Working Class

Pitiful the human being who does not know the honor of work. Our ancestor, the first man, Adam ruined it for everyone when, breaking God's law (he had an entire garden only one tree was forbidden) he ate the forbidden fruit, offered to him by his wife. God told him then that he must work, and man has been working ever since. There is honor in honest labor, and God, plus your fellow man, expects you to work if you are able to work.

We have always had the working class and the leisure class, there are those who feel they are too good to work, some who even feel that they should live off the work of others. The Apostle Paul tells us that if a man does not work, he should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The great Egyptian actor Omar Sheriff (Dr. Zhivago) said he loved acting, but his first love was horse racing. He said, “I love to own race horses, but the losers eat as much as the winners.”

My parents were the hardest working people anyone can imagine, both worked all the time, both came from very prominent, responsible families. My father's family, on both sides, were colonial settlers (Lucas and Morris). They knew the honor of work, responsibility, opportunity.

I walked into an art gallery in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Back then, I had a small amount of vision in the left eye. This was at least 50 years ago, but I still remember it as if yesterday, I would have purchased the painting ($5,000), if the Jewish art dealer had not been so rude. In hues of brown, it showed women winding grain (the act of throwing grain in the air, wind separating the husk from the grain). I had seen this work in many countries all over the world, and I well remembered my father, situated just right for the wind, winding grain on the farm. Today's spoiled, lazy young people have no idea about hard work and what hard work is all about. Most confuse celebrity with accomplishment, they want celebrity but do not want the hard work involved. They have an inordinate desire for honor, the extent of their ambition...not willing to pay the price in education, risk, training, hard-work involved.

Many think you cannot be wealthy and be a Christian (Christ-like), Joesph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, even Lazarus (brother of Mary and Martha, who Christ raised from the dead) were not poor men in their day (Abraham was one of the richest men in the world, think of the riches of Job, Solomon, King David). Some of the finest Christians I have ever known were quite wealthy, knew the joy of giving to God's work. If a man is right with his pocketbook, he is usually right. Some of the weakest sinners I have ever known were poor, and vice versa. Many marvelous Christians are poor, many wealthy people are evil.

There is no such thing as a cheap politician. Even a member of Congress who may serve only one term is due a lifetime's retirement. I have never known a politician, of either party, anywhere, to leave office poorer than when elected. It is easy to diagnose pride in other people, you must fight pride, achieve humility. We know who we are, we know if we are pretending, and we do not usually fool others: the bed is too short and the blanket is too narrow, something always sticks out. Presumption is a part of pride, often we want others to know who we are...roman collars, large crosses hanging around the neck. Many wives use husband's accomplishments, education, financial, as a badge. One lady introduced herself to me as “Mrs. Dr. Mitchell, my husband is a doctor.” These days, in a city like the one in which I live, almost anyone can place in their resume a doctorate. Pastors and preachers work hard to put the handle “Dr.” in front of their name, since “Rev.” has been so besmirched (Rev. Jackson, Rev. Sharpton, Rev. Farrakhan, Rev. Wright).

Think of what hard work has meant to this nation. A German-American mathematician, Charles Steinmetz, disabled by dwarfism and hunchback, came to America as a mathematician/engineer and fostered the development of alternating current, made the possible the advancement of the electric power industry mainly through the Otis Elevator Company. His motors allowed elevators to go to great heights, the sky-scrapers of the world, the great hotels of the world, places where thousands work, made possible by this one man and his remarkable mind. Most citizens of the world have never heard his name, his physical disabilities, and there were many, did not keep him from making a tremendous contribution to the world.

Thomas Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, inventor of the lightbulb, the motion picture camera, and holder of 1,093 other patents had only three months of official schooling, and was home-schooled by his mother (“My mother was the making of me”). Though hearing impaired, he founded 14 companies, including General Electric. The disabled always do the best they can with what they have...this the only work expected of us...but he does expect that. Don't tell me you are a Christian if you are lazy. Don't tell me you are saved if you are not conservative, if you pamper sorriness.

The Requiem played at Mozart's Funeral was written by Mozart, but was stolen by several in an effort to get the unfinished work completed. History is filled with those who have stolen the hard work of others. Our blessed Lord knew what it was all about. Judas, one of his disciples, stealing from the purse, but, as with the other eleven, Christ washed Judas' feet at the last supper. He truly showed workers how to forgive the imposters and the impotent.