CHARACTERISTICS OF PENTECOST PEOPLE-PART SIX
PENTECOST PEOPLE KEEP THE SABBATH
If the first priority of a Pentecost Person is meeting God every morning (as Jesus did), the second is to keep the Sabbath commandment. Pentecost People take God seriously when He says, “You may work six days, but on the seventh day, you will rest.”
We take the Sabbath commandment seriously because it is one of the Ten Commandments. We are not exempt from keeping the Sabbath any more than we are exempt from the other commandments. We do not worship other gods, take God’s name in vain, commit murder, adultery, perjury, theft. Why, then, do we Christians casually ignore the Sabbath commandment, as though it is no longer in force in this day and age? This has to be the most workaholic, productivity-centered and chaotic generation that has ever existed since the world began. We need the Sabbath more than ever today!
The Sabbath commandment is the only one that is about how we treat ourselves. The first few are about our relationship with God; the last ones about how we treat other people. But the Sabbath command is about how we treat ourselves, how we nurture our spirits. If we refuse to keep the Sabbath, if all we do is work, work, work, that is an act of self hated — very unnatural, and certainly not spiritual.
God does not command us to keep the Sabbath so we will be rested for the week ahead, as though our ‘real‘ life were our work life. Although gaining energy for our work is one of the natural results of Sabbath-keeping, that is not why we do it. No, the Sabbath is to remind us that we are God’s, that we are destined for eternity. We are not on this earth merely to work. We are not ‘human doings,’ we are human beings. Sabbath is our day to put aside all our ‘doing’ and remember that we are destined for eternity.
After I gave a talk about the Sabbath, a young father said, “I hear what you are saying. I agree with you. But I do not know how I can possibly take a whole day off every week.” Many of us have the impression that, if take the Sabbath off, it will be like coming back from a vacation. We will be so far behind in our work. That would be an unpleasant side effect. While God is certainly worth any sacrifice, I can assure you that is not what happens when we take our Sabbaths. Sabbath keeping works more like tithing your money. Somehow, the budget balances when we tithe. In the same way, Sabbath keepers do not find themselves frantically short of time, always behind in their work. The habits of Pentecost People — daily prayer, Sabbath keeping and tithing — remove us from the world’s ‘laws’ of time and mathematics and place us in the middle of what I call “God’s economy.” In God’s economy, giving means having more than enough. On the other hand, hoarding, whether it be our time or our money or our love, means we become poorer and our resources become scarcer. This is a big challenge and it’s scary, but you will be amazed at the results.
Practicalities: How can we start keeping the Sabbath? And what do we do when the day arrives? Here are some practical pointers.
Preparation begins the evening before the Sabbath. You must clear your living area of all visible work so that you will not be distracted by or tempted to do work on your Sabbath. If you have deadlines looming or simply have trouble walking away from work, try the following:
- Do a first draft or outline of any work project that you face next week. Try doing a “next actions” list where you ask yourself “What’s the next thing I have to do to move this project forward?“
- Write these things down, then mentally and physically walk away from the project.
- Shut down your computer, clean off your desk, put away papers. Close your office door, if you work at home.
- Write an “out of the office” e-mail message so that people know you will not be responding until your Sabbath is over. Or … just ignore your e-mail for one day!
- When you return to your projects on Monday, you will find your Sabbath rest made the project flow more easily. One of the things the human brain does very well is subconsciously work on problems while we are doing something else.
Make ahead or plan simple meals for the next 24 hours so there is little or no preparation time needed.
Put everyone’s clothes out for church. Plan how you will handle showers and bathroom time in the morning if you have a big family.
Do anything ahead that threatens your peace and serenity for enjoying the Sabbath.
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Here are some ideas for how to spend your Sabbath:
- Go to church, and stay for awhile to chat with people.
- Keep telling yourself, “Relax. There’s no rush. This is my Sabbath.”
- Go on a picnic.
- Take a nap.
- Go swimming.
- Hang out with your family.
- Hang out with God.
- Chat on the phone with a friend you haven’t talked to in ages.
- Take a walk.
- Go to a park or other beautiful area of nature, sit down, and enjoy.
- Go to the playground and watch the kids play.
- Have some neighbors in for dessert or ‘high tea.’
- Give your sweetie a foot massage.
- Eat ice cream.
- Read something fun.
- Play a board game or card game, or make up a game to play.
- Be alone with God for awhile.
- Be quiet and enjoy the silence.
Do not make your Sabbath keeping complicated or an added burden. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. If you don’t ignore the Sabbath, you’re doing it right.
