Today we will move into a new section of Walter Brueggemann's book Mandate to Difference.
The focus here will be around Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Here Jesus claims no "deeds of power," but only issues an invitation, "Come to me." It is not an altar call. It is a call to an alternative existence away from deeds of power, away from brick quotas, away from things "too great," away from control and domination and success. Away from the way the world wants us to be...into the life of well-being with Jesus who is one with the Father. What is offered in this invitation is not revealed to the wise and the intelligent, but only to "infants," to those innocent and vulnerable, the ones capable of trust and ready to receive a gift.
There are many ways that we run and run and run through our lives. It is as though we are constantly under the impression that we might miss something...or lose something...or not "make it" like we would like to "make it." In all that running, we are working to create a world for ourselves. We all do it - to some degree. It is just such a world that puts on edge. This kind of life sets us against one another because we each have our worlds that we must create and establish and protect and control. In the middle of the world of our own making, there is no time to rest. It is a life-long task to prop up the gods who demand upkeep and want us to keep building them up! Our Lord, call us to come and we will be given rest. The rest is like the sabbath. It is meant to be complete and it is meant to pull us out of the race so that we begin to understand what it is to live without having to build a life for ourselves. We are given an identity and a worth and a direction for life (love one another is a good start) that will define us and uphold us in all things. It is not a matter of what we have and what we can achieve. It is a gift in which we are given the opportunity to reevaluate the movements of our lives.
Connection: How much of the day is ruled by trying to make ourselves into something...or make our families into something...or our children...? Rest comes in many ways. It is even a part of the gentle and life-giving service we offer to others - here and there - since we now have the time to rest from our lives of self-focused labor. The rest of our Lord, helps us to again see the day with new eyes.
Lord of the Sabbath, your Spirit attempts to move us from the work of propping up our lives and all that we claim we have made for ourselves. Open our hearts that this breath of rest and peace will fill us and we can rest in your claim upon us and your promise to abide and provide for us. Amen.
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