Psalm 131
My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.
Are you resting?
We pastors are having to learn how to be digital-age televangelists all of the sudden. While we figure out this new technology and find some sort of new groove, we find that we're home all the time but busier than ever. I'm not complaining. At least I'm not a school teacher. They've been thrown into the technological deep end of the pool as well and they are working amazingly hard every day to keep our kids educated. And our kids! Their world has been flipped upside down and they are having to work and learn in a different way. I'm seeing up close, the stress it's causing my High Schooler. So you would think those of us who find ourselves working from home are resting more. Not so much.
My wife still has to go to work. Her work at a domestic violence shelter can't be moved online. She's having to find a way to keep women safe both from their abusers and from germs. Think of our food service workers and grocery store workers... All the new protocols they're learning... The stress that comes with interacting with so many people every day... How about our hard working doctors and nurses and first responders literally putting their lives at risk on the front line of this fight. I can't imagine the weight they carry. They can't be resting much.
Those of us who are working a little (or a lot) harder than usual can feel blessed to still have work. I have friends who have suddenly had the rug pulled out from under them. Their careers and their finances have been put on ice and the rent is still going to be due. They may find themselves with more time than ever. But are they resting?
If you're like me, you're worried for loved ones who are more vulnerable to this virus... Maybe you feel how acutely vulnerable you are yourself...
Are you resting?
Our Psalm this morning is all about rest. It presents us with a beautiful metaphor for what it's like to find your rest in God: a small toddler pressed up against its mother. Can you imagine any more secure feeling in the world?
I remember being very little and being afraid of thunderstorms. I would run into my parents room and wake them up. Because those were the days I was blissfully unaware of these things called 'siblings', they would often invite me into bed, and I would snuggle up... a tiny little three year old ...next to my mom. And all the fears would just melt away in the warmth of my parent's embrace...
What an image of peace. Have you ever watched a toddler whose just been crying with all his might just pressed up against his mother? His tear stained cheeks are buried in her soft warm skin and she strokes his hair and soothes him. Then the sobbing gives way to silence and the silence gives way to sleep. A deep and profoundly untroubled sleep. One we all long for.
The Psalmist says: "I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me." He's choosing not to worry about all the complexities of life or contemplate God's role in our fallen and broken world. Rather, he's content not to understand just as a child is content. A child can let go of their fear and anxiety and feel perfectly safe in their parents' embrace. I think this is what Jesus meant when he said in order to enter the Kingdom of God, we must have the faith of a child... this ability to let go of our need to understand, trust God completely... And rest.
One of my favorite descriptions of God comes from an episode of the Simpsons. Bart Simpson has a test in the morning that he's not studied for and he prays to God for help. Lo and behold, the next day is a snow day. Bart sees all his friends going out to play and he's getting dressed to join them. But his little sister, Lisa, stops him. She says: "I heard you last night. I'm no theologian. I don't know who or what God is exactly. All I know is he's a force more powerful than Mom and Dad put together and you owe him big."
Lisa is right. God IS a force more powerful than mom and dad put together... we can find the deep comfort we long for by resting in him.
What if instead of trying to understand everything that's going on around us right now. We just had a good cry and fell into the loving embrace of God?
I know all of us are carrying something different on our backs as we trudge together in this caravan. Some of us have the stress of a job; others have the stress of no job. Some of us worry most for our own safety; others worry most for the safety of a loved one. All of our lives have been touched by this moment in unique ways. So, while we can't pretend to fully understand what each other person is going through, we can remember that we are going through this together. And that someone else is going through this with us. The one who has walked faithfully with us in this caravan from the beginning. The one who stands with outstretched arms welcoming all those with scraped knees and boo boos into the Kingdom of God, calling them to let go of their troubles and bury their faces in his abundant grace. Hear him call out:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 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.”
Great are you, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; your power is immense, and your wisdom beyond reckoning. And so we, who are a due part of your creation, long to praise you – we also carry our mortality about with us, carry the evidence of our sin and with it the proof that you thwart the proud. You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Amen. -St. Augustine of Hippo
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