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Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves. I’ve never been a night owl but, lately I have been staying up late. I have been battling with sleep issues this whole year. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea this spring. CPAP therapy has been a huge help but it takes a holistic approach to regulate my sleep. The psalmist is speaking against workaholism and hustle culture that is prevalent in our society. The psalmist tells us it is in vain that we work so hard and yet struggle for food and rest. We serve a God who grants us rest. Why is it that we are not willing to rest? Sabbath is a way of life that runs counter to every culture in some form. We are slaves to our economic systems. Now hear me this is not me shaming anybody. Every human throughout history has been subject to economics systems in some form or another. In our contemporary system we have become more enslaved. We are blessed with convenience and dopamine machines but we are also deeply lonely and anxious. We lack rest and community. At some point in history we traded away community and rest for these conveniences and dopamine machines. I think we are on the losing end of that trade. What if we had more rest in our lives and we ate more within community? How do we live more counter culturally? How do we make sabbath as a way of life? These are the questions that I am asking. I desire to live out sabbath but sabbath has always required community. Will you join me in this pursuit after Sabbath? David LaLonePastor and Poet Psalm 127:1 I recently read psalm 127 and felt the Holy Spirit convict me of dangerous behavior. The psalm starts out saying, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. I quickly heard this directly to me saying, “Unless the Lord builds the church, the pastor labors in vain.” I just started a new appointment to two small rural churches. I set my goal to work slowly by engaging with folks in the church and the community to listen to the needs that exist. I reminded myself that I need to learn the culture before starting too many projects. Well, I was finding myself having an anxious couple weeks feeling the need to do more. I quickly got ahead of myself and in my own way. My work was not being led by God but my own agenda. I was not only getting my own way I was getting in God’s way. The Church Growth movement has fed on the anxiety of churches that are smaller or in decline. The rise of mega churches have created this competitive game of comparison amongst churches. Thankfully I am not a competitive person. My anxiety to do more comes from my own shame of not feeling like I am enough. It also comes from my desire to do kingdom work. It comes from my workaholic nature that gets praised in American Capitalism and hustle culture. God has been healing me from that and teaching me to rest; but, I have to relearn the lesson. This requires spiritual discipline. Church growth is not about more people in the pews. It is more people living out faith 7 days a week. Church growth is not just more members, baptisms, and giving. Church growth is more lives being transformed. Church growth is about discipleship. I need to trust that God will build his church. If Christ is Lord of my life and the head of the church, I need to let him be that. I have an important role to play in God’s work but that role is not calling the shots. There is enough work for me to do. I don’t need to add more to feel worthy of my role. On top of trusting God to be Lord of my life and church, I also need to be patient. God’s timing is perfect and yet we get impatient thinking that sooner is better than later. May we be more patient people/ I also heard it speak to me saying, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the parent labors in vain.”. We as parents can build a lot of pressure on ourselves to do better and be better parents. Of course, we can all grow as parents but, shaming ourselves and working harder is not the answer. We as parents need to step out of God’s role in our household and let God be Lord of our life and our household. What can you learn from Psalm 127:1? Where is God teaching you trust? What part of your life are you holding God back from being Lord over? David LaLonePastor and Poet |
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Blissfield First United Methodist Church
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