God Says, "Take it Easy"

Most days, I use Our Daily Bread, the booklet of daily reading produced by Radio Bible Class, for my devotions. (Lately, I've added a book of daily readings built around Scripture, Faith Alone, composed of writing by Martin Luther, as well.) Among the many things I enjoy about Our Daily Bread is that with each daily reading, four Biblical chapters are listed. (If you use the online edition, the chapters are linked, although they're from The New International Version, a fine translation, but not my favorite.) Reading four chapters of the Bible each day will get you through the entire Bible in one year's time.

Among today's suggested Bible readings are Exodus 31-33. At the end of chapter 31, God gives instructions for Moses to convey to His people regarding the Sabbath. Exodus 31:12-17 says:

The Lord said to Moses: You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

Reading this was both comforting and discomforting for me.

It's comforting to think that God wants us to rest, wants us to spend time with Him, wants us to use one day a week to recharge our batteries and remind ourselves of God's love and will for us.

But I felt some discomfort as well. You see, this may be the commandment I keep least well. The problem was major in my former parish.

The founder of that congregation, I never had an office or a secretary. Unless I was meeting someone or visiting them, I worked in my home, where work and family duties intermingled twenty-four hours a day. I would decide to work on the succeeding Sunday's bulletin at odd times, any time, for example. The same was true of my sermons. No pastor can really have Sunday as her or his Sabbath, I knew. But when colleagues asked me, "What's your day off?," I couldn't really say.

My new parish is larger than my last (although smaller than my first one, where I served for six years). Since arriving three months ago, I've had three funerals. By comparison, there were four deaths in my previous parish during my entire seventeen years there. We've also had a number of people hospitalized and we have a number of shut-ins.

I'm enjoying life at Saint Matthew immensely and the people are a real joy! But I realized my first week--even before my first week--here, that if I didn't take a Sabbath, a day off in which I spent extra time with God, relaxed, and did things that I can't do the rest of the week, I would be no good to God, my wife, the congregation, or myself.

It hasn't been easy to re-introduce myself to this Sabbath discipline. I've discovered that more than the unique attributes of my former parish lay behind my difficulty with keeping the Sabbath. While watching an episode of Law and Order: SVU with my wife tonight, I felt like I should be doing something. Old, powerful impulses are at play here. During a commercial break, I muted the TV and told Ann about the feeling that I should be working. "When I was a little boy," I told her, "I always wanted a job that would keep me working all the time." She laughed and observed, "You got your wish."

Yes, and I do love it. I love my work and I love being busy. These are blessings from God.

But it's possible for us to receive the blessings of God in less than blessed ways. When work becomes the manner by which we measure our own value, it's a perversion of its blessings. Or when work becomes an ego trip, a means by which you tell yourself how essential you are God isn't glorified. (Worship is happening. But it's at the altar of ME.)

All Christians can see ministry, a service to God and neighbor, in their daily work. But as such, it's not an end in itself. Instead, it's a means by which we express thanks to God for loving us and saving us from sin and death long before we do a scrap of work. One of my favorite passages in the New Testament says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Good works--useful, productive, even laborious ministries--are to be the way of life for all followers of Christ. But we cannot work faithfully or productively without time away from our usual work.

Today, after I read devotions and Scripture and prayed, I ate breakfast. I showered and took care of some household business. I checked the oil in my van. I took a longer walk than usual. I came back and wrote a blog post. I went grocery shopping with my wife and chatted with folks at Kroger. I spoke with my daughter on the phone. Then, I read from a couple of books and watched TV. I took a nap.

I got recharged. I got reconnected to God. That's what Sabbaths do. Thank God for them.