Vancouver First United Methodist Church

As we celebrate the end of our Don’t Stop Me Now sermon series, I am doing something that might seem a little contradictory: I am on vacation. I have stopped! But one of the things I have learned is that if we want to keep going, we have to stop sometimes.

Our culture often tells us to go, go, go! We celebrate being busy. We fill our calendars. We convince ourselves that working harder and doing more is the only way to be successful, accomplish our goals, or make a difference. But the truth is, none of us can keep going indefinitely. You can't keep walking forever. Eventually you have to sleep. You have to eat. You have to change your socks! And you can't keep working forever either—even when the work is important. Even when people are depending on you. Even when what you are doing is making a difference.

Rest isn't something we earn when all the work is finished. (Because, let's face it, when is all the work ever finished?) Rest is part of the rhythm God created for us. Sabbath is important enough to make it into the Ten Commandments. The Jewish tradition has taken Sabbath seriously for thousands of years, developing practices that intentionally set apart time when work stops. Jesus regularly steps away from the crowds and the demands of ministry to pray and rest. And then there is one of my favorite biblical moments: Elijah is exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to give up—and before God asks anything more of him, Elijah is given food and allowed to sleep. Sometimes the faithful thing to do really is to have a snack and take a nap.

Rest changes our perspective. It gives our minds room to wander and our bodies time to recover. It creates space for creativity, joy, relationships, and prayer. And when we return to the work before us, we often return with energy and perspective we simply didn't have before.

There is so much good stuff God is doing in our midst right now, and there is so much ahead of us. If we want to fully participate in it, we can't just go, go, go. We also need to rest. We need vacations and Sabbath. We need time with people we love. We need walks and books and hobbies and naps. We even need time when we accomplish absolutely nothing.

Don’t Stop Me Now doesn't mean we never stop. It means learning when to move and when to rest, knowing that God is present in both.

Blessings,

Pastor Eilidh