Sermons on Unfair Labor:

Why Do The Wicked Prosper?

Contributed by John Nichols on Mar 5, 2007

Many people ask the question, "Why is life unfair?" The Psalmist in the 73 Psalm, feels the same way. How do we answer this question?

Why Do The Wicked Prosper? Life is unfair. There are so many things about life that don’t make sense. I had a great childhood. My father was a police officer here in Nashville. My mother was a CPA in Green Hills. We lived in what the time seemed like a mansion. Now looking back I realize it ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 73:1-28

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Thy Kingdom Come

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 11, 2011

Responding to unfairness and disrespect with grace and generosity imitates God’s own treatment of us, and requires three preconditions: realism, humility, and trust.

I had a difficult decision to make this week. I had to choose between continuing my series on the Sermon on the Mount, or take a break to preach on Palm Sunday. But the more I looked at the passage for this week, and meditated on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem that long-ago Sunday afternoon, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Attitude Adjustment

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 18, 2023

How do you react when God seems to be unfair? Do you react with anger and impatience? Or do you persevere, with humility and trust?

“Master, help me!” she cried, bursting past the astonished householder and throwing herself before the weary traveler. “I couldn’t stop her, Rabbi,” said his host, “shall I throw her out?” Jesus motioned him to be silent. The woman knelt before him in an attitude of utter desperation. “What do you ...read more

Scripture: Mark 7:24-37

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Sovereignty And Sweat: How God Blesses Our Faithful Labor - 1 Samuel 10-11 Series

Contributed by Darrell Ferguson on Aug 7, 2025

Success is supplied by God, not our effort, but it comes only through our effort. The right understanding of sovereignty and free will will increase effort and decrease worry and pride.

1 Samuel 10:1-8 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to ...read more

Put Your Pencils Down

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 1, 2001

A Labor Day and Communion message, dealing with the sources of satisfaction in work. Designed for audience participation.

Labor Day, and school is starting again. I wonder, do they still do the same things as when I was in school? Do they still have the same rituals? Maybe not. Things do change. Dodgeball, for example. Now that was THE game in my day. You had the right to throw the ball as hard as you could and ...read more

Scripture: John 17:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Caring With A Difference

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 30, 2007

A Labor Day message on providing caring services, but not simply as self-fulfillment, but as a means to witness.

The true test of whether what you are doing is real is not how you feel about it when you start. The true test is whether you can keep going and complete your task. Anybody can get excited about a new job. But not everybody can stay by the stuff and finish. Some people get bored, or ...read more

Scripture: John 4:31-38

Denomination: Baptist

Guilt Free Living

Contributed by Steve Greene on May 11, 2007

This message distinguishes between the false guilt that many labor under, and genuine conviction of sin.

Guilt Free Living When I was a kid, there was a dairy stand called Cluxton’s not far from where we lived. I couldn’t number the times that we would be driving by and my dad would say we needed to stop and get a LARGE milkshake or banana split. He used to tell my brother and me that banana ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:1-4

Denomination: Nazarene

"Is Work Good Or Bad?"

Contributed by Fred Mueller on Sep 7, 2005

A Labor Day expository sermon on the theme of work in the Bible, incorporating the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

Sermon942005 Hillsborough Reformed Church Ex. 20, Eph. 4 Labor Day Theme Is work good or bad? It depends on whom you ask and when! Ask the teen aged boy who has to mow the lawn and has put it off until now – and dad is ready to hit the roof while at the same time his friends want to play a ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:9

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Power Of Prayer Series

Contributed by Pat Damiani on Sep 20, 2010

We co-labor and co-reign with God in the coming of His kingdom through prayer.

[Read this first verse and then just sit down and have 1 minute of silence]. 1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. SILENCE IN HEAVEN Right now, all of us just experienced one minute of silence. And my guess is that we were all at least a ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 8:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

'tossin - N - Turnin'

Contributed by Bishop William Bryant Wilmore, Jr. on Jul 29, 2003

There are times in every Christian life when trials and tribulations seem so unfair. Often, they cause us (as they did Job) to lose sleep at nights.

(King James Verssion) “When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.” (New King James Version) “When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be ended?’ For I have had my fill of tossing till ...read more

Scripture: Job 7:4, Job 7:9

Denomination: Baptist

A World Gone Wrong Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Apr 20, 2023

In a world gone wrong, fear God and Praise Him even in the fire, and so find joy in life even when life is unpredictable, unfair, and unjust.

Upon accepting an award, the late Jack Benny once remarked, “I really don't deserve this. But I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either” (Haddon Robinson, www.PreachingToday.com). People often don’t get what they deserve. So how do you live in such a world? How do you live in a ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 8:1-15, Romans 13:1-2, James 1:2-4, Exodus 33:18-23

Denomination: Evangelical Free

The Right To Remain Silent Series

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Mar 9, 2024

Jesus was faced with numerous unfair and unjust accusations and trials... and yet He never responded to those. Why was He silent, and what can that mean to us?

OPEN: One day my dad was driving down the road a little over the speed limit. He was going about 65 in a 55 mph zone… and then he saw some lights flashing in his rearview mirror. Dad was resigned to the fact he’d have to pay a speeding ticket (after all, he was going 65) and when the policeman ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:7

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Work And Wages Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 29, 2021

Jesus not only dignified labor by His life but by His choice of disciples, for He picked them, not from idleness, but from the labor force. He called them from their jobs. He wanted men who were prepared to work.

It is probably a fictitious story, but a wife who had her husband cremated was asked if she wanted his ashes in an urn. She said, “No. I want them put in an hour glass to set on the mantel. That lazy rascal never did a day’s work in his life, but I’m going to keep him busy from now on.” George ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58

Time Out Series

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Dec 2, 2000

On keeping the Sabbath, recognizing it as a gift from God, a temporary lifting of the curse of labor and economic utilitarianism.

Before I became a Christian I got into a lot of New Age stuff, from Tarot to numerology. I didn’t spend a lot of time on numerology, I didn’t really start enjoying numbers until I got my computer, but I did find out that my personal number was seven. I don’t remember exactly how the formula goes ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:8-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

God's Hammers

Contributed by Ronald Fair on Apr 20, 2002

"We are laborers together with God. We are God’s husbandry, we are God’s building.”

God’s Hammers Text: Ecc 9:10 “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” 1st Cor 3:9, For we are laborers together, with God. Introduction: The prophet Jeremiah speaks of cutting trees in the forest, using them to make a house and fastening them together with nails and a hammer. ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:10, 1 Corinthians 3:9

Denomination: Methodist