Readings for the day: Leviticus 23, 24, 25
Sabbath. It is a core, foundational principle in Scripture. Hardwired into our system at creation so that we could find rest. One day out of every seven. One year out of every seven. One year out of every fifty set aside for rest. Set aside to honor God. Set aside for not only our rest but that of the land. Animals. Basically, all of creation. A pattern God Himself followed at creation. Six days God labored to make the universe and all that is in it and on the seventh day He rested.
We ignore this command at our peril. Not just because God commands it. This is no arbitrary rule God puts in place to test us. It’s not divine busy work just to make sure we are listening. No. God has hardwared the human body for rest. Our best medical professionals will tell you the source of so much of the depression, anxiety, fear, and pain we suffer from is due to the stress of feeling like we have to work 24/7. We are being crushed under the weight of the burdens we carry. The responsibilities. The obligations we’ve taken on as a family and as individuals in our world. Social media only exacerbates this problem with it’s never-ending stream of connection. The reality is we were not built to be “on” all the time. 100% productivity is a goal that will kill us if we achieve it.
I remember seeing this play out when I worked as the Manager of Patient Access Sevices at Boulder Community Hospital. The stated goal of the Human Resources department was to get maximum productivity from each employee. They actually had an equation they followed to determine how much each employee was expected to produce. They kept our available workforce as lean as possible in order to achieve this goal. The result was a much higher number of sick days, lower quality of life in the workplace, and therefore, lower productivity. In their effort to achieve maximum efficiency, they lost sight of the very real human cost.
That was twenty years ago. Things have not gotten better. As a pastor, I watch as people try to squeeze 28 hours worth of work into a 24 hour time period. I see them running from dawn to dark, giving themselves barely any space to breathe. The result is broken marriages. Broken families. Broken lives.
The Sabbath is designed to create a “speed bump” in our lives. To get us to slow down. To rest. To let God be God. It is perhaps the most tangible expression of our faith because it forces us to relinquish control over our lives. When I Sabbath, I am letting God back onto the throne of my life because I am specifically choosing NOT to produce anything. And that’s a good thing. Even a godly thing.
A major reason Israel lost the blessing of God was their failure to keep the Sabbath. We actually don’t have any evidence they let the land rest every seven years. We certainly have no evidence they honored the Year of Jubilee. When you read the passages from today, it’s important to sit back and ponder what life would look like if we really lived according to God’s divine rhythm.