First Baptist Church on Littleton Common    

Idle Moments

Luke 10: 38-42

Imagine that is a sultry summer day.  The temperature hovers in the mid-nineties and the humidity just hangs in the air.   You have before you a to-do list with five different things on it but you have three more “shoulds” floating around in your head.   The good and healthy news is that you have also intentionally set aside an idle moment in your day. 

You plan to take a walk – not a power walk – but a leisurely stroll.   You come to a garden -  alone – or maybe with a loved one – or maybe with friends. You leave your cell phone, your Ipod or your PDA in the car and you begin your stroll down the windy path.   This isn’t just any garden – but an arboretum – where there are acres of trees, plants, and shrubs.  There are apple trees, gravel paths and trails that lead you through an oasis of colors and frangrances, through garden patches with names such as Hosta Garden, Butterfly garden, and the Nursery.   You walk slowly  and you enter a shade garden that welcomes you with strawberry pink and white impatiens laid out before you like a runner that welcomes a bride as she makes her way down the aisle.  

You see an entire congregation of hostas with names like Sugar, Tiara, Royalty and Blue Moon.  The leaves are round, oblong and some are heart shaped.  Some are small and others very large with white, gold and green margins.   Out of the corner of your eye you see a small stream of water that is almost hidden underneath the greenery and you stoop down next it and you notice that the water is moving forward ever so gently.    

You continue leisurely around the path and the warm sun beats down on your shoulders. You and your friends may exchange an idle thought or two, or you may have moments of silence as you drink in the color and the sounds.   For a moment you stop and hold your breath, because before you is a small grey bunny rabbit, who has also stopped in his tracks and is staring right back at you.  You look at him – he looks at you.  His ears wiggle.  You listen – he listens – and you wonder - who will move first?  The two of you have a stare-down before he scampers into the bushes. 

You continue on by the Butterfly garden, where bunches of Bee Balm and Yellow Black-eyed Susans line the gravel path.  You pause again and watch the tiniest of butterflies, with wings of yellow that compliment the yellow of the Black Eyed Susan.  She flies back and forth between all the flowers and then stops on a yellow petal and you notice how her wings beat slowly as well - and you ponder what it is like to move that slowly – to float and be held by something so gentle yet so strong. 

~~

 Kirk Jones says in his book Rest in the Storm that we all need “to float occasionally in the waters of contentment instead of always scaling mountains of accomplishment.”[1]  For optimum emotional, physical and spiritual health we need more idle moments in our lives.  Idle moments are those times when we stop all the activity and agitation in our mind and simply float in the hands of God. Experiencing those simple moments of tranquility – that freedom from agitation of mind - where we are held by God who is gentle with us and yet so strong. 

Kirk Jones also reminds us that we need “rest and play to temper the activism and labor” in our lives. [2]  And so on this Labor Day weekend,  which marks the unofficial end of summer – and sometimes a change in our thinking about vacation, rest, work and school  – we pause to think about being balanced and about self care. 

Tomorrow we observe Labor Day – which for some will just be another Monday off from work.   Labor Day used to be a time when we honored “workers” and everyone got the day off and everything was closed.  Today we seem to revere “work” in general and on Labor Day we might go to the mall which will be open - to spend our hard earned money where we will find many people “working”.  People are working harder and longer and some have multiple jobs in order to simply pay the bills and put food on the table.   This is unavoidable and often necessary during the very difficult economic times we are in.  

What do you think about the work of your head, heart and your hands?   What do you think about your job & about your vocation – because those two words and their meaning about working are very different.

Your vocation is your calling. Your vocation is that which you are called by God to do, that which brings you deep joy and satisfaction.  It is more than being happy – but having a sense of an abiding joy when you are doing what you were created to do.    Your vocation may or may not be that which brings in any income.  

Your job is your occupation that may bring income into your life.  You may not like your job,  but you do it to provide for your family.   You also do many jobs in your day that may not bring in any income – but you do them because you have to and you need to. 

