Rest

Not too long ago someone asked me which of the 10 Commandments I thought Christians ignored the most.  It brought me up short, because as I mentally went through each one I briefly thought, “Yeah, it’s that one.”  In fact, I had such a hard time answering it that we created a “poll” question on our church Facebook page to see what everyone else thought.

If you have ever had the chance to listen to me teach on the 10 Commandments, you know that one of the points I make is:  “If you ‘break’ any of Commandments 2-10 then you have also broken Commandment #1.  That’s because in the course of breaking one of the others you have also failed to ‘fear, love and trust in God above all things.’

But instead of taking the easy road and saying #1, the commandment that kept rolling around in my head the most was #3:  “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” 

·      Today, the average American church-goer considers “regular” church attendance to mean around twice a month (whereas previous generations considered it to be 4 times a month).

·      Even more interesting is the research which reports that while 40% of Americans claim to be in church on any given Sunday the number is actually closer to 20% as reported by their churches. 

·      Looking closer to home we have recently completed our statistical report for the LCMS and for 2014 reported that we had 684 baptized members and an average worship attendance of 270 per Sunday.  If you do the math you’ll see that means that each Sunday at SOP 39% of our members are in attendance.  And while this percentage is slightly better than the average for mainline churches in America (30%), it is certainly nothing to brag about.

I’d guess that if we applied this attendance rate to any other area of our life we would think it was pretty pathetic.  Imagine if:

·      Your child was in attendance at only 39% of their school days (would they miss something important in their lessons?)

·      Your child attended only 39% of their activity practices and games (would they be the best they could be?)

·      You attended meetings for work only 39% of the time (would you get promoted at work?)

·      Your doctor canceled 61% of his appointments with you (might you miss an important diagnosis?)

·      Your spouse or loved ones showed up to 39% of your date nights and holidays (what are the odds on that relationship working?)

But the problem is two-fold.  God’s original intent for the Sabbath day included a day to gather together in community and receive His gifts of forgiveness, love, peace and healing.  But the other half of it was rest.  He wanted us to rest.

It is no exaggeration for me to say that at least once a week I have someone share with me the stresses they are experiencing, almost always because they feel pulled in too many directions.  They are on the go 24/7 and unsure how to change.  Sometimes I’m feeling kind of bold and I’ll ask them if I can look at their calendar.  Without exception, when I look at their calendar, they have never blocked off time for “worship or rest.”

The truth of the matter is that I believe that worship and rest go together.  That we are able so get the most out of our Sabbath “rest” when it begins with receiving God’s gifts to us.  The reminder that we are his in baptism, the assurance that our sins our forgiven, the power to live a new life given in his body and blood.  I believe we NEED these things and that we cannot have true rest without them.

But I’m also a realist and know that people will miss church once in a while.  But if you want to know a secret, I always prefer to have people say to me “Sorry, I missed worship last week pastor. The family and I needed to rest.”  It’s much preferable to a list of all the things going on in their life that has taken priority over their Sabbath rest.

In the Gospel of Matthew we find some of my favorite words from Jesus “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)  I love these words because they remind me that both my needs for worship and rest are met in the person of Jesus.

The peace that quiets the frantic voices in my head can only come from Jesus.

The healing that removes all of my failures can only come from Jesus.

The rest for my bone-weary soul comes only from Jesus.

So my advice to you?  Get some rest!  Pastor’s orders.