"No work on the Sabbath" has been in place since the very beginning. It is in Genesis that we learn that God rested on the Sabbath, and that we are likewise to abstain from work on that day.
Maybe it is the arguments (like the one in John 7), in which Jesus points out that the Sabbath was made for us, not us for the Sabbath. Maybe it is the rigid nature of Sabbath customs which forsake the intention of God giving us this day of rest. I am not sure what it is, but somewhere along the way we have lost - and I mean totally lost - any notion of a day of rest.
I hope you remember your Small Catechism. Martin Luther taught that it isn't so much the setting aside of labors that makes our observance of the Sabbath holy, it is our using that time of leisure to study God's Word, gladly hear it and obey yet.
Even so, it is difficult to do this, unless we have set aside some time.
The practicalities of the modern world make it difficult (some would say impossible) to observe Sabbath. These same "practicalities" have been spoken of in studies about stress induced disorders, high rates of untimely deaths, and violent outbursts in our homes. How practical is it to work and work and work and continue to ignore the beauty of God's creation and the companionship of God's created ones?
Jesus disagreed with the Sabbath rules of his day which made it impossible to help the paralyzed man being carried on a cot by his friends. I oppose such rules, too. But I hear in Jesus' words an invitation to observe Sabbath as a time to rest, relax, and ask questions about what makes life worth living.
Find some Sabbath time in your life. If that isn't Sunday, find it on another day. And make it longer than a couple of hours. You need at least eight hours to be renewed and refreshed.
No comments:
Post a Comment