Sermon Series: Rest is Resistance

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f you use this series you must credit Tricia Hersey’s authorship and Book, as it is foundational for all of the work you see here. Please credit Tricia Hersey “Rest is Resistance” and Pastor Katy Stenta for liturgy. 

Tricia Heresy
Founded the Nap Ministry, Information Here:
https://thenapministry.wordpress.com

You can become a Patreon for her work here: https://www.patreon.com/napministry

Can you encourage your congregation to rest? What is the culmination of this season? Is it going to be less committees? A period of prayer only? A shift to retiring/merging congregations? A decision to take every 4th or 5th Worship off to just rest? How can you be more sanctuary?

In some ways this work is the sequel to the Sermon Series This Here Flesh, if This Here Flesh is about Emobodied Liturgy (liturgy meaning the work of the people) then this is about, what do we do with our bodies, after we learn that they are in fact liturgy. (I am sure it works vice versa as well)

How are you going to model this in your Worship? Will you encourage pillows and blankets? Put moments for stretches in worship? Hopefully at least time to close your eyes and do nothing, to listen to the birds, music, to do nothing.

Cultivate rest–do what you can to encourage sleep, encourage Sabbath, sanctuary.

Who would come to Church if it was a place of Rest?

Less is more

Not because we need to work more, but because being is more important than doing

These Questions might help your preaching* But may be “too much” for your congregation, that’s ok, meet them where they are at. The political issues are real, try to address them as much as you can. Tricia Hersey talks a lot of being in the world but not of the world, this language works well in the church.

Buy at your local Bookstore or from the source: https://thenapministry.com
Or https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/9780316365215?shipto=US&curcode=USD&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwg-GjBhBnEiwAMUvNW3E605Xb5Z3YQCU3VpR7G2ftkRkkrzY2V3zvbsuDueBktCjAIjipZxoCymwQAvD_BwE

Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto Book by Tricia Hersey


Week 1 “What would it feel like to be consistently rested?”p. 56
Come & Rest with Me
Genesis 1:27-2:3 So God created humankind* in his/their image,  in the image of God he created them;*
   male and female he created them. 
God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
Psalm 46:10a Be still, and know that I am God
Notes



Week 2 “What does exhaustion look like for me?” p. 56
Broken Humanity: Scarcity & Hate
Hosea 5:15-6:6 I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor:
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.”What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early.Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Psalm 3:1-6 1 O LORD, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. 3 But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. 5 I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me. 6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.
Notes

Week 3 “What would it feel like to be consistently rested?” p. 56
Bounty
Psalm 34:8-10 Taste and see how good YHWH is! Happiness comes to those who take refuge in YHWH. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after wind.
Notes

Week 4 “Who was I before the terror of the toxic systems? p. 56
(W)holistic Self
Psalm 127:7 In vain you get up early and stay up late, sweating to make a living, because God loves us and provides for us even while we sleep.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Mark 4:36-41 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
Notes

Week 5 “What have you been told about your worth and existence?” p. 56
Worth and Blessedness
Isaiah 14:3-4 When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased! How his insolence has ceased!
Psalm 62:1 In God alone my soul finds rest, for my deliverance comes from God, who alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress: I will never be shaken.
Notes

Week 6 “How do you make space to transcend the confines of a system that prays to the call of ‘profit over people’?” p. 56
Grief & Healing
1 King 19:4-7 But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”
Romans 8:22:26 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Notes

Week 7 “Who do I want to be?” p. 56
Restoration & Liberation
Psalm 23:2 or Psalm 23:6 Surely Goodness and Mercy Psalm 23
John 14:(1-7)27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Notes

Parenting Decolonization: Normalize not giving fuck what white folks think about how we get into spaces. Regal Picture of Toni Morrison with her gray hair pulled back in a black shirt with a purple sweater overlaying it. “The function, the very serious function of racism, is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaingin, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language, so you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly, so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Someone says that you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary There will always be one more thing.” Notice NO TIME AT ALL FOR REST in Racism, for ANYONE, Most of all the Black people and POC. (Toni Morrison was known for not giving her time to White Academia, because she was trying to save as much of it as possible, she got up super early before her family to write)


3 yo daughter, pointing to a broke toy: “We can fix it?” Me: Of Cours.” Her: “Why do we fix it?” Me: Umm..to make it work again?” Her: “No. Because we love it.” Me: *silently contemplates the theology my toddler just taught me* Posted by @Kylebeshears

Other Resources
Raising of Dorcas/Tabitha: Did She want to Get up?
4,000 Weeks
Doing Laundry While Drowning
This Here Flesh
Trauma Informed Yoga
Letters from the Ecotone: Ecology, Theology and Climate Change
The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy And “Women’s Work”
More Memes/Notes that I am adding along the way

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1. I am more than halfway funded! Any amount $10-$200 helps. Receipts available!

