I try.
I really do.
I write and preach first to myself.
(The only way I know how to do it!)
And then hope my musings and my questions resonate with others.
I try to not ask others to consider or to do what I am not willing to do myself.
But, one place (among many, I am sure) where I fall short is with this commandment.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
I am not talking about Saturdays or Sundays, but about sabbath time.
Time set aside when I allow myself to just stop.
To just rest.
To just be.
I am much better at doing.
At moving.
At filling the moments I have with the demands of my list.
Only to arrive at this moment,
Which is here now and never again,
Tired.
Summer Sabbath
I don’t know about you, but I am ready for summer.
Not for the heat and humidity which, unless I am in the pool, I can do without.
What I am ready for is that different pace from the rest of the year which summer affords.
A bit slower.
More relaxed.
Fewer meetings.
Time away from the usual routines.
Maybe even a few moments when I feel bored.
How about you?
As we turn towards summer and all it affords us, this is what I found myself thinking about. Starting with the Bible. From the book of Exodus.
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1-2)
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
These verses, as you may know, come from the portion of the Torah which make up what we know as the 10 Commandments. The central portion of the law meant to govern the life of the Jewish people. While I could go in any one of several directions with these verses…
- How I am pretty good with the rest of the 10 commandments – I haven’t killed anyone. I respect and love my parents. I only covet a little bit, but work at being truly grateful for all I do have. I am pretty lousy with this one. Remembering the sabbath.
- Or, the differences in our communities and our families from when I was growing up and everything was closed on Sundays to now when we count on stores and services to be available 7 days a week; 365 days a year.
- Or to the pressure put on our lives when we are expected or feel like we are expected to be available to others 24 hours a day; 7 days a week. Sometimes I am a bit envious of a friend who is Jewish and a member of a Conservative congregation who, literally, unplugs her internet from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.
Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.
Maybe because at this time of year I feel more empty than full, I have been thinking about the idea of sabbath and what I need to do in order to replenish my energy and to renew my creativity and to be able to do more than just the next thing on the list.
Here’s my idea.
What about this as an exercise in faithfulness.
What if instead of thinking about the upcoming couple of months as summer;
Or, your upcoming time away as vacation;
What if you thought about it and approached it as sabbath.
As time you intentionally carve out from the busyness and business of life as it usually is.
To live differently.
To bring a different attitude and outlook to the moment you have.
To look at your life and the time of your life as gift.
And, then to see what happens.
Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.
Maybe because I use them on a fairly regular basis, I think words matter.
And, what and how we name things matters.
And, how we approach and talk about things makes a difference.
So, would it be different for us if we approached the next several weeks as sabbath time rather than summer time? If we celebrated our time away as enjoying sabbath time together rather than go on a vacation together. Would any of that change your attitude and outlook? I wonder.
And, there is a second piece to this.
It is not just about sabbath, is it?
It is about keeping the sabbath holy.
That does not mean down on your knees or spending the summer in church.
But, maybe it does mean this.
Maybe it means using these days to intentionally cultivate a deeper sense of gratitude. Maybe it means using this time to say thank you more times than you complain or shake your head or point your finger. Maybe it means going at a pace which enables you to pay enough attention that you notice those things…that something…which takes your breath away. Maybe there is something about having time and energy to help that is a part of holiness. Maybe it is slowing down enough that you notice the daily grace which brushes up against your life. Maybe.
Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.
The calendar says, “Almost…”
The weather says, “Already…”
Either way, our part of the world now turns towards summer.
Maybe you and I can turn summer towards a sabbath.
A Place for Grace
Where I live school started yesterday.
At least the public schools.
Which means this Sunday is the first Sunday since the end of June when families and households will be back in a more “normal” schedule. Normal at least to the extent that that the schedule we keep for 10 months each year is to be considered “normal.”
In preparation for this Sunday and beyond…
Floors have been cleaned.
Classrooms are being readied.
A picnic has been planned.
The calendar…
At least my calendar…
Is, once again, becoming full.
Overall, I am glad for the programs and the classes and the opportunities to come together, but too easily and too often we mistake means for ends. We spend so much time and energy planning and preparing and getting ready that worship and classes and programs become an end in themselves. We measure our performance or other’s commitment by their attendance or participation. When, in reality, our gatherings, whether for worship or learning or service to others, should be an invitation more than an expectation. An opportunity for grace to brush up against our lives more than one more obligation.
I love the word grace, but I am sometimes not 100% sure I know what it means.
Space.
Sabbath.
Awe.
Pondering.
Questioning.
Wondering.
Resting.
Maybe all that and more.
What I am sure of is this.
Too often our churches have been more about expectations and obligations; about shoulds and oughts than they have been about grace.
I don’t know about you.
I sometimes barely know about me.
But what I do know is this.
I don’t need one more should or ought or weighty obligation.
I do need a place for grace.
