Scripture Mark 1: 29-39
As soon as they left
the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and
Andrew.
Simon’s
mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about
her.
So he went to her,
took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait
on them.
That evening after
sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.
The whole town
gathered at the door,
and Jesus healed
many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would
not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Very early in the
morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to
a solitary place, where he prayed.
Simon and his
companions went to look for him,
and when they found
him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Let
us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is
why I have come.”
So he traveled
throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks
be to God. Amen.
Prayer:
Message Source
of Strength
When I started seminary, I was 22
years old… Although I was technically an adult, the other adults I was used to
being around were also young. When I started attending my seminary classes,
most of my classmates seemed very old to me – many of them were in their
40s…..ancient.
Most of my
fellow classmates had much more work experience than I had at the time. And,
unlike me as a 22 year old, they also had life experience juggling working and
parenting and volunteer jobs and caring for older relatives. Some of the things
the professors emphasized in their lectures went right over my head…the other
students seemed to get their points, but not me. This was particularly true
when the professors would talk about the stress that is part of pastoring a
congregation and the necessity of self-care. The teachers would talk about how
we would need to make our doctor’s appointments and exercise and take vacations
and eat healthy and have down time, and I was unimpressed. I didn’t think stress
would ever become a problem for me.
And, then,
after I graduated from seminary, I was called to be the associate pastor of a
UCC church in Berks County. I worked with a lovely senior pastor who had served
churches all over Ohio and Indiana and Pennsylvania. He was generous and
dedicated and sincere – and he didn’t take any days off. He worked 7-days a
week. He had no down time. Sometimes, very occasionally, he took a Saturday
off, but that was only if we didn’t have anything happening at the church.
I could tell he
was tired. And, his wife made sure I knew she was tired.
So, I asked
their Consistory if I could have a weekly day off work. My question led to a
major debate. None of their other pastors had taken a weekly day off work, so
why should they allow me to do so? Ministers work for God, and God doesn’t take
a day off….so why should the minister. Ugh. The words of my professors danced
through my head…I finally understood why they made such a big deal about
ministers taking little mental health breaks.
Fortunately,
here at Trinity, I have Monday’s as my protected day off work. In our reading
this morning, we read about Jesus’ first very busy days after he began his
“public” ministry. Jesus and his friends went to Capernaum and he made his
debut at the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He read from the scripture, taught
and explained what the scripture meant, and then he healed a man who was filled
with an unclean spirit. Afterwards, the word got out that Jesus had the ability
to miraculously heal people. So, the people came out of the woodwork, bringing
to Jesus everyone in town who needed to be healed.
Jesus quickly
became exhausted. So, he got up early in the morning, snuck away to a solitary
place, and rested and prayed. He needed down time….he needed a day of rest.
It is telling that even Jesus needed to take a break.
We all need to take breaks.
God established the requirement that
we are to take breaks and practice “self-care” right from the beginning. In the
first chapter of Genesis, God created the heavens and the earth and the
vegetation and the creatures over the course of six days. And, on the seventh
day, God rested from all God’s work. “Then God
blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the
work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:3)
When God gave Moses
the 10 Commandments, the 4th Commandment says: “Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord
your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner
residing in your towns.”
From our creation,
God established our need to rest and take a break. Taking breaks are built into
the foundational rules of our faith. And, Jesus took time away to rest and
meditate and pray and have a break.
But, it is often
difficult for us to allow ourselves to rest and pause. Even when we are not
“at-work,” many of us are reading our work related emails on our phones and
tablets. Sometimes we are taking work calls in the middle of the night or
zooming into video calls at inopportune times. And, even if we are not doing
“work” work, many of us fill our hours with chores and classes and word puzzles
and video games and binge watching tv shows – even when we are not working, we
are busy.
Just as God has established
a weekly day of rest, God also established an annual season of rest. In a week
and a half, we will begin that season. The 40 days of Lent that start on Ash
Wednesday are designed to be an interruption, a break into “life-as-normal.”
Over the 6 weeks of Lent, we are invited to slow down, to say no to adding
things to our calendars, to take a pause on all of the busy-ness.
Instead of all of
the busyness and work, over the weeks of Lent, we are called to rest and listen
for God. We are called to take time off to pray and meditate on the Word of
God. We are called to rest and sleep more and spend more time staring out the
windows and checking out God’s creation.
Sometimes, it is
difficult for us to listen when we are told things for our own good. My long
ago professors were telling us to take breaks for our own good. And, God has
told us over and over again to take breaks – at creation, in the commandments,
in the actions of Jesus, and in the establishment of the season of Lent. Let us
keep our ears open to the guidance that tells us to rest and let us do what God
commands – give ourselves a break.
May we do so with love in our
hearts. Amen.
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