Back in the day when I was still being paid to do “stuff”, part of the stuff was setting IT policy or rules. The trick was to adequately describe what was to be done without prescribing how it was to be done. The danger in describing how in a policy or rule is that technology or situations can change over time but what should be done (or not done) needs to be constant. It is a bit of the “all roads lead to Rome” conversation. The goal is to end up in Rome, not dictate that one must ride a 3 year old unbroken donkey while wearing a sombrero and passing through Ephesus before arriving at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon of the third Tuesday after the beginning of Lent.
And yet that is often the approach taken.
It certainly became the approach taken by the Pharisees regarding so very many things but none more so than observance of the Sabbath. Jesus infuriated the Pharisees by healing on the Sabbath and not following their rules of how to honor the Sabbath.
Today, in western culture at least, honoring the Sabbath is often just straight up ignored. When we do remember it, we often create rules about how it should be done, not unlike the Pharisees. Gotta get the check mark.
Even worse, defining and setting expectations about how we practice Sabbath can compartmentalize our faith and spirituality – here’s my “God” box to check off. While worshipping God during church is an often practiced aspect of Sabbath, it can also become the only time we worship. A ritual or rule at best.
We miss the whole point of the creation of rest and the gift of rest that Sabbath is. It isn’t a list of do’s and don’t’s to be followed. No where in the Scriptures does God describe how we are to Honor the Sabbath other than we are to rest, i.e., do no work.
How do you honor the Sabbath? How do you rest? Are you accepting this precious gift?
Just Sayin' 