Almost Summer
I have probably preached this sermon before. But since most of what I write and preach, and most of the passages from the Bible I find myself thinking about as I move through each week are first and foremost my efforts to piece life and world and faith together, I figure, because I am thinking about this again, there must be something here that I still need to learn. So, if you have heard all this before your patience and forbearance, please.
So, from the Bible, here is ancient wisdom meant for today. Remember the Sabbath, and 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; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20: 8-11)
Before I get to what I have found myself thinking about this week in relation to this text, a bit about this passage that comes to us from the Hebrew Scripture.
The Sabbath…
A day of rest where no one, even lowest person on the social totem pole – slave or alien in your midst – was allowed to work was a revolutionary idea and a religious imperative at its best. You see, before this commandment became codified in the 10 Commandments and considered as sacred, those who were poor, which was most of the people, could be forced to work from sun up to sun down seven days a week. Quite literally be forced to work themselves to death.
And then came this:
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but on the seventh day you shall not do any work.
The Child labor laws or 40 hour/week work laws of 3000 years ago.
But, the thing is, most of us don’t do well with commandments.
Particularly religious commandments which have, too often, been misused by religious elite.
You shall do this.
You shall not do that.
And in response we find ourselves saying, “Really. What right do you have to tell me what I can and cannot do?” And, at least with this commandment – Remember the Sabbath – we think it is easy to get away with not paying much attention to it because the only enforcer is that unseen, somewhat nebulas presence of God.
But, there is wisdom here for us.
Most of us, I think, need to rebuild some Sabbath time into our lives. And into the lives of our children. And into the schedule and rhythm of our families lives together. But that is a whole other conversation. Maybe for another day.
What I want to think with you about this morning is Sabbath and summer. First of all, I would remiss if I did not remind you that, despite trends and tradition to the contrary, a group of us do gather here each Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. during the summer. And you are always welcome to join us. The services are usually a bit more informal and more relaxed. A bit less hectic and a little quieter. And, a bit warmer…so feel free to wear your summer clothes. Coats and ties are not required. Neither are fancy dresses. Come pretty much as you are and then stay for a moment afterwards for ice tea or lemonade.
But, with that said, I have been here long enough that I know what happens during the summer.
Vacations.
Weekend plans.
Time at the ocean.
Time by the pool.
Family gatherings.
A walk in the woods.
Sleeping in.
And, what I want to say to you is all of that is GOOD.
But, here is how I think you can make it better.
In those moments that you have this summer…
Pay attention to the change of pace these days afford.
Pay attention to the space created in your life by a vacation or the ocean or working in the garden.
Pay attention to what it does in you and to you.
Pay attention to the effect it has on your children and the dynamic it adds to your family.
Pay attention and allow that time to be Sabbath time.
Name that time as Sabbath time.
Moments and days intentionally and thoughtfully set aside.
Time purposefully carved out from the busyness and hecticness of life as it often is for us.
Make the time holy…because it is. Or, at least, it can be.
The intent of the original commandment may have been to protect the physical well-being of the people.
To mandate time when you could not work.
To mandate time to rest.
And, we all still need time like that.
But, the other reality is it is often in that restful time and space…
That time when the pace of life slows down and the normal busyness of life is set aside that space is created for God to come close or for us to come close to God and when that happens we see life a bit more clearly. Or, we discover direction or dreams that for too long have been overlooked or overshadowed or sometimes not even fully known. And, we hear something of that which we know and name as God speak in the deepest and most genuine parts of who we are. I am not always sure which way it goes…
God coming close to us or our coming close to God,
But I do know that it is in those Sabbath moments that it happens.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
It is almost summer.
Allow the time you carve out to be Sabbath time.
Name the time that you carve out as Sabbath time.
And, then see what happens.
Sometimes God Name is “Enough”
Nuggets of insight or truth sometimes falls on our lap at the most unexpected times and through the most ordinary of events. I forget the exact reason for the phone call, but I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with her. We have known each other for years. I had officiated at her wedding and we have stayed in touch since. And, as friends so often do when they are catching up with each other, we talked about children and family, and about the joys and stresses of everyday life. That is when it happened. “You know,” she said, “sometimes the name of God is Enough.”
Think about it with me for a few moments this morning. We live in a culture of consumption which is always focused on the next best thing. We are being told constantly…
That we must have this;
That we must buy that;
That love is measured by a piece of jewelry;
That success is measured by the type of car we drive.
And many of us live in that relentless rush from one moment to the next doing our best to keep up with everyone around us. Somehow tricked into believing that being busy all the time is an indication that what we are doing is important or that we are useful or that busy is just the way life is meant to be. And, we believe that not just for ourselves, but for our children, as well. We think that if our children are not busy all the time, participating in this program and that activity they will be left behind or suffer in some way.
But, I want to tell you…
Sometimes the name of God is Enough.
Here is where all of this connects to something in the Bible.
Every year we offer a program for 9th grade students. It is an opportunity to meet with Kathy DiBiasi and myself and with a group of peers to talk about what they believe and what they don’t believe and what questions they have. And to rethink their ideas and images of that which we know and name as God. Somewhere along the line I usually have the opportunity to ask, “What do you think you have to believe if you are going to be a part of a Christian community?” One of the responses I often get is, “The 10 Commandments.”
