1.8.11
When I was working with
homeless youth in Los Angeles, I remember one specific instance when I sat down
with a client just to check in and see how she was doing. Now, mind you, most
of these young adults only get one maybe two meals a day from local drop-in
centers, like ours. As we talked, she ate her cup of ramen noodles and small
pouch of fruit snacks. When it came to her cheetos, she opened them up, ate a
couple, and asked if I wanted them. Knowing her situation and lack of
resources, I said, “Oh, no I’m good thanks though. Don’t you want them?” “Oh,
Ems, I’ve had enough. I’m full.” “Well, save them for later,” I said. This young woman who has nothing was
offering me some of her food because she knew that she had enough to fill her
up for the time being.
How do we know when we’ve had
or done enough? Is it when we’re
so full we have to unbutton our pants? I know you’ve been there. Have we done
enough shopping when we’ve spent all the money in our wallet? Have you done
enough when you’ve checked all the things off your list? Have you become enough
when you get to the highest position in your company? Do you keep striving
because the world says you need more, even though you may be content where you
are?
Please join me in prayer…
Gracious God who knows when to stop, may the words of my mouth and the
meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in your sight for you are our
rock and our redeemer. Amen. So
these questions. These questions are difficult because they require us to do a
bit of truth-telling. They help us see more clearly the truths that our bodies
hold in the midst of an anxious society. Everyday we ask ourselves these
questions of “enough” and sometimes we answer them without even thinking twice.
Sure, I’d love a pay raise. Yes, of course I will add that task to my list.
Yup, I’ll buy that thing because it will make someone in my life happy. Yes,
yes, yes, we say. We are always adding onto our never ending to do list,
striving to become something more than who we already are, and end up having
more than we really need. Speaking
of truth-telling, let’s think about this a little bit. What do these habits of
being, having and doing tell us about our relationship to God? In our text for
this morning we read that on the 7th day God rested. Literally
translated that phrase can say, “God exhaled.” God Exhaled. But God didn’t
exhale because God was done creating. Did you hear that in the scripture this
morning? Verse two tells us that God finished the work that God had done and
God rested from all the work. It doesn’t say that God finished creating the
world and then stepped back, wiped her hands clean of the project and let it
go. God finished the work that God had done and exhaled. In those six days of
creation, God had created enough for the time being. You
see, this question of enough has little to do with you and everything to do
with God.
We see God leading by example, right? We too are meant to discern for
ourselves when enough is an okay thing. Because we live in a society where
there are all of these outer voices telling us that there is always lots to do,
more to be and much to have, we get wrapped up in conforming to these wants,
not needs, but wants of the world. But this discernment piece is tricky, right?
We don’t have magical answers that will make it easy to figure out when to take
a break or when to breathe, or when to stop buying things, right? I don’t think
there’s an app for that. It’s just not that easy. Having, being and doing enough is a matter of faithful and honest
discernment. Perhaps a good question to ask as a starting point is “where in my
life has ‘not enough’ of one thing impacted ‘enough’ of something else?” For
example, have your efforts to move up in your company impacted how much time
you spend with family? Where have your endeavors to gather more material things
affected your relationship to God? There is a different question in here for
each of us, I believe, because this idea of enough is an assessment of values,
an assessment of what matters most to us.
We all know the 10
commandments, and if nothing else, we know that we’re not supposed to murder,
lie, cheat, steal, etc. We all hold those to a high degree in our lives.
Perhaps that is because the law also has something to say about them, that if
we do these things we could end up in jail. But nonetheless, we’re following
the rules, for the most part. Now,
y’all know that “Keep the Sabbath Holy” is one of those commandments too,
right? Well, then, what happened? Somewhere along the way we lost respect for
Sabbath and maybe that’s because the local government has nothing to say about
rest. But just as our well-being depends on not murdering someone and going to
jail, so too our lives also depend on taking rest.
As our text reads, God not
only took a break from creating, but God blessed that day of rest and made it
holy. God made it sacred. God made it what? Sacred. The seventh day, when God
rests it is the first, the very first sacred thing, before any other part of
Creation. God hallowed the seventh day. To hallow something means to greatly
respect it. And we talk all the time about how we need to respect others,
respect our bodies, respect differences, respect, respect, respect. But when
did we forget to respect rest? Just as rest is sacred, so are our bodies.
We talked a couple weeks ago
at Awestruck about how we are both fully human and fully divine. We are both
things in one body and that is to be upheld with love and compassion and grace.
More than anything else, our bodies know what is enough. Thought, most of the
time we aren’t paying attention until it’s too late. When we get nervous or
anxious about something we oftentimes feel butterflies in our stomachs. We tend
to push ourselves to the max until we get sick and collapse from exhaustion. We
work so hard and clench our muscles when we are stressed and never find the
time to let them relax.
We’ve all heard the phrases
“listen to your heart” and “go with your gut.” Well, church, these are no joke.
There is nothing more honest than the Truth(s) of our bodies. Ever. Too often
we put off our own well-being to be more, rather than taking preventative
measures to ensure that we keep our bodies in check.
Before I moved to Los Angeles
last year, I told myself it was going to be a year full of change and growth
and self-care management. Knowing that I am going into a field that has an
incredibly high burnout rate, I decided this would be a good first step. A
preventative measure, if you will. I knew that working 40 hours a week and
living in intentional community would drive me to exhaustion. So, while I lived
in LA, I began running five times a week and went to church on Sunday mornings.
I planned time for myself and rarely shifted my schedule away from that. And
now, since I have moved up north to Berkeley, CA and started seminary, I
exercise on a regular basis and, as an added bonus, you can find me every
Tuesday night at a local spot with a group of seminary students singing
karaoke. Yup. I sing karaoke. See, not only are these things intentional rest
for me but they have become spiritual practices. They are holy to me. They are
sacred.
In his book, Wayne Muller
talks about having enough, being enough and doing enough. At this point in my
life, I have somehow, by the grace of God, figured out how best to manage ‘doing
enough.’ Due to circumstances and life changes, I know this will change, but
for now, I have it figured out. However, having and being enough are completely
different stories. For all of us, myself included, I come back to the question:
what do our habits tell us about our relationship to God? Are we being faithful
consumers? Do our intentions and ambitions come from a place that reflects the
love and mercy of God? I have found that when we take a step back to breathe or
relax or stop doing whatever we’re doing, that things become infinitely
clearer. So how do we faithfully respect the exhale? How do we manage living in
a society that always wants more of us?
Take a deep breath in… and let it out…
Let’s start there. Let us start by breathing and
discerning and loving God. Let us call to mind the things that hold importance
in our lives: the things that matter to us in our relationship to our bodies,
in relationship to people, and in relationship to God. Having, being and doing
enough is a matter of faithful and honest discernment. By reclaiming the
exhale, we respect God. Because when we allow for room to breathe, we allow
space for grace. And God’s grace, above all else, is enough. Amen.
