July 4

Sabbath

            Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

            Exodus 20:8-11

            Most Americans have the day off today in order to celebrate the founding of our country.  There will be parties, fireworks, sleeping in and projects around the house…all the sorts of things that come with time off.

            One of the 10 commandments that God gave to the Israelites involved taking a regular day off from laboring each week.  Six days God worked and on the seventh He rested.  That is to be our pattern as well.  Keeping the sabbath carries just as much weight as the other Commandments; it is on par with “Do not murder,” “Do not commit adultery,” and “Do not worship idols.” 

            We are not good at Sabbath.  We are not good at rest.  We tend to interpret “Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy,” as “Go to church and then work on the things that you don’t have time for during the rest of the week.”  Americans like to boast that they work hard and play hard…there is not room for rest in that.

            Rest is giving your body and your mind down time.  It is a chance to step back from our labors and recognize that our effort is not the only thing driving this world.  God is in control, not us.  Sabbath is intended to be a time of renewal and reconnection with God and others that we may overlook throughout the busyness of our work week.  It is to be a time of listening to God and allowing ourselves to be renewed so that we can tackle the challenges of life.

            I can hear the protests forming:

·         I don’t have time to take a day off from working.  I have too much to do.  Then cut some things out of your life.  Being busy and being useful are wonderful…but when they get in the way of being with God and receiving the fullness of what He has for us, they are known as idols.

·         Sundays are really busy for me.  Who says that a Sabbath has to be Sunday?  Between church and youth group, I am usually working from 9-4 on Sundays.  There is no way that is restful and rejuvenating.  The Commandment says work 6 days and sabbath on the 7^th.  Find a different day.  Sometimes work schedules are crazy and the only thing that we can manage is a half-sabbath or two during the week.  Not ideal, but better than nothing.

·         I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.  Fair, but that is no reason to not try.  Start off by getting a bible and a journal.  Find a quiet place with no music or videos playing.  Read a passage.  Talk to God about it.  Write what you hear.  After you have done that for a while, go do something fun.  Restoration is about praying and playing.  Enjoy God and His creation.  Eat some good food.  Read that book that you’ve been pining for.  Go play Ultimate Frisbee.  Pray and Play.

·         Three words:  I Have Kids.  This is the biggest challenge to honoring the sabbath that I have ever found, and I don’t have great answers to how to do this well.  Our kids do not stop needing us, just because the Sabbath rolls around.  The feeding, cleaning, therapy and nurturing of our kids has to continue…we don’t get to just stop being parents and go off to play for a day.  We have found a few things that help as we are moving through this season with our children.

                                    Have fun with the kids.  Play games together.  Have a picnic.  Watch a fun movie.  Find some way to laugh together.

                                    Set aside some space to be quiet and pray.  This requires being able to hand the kids off to a spouse or friends or sitters for a while…or grab a few minutes while they are asleep.  You can pray while in the shower or while doing dishes or raking leaves.  You can pray while driving or while sitting in the waiting room.  God knows the realities of our lives; He will meet us when we look for Him.

                                    Guard the day.  Say no to adding extra things on the Sabbath.  Do your shopping on a different day.  Maybe prepare two dinners on the previous day if cooking is not enjoyable for you.  Schedule regular appointments on different days of the week.  There is treasure available if we allow ourselves to have the time and space to look for it.

A moment to reflect:

How could you have a Sabbath this week?