What If Rest Is Holy? 

Our phones buzz. The news keeps refreshing. Work follows us home. There is always another email to answer, another thing to worry about. Into all that noise, God says: Remember the Sabbath. 

As we continue reflecting on the Ten Commandments, we hear them given to the people of Israel: Have no other gods. Do not make idols. Do not misuse God's name. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. 

The people receiving these commandments knew what it is like to live under Pharaoh. They knew what it meant to live within a system that sees human beings primarily as labor and property. Then God said: You don't belong to Pharaoh anymore. You belong to the God who sets people free. 

Success can become a god. Money can become a god. Being right can become a god. Our careers, our possessions, our political identities, our reputations, can become things around which we organize our lives. Martin Luther suggested that whatever we ultimately place our trust in is, functionally, our god. 

That's an uncomfortable thought. Because idols don’t always start out bad. Work, family, community, our convictions, and the work of justice matters. But none of them can be God. Through the commandments, God keeps calling us back to the center. Back to God. 

And when it comes to the Sabbath, God doesn’t call some of us to rest. God calls all of us. Sabbath isn't simply a self-care practice. It is a vision of a community in which everyone has worth beyond what they produce. 

God's people are not permitted to build their own Ancient Egypt where they get to rest while someone else keeps making the bricks. God says: You are more than what you produce. Your neighbor is more than what they produce. Many of us are tired. Every human being is more than what the world demands from them. 

Every person bears God's beloved image. The exhausted worker. The overwhelmed parent. The lonely neighbor. The immigrant far from home. The person whose identity has made them wonder whether there is room for them in the church. You. 

When God is at the center of our lives, we begin to see our neighbors differently. When we trust that God's grace is enough, we don't have to compete quite so fiercely. When we remember that our worth comes from God, we can stop measuring the worth of other people. And when we practice Sabbath, even imperfectly, we proclaim: The endless demands of this world do not get the final word. God does.  

So this week, put something down. Turn off some noise. Sit quietly. Come to worship. Notice your neighbor. Let someone else rest. Receive the grace of doing absolutely nothing productive for a little while. 

And remember: You belong to God. In God's beloved community, there is room for you to breathe. There is room for your neighbor to breathe. There is room for all of us to rest. Thanks be to God. 

Peace, 

Pastor Katie