Call to Worship
It’s Sunday morning ~ come and find rest!
Lay your burdens down, if only for an hour.
You are surrounded by people who are fighting the good fight.
You are safe in the ark of the Lord.

Unison Prayer
May those who seek work find it;
May those who have work find meaning in it;
May those who work hard find time to rest.
Bless all the laborers in your vineyard.  Amen.

Words of Assurance: Revelation 14:13b, NIV
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil;
for thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory forever.
Amen.

Opening Song: Matt Maher, “Rest”

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30, RSV
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Sunday Sermon

Labor Day is easy to understand: on Labor Day, we celebrate all who work, and give some of them a day off. The irony of Labor Day is that a lot of people work on Labor Day, so if you see one tomorrow, please be nice to them, thank them and if you’re at a restaurant, give them a generous tip. From 7-11s to Dunkins to beaches to malls, they work hard so that we don’t have to.

This year’s Labor Day is as late as Labor Day gets; Labor Day won’t fall on September 7 again for eleven years. While Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, this year summer ended earlier as schools in our area opened for two days last week, followed by three or four days off depending on the school district. Meanwhile, New York City schools don’t open until Thursday, so if you go to the city this week and see a lot of kids, don’t report them!

One of the underlying themes of Labor Day is that it should be an extra day off, because we all need an extra day off. Keep in mind that this day used to be called Sunday, and we got one every week, except for ministers, who somehow have to work every Sunday even though the Lord says not to! But Sunday as a day of rest has fallen by the wayside. It went from too strict to completely ignored, with nary a pause between. The relentless pace of modern life, from an acceleration of activities to the 24-hour news cycle to the reality that texts and emails can arrive at any hour day or night has left us exhausted. And yet despite all this, even a short pause seems long; allow me to demonstrate.

(If you’re reading this at home, it will be harder to do without anyone keeping track, but in person we’re going to enjoy – or endure – a minute of silence. Feel free to pray, or look around, or listen, but don’t move around or do anything that would be considered active, such as drawing or texting or scrolling.)

How did that feel?

Was it just a waste of time? Are you upset because it’s Labor Day Weekend and Pastor just made the service a minute longer than it had to be? Was there any value in that minute? Did it seem like a minute, or did it seem shorter or longer? Do you wish it had been longer? Did you hear anything that you wouldn’t normally hear? Did you feel anything that you wouldn’t normally feel?

One of the problems of our approach to rest is that we view it either as the absence of work or a space to be filled with exercise and entertainment ~ things that may be enjoyable but that treat only the symptoms on the surface. There’s a huge difference between being worn out because we work too hard and worn down because of the things we’re going through and the worries that occupy our minds. Jesus addresses both conditions when he says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This is not to say that it is easy to be a Christian, but that Jesus has a better way, one with less struggle and more surrender, less anxiety and more peace, less fear and more hope. He does give us a burden: the burden of caring for people other than ourselves, which takes us out of our own little worlds. He does give us a yoke: rules of behavior that are more stringent than those found in society. These include the admonitions to forgive, to be merciful, to speak only encouraging words, to put aside the old self and to put on the new. But when we compare this life with the weight of doing it all alone, without God as a partner, it is in fact lighter.

If we find the strength to surrender, here are ten things we might be able to give up:

Being busy all the time
Impressing others with the way we look
Chasing the Almighty Dollar
Torturing ourselves over the past
Worrying that we will never be enough
Being paralyzed by the news
Feeling pessimistic
Thinking we have no purpose
Struggling to find answers to questions that are beyond us
Losing sleep over all this anxiety

And if we can give up all these things, or even some, think of what kind of rest we might experience ~ the rest of a calm and quiet soul, suffused with the peace that passes understanding.

The world offers the phrases “Netflix and Chill” or “spa weekend” and says, “You deserve this.” In contrast, the Lord offers us gifts that we haven’t earned and don’t deserve, simply because he loves us. And when we experience this perfect peace, if only for a moment, we suddenly realize how much better it is than what the world has to offer: how much more fulfilling, more energizing, more liberating: as the Lord himself puts it, “rest for our souls.”

We have already found time for the Lord this Sunday, and received a blessing. May we find time again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and build a ladder of rest that stretches all the way to heaven, where we will experience perfect peace, free from labor, free from worry, free from pain: peace all around us, peace flowing through us, the energizing, eternal rest that only God can give. Amen.

Closing Song: Bethel Music feat. We the Kingdom, “Peace”

Benediction: Isaiah 30:15, NIV
In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength. Amen.