STOP! Take a deep breath…. PAUSE.
The COVID-19 global pandemic pressed the pause button, causing life to slow and literally stop on many occasions. Many have wondered whether such moments are fate, human making, or divine intervention to provoke human attention; whatever the case, it worked.
The world dynamics slowed down to a halt! I am reminded of the fourth commandment on “Sabato” (Swahili for Sabbath) that God gives the Hebrew people a national constitution to govern their lives. (Exodus 20:8-11)
What could have been God’s intended purpose for observing Sabbath to his chosen people? My interaction with the passage in the light of contemporary human activity and natural occurrences demonstrates that the law of the sabbath is essential for:
- Remembering: The evolution of the clock, the dawn of industrialization, and the 24-hour, 7-day economy have put pressure on more production than provided time. Priority has shifted to work, causing many to forget the need for space in time. Rest creates a moment of “reflection” over occurrences and sobriety of response to the cause and effect.[1]
- Keeping: Knowing about the sabbath (Hebrew) “rest” is insufficient. I knew I was entitled to annual leave, but I got so busy working, that the organization could not release me for my “efficiency,” instead, they chose to pay me my leave days to keep working. The result of such behavior is the reason “church workers” like me die of exhaustion and burnout, “spiritual suicide.” The “keeping” has several components:
- Sacredness: “Keep the Sabbath Holy.” The Hebrew people are instructed to a season of worship concerning the creator. Appreciating the “Lord of the Sabbath,” God is giving a moment for the creature to reflect on the Creator. Christ assures his critiques that “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27
- Business: On the Sabbath, “YOU SHALL DO NO WORK.” Disengagement from work is the second component, the call to create space to keep the Sabbath intentionally.
- Ethics: The institution of justice mechanism ensures that individuals, their family members, employees, settlers, livestock, and farmland are preserved from abuse due to overuse.
- Rejuvenation: The writer of Leviticus quickly reminds the Hebrew people of the consequences overtaking them because of neglecting the sabbath. The people would be sent by God as a punishment into captivity as refugees scattered around the world to give the land room to “rejuvenate” for the years they disobeyed the sabbath. (Leviticus: 26:31-35) Our personal and corporate lack of “sabbath” robs us today of the opportunity to experience intellectual, physical, spiritual, social, and economic wholeness and invites chaos as life is shaken out of rhythm.
What? Yeah, those days we spend in isolation and admission seclusions, to recover from mental disorders, lifestyle diseases, habitual therapies, conferences on climatization, and global starvation interventions … name them, are a taste of the consequences of neglecting years of Sabbath-REST for humans, animal, and plant life! In our digital age that is continuously “on,” I invite you to PAUSE! And welcome the “Sabbath” as a response to Christ’s invitation, “Come to me all who are weak, and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
God breaks seasons in Days and Nights, times to function and replenish. The preacher in Ecclesiastes is right on point that “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. As stewards of God’s time, every day, create hours for rest; every week, take a day of rest; every month, make space to retreat; and every year, seek a break to rejuvenate. An invitation to “Remember” and “Keep,” for “God presents the sabbath as a shelter we can enter” (Charles R. Swindoll)[2]
[1] https://www.journeyfilms.com
[2] https://brightspace.indwes.edu/content/enforced/209232-2SU2023CONG-630-41A/Thoughts%20on%20Sabbath%20Keeping_TGrimm2.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=ZuGiLD6o0b5qa8qkTqJ7012ak&ou=209232