Renewal

Moving at the pace of grace.

I begin Renewal Leave today and won’t be returning to work at the church until the end of the summer. I do not take for granted what a gift it is to serve a church that prioritizes rest and renewal and I pray that all who read these words are able to find their own rest amidst the busyness of life…

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Romans 5.1-2

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

The theologian Andy Root defines the time we live in, modernity, as “the constant process of speeding things up.” Everything is ramping up around us all the time.

For instance, technology makes communication faster. We no longer have to wait for the snail mail to come in because we can reach anyone at any time.

Similarly, the economy is ever increasing in acceleration with market variability at an all time high. Tremendous fortunes and devastating debts can occur in a fraction of a second.

The job market is in tremendous flux with people leaving jobs and moving for the promise of better pay. Long gone are the days that most people stick with one company from beginning to retirement.

Social change is also relentless. Just as we get used to whatever is new, be it a style choice, a show, or a slang term, a new newness is always on the horizon ready to meet us, confuse us, and then control us.

And then there’s political acceleration. Every leader has to weigh in on every event, of which there are so many that we can scarcely keep track of who said what about what.

Meanwhile, anything that accelerates has an effect on everything else which furthers the acceleration!

In short, we’re all on a treadmill we can’t seem to get off of and the dial keeps ticking upward.

Dave Zahl writes in The Big Relief, “The more we try to accomplish in less time, the more it feels like we’re losing control over our own lives and the world.”

Acceleration produces exhaustion. We’re currently experiencing a rate of professional burnout that has heretofore not been seen even though we are actually working fewer hours. It’s partly due to the fact that we never turn off.

Did you notice how that sentence implies our machine-like existence?

Nevertheless, the days of leaving work at work don’t exist anymore. And it’s all related to the increased speed of technology, the economy, and social changes.

But the church has a word to offer those of us (read: all of us) who are stuck on this treadmill: Rest.

Dave Zahl writes, “The very notion of a weekly Sabbath breaks the twenty-four-seven cycle of more and reminds us that we are God’s treasured children, not slaves to the ever-mounting demands of the pharaohs in our lives.”

To anyone who feels like they can’t keep up, slowing down is a relief.

Notably, according to Genesis, to be made in God’s image is to be a person who needs rest.

And, according to Exodus, lest we forget the gift that is rest, we’re literally commanded to do it. In fact, the command to sabbath receives more detail and explanation than any other commandment except for idolatry.

Rest is all over the Old Testament from psalms that describe the comfort of laying down at night, to prophets who find relief under the shade of trees, to further commandments about letting the land rest.

And then Jesus takes it to a whole new level because he talks the talk and walks the walk. Have you ever noticed how tired Jesus gets in the gospels? He rests at the well, he rests from casting out demons, he rests after a long night of prayer, and, most notably, he rests the belly of a boat during a storm.

In the book of Hebrews, the writer speaks of priests who offer again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. It is never finished.

“But,” Hebrews continues, “when Jesus had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

Jesus sat down. He rested from his work. Because, through him, it is finished.

Do you see what this means? The fate of the world doesn’t lay in our hands. Sure, we can and should do many things, but Jesus has freed us from the burden of the world. We can rest in the blessed assurance of Christ and his work.

Hear the Good News from a group called The Healing Project:

“Burnout doesn’t mean you’re weak- It means you’ve been strong for too long. Rest, therefore, is an invitation to stop striving, to start listening, and to let healing begin at the pace of grace.”