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Last Sunday, an unresolved two-year labor dispute, seven months of mediation
and two weeks of sanctions against Israel's foreign service union culminated in
a full-blown "indefinite" strike by the 1,200 members of that
nation's diplomatic corps. As a result, all 102 Israeli embassies, consulates
and diplomatic missions around the world have been shuttered.The workers committee of the Foreign Ministry called the strike, the first of its kind since Israel was founded in 1948, to protest inadequate wages (which range from $1,700-$2,600 per month), low pensions and insufficient compensation for spouses of employees who relocate to foreign posts. The union claims that fully a third of the diplomatic corps quit the service in the last 15 years due to poor working conditions.
The shutdown negatively affects those seeking to obtain visas to immigrate or travel as tourists to Israel and employers hoping to hire foreign workers. Israel will not be represented at the United Nations or in any other international gathering or forum, nor will its ambassadors offer any consular services.
At least 25 visits to Israel by foreign officials, including a planned trip by Pope Francis in May, have been postponed or canceled as a result of the work slowdown that began March 5, when wage talks broke down. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned trip to Latin America in April has also been scratched.
Workers committee chair Yair Frommer accused the Treasury of declaring war on the foreign service and its "dedicated employees who struggle daily for Israel."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman deplored what he called the "irresponsible" decision of the workers committee, which he said "has no benefit, and will only cause more damage to the ministry's workers [and] ... will come at the expense of the country's citizens."
The Finance Ministry, which says the diplomatic corps received a 20 percent wage hike two years ago, claims that the union now wants another raise for their highest-level members, and is "holding the citizens of Israel hostage and harming the vital interests of the state." In addition to endangering the security of the nation, the work dispute is blamed for costing the Israeli economy millions of dollars.
The Treasury advised the union to end the strike and return to labor negotiations.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Israel Closes Embassies Around the World as Diplomats Strike. Reuters
Israel Closes Embassies All Over the World as Diplomats Go on Indefinite Strike. RT News
Foreign Ministry Goes on Strike, All Israel's Embassies and Consulates Abroad to Close. Jerusalem Post
Israel's Foreign Ministry Employees Strike, Closing Embassies. Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Big Questions
1. What do you consider to be fair compensation for your service to God?
2. Have you ever felt like "going on strike" against God because you didn't think you were getting adequate compensation for your faithful service? What did you do about it?
3. Which is a greater challenge: for you to make personal sacrifices for your faith, or to watch those you love make sacrifices because you have chosen to follow Christ?
4. If those tasked with carrying God's message of salvation were to go on strike, what would be the consequences?
5. What is your relationship to the "diplomatic corps" of the kingdom of God? Are you waiting to be called to serve, in active service, disgruntled and grumbling, on full-blown strike against the working conditions, a resident of a nation without an active embassy or something else?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Proverbs 25:19
Like a bad tooth or a lame foot is trust in a faithless person in time of trouble. (No context needed.)
Proverbs 13:17
A bad messenger brings trouble, but a faithful envoy, healing. (No context needed.)
Proverbs 25:13
Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest are faithful messengers to those who send them; they refresh the spirit of their masters. (No context needed.)
These verses demonstrate the importance of faithfulness in the execution of the messenger's job. In the 1945 movie The Valley of Decision, starring Gregory Peck and Greer Garson, a Pennsylvania steel mill owner's attempt to end a strike ends in bloodshed when his son fails to deliver his message to his foreman to pay off strikebreakers and send them home.
Questions: Explain the metaphor comparing a faithless person in time of trouble to a bad tooth or a lame foot. Why is a bad messenger as bad as having no messenger at all? What could make a Christian a bad messenger for God? How could a Christian carrying God's message "refresh" God's Spirit?
Matthew 19:27-29
Then Peter said in reply, "Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life." (For context, read 19:16-30.)
After a rich young man chose his possessions over following Jesus, Peter wondered what they would have because of the sacrifices they had made to follow the Lord. Jesus assures his disciples that they will receive a great reward, including eternal life.
Questions: Is it important to you that you have a reward waiting for you at the end of this life? Why or why not? What is the nature of the reward you hope to receive for your service to Christ?
Matthew 20:13-15
But [the landowner] replied to one of [his employees who had worked all day], "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" (For context, read 20:1-16.)
