Exhaustion and Sabbath - A Sermon for June 2 2024
GOSPEL: Mark 2:23—3:6
The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus challenges the prevailing interpretation of what is lawful on the sabbath and tells his critics that the sabbath was made for humankind, not the other way around. Healing the man with the withered hand is work that cannot wait until the next day.
23One sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
3:1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
With warmer weather and occasional sunshine,
humans and animals alike are waking up
from the winter hibernation.
People are out walking their dogs
working on their yards,
catching up with neighbours.
I’ve had a few of these conversations lately,
and many sound like this…
“How’s it going? How’ve you been?”
“So busy, how about you?”
“Yes, so busy.”
One particular conversation stands out to me,
with an added:
“But we’re all busy.
That’s just the way it is.”
It made me sad.
Being busy might be ok for a season.
Like the bear who awakens from hibernation,
that bear needs to get busy,
get fed, raise babies,
but the bear gets to hibernate when winter comes.
Did you get to hibernate this past winter?
I sure didn’t.
Even the week off between Christmas and New Years
was …. Busy.
Busy-ness is an unhealthy cult.
And it is the way of the world.
As I talk to people,
my age,
younger, older,
It seems to me that many aren’t just busy,
many are exhausted.
A recent CBC news article calls this
“The Great Exhaustion”
(https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/the-great-exhaustion-1.7210589)
which comes about due to stress directly related to work,
along with wider anxieties
about the state of the world,
such as climate change,
war,
political instability
and the rising cost of living.
An online survey of hundreds of Canadian Professionals
Found that 42% of respondents
reported feeling burnt out.
For Millennials and Gen-Z,
people my age and younger,
the number goes up to 50% who feel burnt out,
tired,
emotionally fatigued by work
and all the things in our world.
(Jennifer Dimoff, Organizational Psychologist, see link above)
It seems busy-ness,
exhaustion,
burn-out
is … just the way it is.
This is our new normal.
And it makes me sad.
It makes me think of farming practices.
I’m no expert on agriculture, but humour me…
It used to be that the land would receive sabbath.
Farmers might plant rotating crops in the fields,
and every few years,
the field sits empty,
sabbath,
rest for the ground.
Then you can plant seed for the next season.
Without rest,
the land will suffer,
and with it, the crop will suffer.
Not enough rest for the land,
not enough crop.
Today, many farms don’t practice rest for the land.
With the use of chemicals and fertilizers,
the field doesn’t get a year off.
The advances in agriculture and technology
mean more production,
with less or no rest.
Again, I’m no agriculture expert,
but it seems to me that creation
- the land - is groaning in suffering.
It sounds to me like a growing segment of our population
who rely on chemicals,
self-medicating,
to help keep up with the pace of life.
Those who self-medicate to keep up,
are like the lands medicated to keep up -
functioning, but not exactly thriving.
It sounds not unlike many professionals,
who are expected to, perhaps,
be more productive than is reasonable
aided by too much coffee and technological advances.
These days, it’s not enough to work 9-5,
there’s the after-hours phone calls,
Zoom meetings,
texts, and emails.
Many are not allowed
or do not allow themselves
to turn off work when they get home.
Side note -
Did you know that there is a pledge
from the federal government
to give workers the right
to disconnect from work
outside their normal working hours?
How is that not already a thing?
To play with the words from Second Corinthians;
people are afflicted in every way, darn near crushed;
perplexed, and living in despair;
persecuted, and forsaken;
struck down, perhaps soon to be destroyed?
Friends, there’s a saying that I have come to know is true:
Find sabbath or sabbath will find you.
and that sabbath might not be so fun.
This happened to me two years ago,
as I needed a stress leave due to my mental health.
I was not alone:
locally, about half of clergy in our tradition
took stress or sick leaves
around the same time.
Even pastors, who proclaim the alternative way of life
that is the kingdom of God,
Even pastors, who know that we all need rest,
just couldn’t.
Even pastors, who know that what
we all need is Jesus and therapy
were forced into therapy.
Sabbath found us,
and it was suffering.
Like a field that cannot yield due to overwork,
we all need rest.
Like a bending and worn wooden bookshelf
expected to hold book after book,
the shelf will eventually break under too much weight.
Friends,
hear these words of Jesus:
Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens
and I will give you rest.
Take my yolk upon you
and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls
For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.
Jesus takes rest seriously,
and knows the gift that it is.
Jesus helps us bear the load.
Jesus takes Sabbath rest seriously.
God’s desire for humankind is not unprecedented productivity,
God’s desire for you is not brokenness,
we choose brokenness for ourselves.
God’s desire is rest.
A couple thoughts on how we might rest.
First, we can confess that we don’t know best,
we do not know better than God.
God knows best who we are,
why we are,
and what we need.
