"The Balance Between Work and Rest!"

A sermon preached on Labor Day Sunday, The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 2, 2007 at Edgemont Chrsitian Church (Disciples of Christ) , by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp. The sermon is based on Psalm 46:1-11 and Luke 10:38-42.

I believe most of us realize that Labor Day is not considered to be a religious holiday, but rather a national one. However, in many respects it very well could be. It is a day in which we are mindful of our labors and we are called to take some time to rest from them. I think we all realize the importance of rest! We all need rest. It’s like the man who said; "Labor Day! It works for me!" Labor Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on work and rest, action and contemplation. Jim Williams once told me that "Labor Day is a day to labor and not to rest, hence its name." He then went on to say that "rest is reserved for the other 364 days of the year." I like his philosophy. But I think we all realize the importance of rest. Work can be so demanding, so stressful, so exhausting and we all need time to be refreshed, renewed and rejuvenated.
I came across the Worker’s 23rd Psalm the other day as I was working on my sermon. Perhaps some of you can relate to this, it reads:

The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.

It makes me lie down only when exhausted.

It leads me into deep depression.

It hounds my soul.

It leads me in circles of frenzy, for activities sake.

Even though I run frantically from task to task,

I will never get it all done,

For my ideal is with me.

Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.

They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule.

They anoint my head with migraines,

My in-basket overflows.

Surely fatigue and time pressures shall follow me

All the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration Forever!

The Christian tradition has always valued both work and rest. The divine character of work is expressed in the Latin saying; laborare est orare, "to work is to pray." The Jewish and Christian traditions have always placed a great emphasis on rest - on Sabbath. In the experience of Sabbath, we are refreshed and renewed; we "catch our breath," so to speak. Sabbath gives us the opportunity to acknowledge that God creates and orders the cosmos, and that life goes on even as we cease our own activities. Observance of the Sabbath is a sign of our faith and trust in God’s providence. The Sabbath is also a reminder of our limitations: we cannot do it all, we must rely upon the help of God and others.
The theologian Karl Barth offered this commentary about work and rest, he writes: "If [humanity] has created neither heaven nor earth nor [themselves]; if they do not owe [their] existence to [themselves], but to the will and act of God who bestowed it on [them] without [their] slightest cooperation; if [their] ability to work is not [their] attainment, and therefore [their] own property, but a free gift; if [their] obligation to work is not [their] invitation but God’s commission, then [they] cannot and should not imagine that what is going to become of [them], [their] future and that of [their] fellow [brother or sister], lies solely in [their] power." Such is the reminder of Sabbath!
Someone once said; "Life is a perfect balance of work and rest!" And hopefully, that balance is a part of your life. We all needs breathing spaces, we all need times to rest and to be re-created. But do such times exist in your schedule or on your calendar? Do you spend time in prayer and contemplation? These are vital tools and parts of ministry too. If we are rested - if we are prayerful, then our work begins to take on new meaning. We rediscover the mission to which we have been called. We are more creative and our laboring is not done in vain.
Psalm 46 is perhaps one of my favorite Psalms because, undoubtedly, is a Psalm of trust. In fact, Psalm 46 was also one of Martin Luther’s favorite psalms and is the basis of the renown hymn that he wrote; "A Mighty Fortress is our God!" This Psalm is a great example of Sabbath, because it is a celebration of God’s guidance and protection upon those who trust or rest in him.
The motivation behind this Psalm was probably the historical deliverance that took place in the days of King Hezekiah when Sennacherib’s forces were miraculously smitten by the angel of the Lord and the 185,000 Assyrians lay dead on the ground. Certainly that event was a sign of God’s deliverance and protection among God’s people. In fact, the Psalm begins with the wonderful affirmation; "God is our refuge and strength..." Keep in mind, in the ancient Middle East, cities were built on high tels or hills with walls of defense surrounding them. Yet, there was no city and no defensive structure that was impenetrable. However, the Psalmist describes here the one who is a sure and certain defense - God.
In verse 4, the Psalmist paints us a picture of "the river whose streams shall make glad the city of God," this illustration is probably taken from the tunnel that King Hezekiah built to guarantee continuous water supply for Jerusalem, especially in crucial times such as war. The tunnel carried water from the Gihon spring outside the city of Jerusalem to a reservoir inside the city walls. What greater image can we have or find for the Sabbath that God gives us? In much the same way, the Living Water of God’s Spirit continuously flows into our lives bringing us renewal, refreshment and rejuvenation - making us glad.
But perhaps the greatest verse which focuses on Sabbath here in Psalm 46, is verse 10. The Psalmist understood the significance of silence, of stillness, of rest. "Be still and know that I am God." Even Isaiah understood this significance, as well. The prophet Isaiah wrote; "In returning and rest, you shall be saved; in quietness and trust you shall be strengthened."
Oh, how vital this rest, this stillness, this silence is for our souls. Just as in music, if it is to be beautiful, must have rests and pauses in it’s flow so must our lives.
I think it is interesting that one modern translation of this verse reads; "Stop fighting and know that I am God." Another version renders it; "Give in and admit that I am God!" And perhaps my favorite translation of this verse comes from the Jerusalem Bible which renders the verse in this way; "Pause for awhile" and then, and only then, will you experience the reality of God’s presence in your life.
Another wonderful example of the importance of work and rest is found in our Gospel Lesson this morning - in the story of Mary and Martha. Mary and Martha were not twins, and yet we automatically think of them together - we have tendency to always associate them together. Much like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello. And perhaps, that’s the point of this story. You can’t have one without the other - one cannot exist without the other. Work cannot exist without rest and rest cannot exist without work! There must be a balance! And yet, for two who are almost always joined together, it is difficult not to see their differences and it is equally difficult not to choose between them, to take sides, dividing the world into the Marys and the Marthas.
While we have tendency to take the side of Mary, we must never forget that Jesus does not deny the importance or the value of what Martha was doing. In fact, if it weren’t for Martha there would have been nothing to eat that day when Jesus visited the two sisters in Bethany.
I have always regretted all the controversy over Mary and Martha. Oftentimes, preachers and teachers will take sides on which one is more admirable - the spiritual type or the practical type. But can’t we all relate to Martha? She was so overwhelmed by the fact that Jesus was in her presence and she wanted everything to be immaculate and perfect and just right. But these two women both have wonderful qualities, and I thank God for the Marthas and Marys of this world - and especially in the church.