A 1950s (?) Redhead luxuriating… reading a newspaper and drinking tea in bed. “They say follow your dreams..so I’m in bed. The signature looks like it is AHS

Rest is Resistance Week 1

Illustration of Pooh sitting among the Trees @A_AMilne “What I like doing best is Nothing,” said Christopher Robin. “How do you do Nothing?” asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long tim. “IT means just going along, listening o all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” “Poh!” said Pooh. -A.A. Milne.

Week 1 “What would it feel like to be consistently rested?”  p. 56
Genesis 1:27-2:3
Psalm 46:10a
Come & Rest with Me
(I am using these Biblical passages to name that God commands us to Keep the Sabbath and the first thing God does when God creates us, is to just hang out with God, to rest and be with God. However, we demand work, creation and productivity out of each other, instead of breathing, care, community and doing nothing)

Call to Worship will be practiced with Breath Prayers: the hope will be that they can be a little deeper and longer as the sermon series goes on. Here is information about breath prayers that you can educate your congregation on through word or reading material https://www.asacredjourney.net/how-to-practice-breath-prayer/

Call to Worship (Breath Prayer)
(Breathe in) Be Still
(Breathe Out) and Know that I am God

Prayer of the Day
God invites us to rest
to spend time
to sit
to be still
the first invitation
before we move, spoke, thought
God said
Let us do nothing
together.
God Let us remember that,
as we practice Sabbath.

Call to Confession: Let us rest our burdens with God.

Confession: God, we confess that we are not good at resting. We do not even know how to do nothing. And, we confess, if it is difficult to do nothing by ourselves, it is even harder to do it together. Yet your invitation–to be still, in community, is beautiful and daring. Help us to hear it, hold it, and savor it; not with guilt but with sacredness we pray. Amen

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News: God is always awaiting to restore us, so we can proclaim the Good News: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Suggested Rest Practices for worship
Color Together: Benefits of Coloring, Spiritual Coloring Thoughts
Close Your Eyes and Do Nothing together for 30 seconds
Do another Breath Prayer (like the one above)
P. 34 Body Scan breathing exercise (might be better week 2)
Taize: Taize Community, Meditative Taize Singing
Stair Step Breathing: https://www.pesi.com/blog/details/1885/coping-ahead-of-anxiety-with-stair-step-breathing
Yoga

Notes

If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1

@iconawrites “Are you ‘burned out” or are you having a reasonable reaction to a never-ending barrage of bad news which you can do very little about.
(Tricia Hersey recommends Social Media breaks, and taking care of your full self and remaining rooted int community over trying to save the world)

Rest As Resistance Week 1 Notes

“We have been trained to believe that everything we accomplish is is because of our own pushing alone. This is false because there is a spiritual dimension that exists in all things and in everything we do. To understand that we are spiritual beings navigating life in a material world opens us to the possibility os rest as a spiritual practice. Our entire living is a spiritual practices. Much of our resistance to rest, sleep and slowing down is an ego problem….We can do nothing alone.” p. 18

“All of culture is in collaboration for us not to rest. This includes: K-12 public education, higher education, faith and religious denominations, medical industry and not-for-profits, activist organizations, corporations.” p. 24

“We are divine. Our bodies are divine and a site of liberation. Wherever our bodies are, we can find, snatch, and center rest.” p. 26

“When we honor our bodies via rest, we are connecting to the deepest parts of ourselves. We are freedom-making.” p. 26 

“You are worthy of rest. We don’t have to earn rest. Rest is not a luxury, a privilege, or a bonus we must wait for once we are burned out.” p. 28

“I want you to firmly plant yourself inside your imagination Take refuge in the beauty and power of community care and our daydreaming…Rest is a portal. Silence is a pillow. Sabbath our lifeline. Pausing our compass. Get your healing. Push back. Slow down. take a nap.” p. 32

P. 34 Body Scan breathing exercise

Pentecost

Romans 8:14-39
Acts 4:1-4

Call to Worship 
All Creation is laboring
God is even now creating
The first fruits of the Spirit are Here
We are freed into Jesus Christ
Come let us rejoice with creation
Come let us worship God

Call to Confession: Let all who long to be refreshed by the Holy Spirit confess themselves to God

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that I do not always see all of creation laboring for Good. I confess that it is hard to find God. And it is easy to think that God does not want me. That I am orphaned instead of adopted by God. Forgive me. Teach me that God longs for an ecosystem of love and understanding. Continue to send your Holy Spirit to intercede and encourage I pray. (Silent Confession)

Assurance of Pardon: The Holy Spirit is with us, loving us and reconciling us, know the good news:  In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.  Amen. 

Prayer of Dedication:  Let us go into the world remembering that God is creating and birthing the world towards good, and participate in that as much as we can. Amen. 

