Proper 22 A + Rest + 10.8.23

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20; Ps. 19; Phil. 3:4b–14; Matthew 21:33–46)

 

Do you find the ten commandments scary? Do you imagine the Cecil B DeMille imagery of huge stone tablets from heaven and a big lightning bolt hitting you if you don’t heed one of them? Often times the ten commandments are used in our culture to intimidate us into good behavior. Think of big stone versions of them in churches, or perhaps on the lawn in front of certain Southern courthouses.

Back when I was at All Saints Riverside as a curate, our rector purchased some new books for worship. He printed upon the outside of the text block, “Exodus 20:15” so that all would be reminded “thou shall not steal” to discourage the books going walking. This amused me because in my experience it is sometimes helpful to lend hymnals or BCPs for those who are curious about our tradition until they acquire their own. But I appreciate his desire to retain this new addition to the church.
Of course, that was a bit of a joke and not a joke, as was typical of Fr John’s quirky humor, may he rest in peace. But it reflects how our culture often looks at the ten commandments. They are meant to whip us into shape. They are meant to scare us straight. Which is of course why so many of us react badly to this usage of them.

Listening again to the “Working Preacher Sermon Brainwave Podcast” this week, I was struck by something theologian Joy J Moore said. She reminded us that these commandments should always be read as words of life. That they are not meant to threaten us into submission, but rather are an invitation to live an abundant life through obedience to our God who knows us better than we know ourselves. She also mentioned how powerful it would have been for a people who have been enslaved to be commanded to rest, to take Sabbath.[1] Verse 8 is the longest but somehow it is the most neglected of our commandments by our society. Think about it, some of the other commands are hard but generally most people follow them to one extent or another. But not rest- that we see as somehow option. And how powerful, for a people whose bodies have not been their own, who have been compelled to work without adequate rest, to be invited to rest, one full day a week. It is radical, life changing. Although many of our experiences are not the same, we are all potentially entrapped by a culture of productivity, and will find claiming our rest as something that saves our lives.

Speaking of which, a book is on a lot of our lips at the moment. Sean and Sandra mentioned that they are reading it at Cal Lutheran and just last week another friend in another part of the country mentioned how important this book has been to her. It is called Rest is Resistance. Author Tricia Hersey, who founded the now famous “Nap Ministry,” proclaims that particularly our Black, Indigenous and People of Color Siblings must reclaim their need to rest. She rails against the evils of what she calls “grind culture,” which is that message that we must all be productive constantly, and that if we take time to rest, we are lagging or lazy. She especially calls out social media’s disruption of our ability to rest.

Instead, she calls on all of us to take whatever time we can to nap or otherwise rest in the midst of our busy lives, so that we can combat and resist a culture of busyness.

I love this quote from Hersey’s book:

“The Rest Is Resistance framework also does not believe in the toxic idea that we are resting to recharge and rejuvenate so we can be prepared to give more output to capitalism. ... We falsely believe we are not doing enough and that we must always be guiding our lives toward more labor. The distinction that must be repeated as many times as necessary is this: We are not resting to be productive. We are resting simply because it is our divine right to do so.”[2]

I love this because this is the same thing God is saying in the commandments. God labored six days and on the seventh, rested. Did God need to rest? I don’t think so. But God did so in part because we need to rest. We are living beings, not machines. We must take time to stop and rest.

This can be a full day of rest- and ideally it is so, but I know that for many of us that is simply not possible at first. Just like with tithing, we begin sometimes one percentage at a time to build up to giving ten percent of our income, we must build up our rest time. That is why I love the nap ministry’s idea of taking a nap, or a time to meditate, or just to close your eyes, at some point when your day feels really hectic. intentionally stepping away is a radical act of resistance.

Hersey also points out that part of the problem here is that in social structures, often black and brown folks do the extra labor that allows the white or Euro-American folks to rest. We cannot structure our lives just in this way, but must look for ways for all to rest and be revived that allow for collective rest and liberation.
How do we start to build a healthier society, one that does not only drive us onward and forward, but also allows us to be obedient to God and to listen to what our bodies need in terms of adequate rest and recovery?

To start, we must apply our own oxygen mask first. We must build margins into our schedules and ask God for guidance about putting away our phones or other distractions for long enough to detox from the relentless pace of the world. We must find ways to connect with nature and slow down. We can’t support others in their attempts to rest if we come from a place of exhaustion.

But when I work on myself, I feel more centered, more able to encourage others to do the same.
What if, as a church, we built a culture that said, yes, we continue doing ministry and programs and so forth, but we allow each other to participate at our own pace? If another wants to come late or leave early or even sometimes skip a meeting for self-care purposes, we can build a culture that says, yes, you take care of you. Of course, we will still meet our responsibilities as best we can, but I believe that a culture of kindness can be created in the church, one that allows for folks to take time to reflect and be creative, rather than only grinding and producing, whether at work or play.

We already have some of this built in. We hope our worship time is a time to rest and be present and to feel God’s presence and receive God’s love and nourishment. We hope that outreach and activities that we do feed our souls as well as help others. And we have Tai Chi Chih and Yoga on offer to slow down and recover mid-week.

I may need some reminders of how to do this well, too! A preacher is often preaching to herself as much as to others. But I invite you to find a time to truly honor the command to rest this week. If you can’t take a full sabbath day, take sabbath moments. Be bold. Ask for what you need, not because it needs to be justified, but because you are a child of God, as Hersey would say, you are divine, and you don’t need to deserve or earn rest. It is your birthright. And the good news, is that when we rest, we give others the implicit encouragement to do so also!

Let us speak against the evils of a grind culture and reclaim the commandments as words of life, starting with the command to rest.

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[1] #924: 19th Sunday after Pentecost (Ord. 27A) – Oct. 8, 2023 - Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[2] Tricia Hersey, Rest is Resistance (Little, Brown), 2022.