But to me, it seems that this story really deals with our goals in life - our priorities. What has our attention most of the time? Martha is so focused and fixed on doing her own goal. She is so busy being a gracious and polite hostess that she has little time to be with the Lord. We may say that all that we have, all that we own - our time, our talents, our money, our resources, our lives, is the Lord’s, but the question is, does God have our attention? We may be too busy sometimes, that we lose sight of the one it is we are working for.
Rabbi Mendal once wrote; "Whoever does not see God in every place does not see God in any place." How true that is! And in Martha’s situation, her social priorities and customs kept her from focusing her attention on Jesus and his agenda for her life. You and I can lose sight of who we are and whose we are very easily. Sometimes those things in life, such as family, or career, or community, or service can choke out God’s life in us. As we make God and God’s presence in our lives our primary focus what we will find is, God is the key to everything. That is why I say, Labor Day isn’t just a national holiday, but a religious one as well. In this time we are encouraged and challenged with Mary and Martha, to take time to rest at the feet of Jesus, to listen to him, to focus on him and to get things in perspective and then we are called to go about our work in God’s household - never losing sight of our Blessed Savior.
In her book, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, and may I remind you, "wholly" is spelled w-h-o-l-l-y, Marva J. Dawn makes the case as to why ceasing, resting, embracing and feasting are all essential and necessities. She states that it is in truly keeping the Sabbath - setting aside times of rest and renewal that we become not only "holy," h-o-l-y, but also "wholly," w-h-o-l-l-y. Anthony de Mello points out that "faith" comes as a gift from just exposing yourself to God’s company. Mary knew that and because of that she was made whole.
The words of the Psalmist in our Scripture Lesson are challenging words that we must all heed; "Be still and know that I am God." The Hebrew word here for "be still" is raphah, which literally means "to cease" or "to let go" or "to slow down" or, better yet, "to stop!" And how difficult this can be, but how essential - how vital it is emotionally, psychologically, physically and spiritually. And indeed, this is important when it comes to being true laborers for Christ and his Kingdom and it is then that a true balance of Mary and Martha can be found in us. Amen.