Sermon

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC

May 25, 2008 - Proper 3 (A)

The Rev. M. Jonah Kendall

Matthew 6:24-34

You know, when I left New York, everyone up there was saying how nice the pace down here would be.  But, you know what?  It isn’t all that different.  The weather’s better.  The people are more inviting.  But when it comes to activity levels, North Carolinians are every bit as much on-the-go.

I mean just this past Tuesday I met with the other Episcopal clergy of Durham for a Bible study.  Two were late, two left early and the entire discussion was about trying to catch a break.  We said it was for the sake of our parishioners, but who were we fooling?  We were talking about ourselves.  In truth, I don’t believe this is New York’s problem, or North Carolina’s, or even the clergy’s.  Rather I think it’s an American problem.  Did you know that the average American is trying to do 31 hours of activity in the 24 God gave us?

Well, with all this going on, here we are in church today.  And what do we hear from Christ?  “Consider the lilies of the field.”  Now, I don’t know about you, but this always gets me.  I mean, here is Jesus, the Messiah, the savior of the world as we say, the Son of God.  You want to talk about an important job.

And yet, here he is talking about the lilies of the field.  And this gets me because it gives me the impression that Christ not only takes the time to talk about the lilies of the field, but that he can only talk about them because he has taken enough time out of his life to really consider them, to celebrate God’s wonder in them. 

And yet that’s just what he did.  If you were to read one of the Gospels straight through, I think you’d be shocked to realize how much Jesus withdrew by himself to rest and find some quiet time with God.  More than that, he would retreat even when there was still work to be done.

There’s one story in which Jesus was in a village healing people.  He healed them all day long.  The next morning when he woke up he withdrew to be alone, even though he knew that there were still many people who needed him there.  What’s more is that when the disciples came to him and asked what he was doing, he said it was time to move on.  Can you imagine that?  I mean I can’t even leave email alone for two days, let alone a village in need.

Christ didn’t do this because he was insensitive or because he didn’t care, but because he truly was the Son of God.  For in every moment, Christ created an opportunity for God.  He could leave that town.  He could give himself that freedom because he trusted that even though he would not be there, God still would.  And that God could continue to work something there without him. 

Now because I think we believe there is a great chasm between our 21^st century lives and those of Christ’s first century, let me bring this idea into the present by telling you about what some real 21^st century people do.

There’s one thing in New York that, as far as I can tell, doesn’t seem to be here.  And that is the Sabbath.  Yeah, that’s right, in New York City – the City that never sleeps – amid all that hustle one cannot encounter a Friday evening or Saturday afternoon without being reminded of God’s commandment to rest: when the devout Jews of New York simply do nothing.

It’s amazing!  Every Friday at about 3:30 in the afternoon, the Jewish lawyers and bankers push themselves away from their desks and walk out the door.  Jewish patients in the hospital light candles and there wasn’t anything like a Saturday in Central Park.  Where family after family met to talk, walk — no cell phones, iPods or Blackberries — to be with each other, creation and God.  You see, devout Jews observe a 24-hour period of rest each week.  It’s their Sabbath.

And it is very apparent to the witness that what they are doing isn’t about self-help, or balance, although these are natural byproducts, but about being faithful.  For in their rest they put forth an outward sign of their belief that God could keep the world going, could continue to love and care for it, without them.

I think this is what Christ is really getting at when he says, “consider the lilies of the field.”  It’s all about providence — will we trust in God’s providence, in God’s ability to care for the world even without us.

So can we?  Can we bring forth the Kingdom by our willingness to trust in it enough to take some Sabbath time — t o realize that rest is not something to be earned, but the gracious gift of God for the enjoyment of our lives and the renewing of things?  The time couldn’t be any riper for such a ministry, what with our 31 hours and all.  So take the phone off the hook.  Say no to something.  Find some time for yourself and your loved ones, to be really present.  Do it for yourself.  Do it for another.  Faithful rest – what a powerful thing to offer this hectic world.

In Christ’s name, Amen.

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