Earlier this week I had the privilege of driving our older child and some teammates to the BC Games in Maple Ridge. They are competing in paddling events. Considering there are 2300 kids competing and an additional 3000 volunteers, coaches, chaperones, cooks, and others, you would think driving four teens from Victoria to Nanaimo would be fairly straightforward. But there is coordinating details with parents, hoping they show up on time and that kids don’t pack too much stuff. Spoiler alert, some of them did pack too much, but we just managed to fit it all in the car. Arriving in Nanaimo the kids helped the Nanaimo club wash the boats the island kids would be using for the races, we got some lunch at a nearby mall (making sure kids didn’t wander off), and then I delivered them to their team bus and coach. You could sense the excitement of all the kids heading to buses in a rec centre parking lot. Kids competing in rugby, soccer, track and field, swimming, paddling, and more. The journey for the kids had just started, but I needed a nap.
Holy Rest
In the gospel reading Jesus invites the disciples to take a nap. More specifically he invites them to take a rest. He knows they are busy as the crowds have pressed upon them. Jesus knows that rest is part of health and healing. It can’t all be work, work, work. And yet too often many of us get caught up in patterns of overwork. Whether those of us have kids at home, those who are working and those who are retired but seem to be working more hours whether serving the church, caring for family, or other commitments. There is also the fatigue of hearing about crisis after crisis, whether with the climate, politics, violence, and more. We hear about people being tired all the time. And we don’t seem to have an antidote for tiredness other than slowing down, which society tells us we shouldn’t do. Slowing down sounds like admitting defeat. Taking rest isn’t a success story. We are told successful people never sleep, always grinding, always working. Perhaps the only time rest is glamorized is on social media where we show off the beauty of our rest taking. And I do it too. Even if you’re not on social media, how many of us on the West Coast have sent photos of spring flowers in February to family in snow-covered provinces? As someone who manages church social media, posting to these sites is not restful. It can be helpful for storytelling, but it is work.
And yet Jesus tells the disciples he desires for them to rest. That doesn’t mean we can’t do great things or work hard, but that it needs to be balanced with rest. That hustle culture is not a virtue. That caring for our bodies is holy. That not doing more than we can handle is okay. Recognizing there is a spectrum of abilities and what bodies can do. This Disability Pride Month we remember not all disabilities are visible or obvious. Some people suffer different kinds of fatigue and things that limit what they can do.
Jesus’ message of rest is good for us to hear in our shared ministries both as lay leaders and rostered leaders. As you know, Pr. Lyle is retiring in September. Our capacity for ministry at Church of the Cross will change. Some people are already stepping up to help with the work to fill in some of the gaps. And some of the work might not happen. And that’s okay. The Spirit is doing new things in our midst that we won’t be able to foresee fully. I expect this is true here as well at St. Luke Cedar Hill. We have aging congregations and we need to give people time for rest. God desires our openness to the possibility that new people will have different ideas for ministry. What we did in the past may have served us well then. But now may be an opportunity for different directions or not doing some of the same things. To take rest and rather than feeling guilty about things not continuing, giving thanks for things we have already done well. And giving thanks for things we will do well in the future. And knowing that rest is holy. Taking rest is blessed. Taking rest is counter-cultural, a radical act of living into our faith.
Good Shepherd
People of faith need rest. People of faith also need a good shepherd. The gospel reading tell us Jesus is the good shepherd. Not just a good shepherd. But the good shepherd. The good shepherd who cares for his disciples. The good shepherd who cares for us. Don’t we need a good shepherd in 2024? Good grief, every time I wake up and hear the news I’m afraid to hear what happened while I was sleeping. And today we find ourselves adrift more than ever. A literal example of being adrift, every couple months we hear a story about a BC Ferries sailing that had to pause to lower a rescue boat and save a sailor in distress. We know we wouldn’t last long in these frigid waters of the Salish Sea without getting rescued. What a beacon of hope it must be for a ferry to spot you out there on the water and rescue you when your boat takes on water.
