave us or forsake us.  And we can say with confidence:  The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?  God is with us, calling us, and walking beside us.

Thanks be to God!

Prayers This Week:

For those who are wrestling with chemical dependency

People who are looking for work

People who are retired, discerning new directions for their lives

People who are working in unjust, unsafe, or underpaid conditions, that they may be freed from these chains and able to work in ways that produce a sense of purpose, as well as basic standard of living.

Those who are in prison, that they may be rehabilitated and restored to our world, able to contribute in positive ways.

Those who are child laborers, or enslaved, victims of human trafficking, that they may be free.