One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams
Sabbath is not primarily about us or how it benefits us. It is about God and how God forms us. It is not, in the first place, about what we do or don’t do. It’s about God completing and resting and blessing and sanctifying.
Eugene Peterson, “Living the resurrection”
[A note to my readers. During this time of “shelter-in-place” I thought I would write a series of devotionals aimed for those in vocational ministry. I recently re-read Eugene Peterson’s book “Working the Angles” and thought that this would be a great time to refocus on my ministry priorities. There is some good stuff in there for those who are not in vocational ministry, but it is geared particularly to those who are. –jd–]
Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Every minister knows they need a Sabbath (truthfully, every person needs a Sabbath, minister or not). But acknowledging the need and practicing Sabbath or two different things. But a Sabbath is important because it trains us in the rhythms of action and response. It doesn’t matter if it is Sunday, Saturday, Monday or any other day. It is a day set aside for God.
If God’s word is previous to our desire to pray, then grace is also previous to all we do. When we Sabbath, we see both what God has been doing and what he is continuing to do. We quiet the noise so we can hear God.
It is a time to pray. It is also a time to play. It is a time to take a walk, to read a book, to take a drive. It is a day to protect. Learn to Sabbath.
Father, forgive me for not seeing the need for a Sabbath. Forgive me for making ministry an idol that I worship through my work, rather than stepping back and responding to a different type of rhythm. Let me walk in your grace as I step back and reflect on what you have been doing and what you desire to do. As I pray and play, help me quiet the noise so I can hear from you.
1. Pick a day, any day, and make it your Sabbath. Turn off your electronics and make a plan for creating a Sabbath.
2. Picked a day? Made a plan? Then go do it! That’s it.
(This devotional series is based on my notes from “Working the Angles” by Eugene Peterson)
