July 09, 2023
• Rev. Mindie Moore
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Parched Week 2: Get Some Rest
Mark 2:23-28 (CEB)
Welcome back to our Summer Series, which we are calling Parched. Now, some of you were gone last week or maybe it’s your first time here at St. Luke’s Midtown, so I want to make sure you know what this series is all about before we get into this week’s topic.
Throughout the month of July, we’re doing some work on our souls together. Because just like being outside on a hot day, when we can get physically parched, that same thing can happen to us spiritually. Because of life and busyness and all sorts of other things, we can get pretty disconnected from God and our spiritual selves can get really dry and unhealthy.
But the good news is that just like when we’re physically thirsty, God gives us a way to replenish our spiritual life too. And we have these tools called spiritual practices that when we use them not only fill our cups, but they can help KEEP us in a place of health. So every week, we’re going to give you a tool that you can take out of this place and into your daily life. So let’s pray as we look at this week’s practice.
PRAY
One of my favorite moments as a preacher happened a few years ago. I don’t remember WHAT I was preaching on or even
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how the sermon went, but I will never forget the response of one specific woman in the congregation. Now, a preacher secret that I’m going to let you in on is that some of you are really amazing active listeners. And you know who you are! And when we’re up here, you are so fun because you will nod, and make facial expressions, you are IN it with us. And so we’re looking at you while we’re up here and we appreciate you and your participation.
And so this particular woman, I had known her for awhile, and she was one of my favorite active listeners. But that day was a little bit different...because that day was her first Sunday back at church after having a baby.
And so I was preaching and looked over to her, ready to see the nod and the eye contact...and she was COMPLETELY ASLEEP.
I mean, head back, deep in dreamland, she was out! With the baby in a carrier on her chest, just having the best nap ever! And the thing that made this so great and so memorable to me was that after the service, you know, we stand outside and talk to people and she looked at me right in the eye and said with all sincerity, “That was a great sermon!”
How many of you could use some rest like that today?
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And I'm not just talking about a nap- I’m talking about your soul- how many of you could use some REAL rest right now?
My guess is, probably a lot of us could. And so as we go into this second week of our Parched series, the practice that we’re looking at today is to (SLIDE) RESTORE. Now, you can call it rest, or even use a really churchy word like Sabbath, but no matter what you call it- we're talking today about how to intentionally create time in our lives where we reconnect with God and take care of ourselves spiritually, physically, relationally, and emotionally.
And even though this practice is all over the Bible, even though self-care is kind of a buzzword right now...this one can be really hard to live out! And in some ways, that’s why I LOVED this woman just taking her nap in my sermon. She showed up and claimed her rest! She needed it and took it and I think- what if we could all be like that? Maybe not physically falling asleep, I’m NOT telling you to nap during the sermon, but what if we were that committed to having a healthy rhythm of restoration and reconnecting with God? What if we would do whatever it takes to let ourselves be restored, despite all the obstacles that get in the way?
In fact, I want you to just take a minute and use your sermon notes page to write this question down to take with you this
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week: (SLIDE) WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM A RHYTHM OF BEING RESTORED?
What gets in the way for you?
I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but here’s what I know- for a lot of us, our answer could get pretty long. This is not an easy one to practice sometimes. And there are a lot of things that are within us and around us that get in the way.
And if we start with what’s going on around us, the simple truth is that we live in a world that isn’t made for rest. Now, the irony here is that when the world was made in the Biblical creation story, rest was kind of the exclamation point on the whole thing! Genesis 2 tells us that (SLIDE):
On the sixth day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation.
So this was baked into the fabric of how life was supposed to be from the very beginning...but things change pretty fast. And once we get to the second book of the Bible, the book of Exodus, when we’ve got people living their lives and doing all the things, we see God come in and give a pretty strong
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reminder about this rest thing. In fact, it’s so important that God gives it to Moses as part of the 10 Commandments! It’s number 4 in there- (SLIDE) remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Don’t forget that you have limits. Don’t forget who’s actually God here. Don’t forget to rest.
And if that’s God talking to the people then- what do you think God would say to us now? What do you think God would say, looking at the lives we’ve created and the pace that we live at? We’ve got spreadsheets for our kids’ activities, we’ve got our Teams notifications coming in like texts, we are reachable and workable 24-7 and most of us are expected to be that way.
And there’s a lot of good happening in our lives, but I jus worry that we’ve given ourselves so much to do that sometimes we forget to give ourselves time to be restored.
You know, I think that God goes so far to give Sabbath as a law because even then, it was hard to find the time. Even in the time of Moses, even then, productivity was the name of the game. People had so much work to do to just survive. It was maybe a different flavor of work than most of us do, but even then rest wasn’t something that would just organically happen for people.
You know, I think of it a little bit like a speed limit. Now, I would love to think that I never drive too fast and always am
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aware of the surroundings and what speed would be the most beneficial for myself and the people around me...but if you’ve ever ridden in a car with me, you know that is false. Driving to me is a necessary evil that gets me from point a to point b, and I would like to do that as quickly as possible. So I NEED some instruction, some boundaries. I don’t want that to be true, but it is! And it’s the same thing with rest- even though we want to do it, even though we hope we will, sometimes we just won’t. And we especially won’t if everything around us is saying keep going and don’t stop.