The metaphor of a labor dispute in this parable serves to illustrate the human tendency to pursue what we imagine to be our "rights" out of greedy, selfish motives, all the while begrudging others any blessings God may choose to grant them that we feel they don't "deserve." The employer hired people who worked different numbers of hours, and then paid them all the same wage. Those who worked longer hours felt they were entitled to greater benefits than those who had not worked as long. Though the employer paid them the wage he had promised to pay, they were dissatisfied and grumbled that he had made those with less seniority on the job "equal" to those who had "borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat."
Questions: Instead of seeking happiness in a certain wage or benefit package, in what could the workers in this parable have chosen to take delight? How would that have changed the ending of the story? What happens to our motivation to turn in a good day's work in God's kingdom when we begin to worry about whether we will get "our just deserts" (or desserts!) compared to what other workers in God's kingdom may get? Compare the laborers who began the day on the job with the elder son in Luke 15:25-30. What real-life people do these characters from Jesus' parables represent?
2 Corinthians 5:19-20
... in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (For context, read 5:14-20.)
In Ephesians 6:20 Paul calls himself "an ambassador in chains" for the sake of the gospel. The word "ambassador" comes from the Greek word meaning presbyter or elder and refers to a senior representative of government, a sort of "Secretary of State," an emissary, envoy or messenger with authority to speak for and negotiate terms of peace for his or her government. Here Paul illustrates by his own faithfulness -- spreading the gospel even while in prison -- that those sent by God with the message of reconciliation must be willing to suffer as Christ suffered out of love for those to whom they are sent.
Questions: To whom has God sent you with his message of reconciliation? Have you delivered his message? How was it received?
Acts 20:20-21, 24
I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house, as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. ... But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace. (For context, read 20:20-24.)
Paul tells the elders of the church at Ephesus that no matter what imprisonment or persecutions he might face, his priority would always be to proclaim, teach and "testify to the good news of God's grace."
Questions: What gives your life value? What gave Paul the power to keep declaring the message of Christ in the face of opposition? How can you tap into that same power?
For Further Discussion
1. Discuss the irony that a union representing diplomats cannot reach an agreement with their government.
2. Examine 1 Thessalonians 2:1-9 to identify what Paul says did and did not motivate him and his coworkers to declare the gospel in spite of great opposition, mistreatment and suffering. How do their motives compare with your own?
3. "The scripture says, 'Don't put a muzzle on an ox while it treads grain,' and 'Workers deserve their pay'" (1 Timothy 5:18 CEB). Here Paul discusses compensation for women and elders involved in various ministries, quoting Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7. The former quotation suggests that everyone, including the animals who are part of our communion and essential to our shalom, both our economic and spiritual well-being, deserve the rewards of our shared labor. The second quote is of Jesus addressing his disciples, reminding them that their work has worth and that there is nothing shameful about compensation.
Do you value your work at home, in church or in the workplace more when you are compensated? What form, including but not exclusively economic, does compensation take in your life? Have you ever heard people make derisive comments about what a pastor is paid? What an artist is paid for his/her work? What housework is worth? Where do you see individuals undervalued and undercompensated? Who do you think is overcompensated in our society?
4. Leviticus 19:13 says, "Do not withhold a hired laborer's pay overnight" (CEB). The context (19:9-14) is concerned with justice for resident aliens, neighbors and disabled individuals. The warning at the heart of this passage speaks against swearing and desecrating God's name, suggesting that mistreatment of those on the margins of society is on a par (and shares the same gravity) with the misuse of God's name. Jesus addressed the plight of hired or day laborers in parables. Such individuals, who often lack appropriate documentation and who fear reprisals so they do not report mistreatment, are especially vulnerable.
When have your wages, whether economic, spiritual or emotional, been withheld? Did you continue to work regardless of the situation? Have you ever felt that others considered your work less worthy, and therefore less worthy of compensation?
Are you aware of the presence of day laborers in your community? Who advocates for them? How do their rights compare with those in more established professions, like those who work for the Israeli diplomatic agencies?
Responding to the News
Consider who among your acquaintances needs the message of peace, the good news that God sent his Son to save us, that God reigns (Isaiah 52:7), and pray for an opening to share that good news this week.
Closing Prayer (based on Luke 16:13; 12:43)
O God, make us more concerned with fulfilling the mission and carrying the message of reconciliation you have given us than with the rewards we may receive when our work is done. May you find us at our posts, delivering your message of reconciliation, when you return again to receive us unto yourself. Amen.
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