“Great,” I say. “What are they?”
Long pause. Blank looks.
The second question is often harder than the first, isn’t it?
I don’t want to put you on the spot like I do them so here they are…at least several of them. See how you do with them.
Do not lie.
Do not steal.
Do not murder.
Respect your parents.
Most of us are doing pretty well so far, right?
Do not covet.
That may be a bit harder.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
GULP.
I don’t know about you…
Well, in fact at least with this and at least this morning, I think I do know about you. But speaking only for myself, I can pat myself on the back for keeping most of the other commandments, but on this one I fail…and sometimes fail miserably.
When I was young the commandment Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy was awful.
It meant all the stores were closed.
It meant I could not ride my bike to my friend’s house.
It meant my brothers and I could not go to the park and play baseball or football.
It often meant that we had to go to our grandparent’s house and be quiet because my grandmother was not well and could not handle very well the energy of three young boys.
But, as I have gotten older or maybe grown up a bit more, I have come to realize that is NOT what this commandment is about.
Here is the background to those words from the Bible that may help us make sense of Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. When this commandment was written and codified as a religious law to be observed by one and all, most of the people for whom it was intended were illiterate. Most were extremely poor, often living hand to mouth; one day to the next. Most could be and, in fact, were forced to work sun up to sun down seven days a week. Quite literally, forced to work themselves to death. The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was a religious response to an abusive practice that destroyed lives. It mandated a day of rest. A day off. A day to stop and to allow one’s strength to be renewed and one’s spirit restored.
Today, for most, if not all of us, our economic circumstances are much different.
But the reality is strikingly similar.
How many of us…
How many of you…
Go from work to errands to sports fields to dance classes to dinner to homework to bed seven days a week? Always feeling a bit behind? Never feeling quite caught up?
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
How many of us with smartphones or Ipads or tablets of some sort find ourselves responding to work emails or online requests long after work hours are over or on our days off? It is only a couple of minutes we tell ourselves, but, in those few minutes, we are pulled away from our children, our partner, our nap, our walk and pushed back into work and the demands that come with it. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
A number of years ago, before international cell phones became easy and affordable, an executive from Citibank went with me on one of our trips to Nicaragua. He wanted to share the experience with his son who had been on a trip with us before. It was the usual week of mixing cement and carry cement blocks, of being dusty and getting dirty and of playing with the children when we were not working. At the end of the week, he sought me out to say thank you for including him on the trip. And then he said, “This is the first time in 15 years when I have not been available 7 days a week/24 hours a day to those with whom I work. I had forgotten what it was like.”
Does your life sometimes feel like that? Always on call?
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
And, Sabbath is not just about time, but also about things.
Do we need to take a Sabbath from buying the next best thing especially when what we have is still fine?
Do we need to take a Sabbath from buying newest, must have car on the market when the car in our driveway still runs fine?
Do we need to take a Sabbath from having our children participate in every program and every event and be one every team so they can learn to take a deep breath themselves?
Do we need to practice contentment?
Not just being satisfied with what we have, but grateful for what we have?
Which, after all, is so much more than what most of our sisters and brothers will ever enjoy.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
I can’t tell you what to do or how to do it.
I am still trying to figure it out for myself.
Remember, I said I am doing okay with Do not murder, but with Remember the Sabbath…not so well. But, I would be glad to talk with you about it as we try to figure it out together.
She was right, you know.
My friend on the phone.
Sometimes the name of God is Enough.
Sabbath Time
As a whole, we are not big on commandments.
All those “you shall do this and you shall not do that” that we find in the Bible.
We treat them as nice suggestions to be paid attention to when we have the time or when it suits our needs. But I think there is one of those commandments that deserve a bit more attention than what we are giving it. It is this: Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
A little historical background might help.
At the time that this commandment was made a commandment, if you were not among the powerful and the elite (at least 80% of the population lived hand-to-mouth and day-to-day) you could be forced to work sun up to sundown seven days a week. This commandment, backed by religious authority speaking for God, mandated a time to rest and a time of renewal and a time for family and community.
We (those of us who live around where I live) do not live in that type of world anymore. Thankfully. Instead we live in a non-stop world of our own making, especially those families with children. Because we are able, we have filled every moment of every day with something: school activities and sports and piano lessons and recitals and art classes and Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and…
All good things.
But, what is lost is…
That time to rest for both ourselves and our children.
That time to stop long enough to be a family together and not a family on the go.
That time to allow heart and mind and soul to catch up with where you are.
Once again we are a people with no time.
No sabbath – that set aside time that helps us be whole.
The author Wendell Berry shares this insight: “Sabbath observance invites us to stop. Invites us to rest. It asks us to take notice that while we rest, the world continues without our help. It invites us to delight in the world’s beauty and abundance.”
Maybe it is time for us to make the old new again.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
