Dear Faith Family,
"Work six days, doing everything you have to do, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, a Rest Day—no work..."
(Deuteronomy 5:13-14)
Everybody's working for the weekend. I bet you cannot read that sentence again without singing it, even if you are not a child of the '80's or know any of the other words to the song! Leave it to Canadian rock to provide the anthem for multiple generations of adulting: "Everybody's working for the weekend."
Stuck in the drudgery of the never-ceasing treadmill of work as a means to an end, an end that has, sadly, become increasingly less clear and distant, the weekend at least provides some thing, some place to arrive, even if we cannot stay long. The irony, of course, is that we are actually made to work into the week's end, into "rest" with God in what is finished. Thankfully for us, the end of our week is also its beginning, a day of receiving the peace and wholeness of life with God as we go into making life good with God.
This rhythm of going somewhere because of where we always are, is different from the treadmill we've become all too familiar with. And the difference is the week's end to which we work. A day, as we were reminded on Sunday, gifted to us at the beginning (Gen. 2:2-3), commanded as fundamental to being fully human (Ex. 20:8-11), and proclaimed as an act of defiant freedom in our life of promise (Deut. 5:12-15).
Like work, we Sabbath not to get something, but because we have been given something. Remember what Jesus said,
"The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath."
(Mark 2:27)
To Sabbath is to be free, is indeed the free choice of grace. So, keep working for the weekend! Here is how I encourage you to join me in doing so this week.
1. (Re)Listen to Sunday's Sermon.
2. Consider: Why do I resist God's rest, rather than resting as resistance?
3. Attend: Check out the Sabbath resources made for us by clicking here.
May we find our end this weekend, and in the days that get us there.
Love you, faith family. God bless.