This week at CCR I’m preaching on the commandment I both love and hate the most. You see I hunger for rhythm and pace. I’m an ok runner and a poor dancer. I know the joy of rhythm and the triumph of pace. The text for the week is:
“Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day--not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That's why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me. (Exodus 20:8-11. Contemporary English Version)”
I love the call for rhythm and pace.
However, I have an internal demon. I am a workaholic. I inherited this demon from my godly parents and grandparents. Before the sun comes up I must work. I break my work day 3 times to eat. Then my working hours continue into the night. My demon is an idol of work. This idol makes me hate how this text indicts me.
“Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day--not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That's why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me. (Exodus 20:8-11. Contemporary English Version)”
I love the call for rhythm and pace.
However, I have an internal demon. I am a workaholic. I inherited this demon from my godly parents and grandparents. Before the sun comes up I must work. I break my work day 3 times to eat. Then my working hours continue into the night. My demon is an idol of work. This idol makes me hate how this text indicts me.
I don’t believe I am alone. I sometimes trade business e-mails with Rwandan colleagues at 5:00 a.m. I sometimes receive business phone calls from Rwandan colleagues at 11:00 p.m. Three Sundays ago, I was putting final touches on my sermon at 6:30 a.m. and a Rwandan friend started trading sms with me about business matters. I’ve never lived in a city where my friends work so hard. Truly, “Rwanda is a country in a hurry. Others can walk we must run.”
However, inside we know life is about more than speed and productivity. Our bodies become broken, our minds weary, and our community fractured when we live a life with no rhythm.
This Sunday I’ll both preach and repent. It is time our city returned to a life full of sacred rhythm. I hope to see you at CCR.
Dave
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