I'm not normally someone who is a big beach person, but the view from that hammock feels like it would a very resting place, and some place that would be great to vacation on. What was your last vacation? I remember a story that someone told me about a vacation to a place very similar to this.
It was a family that was going to be gone for about a week. Their vacation started very early the first morning before the sun had come up. They had to get to the airport early to catch the early flight. Finally, as they were getting ready to land the sun began to come up over the horizon.
Where there had been a lot of darkness before, now the light was coming in, breaking through the darkness. That was their first day, and it was good.
The second day they decided was going to be a beach day.
They got to the beach, and there weren't many folks about. They looked out into the ocean, and it was crystal clear and blue and stretched out for miles around. They looked up and the sky seemed to go on forever, and was a wonderful reflection of the ocean below; bright and clear. That was their second day, and it was good.
The third day started out at the beach, but they didn't go into the ocean, but they turned to follow some trails back into the forest. As they were journeying out they saw the beautiful colors of the plant life and vegetation around them.
There were flowers, and berries, and fruits, and leaves, and all sorts of things that were surrounding them at every turn. That was their third day, and it was good.
The highlight of the fourth day was an evening cruise. It left and took them far out into the ocean, well beyond the land and its lights. When they looked up, they could see more than they ever could before.
The sky was full of stars, more than they had ever seen before. And they spent the night on the fourth day out under them, full of wonder, and it was good.
They were back out on another boat for the fifth day. This time to go and see what they could see. As they were leaving the dock there were all sorts of birds that were flying around, and diving into the ocean to catch their breakfast.
On their journey for the day they stopped many times to get out and snorkle and see the fish and coral, and all the good things that lie underneath the surface of the water. That was their fifth day, and it was good.
The sixth day would be the day they would fly home, but not without its own stops first. Their first stop for the day was at a local zoo to see the animals that they had never seen before.
After, they stopped for a late lunch with some friends to celebrate their vacation and all that took place. Finally, by the end of the night, they'd flown home and were asleep in their beds, on the end of the sixth day. And it was good.
If you've figured out the story that I've been telling, then you probably also have figured out what they did on the seventh day.
How many of us have ever felt like this at the end of vacation? Like we needed a vacation from our vacation? Sometimes we just need that rest. How long has it been since you last rested? I don't mean just getting eight hours of sleep, but well and truly rested?
This is being posted on Labor Day. The day when we are supposed to rest from our labors. This is something that we should be doing. In the seven days of creation from Genesis 1-2, when God gets to day 7, he rests. But here is what I find interesting about what is said when he rests.
God rested, and then made it holy. I think that is incredibly important. God rests first, and then makes it holy. Does God really need to rest? Did God wake up on the seventh day, turn off his alarm clock, and say I'm going back to bed? No. But there is something more going on.
Jesus gets us back to what is important. God didn't need to rest, but in the story of creation he was telling us what is important. We need to rest, and when we rest that is a good time, and a consistent time when we can work on our relationship with God.
My challenge to us, myself included, is to find time to rest and work on building our relationship with God. It's not an easy thing to do, but the benefit is that if we make that a priority, then other things will have to get in line behind that. Not the other way around.
When I gave this message, it was on a communion Sunday. One of the things that I love about our communion liturgy in the United Methodist Church is that it includes a confession and pardon, or words of assurance. In our pursuit of rest, this is key.
In our confession, we are not going through a cosmic guilt trip about everything that we have done wrong. It is a time when we lift up, and let go of the things that are keeping us from building our relationship with God. We turn them over to him so that we can draw closer to God. This is one of the most important thing we can do when we rest.
Go out, find some time to rest, let go of what gets in the way, and work on building your relationship with God.
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