Tricia Hersey (SLIDE) is the founder of The Nap Ministry and the author of the book, “Rest is Resistance” and her work is based in Black-liberation theology where she looks at how intentional rhythms of rest are actually a form of resistance to the things that are really broken and harmful in our world. A few weeks ago she shared this thought on her Instagram:
We are constantly told to go harder, grind more, boss up, push through, fake it till you make it and sleep when you are dead. I’m wondering when we can find tenderness, softness, alignment, and rest. Aren’t you tired?
Aren’t you tired?
It’s ok to say yes to this question. It’s ok to need to stop and restore and slow down. It’s ok.
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And I know, for some of us it feels not ok. Because, yes, we live in a world that’s not really built for rest but you know what? A lot of us are walking around with a very loud voice in our heads that tells us we absolutely cannot slow down.
We think that if we stop, if we’re not constantly in motion, if we’re not always producing and achieving that we’re going to miss something. That we’re going to fail or not be good enough. I’d even be so bold to say that a lot of us have hooked our worth onto what we do and how much we do and so rest can’t even be on the table.
It’s why the words of Jesus in the Scripture we heard read today are so challenging. Because he takes people’s ideas about sabbath, about being restored, and he pushes back. The struggle here is a little different, with the pharisees and the disciples, they’re having a different conflict because they’re living in a different context, but the core point that Jesus is making translates. Because at its core, you’ve got these people who have a narrative about what it means to restore and Jesus says...you think you know about this rest thing, but there might actually be more to it than that.
And as he challenges the pharisees’ understanding of this thing and the rules that they are so worried about keeping he says makes this powerful statement- he says (SLIDE)
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“The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath.”
Meaning- this is a gift that God gave you…and God actually wants you to use it! You are not less than because you need to rest. And when you use it, it’s good for you. Jesus wants the Pharisees to know that this is more than a law and Jesus wants us to know this is more than a nice bonus that we might fit in from time to time. This is a PRACTICE. And it’s essential to our spiritual health. It’s essential to our relationships. It’s essential to our world working the way it’s supposed to.
Now, I warned you, I was going to come back to this idea that these practices are for US…but they’re also for OTHERS. And I can’t think of a better example of how this is true than the practice of rest. An unrested me or you is not the best version of ourselves that can show up in the world.
(SLIDE) Because when we rest, we connect with God, but we also make space to heal. And we’ve all got stuff to heal from, whether it’s big or small, we have wounds to tend to and things to forgive and false narratives to overcome and rest gives us space to do that stuff. To make sure that we’re healthy and whole. And we’ve all had a boss or a friend or even a spouse who did not do this practice and we felt it. We’ve probably all
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BEEN the boss or friend or spouse who needed to make this space.
So our ability to rest is a big deal. It matters. And if you’re listening to this and thinking that this isn’t you, that you don’t even know where to begin or how to do it but you know there’s some parched place in you that NEEDS to be restored- I just hope today can be an invitation to try. To not worry about getting it wrong but just to try. Because when it comes to rest, when it comes to reconnecting with God, Jesus cares more about the rhythm more than the rules.
I really want you to hear that- this is about creating a healthy rhythm in your life, whatever that looks like, more than about getting it right. Because for some of us, the thing getting in the way of a healthy rhythm of rest is that we think we’re going to do it wrong. We think that there’s one way to restore, one way to connect with God, and because that one way doesn't land with us, we just we don’t do it!
But the thing with this practice that is so important for each of us to understand is that (SLIDE) one size does not fit all when it comes to rest.
And if you’ve ever gone on vacation with anyone besides yourself, you know this! My family is leaving for vacation right after church today and we are going to a place in Michigan
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we’ve never been before, so I’ve been doing some research and making a list and I presented my day by day list to my husband this past week, full of bullet points and things to do. And he did not say, “wow, I really appreciate the full itinerary you’ve drafted for us, Mindie,” he said, “Oh. This is a lot of things. I thought we were going on vacation?”
One size does not fit all!
And I know that I am talking to a room today where there are so many different life stages and stories and this practice is going to look different for each and every one of you. And so I can't be overly prescriptive on how you need to do this one, but I can say- you need to do it. Because no matter who we are or what our lives look like, we all need a rhythm of reconnecting with God to restore our souls.
So for you, it might look like a full day off and resting a week. For some of you, it might be a half hour of quiet in the morning. It might be a walk around your neighborhood or taking the time to cook a really good meal. Maybe you paint, maybe you write, maybe you just sit in silence and listen for God. Maybe you mountain bike or skydive. This list is all over the place on purpose- because Jesus tells us that thing is a gift, but Jesus also tells us that we have permission to redefine what Sabbath means for us. We’re not locked into one way of doing the thing, we just need to find our way and make the thing happen.
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And so this week, I want you to really look at what’s going on in your life as it relates to rest. If you already have a way and rhythm, that’s great! Keep doing that, keep creating a life that is healthy and connected with God. And if you don’t- think about what would make that possible. What are the things and the practices that could take those parched places and bring them back to life?
You know, we’ve given you, on the back of your sermon notes, some questions to pray over and use as prompts, but I would even say that this practice goes beyond reflection and has to lead into action. Go through these questions, but then get out your calendar. Schedule restoration in. If you have a partner or a family, make this a group project. Do this one on purpose, because it’s probably not going to happen on accident.
Remember the act of Sabbath and keep it holy and treat it like a gift. Because even though our world is radically different now than when these laws were handed down and Jesus talked with his disciples and some pharisees in a wheat field, our need to restore and connect with God is exactly the same.
Let’s pray.