Where does the Sabbath fit into our 24-7 culture. We live in a culture that celebrates the ever present and the instantaneous. Think about the culture in which we live. With the exception of chick-fillet, not one advertizes that they take a sabbath from work. They brag about always being available seven days a week and twenty-four hours a day. We want our news, our food, our pastor, and meeting our every expectation any time we desire.
Yet we know that is bad for our health, creativity, and clarity of thinking. Would you rather have a surgeon operating on you after he has bragged about being up for twenty-four hours or after he has had a good nights sleep? Would you like the fate of our nation resting on decisions by people who have had time to think about various alternatives or by people who are pressed for an instant decision? Then what about our spiritual health? Are the decisions that may well affect not only our present well-being but even our eternal destiny made best by people who never pause but are continually moving from one demand to the other? If you are going to offer the best to your congregation, you owe it to them to interrupt your productivity and the meeting of people’s immediate demands with times of sabbath observation.
Remember that the sabbath as it is offered in Scripture is not only a time to restore your physical health but also a time to nurture your relationships with God and neighbor. You cannot fulfill the great commandment of love of God and neighbor in the absence of the Sabbath. When we relate to others or God in the process of being productive in life, our relationships become utilitarian rather than nurturing of ourselves and others.
The sabbath as it is revealed in the Scripture is experienced in a great variety of ways but it is always an interruption of achievement and production. I will explore some of this variety in future blogs.
