Sabbath Rest

It has been too long since my last post. It has been a busy time at work and in the church. We launched the new Taizé inspired service and I was privileged to bring the message. I served on an Emmaus team last weekend and have generally filled most days with some sort of work. I had timely started this “Reflection” only to get sidetracked more than just a few times. Unfortunately, little of that involved Sabbath rest.

The April 9, 2010 issue of the United Methodist Witness had a really good article about Sabbath rest written by the managing editor, Rachel L. Toalson. She cites some words of wisdom by Abraham Heschel in his "The Sabbath: Its Meaning for the Modern Man", telling us that we are allowed six days to wrestle with the world; six days to dominate the earth, but on the Sabbath day “we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in our soul” while we try to dominate our self. Toalson interviewed several pastors for her article and asked them how they “do Sabbath”. Bottom line for them was not to work, to be in prayer, be with family and listen carefully for God’s word. As we all know, we can keep Sabbath on days different than Sunday, and because pastors typically work on Sunday, their Sabbath necessarily is another day of the week. As I read this article, I began wondering how we laity are doing when it comes to Sabbath rest. More particularly, I wondered how I was doing. The answer was not all that encouraging.

There is ample Scripture regarding the Sabbath. We all know the commandment to keep the Sabbath. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God...." (Exodus 20:8-10). Sometimes, we might forget what a really huge blessing the Sabbath rest was for the Israelites. They were a newly freed slave people. Slaves don’t get regular days off. They don’t get vacations, personal leave or anything else we take for granted. They just work every day unless whoever is in charge says otherwise. At first, the Jews took this law deadly serious. A violation meant death by stoning.(Numbers 15:32). But eventually, the Jews took a fairly simple rule and turned it into a legalistic mess that Jesus absolutely hated. It seems like Jesus intentionally healed people on the Sabbath just to get the Pharisees riled up and point out how they had twisted the law. Witness the man who was healed, and took up his mat that he had been laying on. Rather than celebrating the miracle, the Pharisees fussed at the fellow for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. (John 5:9-18). And certainly we remember Jesus telling us that it was all right to do good works on the Sabbath.(Matthew 12:9-21). In fact, Jesus said that he was Lord of the Sabbath, and we take that to mean that Jesus defines the Sabbath, not us. So, it would seem that after reading Scripture and knowing what Jesus did and said, we could figure out how to keep Sabbath. Unfortunately, it just is not that easy for most folks, laity or clergy.

Many clergy I know struggle to keep Sabbath. They know they are supposed to set the example, yet they fail to set boundaries. They are available most all of the time. At the New Church Leadership Institute, many of the church planting pastors gave witness to how the job has a tendency to consume marriages and families. The divorce rate is alarmingly high for those folks. One spouse declared that she had refused to “sacrifice her children on the altar” of the church, leaving me to believe that she and her spouse had really been challenged as they tried to find some balance in their lives. In the Toalson article, several clergy and youth ministers spoke of how they were intentional about Sabbath, and I hope that more of our clergy take that to heart. The laity can do their part by understanding what day their pastor has set aside, and doing all that can be done to shield that time for them.

Laity fall into several categories. Many are able to simply keep the Sabbath as it was intended. Others struggle to various degrees. There are many people who just flat have to work Sundays because their jobs require them to do so. As a result, they fight to find rest of any sort on any day of the week. A full day of rest may just not be possible for them. Others have enslaved themselves to their work just as surely as the Jews were enslaved. It is not that they can’t take a day of rest; they just won’t. Still others, in lay ministry, work a full time job and then make the time to serve. That service can consume much of their free time. We are comforted by Jesus’ telling us that is just fine to do good on the Sabbath, but we can cross the line easily from doing good works to just working. As I examined how I keep Sabbath, I mentioned that I was not encouraged. There was a time in my life when I probably was a workaholic, and I fight that now. I am not very happy at rest, and things that I believe need to be done prey on me. In short, I just have not been very good about Sabbath rest. I plan to do better, and this is the plan:

1. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Every Sabbath moment and all Sabbath rest have to begin there. I want to recognize and understand that better. I want to be more prayerful as I enter into Sabbath time.

2. I will take some liberty, and the clergy can fuss at me. When it comes to matters of faith, we really do nothing perfectly. That probably includes Sabbath rest. Rather than just give up or give in, perhaps we need to learn to start with an imperfect Sabbath rest and build from that. To me, an imperfect Sabbath rest means that I do set aside at least part of a day, or part of several days, to really rest and get away from work and from ministry. That time must include family time. Being consumed by ministry while working at a full time vocation can be damaging to a marriage.

3. I cannot see how, for me, Sabbath rest will not include some time of study. I just feel empty unless I do so at some point in the week. The problem is that I get so deep into study and writing that I can use every evening that way. The result can extend into a series of ten hour days that look too much like a 60+ hour work week. I need to set some limits on how long I work, read and study each day.

If I do these three things: 1.) be intentionally prayerful about Sabbath rest, 2.) Perhaps not have a full day, but at least have part of a day devoted to Sabbath rest, and 3.) limit my work and study, I probably am celebrating Sabbath imperfectly, but that is better than what I have been doing. I hope that my friends in lay ministry take the time for a self examine. Are you getting rest? Do you honor your family with your presence and attention? Do you honor God by keeping his commandment, even imperfectly? Let’s all of us try to do better.

Joy!

Bill