Isn’t It Ironic?

It’s a bit rich, don’t ya think? Starting a blog…about Sabbath and rest…as a pastor…in the midst of Lent…the busiest time of year for the Church’s clergy. Two homilies per week. Plus the Book Club I lead at our parish. With sides of Adult Sunday School and Adult Confirmation immediately before and after the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy (aka Mass). And trying to get visits in during those hours between study, writing, teaching, and leading. I’m also in the midst of getting kids ready for the State Chess Tournament in Portland happening just after having eight services in eight days commemorating/celebrating Holy Week & Easter. It’s busy, hectic, and downright EXHAUSTING.

Perhaps the idea or creative energy for this blog lies somewhere in Bruno Ganz’s Johann von Staupitz to a frustrated Martin Luther in the 2003 move Luther, “we preach best what we need to hear most.” While I may not get a lot of rest this time of year, at least I can talk about it and live vicariously through it. I wouldn’t put it past my subconscious to do something like that. Yet I’d like to think that Lent may indeed be a perfect time in the Church’s liturgical year to talk about this very thing, this idea of a sabbath’s rest.

We often think of Lent as a time to “do more things,” such as the disciplines of the season; fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Even the premise of this post is about how much there is to do for the clergy right now. But maybe that might just be the wrong way to look at these things, these practices, and Lent itself. Maybe the proper way to regard them isn’t “doing more,” but doing less. It might be the case that Lent and its disciplines can be viewed as a sabbath in and of itself.

Take for instance the practice of fasting. Fasting is something we do, right? Well, not really at least not technically speaking. By “fasting” we actually stop doing something like skipping a meal. The act of fasting itself is a cessation of chewing and digesting. The body, for a brief time, ceases laboring. like it normally would at dinner time. Fasting gives the body a rest at least for a little while. Our hands are less busy preparing meals and can be folded instead for prayer. Our wallets get the night off from ordering takeout again. Maybe those extra dollars saved can be given as alms to the needy or put in the plate as a special Lenten offering.

Of course our stomachs aren’t the only thing in our lives, in our bodies, that need a break. Maybe even more so for our modern age we need a fast for our eyes and ears. PUT DOWN THE PHONE! (Again, ironic as you might be reading this on a phone.) TURN OFF THE 24HR CABLE NEWS CYCLE! Heed the advice of Simon & Garfunkel and listen to the sound of silence. Lent, the spiritual disciplines, afford us the time and space to give our eyes, our ears, our minds, our bodies a sabbath’s rest and break from the deafening cacophony of the world. We might just do a better job of keeping Lent holy by using it as a time for resting from the world, rest from the noise, rather than seeing it as doing more of this and more of that. Resting, taking a forty day sabbatical from the distractions, gives us the space for more prayer, more time in the Word, and yes, more time to go to Church.

That last part is an idea that I will expound on in greater length over the course of this blog’s life. But for now at least we can simply remember Luther’s explanation of the Third Commandment regarding Keeping the Sabbath Holy. Luther writes in the Small Catechism, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” Extra services in Lent means extra time to “not despise preaching and His Word,” but hear it all the more. Every time the Church calls the body of believers to assemble for Liturgy she echoes the voice of her Lord and Master who said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28. Every Liturgy is an invitation to rest, to sabbath, in the loving care of Jesus. More services in Lent throughout the week simply means more time for us to rest in Him, His Word, and His Sacraments.