Defining Sabbath

This summer at my church we preached through the 10 Commandments - we called the series Live the 10.  It was a really challenging series.  As we reflected at the end of the summer we were caught off guard by two things: how difficult and challenging the messages were to prepare and preach, and how much feedback we received about God's work through them in people's lives.

On July 24 I had the privilege of speaking on the topic of Sabbath keeping [you can listen here].  Honestly, I knew in our planning meeting back in the early spring, as we started to choose who would speak on which weeks, that I would have this topic.  I knew that God had much to teach me about it.

While this blog post isn't intended to cover again the content of my message, I'll simply say this about Sabbath: Its not about having a list of rules to follow that result in our having a feeling of meeting the requirements of our religion.  Sabbath keeping isn't really about rules or religion.  The Sabbath was created for us [not us for it as Jesus pointed out] and it is a gift from God.  The gift is this: Sabbath is about having a rhythm... a rhythm in our week that orients us toward God.  Sabbath is about relationship with God. Therefore not practicing Sabbath in our lives lands us in a place in our relationship with God where we may be missing him.

One of the comments I made and thought about as I preached was this: As a pastor, Sunday isn't really my Sabbath. A funny comment, perhaps, but anyone in pastoral ministry will understand the context.  When I come to church on Sunday, I come to work.  I come with a hundred things on my mind, people to connect with and pray for, programs to run. My focus on Sunday is on serving God, but not on spending time with just He and I. And so, since this summer I have wrestled with the concept of Sabbath as rhythm in my life.  How and where do I place the rhythm in my own life, as a pastor of a growing and busy church?

This week I began a Sabbath experiment. On Monday afternoon for two hours I spent time alone with a book about Jesus and my relationship with Him.  I read, I wrote, I reflected some and prayed some.  These two hours were my Sabbath this week.  As a result I came away from this time with much to think about. My thoughts since then have been caught up in what God taught me.

Why am I blogging about this? For two reasons, I suppose. I want you to know that Sabbath rhythm is vital in your life. I want you to know that I don't simply say that, but that I am learning how to practice it. And, I want you to hold me accountable for this Sabbath experiment goal. Ask me about my Sabbath, as I would ask you about your's.

How is your relationship with God? Where in your life is Sabbath rhythm?