"I saw a man pursuing the horizon;

            Round and round they sped

            I was disturbed at this;

            I accosted the man.

            ’It is futile,’ I said,

            ’You can never - ’

            ’You lie,’ he cried.

            And ran on.

And run on we seem to do.  I had a mother slam down the phone on my wife when she told the church member that it was my day off and I would not give her details of catering for a youth event at our church.  “Some of us never get a day off”, was her parting angry comment.

Some of us never get a day off… One of the hardest things for me to defend and justify working in the church seems to be a day of rest, which variably goes by the name of a “day off” or “retreat day”.  The standard retort is that normal working people do not get time to rest.  Crazy thing is, that a sign of a godless society is a lack of respect for Sabbath rest. 

Is it not ironic to find that same attitude so prevalent in the church?  By denying our need to rest or by denying others their need to rest through, for example, the work conditions we impose, we deny the design and will of our Creator, who has made it known in Scripture that it is a good thing for us to seek regular rest spites.  Not only are these rest spites good for us physically, mentally and emotionally, but true rest re-orientates us towards God.

One of the major witnesses of the Jews to the rest-less Roman and Greek society around them was their observance of the Sabbath in the midst of the relentless, unending demands of trade and the gods of commerce.  To rest was to momentarily sacrifice your position in trading for gain and entrust yourself to the goodness of God. So it is with rest today. 

Today that pressure to work may be even greater.  Thanks to providers of electricity, internet, cell (mobile) phones, etc we can be at work 24 hours, 7 days a week.  The setting sun does not mark the end of work.  Preaching about Godly rest and its importance is absent from many churches.  Protestantism is known for its work ethic.  Yet Christianity is not known for its rest ethic: a God centred rest – source of life, peace, healing and right perspective on work. (It’s part of our theology but not of our practice.)  Indeed resting from church work, even momentarily, may be to risk sacrificing mission and ministry gains…

Is it any surprise then that we reap the fruit of busyness?  Burnt out church leaders.  Burnt out youth pastors and young people.  Neglect of spouses and children, even in Christian families. An impoverished sense of church community. 

Maybe it’s time for Time out.  Time together. Time to rest.  Time to learn the unforced rhythms of God’s grace and to live lightly.  Time to entrust ourselves to the goodness of God.  Time to recognize that rest stands as a beacon of truth in a rest-less society about a God who calls us to rest in Him.  Time to invite people to find rest for their restless souls in Jesus, who says “Come to me all you who are weary and I will give your rest.”   

Where God is present there is always an invitation to God-ordained rest.  And at the end of time, Eternal Rest.