July 3, 2011
Zachariah 9: 9-10 + Psalm 145 + Romans 8: 9, 11-13 + Matthew 11: 25-30
This Gospel speaks about burdens and rest, and it seems to me that there is a kind of paradox here, almost a contradiction. Jesus has been a hard on those who put burdens on others, and to those who are burdened, he speaks about rest, which by my opinion is something in short supply today.
T0o many people in our country bear a huge burdens making life easier for too many others. It is one thing to do so willingly. It is quite another to have the burden imposed upon you. On this weekend of “Independence” we might do well to wonder about the implications of that ideology, and grow more careful about how we think about “independence”. Personally, I think independence is an ideology a little at odds with the Gospel. Left un challenged, it implies that we are NOT “our brother’s keeper” which the Gospel clearly insists that we are. The only really independent people I know are dead. They don’t need anyone and they don’t need anything. That is independent. What the rest of us do does not affect them in the least. The truth is we are very dependent. What happens to the economy in Greece affects us, what we do with and charge for oil affects South America. When we burn food to fuel our cars, it affects the food costs in Africa. More simply, I need you as friends and companions. I need you to carry on the work of the church. I am dependent upon you, and I don’t feel any less because of it. I hope you need me. As the world shrinks because of media and economies, we are beginning to discover that we are very dependent upon one another. It may not seem very patriotic, but it’s real and it’s true; and efforts in these days to act independently or unilaterally are never productive. We must pay attention to the burdens we place upon others, especially upon the poor. We must be suspicious and watchful of programs and policies that continue to insulate, isolate, and protect the wealthy leaving the poor or the nearly poor to subsidize their comforts, security, retirement, and health care.
The longer I live in this community, the more I wonder about this matter of rest. I don’t think you people do much of it. Too many in this community get no rest because they work two or three jobs, and those who do not get no rest because we are all caught up in being productive, being busy, and in doing things that are efficient. In fact, quite honestly, we worship efficiency.
The pagan society in which we find ourselves suddenly is real, and the signs of it are everywhere. There was a time in history when this country could call itself a “Christian Country”. Whether or not that was or is a good thing is a separate matter for conversation. Nonetheless increasingly there are unmistakable signs that it is no long possible to claim that identity. The idol called: “Profit” now drives every decision and shapes every value. Jobs and lives are sacrificed at that idol’s altar every day.
The Christian idea of “Sabbath” and within that concept, “rest” is looked upon as a silly old idea that doesn’t produce anything; and so stores are open 24/7 and people must work in them 24/7 or be unemployed. The consequence for both the shopper and the clerk is: no rest.
Bill Gates, one of the great prophets of this post-christian era says that “In terms of time and allocation of resources, religion is not very efficient. We could do a lot more on Sunday morning rather than sit in a church.” The Communists who sacked churches and turned them into something useful thought the same way. Both are kindred spirits to the one who complained about Mary’s waste of resources by saying: Could not this ointment be sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?” as she anointed the feet of Christ. We all know good and well it never would have gotten to the poor had her critics been in charge.
Time itself is a gift. It was something created by God just as much as the sea and the stars. There are not just holy places on this earth, but there is holy time. Just as we set aside space and build up holy places, we must set aside some time as well. Israel built a Temple, and Israel observed the Sabbath. Wondering what might be our connection to this is important if you listen to and get deeper into this Gospel.
We have the Old Testament concept of creation week and its Sabbath as the primal sign of the covenant. The Seventh Day becomes a hallowed space in time that marks off a place devoted to Israel’s relationship with God, just as the Temple becomes a hallowed space in space for the same purpose. If this is so for God’s chosen people, how is it not so for us?
The point of the Sabbath is in earthly terms to waste time just as the point of the Temple or even our church is to waste space. I can remember when wheat was growing on the soil under this building. It was producing something then. Now it is in a sense “out of production.” It stands here as a contradiction to the worship of production and efficiency. There is nothing efficient about what we do in here. Those of you who sit here looking at your watches because you have something else or better to do today simply don’t get it.
Jesus Christ, Lord of the Sabbath proclaims himself today to be our “rest.” In Him and Through Him, and With Him, we find and we make and we experience rest. That’s what we are doing here, resting. The habit of celebrating sacred play time points to something else: the fact that vast amounts of time are spent waiting, and doing nothing while we wait. But the waiting is the point. It is what the church does, waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior in glory. We gather here and set aside waiting time so that we might not be distracted or tempted, or led to believe that there is something better to do. I want you to think of this place as a giant “waiting room”. Here we wait in hope, not in fear like the rest of the world. We wait against all odds and common sense, in a world filled with economic doom, war, cultural meltdown, social chaos, terrorism, ecological fears, and all the rest, “we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”