Sabbatical Close to Over

It truly seems only a short while ago that I closed and locked my office door to head to the cabin for Memorial Day weekend and the start of my sabbatical.  What seemed like a long stretch of time has quickly come to a close, and I am incredibly grateful to the leaders and members of CV for their support and this gift of time away to refresh, renew, and recharge my mind, body, soul, and relationships for the sake of on-going ministry.

Sabbath does what it means, “Stop!”

Driving through the Rockies in Colorado, Melissa and Daniel wondered at the emergency braking sand pits for trucks.  ”Why do the trucks need such long sandy stretches up the side of the mountain?”  Because a fast moving, heavy vehicle takes a long time to slow down to a safe stop.  

I have been putting the pedal to the metal myself for the last few years.  OK, probably always, from the stories my high school friends tell.  Just like those trucks without brakes hurtling down the mountain side, it took me a while to stop.  By the end of June I had finally begun to slow down to a healthy level, both mentally and spiritually.  It took me three weeks to totally decompress from my fast pace of ministry and life.  Since starting at Christus Victor at the end of October 1998, I have slowed down only enough throughout each year to take a deep breath before plunging back into the fray.  

Sabbath Keeping Needs to Continue

Like almost everyone I know, keeping the Sabbath Holy, is a quaint concept removed from the fast pace and demands on our lives.  Yet if we continue to live without keeping the Sabbath, as a weekly gift of rest and renewal from God, the results are deadly.  I don’t exactly know how yet, but finding weekly, even daily, Sabbath time will be an important priority in the months and years to come.  For when we are too busy, too hurried, too “stressed-out” all of the time, we really cannot pay much attention to God, to Christ in our midst, or to the breath of the Holy Spirit, let alone the people God has placed in our lives to love and care for.

Stop, then Look, then Listen

My spiritual director, Jon Ackerman, has shared with our CV staff and leadership a simple method to help us pay attention to God.  The three steps are STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN.  Not surprisingly you cannot skip the first step to pay attention and listen to God.  You must STOP, which is the literal meaning of Sabbath.  Check out his link for more resources you can use yourself and with your family.

Lead Listener

One final connection between Stopping/Sabbath Keeping and what I’ve learned on this Sabbatical.  One of the main responsibilities I have in my role as senior pastor is to be the Lead Listener.  This is something I have not done as well as I should or could.  In my busyness and the constant rush I tend to fall into being the Lead Problem Solver instead.  (Not that solving problems isn’t important, it’s just not the most important).  Listening to others and listening to God takes both time and intentionality.  But even more is to help others learn to listen to God as well, because to be a follower of Jesus means we better be listening and paying attention to His voice, in Word and in Prayerful attentiveness.  Keeping the Sabbath is a critical discipline to being able to listen to God.  We’ll see how it goes.