"Resting with God"

So…

What are you having for dinner today?

It’s Mother’s Day, so mom is not cooking, right?

It is her day to relax, chill, have a glass of her favorite beverage, and to remember why in heaven’s name she thought having kids would be a fun!

It is, or at least it should be, a Sabbath day!

Yep. 

A “ceasing” day, since that is what “Shabbot” means in the original Hebrew language. A day where the focus is on restorative rest, not on work. 

And let me assure you, a mom’s work is never done, well, except for today!

And gentlemen, I know what we say about our heavily burdened spouses, that they are not our mothers. All I have got to say is “happily wife, happy life”. You hearing me?

One of the challenges in the Farley household is that like the Levites in the Temple, on almost all holidays, especially Sunday holidays, I get to work. 

So, as a family, we have often extended the particular celebration backwards to Saturday or forward to Monday so that we can all enjoy the day together. 

But since this Mother’s Day will be without the kids and grandkids since they are all in Albany, it means it is just Sue and I. 

And so, while Sue is not my mother, there are gifts for today. 

And since her birthday is this Thursday when she will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of her 23rd birthday, even more gifts are on the way.

What a week!

What could make it better? 

Well, what happens at all your celebrations? Food! Yes, food! Maybe something grilled outdoors since the weather is nice, and maybe a cake?

How about some fish sandwiches while sitting on the ground with all your besties…and Jesus!

Remember, if you were here last Sunday, that part of the reason we can cease to work and rest on Sabbath is because we have prayed the Lord’s prayer, saying “give us this day our daily bread”.

And in this story from Mark’s gospel, we are reminded why we can take seriously God’s promise to care for us.

Because God’s got us! Or to personalize it, God’s got you!

God created all that is and then God rested. And we are commanded to rest as well. And we can rest, because God’s got us!

It took a while for the disciples to get that! 

That no matter what, no matter the circumstances, God’s had them! 

Just try to understand what the disciples - like any normal human being I think - were struggling with. 

They had seen miracles of healing. They had seen water changed into wine. They had even seen demons cast out.

They saw a glimpse of who Jesus really was!

But then confronted by the simple task of feeding that hungry Mother’s Day crowd, they were baffled.

Okay, it wasn’t Mother’s Day, but you get the point. 

Only 5,000 men were waiting for dinner. Yeah, and how many women and children? Just throw a few more burgers and dogs on the grill, right?

What they were struggling to understand was that: God’s got you!

This particular episode has not yet come up in The Chosen, the TV show about Jesus and the disciples. We ended season 2 last Sunday with Jesus about to share the Sermon on the Mount.

But I can see it coming.

“Jesus, these people need to leave and go find something to eat”, to which Jesus replies, “Yyou feed them”. What?

I’m sure when we see this scene portrayed on the screen the disciples are going to lose their minds. I would. You would!

Because they struggled to understand who they were with!

Who this was that was their master! And what that meant.

What they found when they looked was five loaves and two fish! 

Sounds like a banquet, doesn’t it. A feast. A sabbath meal.

It turns out, that in the presence of the creator even the little we have is enough.

So, let mom sit, put her feet up and take a rest, enjoy a Sabbath, a ceasing.

And you go and give thanks that God in his great love and generosity has put her into your lives. 

Because…

God’s got you!

Amen.