It is a blessing and you are fortunate if your vocation or calling is the same as your job.   You may be called to teach children and you may be a teacher by profession.  You may be a business person – who is called to teach – and you teach children in Sunday School or mentor them in Scouts.   You may be called to work with and care for God’s good earth which you do in your garden or as you advocate for the environment – even though your job is in retail.   You may be called to be a musician – which may or may not bring you any income – but the sharing or playing of music is an expression of your heart and soul. 

Jesus had a job as a carpenter.  But he was called by God to be Savior, Teacher and Healer.   He understood the difference between the two and he balanced the time and energy that he gave to those roles – with restful, restorative and healing moments.  Moments when he cleared his mind of everything and he wasn’t doing ministry or working.   Just idle, restful and holy moments by the mountains, or the sea, in the back of the boats or in gardens.

The little story from Luke today – shows Mary and Martha trying to find that same balance in their lives.   The usual job for women in New Testament times was to take care of the home, make the food and serve the men.   Martha was doing her job but Mary gave in to her calling to be a disciple.  Mary simply sat down at the feet of Jesus and listened to what he was teaching. 

The story tells us that Martha was doing the work and was distracted.  Mary was sitting and listening.   Martha wasn’t happy with her sister - but Martha was also not wrong in her working.  She was doing what was expected of women in their culture and times.   

Jesus however knew the state of the heart, mind and spirit of both Mary and Martha.  He knew what was going on inside them – because he knew the internal conversations and ponderings that both Mary and Martha were having with themselves – just as he knows those same internal conversations and thoughts rummaging around in our own heads.  He knew that

 Mary had a heart that was focused and prepared to hear that good Word and he also knew that Martha was distracted by all her work and all her tasks - but whose heart also longed to be closer to God.  

Martha appeals to Jesus and wants him to direct Mary back to work.   But Jesus doesn’t do that.  Knowing the many things running through her mind he says to Martha:  

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things – but only one thing is needed and Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her”.   The emphasis is on the “one”.

Judy Haley, a Professor of Greek noted that the Greek words in these five verses play upon this numerical theme -  and that the choice and placement of the words emphasize the contrast between the many things going on with Martha versus the one thing that Mary was doing.  The one thing was the listening and the being.   

This story of these two Biblical sisters can remind us to understand our own work – whether it is our vocation or our job –and pay attention to the times that we are distracted by too many things.   We to need to slow down and even schedule in times of rest and reflection – where we just be the person God created us to be.  I have been reminded that we are created as human beings – not human doings.   God loves us as we are – not because of what we do.  This is the unconditional love of God - which we often forget.  That unconditional love is called grace and there is nothing we can do to deserve it – just accept it.      

As we psychologically transition this week into fall – it would be emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy to set aside more idle moments – times for floating and be carried within the arms of God, arms that are as gentle as they are strong.  Arms that hold and uphold - just like the petal of the black eyed Susan that the tiny butterfly was resting on in the arboretum.  

You watch the butterfly resting there for a moment before she lifts herself off the petal and disappears into the air.  You continue your way along the gravel path.   As you make the final turn on the loop you are greeted by a cream colored golden puppy - that bounds over towards you with eyes full of expectation and a tail that wags at a warp speed.  You stoop down to greet her and she is all over you – full of unconditional love.   Her owner stops as well and you begin to talk and you learn that she is a three-month old puppy named Eva.  You talk together about the puppy and the weather and the humidity before Eva bounds off around the curve to see what or whom she will discover next.  You part ways with the owner and as you finish your walk – you ponder how unconditional love breaks down barriers and you wonder how you could use cream colored three-month old puppies in your vocation – and take one with you everywhere you stroll. 

You smile and thank God for the unconditional love that he has for you and you say a prayer of thanksgiving and gratitude.  You promise to love others with that same love –  as you leave the garden and make your way towards your car.   You have had idle moments that are healing and renewing - ones that will strengthen you for that which you are called to do as a disciple of Jesus Christ and as one who is loved unconditionally by our Creator God.

Amen.