Kahu's Manao
Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika
“Sacred Rest”
Romans
7:15-25a & Matthew 11:25-30
We know that the average human heart beating at 72 beats per minute will beat approximately 2.5 billion times during a lifetime spanning 66 years (http://en. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart). That’s a remarkable amount of work for an organ weighing 9 to 12 ounces and roughly the size of three quarters of a fist.
Some of you have hearts that have already beat 2.5 billion times. Some even more. I have about 264,803,040 more beats to go. Just thinking it about makes me tired.
With all of that we do in the waking and sleeping hours of our lives, our hearts never stop beating. But we must sleep because we know the rest that comes from our sleeping is an essential part of our living healthy lives.
Ironically as we gather here to celebrate the Sabbath, a day for rest and renewal, some of us find ourselves burdened with our own traditions. Every week a core group of our church members are here at 5:30 a.m. preparing for the day.
There are things that need to be done. Doors and windows need to be opened. Tables and chairs need to be set up. Leaves need to be raked and traffic cones and signs need to be put in place.
Preparation for our time of worship is done long before the doors and windows are opened. Hymns and readings need to be selected. And on the first Sunday of each month the bread and communion cups need to be prepared.
It would be easy to grow weary from the busyness of the day. Our reading from The Gospel According to Matthew is about such busyness and more.
Jesus is aware of this reality when he admonishes the religious leaders of the temple for their objection to the disciples who plucked heads of grain from the fields on the Sabbath to eat.
There is so much to do that there is little time left for the disciples to eat. That they would pick grain on the Sabbath was a great offense to the Pharisees or religious leaders of the Temple. But Jesus recognizes that the disciples are tired and weary and hungry.
While they are eventually able to eat, the disciples still find themselves faced with the criticism of the Pharisees who say to Jesus, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” Jesus responds to their criticism by reminding them about what David did when he and his companions were hungry (Matthew 12:2-3).
Jesus knows that the disciples are weary not only from the lack of food, but weary from the condemnation of the Pharisees. So he offers to the disciples the yoke that is “easy.” Some say the more accurate meaning of the yoke he offers runs closer to “kindness.” Jesus offers himself as the source of strength for the disciples and the source of rest from their burdens (Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life, Pentecost 1, May 18 – August 31, 2008, page 76).
It is an offer he extends to all of us whenever we grow tired and weary of whatever may burden us. The rest he offers is not only for our hearts, minds, and bodies, it is also for our souls. We will find rest in him when our hearts grow heavy with sadness and sorrow. We will find rest when our minds fill with fear and despair. We will find rest when our bodies grow weary from illness and disease. We will find rest as we struggle within our souls to do what is right (Romans 7:18).
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary describes "rest" as "sleep . . . minimal functional and metabolic activities . . . freedom from activity or labor . . . a state of motionlessness . . . " and so on. That is what most of us commonly understand "rest" to be.
But the New Testament Greek defines "rest" not as "sleep" but as "refreshment." And that is the meaning given to our reading from The Gospel According to Matthew. "Here (Matthew 11:29), the contrast seems to be to the burden imposed by the Pharisees. Christ's rest is not a rest from work, but in work. Not the rest of inactivity but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and actions of will, heart, imagination, and conscience, because he has found in God the ideal sphere for satisfaction and development" (W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, J. Patrick, http//www.fridaystudy.org/html/matthew/matthew 11_28_30.htm)
In other words when we receive the rest Christ gives all that may trouble or burden us will not disappear or go away. There is work to be done but it is work we do not do alone.
As we come to share the bread and the cup today, Jesus calls us to continue seeking moments of sacred rest. By doing so we will come to experience the promise of God's peace.
Mahalo Ke Akua!