"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
-Matthew 11:28
Ash Wednesday
March 2, 2022
Sweat & Rest on the Journey
Scripture is to be wrestled with, like Jacob at Jabbok. Our dance with divine revelation should sometimes leave us sweaty, having exerted spiritual, intellectual, and physical energy in the service of faithfulness to Spirit. Other times, God’s revelation invites us to rest. Not rest as in disengage, but rest like the land during fallow seasons. Rest that returns us to our full, vibrant humanity and awakens our connection with the Eternal One.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 invites exertion and rest. I am challenged by the text giving divine sanction to Israel’s occupation of land belonging to others. We are the descendants of those whose land was taken by “divine” sanction. We live on land taken from others by “divine” sanction. I don’t believe our God to be a God of conquest and displacement. When I read these verses, wrestling and sweating ensue.
Lent is a time of remembrance, penitence, and preparation. We remember Jesus’s exertion as he fasted and resisted temptation. Divine sweat. We repent of our sin and rejection of Love Beyond Love. We struggle toward new life as Spirit awakens within. Human sweat.
The text also bids us rest. When we were in bondage, harshly treated and afflicted, the God of our ancestors heard our voice and saw our affliction. The Holy One still hears and sees us.
Lent is the time to rest in God’s deliverance. Our cries are heard. We are seen. God delivers us from tyrannical bondage within and without. May God be with us as we sweat and rest during our Lenten journey.
Prayer
Holy One, stay with us on this journey. Amen
Reverend William H. Lamar IV
Pastor
Lent 2022
We invite you to join us on a 40-day journey of prayer, financial sacrifice, physical activity, and spiritual connection.
Each day a new reflection with a scripture and prayer will be posted on the Metropolitan AME Church website and social media to encourage you as we prepare for Resurrection join us as we are reminded, awakened to the great power of God within us, and connect to our role in building with God a world of justice.
Read along with us each day or download the book to read and write along with us offline.