Rest your ashes

 

Matthew 11: 28-30 *
Newark United Methodist Church, Newark, DE
February 22, 2023 – Ash Wednesday

Screenshot of glitter ashes in rainbow colors in the shape of a cross.

Lenten devotions have become more like New Year’s resolutions: give up sugar or alcohol or chocolate, exercise more, do away with a bad habit, volunteer more, give more. It’s almost as if it’s designed that way: if you’ve gotten away from that New Year’s resolution, you can pick it back up again in Lent. The whole enterprise has become synonymous with “sackcloth and ashes” rather than something that restores our relationship with God, with the earth, and with each other. One of the lectionary passages for Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51 which contains this verse: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit”. Lent is about repentance, about turning away from that which does not give life and love and turning toward that which does. Lent is about restoring our joy.



But joy can be pretty hard to come by some days. We hear about war and rumors of war. Climate change is upon us with the latest batch of storms. We feel grief and concern for the people of Turkey and Syria, for the people of Ukraine, the people of East Palestine, OH. State legislatures seek to create harmful policies and laws against trans youth and their families. We’re all on high alert.



All we really want some days is to rest, that rest that Jesus invites us into, rest for our weary souls, to lay down our burdens and give them a rest. Do you ever rest your eyes at some point in the day? Maybe you’re a napper, maybe you’re a daydreamer, letting your gaze wander and your mind with it.



Believe it or not, there is actually something called The Nap Ministry. Author and activist Tricia Hersey in her book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto declares that resting more and working less is the path to healing and liberation from grind culture. She writes that capitalism is rooted in White supremacy and in the plantation, in slavery, treating all bodies, beginning with people of color, as though they are machines. We are taught from an early age that we must earn our rest and play and that our worth is dependent on our efficiency and productivity.



Rest is our birthright. As the old saw goes, we are human beings, not human doings. Rest not only restores us, it prepares us. Hersey says that rest is resistance because by taking time to rest and renew ourselves, we are resisting the urge to do, to conquer our weariness with more doing.



I think it’s strangely ironic that we are living through a pandemic, with a virus from which we recover best by doing nothing and getting lots of rest. And more recently our response has been to power through and continue to work at the same harried pace as before the pandemic. It is not hyperbole to say this is nothing less than traumatic.



Tonight, the season of Lent begins, when we acknowledge that our lives have limits. As part of your Lenten devotion, I invite you to read Hersey’s book and to find ways to slow down, rest more, and work less. Some churches have been known to take a break from all committee meetings during Lent and encourage people to spend time with their families or engage in a neglected hobby or pastime. After all, God rested on the 7th day. Jesus took naps.



Rest is a means of repentance. When we rest, we turn from supporting a system that exploits and exhausts us, treating bodies and lives as commodities rather than a precious masterpiece of creation. The Church has thrived on this culture with our Protestant work ethic but also contributed to the burnout of volunteers and clergy.



I know that sitting still isn’t for everyone. So how about getting out for a walk, taking some time for an indoor project, chat with a good friend, read one of the books from your stack, explore a place you’ve never been to? Then return to what needs doing with a deeper sense of what matters most. Love self. Love neighbor. Love God. Rest your ashes and restore the joy.  Amen.

* Matthew 11: 28-30 (First Nations Version)

"Come close to my side, you whose hearts are on the ground, you who are pushed down and worn out, and I will refresh you. Follow my teachings and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest from your troubled thoughts. Walk, journey side by side with me and I will share your heavy load and make it light."