And yet today as a society, we can no longer agree when we need to be rescued from our political and climate realities. Today one person will say, “Our boat is sinking, call for help.” And another person will say, “These are baseless lies. This vessel is sound. We are not sinking,” while they stand knee-deep in water. Today we no longer have a common narrative for the daily news, on what’s going on. I listen to my podcast and newsfeed and you listen to yours. Cable news, talk radio, and the internet have splintered us into so many different life rafts promising us truth. Our inability to agree upon basic facts, that there is no longer a shared truth, makes us vulnerable to people wanting to exploit us.
One sign of exploitation, leaders who are not good shepherds, emphasize fear rather than love. They tell us to fear homeless people. They tell us to fear immigrants. They tell us to fear 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Fear of difference is a hallmark of someone trying to sell us something for personal gain. Someone trying to manipulate us into giving them power.
By contrast Jesus as the good shepherd doesn’t use fear to control and manipulate. Jesus the good shepherd acts out of love. Because Jesus is love. That is why he desires the rest of the disciples. Not because it increases productivity or his popularity. But because rest is good for the disciples who he loves. Likewise it is loving for us to respond with empathy towards people who are homeless. It is loving to welcome refugees and immigrants. It is loving to welcome 2SLGBTQIA+ people in churches and neighbourhoods.
Trusting in the good shepherd of love grounds us in truth and doing what is just. It breaks the echo chambers we get trapped in on social media and partisan politics. Working together as congregations is an example of building good will. It is an example of building mutual trust as we gather to worship together at St. Luke’s today and again at Church of the Cross later in August. We work together with the Day Camp for kids, which begins tomorrow. We find ways to teach about the good shepherd to all generations, rooted in love.
Healing
We’ve talked about Jesus as someone who desires rest for the disciples and for us. We’ve talked about Jesus as the good shepherd. The third and final theme is Jesus who desires healing. Now we’re not just talking about miracle healing. We’re not saying that Jesus will instantly remove all our ailments. But Jesus does heal in the gospel reading. Jesus does change lives. So too Jesus desires our healing. Through rest, through seeking medical attention, through making sure we have physicians, nurses, clinics, hospitals, and care homes to care for people in need.
Recently I visited a medical specialist because my foot was hurting. He said “oh that’s nothing. It’ll go away eventually. But I’ll treat you for this other thing.” I am thankful for the treatment, but after the appointment my foot was still hurting. So I sought help elsewhere with treatments that have helped. And what a relief it is to find healing. Sometimes we need to be our own advocates for healing. Maybe you have your own story of seeking healing and not finding it at first. As Christians we need to recognize that people are hurting, both in the literal sense of needing physical healing and in the metaphorical sense of people’s spirits not being well. This is why we support places like Luther Court across the street, caring for elders. That is why we support places like The Cedars, providing housing for elders. These are concrete things we are doing to make healing possible, having an affordable place to live. Having access to medical care.
And we are also at a crossroads for offering healing of the spirit. For people who feel confused and disjointed. For people who feel tired and adrift. We can point to the good shepherd who desires their healing. God desires our houses of worship to be places of healing for everyone. Both our congregations support the Shelbourne Community Kitchen, offering food security to hundreds of people every week. Healthy food is a healing agent, something all our bodies need. Let us imagine ways in which we continue to be centres of healing.
Wrapping Up
Wrapping up, last Thursday I dropped off kids at their bus heading to the BC Games. On Friday I had the privilege to drop by Maple Ridge where the BC Games are taking place and take in some of the paddling races. It was a joy to see kids flourishing and learning new skills. They are encouraged not only to compete in events in which they are already comfortable. But also to try new events. For kids in sprint kayak, this meant also racing on stand up paddle boards and playing canoe polo, a kind of water polo with whitewater kayaks. It is wonderful to see kids flourishing with enough support.
In our ministry contexts at St. Luke’s and Church of the Cross, let us give thanks for the ways in which those in our midst are flourishing. Let us dream big and trust in Jesus who desires we rest, who is the good shepherd, who desires our healing. Amen.
