SLEEPING IN CHURCH

Many people sleep during Sunday services. Many people find such behavior unacceptable. Many other people understand the reasons why many people sleep during Sunday services.

In Genesis 1, God works for six days and rests on the seventh. Even God needs a break. Even God needs to take a nap.

Sunday's lection offers us a glimpse of Jesus declaring a break for himself and his discples. Mark 6:31 reads: Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

They did go away to a quiet place and got some rest.

My friends, almost everyone needs a break. I say "almost everyone" because one-third of the world's wealthiest people are born wealthy and they will die wealthier without ever working one minute in their entire lives. This post is not about them.

This post is about people who live from payday to the next; those who do not even get the minimum wage; those who have never had a restful sleep in years; those dead-tired people in the pews who take naps during the pastor's sermon.

Please rest. Even God needs a break. Even God needs a nap.


*image: Rowan Atkinson as "Mr Bean" sleeping in church