If we’re connected on Facebook, you’ve likely already seen this post I made on Wednesday. I had no idea when I came home from surgery several weeks ago how, while my body slowly healed, I would be confronted with what it means to belong to a culture that has us treat our bodies like slaves, insists our value as human beings comes from what we’ve accomplished and is highly suspicious of Sabbath-taking.
Here’s what I put on Facebook:
Recuperating from surgery has been lesson after lesson.
Lesson #1: Let the body have what it needs without asking it to justify itself.
Lesson #2: Worth is not dependent upon work. It is a GIVEN.
Lesson #3: Rest is a birthright, not a reward for having been productive.
Think about the message we unintentionally send when someone is recuperating, and we say, “Get well soon.” Our intentions are good, I’m positive. However, without realizing it, we may be suggesting to those who are healing that being active as promptly as possible is everything. And it’s not.
If you can’t tell, these last few weeks have had a bit of a radicalizing effect on me, and I’m incredibly grateful!
If our culture has us (wrongly) believe that we are what we do and that our full calendars validate our existence, Jesus teaches us another way. Remember this passage from Matthew 11: 28-30? “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to me. Get away with me, and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Even in a congregation where a number of our members are retired, there is much to learn about following the body’s lead, finding our worth inwardly rather than outwardly, and challenging our culture’s expectations around productivity and activity. Jesus offers a different way—and it’s one worth exploring. Indeed, it’s a way that opens onto abundant life if we dare to trust Jesus and follow.
With you on the journey,
