Weekly Liturgy : June 29 - July 5
- Cory
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Matthew 11:16-19; 25-30
The Message
“How can I account for this generation? The people have been like children crying to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a boozer, a friend of the misfits. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”
Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? 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.”
REFLECTION
from Cory
“Come to me, all who are weary.”
You could choose any number of apt words to describe our world today—anxious, fearful, despondent, on edge—but ‘weary’ seems like it might be the most fitting.
The word ‘weary’ comes from an Old English word meaning “tired,” “exhausted,” or “dispirited.”
We are weary.
We are tired of war. We are tired of seeing the bullies of the world imposing their wills upon the weak. We are dispirited by the triumph of lies and conspiracies. We are exhausted by the news, the notifications, and never-ending scroll of doom and despair.
Jesus ties the idea of rest to children playing: ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’
There is a particular vision of heaven, or the kingdom of God, being a place where the streets of the city are filled with playing kids.
Play and rest are not just things we do to take a break from work. They form us, they help us to remember that we are not called to be “human do-ers” but “human beings.”
Getting “burned out on religion” comes from us getting so caught up in doing things for God, from working so hard to prove our worth and value.
Play and rest pull us out of the mindset that our worth and our value are based on how much we produce, how many things we cross off of our to-do list.
Maybe what the weary world needs is not more workers and warriors, but people who know how to rest and play, people who know that their value does not come from how hard they work or how many problems they solve, but from the God of abundance, the God of butterflies, the God of sunsets, the God of fresh baked bread.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application
When we are working alongside one another, it can be easy to only talk about work things, to only focus on the problems that need to be solved, or the things on the to-do list. If we get stuck in that mode, people just become objects, things that are either hindering or helping us meet our objectives.
Find something restful or playful to do with one of your co-workers this week. Rather than taking your break or your lunch alone, invite someone else to break or eat with you. Play a game together. Go on a walk. Talk about something you enjoy.
Non-Violent Communication Question of the Week
Express appreciation toward someone each day this week, using observation and feeling language. For example, you might say to a coworker, “I saw you respond to that group email quickly with clear questions. I felt really grateful and at ease because you did that.”
Pathway Toward Center
Ascetics: Loving God in Solitude and Simplicity
When you have downtime this week, instead of pulling out your phone, find something restful or playful.
Questions for Reflection
How can you start to build more intentional times of rest and play into your life? Start small. Spending 5 minutes going on a walk, reading a poem, in the garden, anything like that, is a great way to start.
“Liturgy” refers to the habits and practices humans use to form community around shared values and meaning. At Church at the Park, we desire to be a community of practice, becoming people who see the world through the eyes of the marginalized, making meaning through the lens of pain and suffering, and committing ourselves to non-violence in a wounded world. This weekly email is intended to provide pathways of practice for becoming the type of people who embody these values.
Many of our reflections on each week's text come from other sources. If you're interested in reading more of what inspires us, here our our two favorite reflections.
Copyright (C) 2023 Church at the Park. All rights reserved.
