Remember the Sabbath

A variety of circumstances have had me recalling God's commandment to keep the sabbath.  First, it was the dizzying flexibility of a ministry work-week that could, in quick succession, give me days of non-stop meetings and service followed by days that begged to be filled.  Before I had any standing weekly commitments, I was fresh in San Diego without a clue as to the flow or direction of any given Monday.

As I began to get busy, I realized that a non-traditional schedule (going 'till 9pm, doing errands midday, just as likely to lead a prayer meeting as go to the beach on a Sunday afternoon) could run me into the ground if I didn't take a stand on something.  So I started designating days off.  I've been trying to figure out what is "off" and what is "work".  My work is largely about people, but people aren't  always work.  =)  A small voice in my head kept reminding me of the beauty and refreshment of a sabbath-- something I haven't regularly observed since college.  Back then, the lines seemed clearer: if I didn't do my ever-pervasive academic work, then I was resting.  (Keep in mind that back then I also had hardly any responsibilities like cooking or cleaning or car maintenance.)

I began asking around, and I found sadly few people in ministry around me who took sabbaths.  Is it possible, I began to wonder?  What if a community or church event comes up?  I HAVE to go, don't I?  But I was also realizing that I HAVE to rest.  I needed this day/ pattern/ rhythm in my life.

Two weeks ago, I started reading Exodus.  Before God sent Moses down the mountain with commandments etched on tablets, God taught the Hebrews about sabbath through the pattern of manna collection.  He told them that they would go out and get manna for 5 days, just enough for their family to eat each day.  The 6th day they'd get a double portion, and they could keep it overnight for eating on the 7th day.  (If they kept extra on other days, it got gross and maggot-y by daybreak.)  I like concrete teaching points.  I like that the stone tablet commandment isn't a new thing about sabbath-- it's a reminder about this way of living that God has instituted for his people.

And so all this was percolating in me this weekend when I picked up Sabbath-Keeping, by Lynne Baab.  EXCELLENT book.  Practical.  Insightful.  Human.  Hopeful.  And it's pretty short.  Baab offers examples from many years of negotiating sabbath observance in the U.S. and abroad (she actually started while living in Israel, not so much by choice), with and without children, as a home-maker and a Presbyterian pastor.  Whether you've thought about sabbath a lot, or are just venturing into the conversation, I highly recommend the book.  But you don't have to take my word for it!  (Thanks, Reading Rainbow...)

My favorite take-home points from Sabbath-Keeping:

-Start and end the day with actions that set it apart.  Prepare yourself to enter and exit a time that is different, restful (slow), delightful, and restorative.

-This may sound obvious, but don't do anything that you'd find on a "to-do" list.  Whether it's email or phone calls or silver-polishing, stay away from achievement-driven tasks.  (Exceptions are made for milking cows and such.)  The heart of the sabbath is God's provision and love regardless of our DOing tendencies.

-Commit to it for 6 months at a time, and then re-evaluate.  So decide what day it will be, what things you will and won't do, and how you will mark the occasion-- and don't change it until you've given it many weeks to become part of your rhythm.

I am hopeful about the sabbath as a freedom and a joy.  It's tricky in a culture where rest is such a 'strange' choice to make, but I've begun to think our need for it trumps inconvenience.

"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. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."  -Exodus 20:8-11