STOP
“Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else.”
Rabbi Abraham Joseph Heschel
The Sabbath as a day of rest was surely practiced by Jesus and his disciples. As the early church made room once a week for rest and worship, it transitioned to happen on Sunday as the “Lord’s Day.” Yet somehow in our stream of Christianity today, the command, the gift, and the importance of a regular practice of rest and worship has been forgotten, rejected as impractical, or in some cases even considered to be unnecessary legalism. Where a generation ago even here many Christians intentionally refrained from work and commerce on Sundays, today we seem to pack every free moment, including Sundays, with productivity and activity. Even in the hour we have carved out for worship, our minds wander to to-do lists, groceries, and even “church work” that needs doing.
In Matthew and Mark, when Jesus is criticized for breaking the Sabbath, He says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” And I can’t help but wonder if in our always-on, always-moving, and always-achieving culture, we have rejected one of God’s most beautiful gifts – one of God’s first graces.
So, in our next sermon series starting on October 13th, I want to invite you to join us on Sundays as we dive into the grace of rest, stopping, and Sabbath. I hope you’ll consider joining us, and I hope you’ll consider setting some time aside to stop with us this fall.
Your too busy brother,
Pastor Todd
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