We are created to find joy in the presence of our Creator
and as I look at my “Feeling Wheel” on the wall,
Happiness and Exhaustion
are at opposite ends of the wheel.
The institution of the church has to recognize this.
We have many faithful volunteers,
who are exhausted.
We have a calling,
we are called to serve,
we are called to join God’s mission,
The harvest is plentiful
and the labourers are few.
As we join God’s mission,
Part of Jesus’ mission - as Lord of the Sabbath
is to model for us that we need rest.
One day,
A terrible and potentially fatal windstorm over the sea,
the disciples fear for their lives in the storm,
and Jesus was asleep on the cushion.
Jesus models for us - get your sleep,
even in the storm.
After the death of his relative, John the Baptist,
even with the crowds pressing on him,
Jesus made time for solitude.
Jesus models for us - we need to grieve our losses.
When on the airplane,
when trouble arises and the oxygen masks come down,
you have to put on your own oxygen mask
before you can help someone else.
Jesus offers the Pharisees a correction,
and keep in mind the Pharisees were God’s faithful laypeople,
people like you and me,
seeking to uphold the law and Jewish identity.
Sabbath was made for humankind,
not humankind for the sabbath.
Consider today’s Gospel.
The law said that “reaping” and “threshing”
along with 37 other classes of work
are unlawful on the sabbath.
The disciples do both,
reaping and threshing.
The disciples, in their hunger, are fed,
and this eating breaks the rules.
Practically speaking, how can they possibly join Jesus in mission
if they’re hungry?
How can anyone thrive if hungry?
The Sabbath, the Lord’s Day,
made for humankind,
is for our rest and nourishment,
not for upholding certain rules.
Jesus sees the man with a withered hand,
and asks those in the synagogue:
“Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath,
to save life or to kill?”
No answer.
Again, it turns out Jesus knows better than we do.
The man extends his hand,
and by God’s Word,
he was restored.
The Sabbath, made for humankind,
is for our restoration.
Sometimes that might mean a little work
to give life rather than to let die.
Here’s what the Sabbath Commandment is all about:
Everyone deserves - needs - a day off.
The people Israel were once slaves in Egypt,
now in their freedom,
they are to allow rest for themselves,
for their workers, local and alien,
rest for their livestock,
rest for their land.
Sabbath is about justice,
that all be treated justly.
Amidst their own times,
their own injustices,
their own problems,
the people needed a new understanding of Sabbath
one centred in justice and peace - in Shalom.
Fast Forward a few thousand years,
considering our own times,
our pressures and expectations,
the constant bombardment of information,
the problem of polarity and politics,
busy-ness and exhaustion,
and our own injustices,
we too need a new understanding of Sabbath,
one centred in Shalom - in justice and peace.
We are the creators and/or participants
in the ways of sin,
in the ways of this world
that are helping cause this unnecessary exhaustion.
I believe we need to tell the systems in our world
that perpetuate exhaustion
to give it a rest.
I believe those of us who even remotely feel the exhaustion
need to not only take rest
but to consider what needs to change
to allow an existence
with space to be connected with God,
with neighbour,
with self.
Change is hard.
Change is slow.
But healthy change is worth it:
if not for us,
for those who come after us.
Perhaps our own new understanding of Sabbath
can include some learnings from the social sciences.
There are 7 different kinds of rest we need:
(https://www.calm.com/blog/7-types-of-rest)
Physical rest-
The labourer needs some time on the couch,
the desk worker might need to go for a walk.
We all need sleep.
Mental rest -
The brain is always processing information.
take breaks. Meditate.
give your brain a break.
Emotional rest -
we are emotional beings, no two ways about it.
we have to feel our feelings.
What we all need is Jesus and therapy.
Sensory rest -
With or without a smartphone in our hands
we are bombarded with lights and sounds and screens.
we all need to unplug.
Creative rest -
We become more creative when inspired,
engage with the beauty in creation,
and we might find joy.
Social rest -
whether introvert or extrovert,
we need positive and supportive people,
and perhaps some distance
from draining and stressful relationships.
Spiritual rest -
We crave meaning and purpose in our lives.
We branches thrive in connection with Jesus, the Vine.
Worship. Pray. Serve.
I believe what is most needed in this age of exhaustion
is to reclaim the truth of our worth.
Your worth is not found in your productivity.
Your worth is not found in a busy schedule
with little or no room on the margins
for rest, for interruptions, for God.
Your worth is found in baptismal waters.
Your worth is not found in what you do
Your worth is found in who you are,
dear child of God.
May we remember the Sabbath
to keep it holy,
May we strive for Shalom - peace and justice -
that we and all creation
might find rest.
May we find our worth in baptismal waters,
not in our doing,
but in our being a child of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
