My first inclination when faced with a “how-to” question regarding my faith is to turn to the Author of the most amazing story and follow as closely as possible the example Christ lived and taught.
Let us continue to follow the teachings of Jesus to discover how he built his church in order to learn how we might build up our own worshipping communities. Jesus’ teachings are becoming harder to understand. While we may not understand at first glimpse the ‘why,’ if we trust the ‘how,’ Jesus will lead us to a better way. Pay close attention as we continue to uncover how Jesus built The Church.
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
Mark 4: 35-38a, NIV
I’ve become known as a ‘napper.’
This hobby, or great gift I have, did not come naturally to me. As a young boy, I hated naps. At the slightest suggestion that I needed to take a nap, I would become frantic; the idea of putting away my toys and laying in my bed during the daytime, and worse than anything being quiet, made me nearly nauseous. I was much too active a boy to give in to the notion of rest. There was always too much I wanted to do, too many things I’d yet to accomplish.
When my daughter was born, I discovered the magic of napping. At first, it was a means to an end: when my daughter was too fussy to fall asleep on her own, I would hold her until she fell asleep. Then, not wanting to wake her, I’d simply fall asleep holding her. When I would stir, she would stir, so I learned to lay still. She wouldn’t settle down until I’d taken off my glasses and settled my breathing. So, naturally, I couldn't fake being asleep - I had to actually sleep in order for her to actually sleep. And thus began my avocation in daily (or as often as possible!) napping.
One Sunday recently as I was leaving church after worship, an older member approached me asking for some time for a meeting. I replied that a day later in the week would work well for me - but not now, not right after worship. My Sunday routine is to head home after worship, eat lunch, and take my afternoon nap before returning to the church for Sunday evening activities. She seemed shocked, and replied, “You take regular naps? In the middle of the day? At your age??”
Yes. Indeed I do. And Jesus was prone to do the same. No matter how bad life can seem, no matter how big our problems or the size of the storms of this life that rage, there is always time for a nap. Sleeping is not a ‘non-activity.’ It is not simply the absence of doing. Sleeping is an activity in itself, with purpose and meaning and many benefits. Science has affirmed this in many studies over the past century, and we now understand generally that for our minds to turn learning into knowing we must sleep to allow for myelination, the process by which a protective insulating layer forms around nerve fibers in the brain. Sleep is essential to life.
With all of this defense of napping, one must admit that the timing of Jesus’ naps is not always easy to understand. On a boat headed across the Sea of Galilee following his sermon to those gathered around the harbor, Jesus takes a nap in the comfortable nook of the ship’s stern just as a storm threatens the crew. With wind and rain sending the disciples into a panic, they awaken Jesus with a simple, yet direct, question:
The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Mark 4: 38b-41, NIV
I have two of the sweetest dogs in the whole world among my household. These two rascally pups, a seven-year-old female Plott Hound and a four-year-old male Beagle/Blue Heeler mix, sleep within arms reach of my side of the bed in their individual crates every night. They enjoy the security of their own spaces, and willingly climb into their beds each night after their blessings (yes, my wife and I put our dogs to bed each night with a prayer and a special blessing!) and cuddle up with their blankets and plush toys. However, the first sounds I hear each morning, most often even before my alarm sounds, is the whining whistle of the older pup begging to be let out for breakfast and her outside time. And, just as regular as every other rhythm of life, I quickly ‘shush’ her and she quietens down for a little while, only to start the whistle up again soon. To her, it’s as if I don’t even care that she’s hungry and needs to go outside. It’s as if my rest is an act of selfish indulgence. It’s as if I reply, “Quiet! Be still!” It’s as if I question her faith that I will eventually let her out.
What my sweet aging pup doesn’t understand, after years of this daily routine, is that I’m not ignoring her, or selfish, for shushing her. And I’m not questioning her faith in being let out when I chide her back to sleep until my alarm goes off. I follow the same rhythm every day, and every day she does as well, and tomorrow we’ll do it all over again. The difference between the two of us is perspective. I know the importance of sleep, and the importance of maintaining the order of our routine. She only knows what her immediate needs are, and her anxiety and fear and doubt cloud her understanding of my reactions. Jesus’ perspective is so much greater than that of his disciples on that boat being tossed by the sea. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, all around, here and now, and yet the disciples are more worried about themselves and their tiny boat than all the ministry they had witnessed and all the ministry they were called to. With a little more perspective they’d have been confident that the storms of the sea, just like the storms of life, could never prevent them from living into Jesus’ calling. Yes, even the wind and the waves obey him, but stubborn disciples were a much harder lot to convince.
The next step in building our church, building up the communities of faith that surround each of us, is to take a nap. In the midst of trying to fix every problem we encounter, we wear ourselves thin. In an effort to keep the whole world under control, we forget that we neither made any of it or gave any of it life. We are created things, and we are not in control of Creation. That is the role of the Creator. When the worries and problems, dangers and fears of this world become too much, take a nap. Rest in the peace that comes from knowing our God in Christ is in control. None of the problems you experience need to be solved by you. Give your cares to Jesus and simply rest. It’s literally what Jesus would do.
And don’t worry about what happens when you wake up. As it turns out, Jesus has much more to teach us ahead… and there’ll be plenty of time for your energy to be used in more active ways. For now, just sleep on it.
J.M.D.