Rest as Resistance
When you were growing up, what were some of those things you hated hearing the most?
Eat your vegetables,
brush your teeth,
don’t run in the house,
no you cannot play in the rain,
be nice to your brother,
chew with your mouth closed,
don’t talk with food in your mouth,
no you can’t have ice cream for breakfast,
tie your shoes,
go clean your room,
go make your bed,
it’s time to go to bed…
Why did we hate these so much?
Why did our parents or guardians insist on them?
Well, obviously, they were intended to create a sense of order, structure, discipline in our lives. They were boundaries we needed to keep. Maybe some were just for their convenience and not our edification — do what you’re told, go bring this plate to your mother — but most of them, if we look back, are actually pretty helpful to us today.
Eating ice cream for breakfast, while we can make that decision as adults, and some of us who shall remain nameless do make that decision more times than we’d care for anyone to know, is otherwise not a very healthy choice for us in the long run. Similarly, a diet of mostly ramen and Velveeta Mac & Cheese is devoid of the essential nutrients of vegetables even if it’s chock full o’ tastiness.
The principle of 10/10/80 when it comes to our money; save 10%, give away 10%, keep the other 80% for yourself or your family, is a wise way of living. Especially, nowadays.
For folks in my generation, ideas of boundaries and limits can be grating. We can be anything we want to be, but we still have to make our beds? We can be one of the wealthiest generations in the history of the world, but we still have to give 10% of it away? For some of us, the only limits we know are the ones our credit cards impose on us.
We could have included multiple readings today that cover the practice of Sabbath, whether it was the Creator resting on the 7thday when we all know God doesn’t actually needto rest. Or the instruction to the people of God not to work on the Sabbath to keep it set apart. Today’s reading even instructs the people that their slaves and livestock must rest.
Now, I don’t want to dive into the complexity and contradiction of slavery and Sabbath in the same command, but the point the people tried to make in ascribing such a statement to God when they composed the book of Deuteronomy is that God takes seriously the notion of Sabbath rest. So much so that even those who work in your shops or for your companies or as your assistants, should be given adequate time off.
So, on the one hand, Sabbath rest is being introduced to the people of God as a part of their way of life. For those who never make time to rest and clear their heads, this is meant to guide us into a more meaningful way of living in and engaging with the world and one another. Lest we miss it. It’s a boundary that reminds us to make space for Sabbath rest.
Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann’s book Sabbath as Resistance tackles this in his trademark style of profound prodding. He reminds us that in a culture of earning and achieving and consuming, the most counter-intuitive and counter-cultural thing we could do is to resist it all by stepping back and resting from time to time. Regularly, consistently.
Not all-out abstention, where you retreat to the woods never to be seen again. But maybe escaping on a hike over the weekend. Or reading a book instead of your emails on your day off.
This is a life-long practice that we won’t master in one sermon; it will take, well, practice.
But just as you are learning to “befriend” mystery as we discussed last week, and trying to cultivate curiosity, add this to the markers of a meaningful and holistic life: taking a break.
Fast forward to the Gospel Reading in Mark, and we quickly see what can happen on the other side of the equation, when we hew too closely to the boundary line. In Jesus’ day, legalism took root and also caused the people to miss out on a more meaningful way of living.
Now, I don’t think too many of us have to worry about taking Sabbath too seriously. But the spirit of this text suggests something else: that we have a tendency to take ourselves too seriously, often to the neglect our neighbors. That was at the heart of the issue. People were starving, so Jesus tells how David did something “unlawful,” crossing the border of the holy of holies, and instead of punishment, they received provision and protection. The Gospel text goes on to tell how a man had a withered hand and Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. The leaders were furious, but they missed the bigger picture:
Humankind was not created for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was created for humankind.
With Sabbath rest, we can eschew the pressures of our lives, but we can never escape the peoplei n our lives. Some people, of course; those who cause us harm or undue stress. But in the end, it’s people — connections to people, not devices or companies or money — connections to people, that make life meaningful.
Sabbath is the practice of remembering this, the practice of resisting the priorities of a world too quick to forget everyone else in the name of advancing ourselves. Sabbath is the practice of resting from it all and reinvesting in what really matters.
Connection.
What Jesus offers us with his words are a way of living within the tension of figuring out how to tend a space for rest and not drawing the boundaries so tightly that we crop other people out.
What do you think life was like for 1st century Jewish folks when they couldn’t work because it was the Sabbath? Sit around and binge-watch Queer Eye? Did each person go to their individual rooms and get on all their devices and just text when they needed something? They couldn’t take road trips to Vermont.
They had to be together. Because there wasn’t much else to do.
Rest isn’t just about withdrawing from what exhausts us, but it’s also about leaning into what is truly meaningful in our world. Maybe that’s a hike or a book or taking pictures or drawing or listening to music with a glass of wine. But also, maybe most meaningfully — for extroverts and introverts alike — true Sabbath rest means making time to be together. Because the Creator who rested is also the God who lives in community with God’s self as Trinity.
One author phrases keeping the Sabbath holy by changing the spelling of “holy” to “wholly.” Keep the Sabbath wholly. If we are really going to be kind to ourselves, then we need to practice rest, to detach ourselves from emails and phone calls and devices altogether sometimes. But not so that we can sit in an abyss of silence, but so that we can create the space in our lives for silence, for renewal, for friendship, for meaningful life.
Life was never meant to be a rat race.
It’s not about what we earn — financially or emotionally or in reputation. All of that is fleeting.
Life is about connection. Something lasting.
Knowing we aren’t alone
Being reminded that we aren’t forgotten.
Living as though we matter — to God and to one another.
Sabbath rest is that boundary marker that reminds us of our limits by redirecting us toward what matters — toward who matters.
In another reading from the Scriptures, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says:
“Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”[1]
Jesus challenges us to come to him, for his way of living offers us a meaningful life; a life of rest and connection to God, the world, and one another. We find our true rest in Christ.
Another version, from the Message, captures it this way:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”[2]
So, rest friends.
Rest in the grace of kindness — Christ’s kindness toward you, and your own kindness toward yourself.
Rest in the peace that comes from detaching from all the demands that are placed on you and trusting that no matter what, you matter to God.
Rest in the courage it takes to lean into what really matters — connection with God, the world, and one another.
Rest, friends.
And don’t forget to eat your veggies.
Prayers of the People
What is burdening you, causing you stress, or weighing you down?
What is keeping you too busy — mentally, physically, or emotionally?
From what do you need a break?
What will you try this week that will give you a break from all of it?
Hiking, writing, drawing, running, hosting a dinner…?
O Christ, who grants rest for the downtrodden and a lighter load for the weary, be near to us this day. May we discover our soul’s true Sabbath rest in you.
Teach us to rest by being kind to ourselves, by detaching from all that weighs us down, and by leaning into that which really matters: you, this world, and one another.
Amen.
Sermon preached at FBC Worcester on September 2, 2018.
Deut 5:12–15; Mark 2:23–3:6
[1]Matthew 11:28–30, from The Common English Bibletranslation.
[2]Matthew 11:28–30, from The Message.