Rest by the Campfire

a sharing at West River during 2nd Worship, July 12, 2023

At our house when tempers were flaring, when anxiety was high, when tears flowed, there was a checklist – are you:

 

Hungry?

 

Tired?

 

Thirsty?

 

Because most often, the moments when we feel out of control, the moments when it seems everything is wrong, there is an underlying basic biological need unmet. 

 

It’s true!… and meeting that need helps us see the world differently, helps us see more clearly.

 

We live in a world that makes “busy-ness” a status symbol. We live in a world where we make doing things a mark of importance or achievement. 

 

How full is your calendar? How many extracurricular activities can you have?

 

How many classes are on your schedule? How many camps can we pack into summer? Even at camp – how can we stay busy and fired up, seeking the next thrill, the next laugh, the next challenge.

 

And our families, our communities are often all tuned into this “busy-ness.” Productivity is a way we get affirmations. Productivity is expected of us by teachers, parents, coaches.

 

But our bodies, our minds, our hearts are not actually made to “do” all the time. 

Not only is it physically exhausting, but it stresses us out – and our little reptilian brains, under stress, produce a bunch of chemicals that affect our emotions, and that can affect our relationships. 

 

And so we wear thin. And when we wear thin, we just can’t quite see straight. We say and do things that hurt us and others sometimes. Or we get bogged down and feel like we can’t go on.

 

We simply weren’t made for so much doing.

 

Again – the world tells us that our doing matters – but I think God has another idea.

 

Do you know the story in the first chapter Genesis about creation – the one where each day, God calls forth a new part of creation? 

 

What happens on the 7^th day?

 

God RESTS on the 7^th day. And God makes it a holy day. Because of all the work that had happened before.

 

As the commandments are recorded in Exodus – the fourth commandment is to keep Sabbath – to work for six days and to rest on the seventh. To keep HOLY rest. We all remember that we’re not supposed to murder or lie – but how many of us remember that we are actually commanded to rest?

 

Then…Psalm 23 refers to the LORD God as a shepherd who makes us lie down in “green places” – places of abundance and goodness; a shepherd who leads us to still water…

 

All of that might help us understand a little bit more about some of the things Jesus said and did…

 

First, If you read about Jesus in the gospels, you’ll start to notice something. There are a few places where Jesus leaves one teaching or one healing or one miracle and goes away to pray…he separates himself from the work of the world, which is a kind of rest.

 

I mean, there is even the story of Jesus leaving one shore of the Sea of Galilee and crossing the water in a boat. A storm comes up and the waves are bad – but Jesus is asleep in the boat while his followers – the disciples who are learning from him and working alongside him – are freaking out!

 

In other stories, he goes off to be alone, apart from the world, before a big decision (like choosing the disciples), or when he’s sad (like learning about his cousin John the Baptist being killed). (Hmm…those sound like crossroads to me, too.)

 

During bible study today, we talked about a promise Jesus makes – come to me you who are weary and burdened and I WILL GIVE YOU REST. If you take my yoke upon you – (and I invite you to think of that as, “if you are part of my work team”) I will make sure there is rest for you.

 

So the world tells us to go, go, go…do, do, do.

But it seems like God created us to balance that busyness with rest. Holy rest.

 

Rest looks like a lot of things. It can look like sleep. 

It can look like a run by yourself. 

It can look like sitting with a trusted and good friend where there are no social pressures, judgements, obligations. 

It can look like a good meal.

It can look like making space to be quiet, still, alone. 

Praying, journaling, making beautiful things.

It can look like time away from screens, noise,

         Expectations, deadlines, stressors.

 

And on this life journey we are on, here’s the thing. 

Rest is necessary.

Rest is vital.

We can only face so many crossroads and we can only persevere so long before we need to REST. 

Not resting affects our ability to keep taking the next step. 

So sometimes the next step is REST.

 

It has been a week full of “doing” things. It has been a week full of thinking about the journey we are on, the crossroads we have faced and the places we have been required to persevere. 

 

I wonder – are you hungry? Tired? Thirsty?

 

Tonight, we’re making space for rest…we’re listening for that Jesus voice saying “come to me…and I will give you rest.”

Another way that Jesus offered rest was to gather at a table with people he was just getting to know, people he sometimes disagreed with, and people for whom he cared deeply. And at that table, they were fed –by food and by conversation and relationship.

 

Tonight, we’re going to remember the way Jesus would gather with his friends…and we’re going to give you a chance to respond to the invitation to come, be fed, and to rest.

 

(Transition to an invitation, instructions and communion)

 

Everyone is welcome.

Everyone is welcome to say, no, not today.

 

This is God’s table where no matter what the world is telling you, God is saying, beloved COME and find rest here. COME and find nourishment here. COME and find relationship here. You don’t have to believe a specific thing, you don’t have to pass any sort of test. You are welcome simply because God loves you, no matter what.

 

Are you hungry? Tired? Thirsty?

 

When we share communion, we remember that on the last night Jesus gathered with his disciples, he took ordinary things – things that would be part of almost every meal – bread and wine – and he asked his friends that when he was no longer able to be with him, they to remember him EACH TIME they ate and drank these things.  

 

When we share communion, we don’t quite know how, but we believe that God is with us in a special way by the power of something we call the Holy Spirit. We recognize that God is full of mystery – and some things we just can’t fully understand. In some ways, when we share communion, we are called to rest into that mystery.

 

Pray – pour out your Holy Spirit....

 

We'll come around the circle tonight and serve each of you bread and juice. This is challenge by choice (like so much at camp). You can opt out. Do what is comfortable to you.

 

Beloved, each of you is a child of God, invited and called to rest and be well.  IF you are hungry, tired, thirsty -  may this be a feast, a meal and not a snack. And may you find space to rest well this night and when it all feels like too much.