Eastertide

May 26, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. –Revelation 22:12-14

I just finished writing a report on the minimum wage including how out of date it is to the cost of living. Thus, reading the first verse above about paying people according to their work struck a chord with me and it was not harmonious. In the USA women still make 20% less than men doing the same work. Work generally identified as women’s work is routinely cast with lower wages than men are paid for like work. And what does the color of one’s skin have to do with anything related to the work one does?

What that scripture says to me is that God is a God of justice and God expects us to be people of justice. The work of the person who cleans the surgical theater is as important in keeping the patient alive as the surgeon’s skill. My paternal grandfather died from what was called blood poisoning at the time, we now call it sepsis. He developed it because the scalpel used by the doctor to lance a boil had not been properly sterilized. What determines the worth of each person’s work? How do we measure economic justice? When Jesus said the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11), I think he just recognized the reality that incomes always have varied, which continued to his time on earth. I somehow do not think, Jesus had in mind the current state of the USA economy where CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978. Typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time (2018). (https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-compensation-2018/)

Prayer: Lord, show us how we can do justice in a world that values wealth more than people. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.