Table of Grace Christian Church

Sabbath

February 27th, 2007

Ex. 20:8-11 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. (NRSV)

 Why are we so inclined to ignore this fourth commandement? I find it interesting that of all ten commandments, only two of them command us to do something instead of to refrain from doing something.  Don’t kill.  Don’t covet.  Don’t steal.  DO honor your parents.  DO keep the Sabbath.  There are lots of things God could tell us to do - but these are the only two that make the “big list”.  And we aren’t very good at following these directions. 

I also find it interesting that this fourth commandment is by far the longest.  A full four verses are written to explain why it is so important for us to keep Sabbath.  Only four WORDS are used to remind us not to kill or steal.  Carving just this one commandment could fill one entire stone tablet. 

Yet we continue to live as if it were not really important.Our culture tells us to WORK WORK WORK.  More, more, more and better all the time.  Women are told we can have it all - family, work, self.  Pastors are told by their congregations (and we believe them) that we should not take time off.  I know more people who end their year with unused vacation time than those who use it all up.  We are conditioned to overwork, overextend, overcommit and generally over-do it.

But it hurts when we hit the wall.  When we are running so fast that the world is whizzing right on by - the rock solid wall of burnout hits hard.  

How can we be true to God’s calling to us to be mothers, pastors, wives, scholars, visionaries, entrepreneurs, friends, daughters, colleagues, preachers, and all the other roles we fill — if we do not rest - if we do not seek God - if we do not take a moment to look at what we’ve done and see that it is good?

For me, I know I am being un-faithful when I look at what I’ve done and am not able to see that it is good.  No matter how much I’ve done or how much affirmation I’ve received or how many of my personal goals I have achieved - I cannot see it as good.  I need rest and I need God.

I finally took an extended Sabbath.  I had overextended myself (for only VERY good reasons!) in every aspect of my life.  I took a week - with no responsibilities.  It wasn’t easy for me to stop.  I felt guilt and a little bit irresponsible.  But I NEEDED time when I was not taking care of anyone else - when I didn’t need to make decisions any bigger than whether I should move from the bed to the couch or maybe take a shower.

I know that I am better at all the things I am doing when I take smaller and more regular Sabbath moments.  It may be a day or an afternoon or even a solitary cup of coffee.  But I need to remember that this is critical to my ability to remain faithful to my calling.  I need to teach those around me that following this fourth commandment is as important to their lives as remembering not to kill or steal.

After all - this practice is modeled for us by the best of the best.  Even GOD took a break.  Yes, the work of creating all of creation was intensive and extensive - but still, God maintained a 6:1 ratio of work to rest!  Why should we expect so much more of ourselves?

 

 

Entry Filed under: Church Planting