Narrative Lectionary: God’s Love Poured Out

Romans [3:28-28-30] 5:1-11
Matthew 11:28-30

Call to Worship
God welcomes all of us into God’s arms
Come let us rest with God
God comforts us and eases our burdens
God calls us home
Come let us worship our mother God
Come let us worship God

Call to Confession: God calls us all to confess our faith, for faith is enough, come let us confess ourselves to God

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that sometimes we do not feel like we are good enough to be your children. We shy away, not convinced that faith is really enough. We are worried that we have the endurance or the hope that we need. We are convinced that we have not suffered enough. Help us when we are weary or scared, to remember, that you walk with us and are gentle and humble with us to ease our burden, and that you want to ease our burden, like any mother would. Comfort us when we feel anxious or afraid we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: God says God will give us rest for our souls, know the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Let us go into the world remembering that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have accessed Grace, and that grace is even now spilling out into the world. How can we not share it with everyone we meet? Let us go and do so we pray. Amen.

Mother’s Day Prayers

Call Me Mara (a bitter prayer)

Call me Mara Today,
God Because I am bitter,
and the back of my throat aches
from too much crying,
as the grief hits me again,
and again

And the place I call home
is a nation that likes to “protects” the unborn,
but locks up immigrants
& Black and Brown kids,
and cannot
strike that will not feed thousands of children,

Corners the the market on formula
and then doesn’t regulate it properly,
stops the payments for vulnerable families,

totally and actively
destroys queer
bodies
children
and families,

and reopened the nation
before any babies could receive vaccinations.

Call me Mara,
God, Embittered
that people want “young families” don’t come to church
in a culture where parents,
especially mothers, are expected to do every single thing on their own,
and are judged for every imperfection*

Call me Mara, God,
For I am broken;

When there is a market for bulletproof backpacks,
and its somehow acceptable for THIRD GRADERS learn Tourniquet techniques, God no!

when the news is about the latest, becomes background noise
domestic violence
and white supremacy is acceptable
And there are no warning signals are put out for terrorism

Lord God Almighty, Seems we that we are stunned..unable respond to violence.
Call me Mara, God. Because despite voting, and letters, and marching and the sobs of countless families…

Not

one

thing

has

changed.

Call
us Mara
God.

Because, these too are our Children
And tomorrow, my throat will still be sore from crying and I will still taste the bitterness of tears–that’s what home tastes like now.

I bet you want to be called Mara too, God. Because they are your children too!

We are all Mara.

Selah! Mara, Selah! Amen.

*And then we say Happy Mother’s Day as if its a “Good” thing and not further gender violence

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

2023 version

Radical Mother’s Day Confession

God, we confess we want some kind of Hallmark Mother’s day. But this is a complicated holiday, where not everyone is included, where people have complicated relationships with their mothers, where those of other sexualities and genders are forgotten or mocked or excluded.

Or those for whom mother’s day is just too hard or lonely–

For whatever reason.

We confess that we breeze over those who deal with infertility or who do not define themselves by their gender or motherhood, and we too often only value “women” by how many children then have produced–and place even more value if they have produced sons, even today.

We confess that all too often we through in God as mother as a token, and then move on. We confess that we throw in Mary as meek and mild, which she is never described as, and then move on. And we admit that we do not honor Mother’s day roots as a feminist, empowering and a day to start to bring equity to all of the genders. Forgive us, and teach us to do better we pray. In your nonconforming, mothering child Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Anti-Mother’s Day Prayer: Supporting Abortion

More Traditional Mother’s Day Confession

Mother’s Day Litany

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

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Matthew 25

Jesus: when I am hungry
Don’t choke me

When I knock on your doors
Don’t shoot me

When I seek Gender affirming care
Don’t legislate me

When I seek asylum
Don’t arrest me

When I’m an orphan
Don’t put me to work illegally

When I’m suspected by police
Don’t kill me

When I’m sick
Don’t tell me to do yoga

When I’m in mental crises
Don’t call the cops

When I’m lonely
Don’t hand me a pamphlet

When I do sex work
Don’t judge me

When I am frail
Don’t ignore me

When I am imprisoned
seek my freedom

When I hear the racism so loud, if you notice
Interrupt

When I am a rape victim
Listen and believe

Do not ask where was
When you reach my Kingdom

You met me, it is I
I am within all of your human siblings

You have but to look
You treat me, how you treat those you consider the least of these

How I long to hold them under my wing
And give them the care they need

NL143 Gospel as Salvation

Romans 1:1-17
Matthew 9:10-13

Call to Worship
God you call us to one another
You call us together
God your Gospel is for all
Come let us celebrate Good News and Praise God today

Call to Confession: God calls everyone to confess, for everyone is invited to find comfort in God. Let us know that nothing is too big or small for God to hold.

Prayer of Confession: God I confess that I do not always long to see people the way that Paul does in this letter. I sometimes have trouble finding the wisdom in those who are different from me. Too often I use the word different to mean that I do not like something, instead of a word of wonder. Forgive me, teach me to remember that the Gospel is a word of wonder, teach me not to be ashamed, help me to celebrate the wonders of your creation, prayer. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, Jesus longs to be with us, and forgives us as soon as we asks, so we can be assured of the comfort: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God may we go into world, longing to see one another through the eyes of God we pray. Amen.