Finding Sabbath

This week I came back from a one month Sabbatical from The Brook. I’m so thankful for the time the elders gave me to get away, restore and gain some perspective. It was timely and needed. After leveraging twenty years of my life toward the church, there are patterns that develop— some healthy and others not so healthy. 

There is a need for more introspection, but God has granted some perspective that I’d like to share with you. This might be particularly encouraging for those of you who feel burned out.

I was very skeptical about the fact that time away could actually improve my state of mind. I was wrong. It took almost two weeks to “detox” my system. Two weeks to wake up one morning without a burden and without a sense that "something urgent has to be done today". I grieved some, confessed a lot, and began to feel the burden lighten. I gained some perspective and began to miss the people and the things that I was familiar with. I relearned that joy in ministry was joy in Christ first.

Jesus’ powerful words became true to me, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

I also learned that we cannot fix in one Sabbatical a lifestyle that leads to soul fatigue. In other words, you can’t out-Sabbatical a lousy lifestyle. Otherwise, after a Sabbatical you only return to carry the same burdens once again. Instead, we must experience a more present-tense way of living that produces rhythms. The principle of the Sabbath is God's ingenious command to help us know a healthy emotional and spiritual existence.  I'm learning that rest is different than restoration. Rest is good. It is taking a break or getting a good night’s sleep. Restoration however, is the idea of Sabbath. It means once in every week and for 24 hours dropping everything— i.e., dropping every concern and every thought of every concern. It means to do as God himself did, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:3)

As one Jewish scholar said, 

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work..." (Exodus 20:8-10) Is it possible for any human to do all his work in six days? Does not our work always remain incomplete? What the verse means to convey is: Rest on the Sabbath as if all your work is done. Another interpretation: Rest even from the thought of labor." (The Sabbath, by Abraham Herschel, p. 32)

The Sabbath is a rest of the mind and soul, not just the body. So, in the months to come, I’m seeking to find a rhythm in weekly living. An ebb and flow that allows me to engage fully, but also to retreat fully. A way of living that compartmentalizes portions of my life by drawing some boundaries around them keeping them from seeping into other areas— especially from seeping into a Sabbath. I’m seeking to learn to be content with where I am and where God has me. I want to believe that a healthy soul, not busy activity, produces truly lasting results.

Please pray for insight as I continue to try to be a healthier person, and consequently a healthier pastor for our church. Pray that our church people will be different than this wound up, stressed-out world that we live in. To be holy in it's root meaning is "to be separate from." May we be holy people.

Thank you for your loving, unending support.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mike