The Sabbath Misunderstood

We are all busy. When I first started to engage in pastoral care for retirees, a few years ago now, in my naivety I thought, “Ok, it should be easy to book appointments as they’re retired and don’t have the commitment of work.” I soon found out that for a lot of retirees, they got busier, they joined other groups, they travelled more, their families demanded more of their time as babysitters! They weren’t as retired as they or I might have thought. So for everyone it seems, those who work, those who have retired, and all those who are in between, the world never stops, and rest can, and still does feel like a fleeting dream.

Maybe that’s why, at the inception of creation we are given a peek at something that we might take more seriously. It’s a conversation that the church came to the hard way for their ministers and volunteers, that people burn out, and even when we might carve out moments for ‘Sabbath,’ often our souls remain restless. Why is that?

I mean if God designed the Sabbath as a gift of rest, why do we still so often feel burdened? What is it that we are missing when even in the quiet moments of rest, real peace just seems to escape us? In our lectionary reading this week from Luke 13:10-17, we see an example of how misunderstanding the Sabbath can cause us to be at odds with what God had meant it to be for us because we can often bring a rigidity to the blessings of God. Sabbath should be a blessing to us.

What we find in the passage is our Lord challenging us to rethink what Sabbath is, whom it is for, and actually to whom it should lead us. It’s a glorious reality with transformative truths, so take a moment to engage with our passage with open minds and hearts. Maybe the answer to our longing for rest and for peace is less complicated than we think.

Blessings

Josh