Pastor Devotion – Sabbath and Holiness around us every day

By Pastor Nissa Peterson

Chatfield and Root Prairie

Lutheran Churches

May is often one of the busiest months of the year, with ball games, graduations, family events, and preparing for summer gatherings. In the midst of a very busy season, it is extra important to think about taking time for Sabbath and rest.

Often when we think about Sabbath we think it means needing to stop everything and sit around doing nothing. But Sabbath is a gift to help us seek out God’s Word! Sabbath is a time to worship, connect, and pray. Worshipping together as God’s family is the primary way to practice the gift of Sabbath, but that is only the beginning.

Artist and songwriter Carrie Newcomer sees Sabbath as seeing the holy in the everyday. Here is a brief excerpt of the lyrics from her song “Holy As A Day Is Spent”:

Holy is the dish and drain

The soap and sink, the cup and plate

And frying eggs sound like psalms

It’s all a part of a sacrament

As holy as a day is spent

Holy is the busy street

And the check out girl,

Counting change

Hymns of geese fly overhead

And spread their wings like their parents did

Holy is the familiar room

A quiet moment in the

afternoon

And folding sheets like folding hands

To pray as only laundry can

As holy as a day is spent

My favorite line is “folding sheets like folding hands, to pray as only laundry can.” Laundry can be a thankless task, but seeing the holiness in providing clean clothes for my family adds beauty to this everyday task.

Just because Carrie Newcomer sees folding laundry as prayer doesn’t mean that you have to! But we do know that God’s presence is with us in the ordinary and every day.

Taking time for Sabbath means looking for God’s story in our own story! We can follow Jesus by folding laundry, eating dinner, and going to ball games. Follow Jesus by resting our bodies and souls. Follow Jesus by interacting with the cashier and mechanic and teacher with love. Follow Jesus at bathtime and walk time and rest time.

Sabbath means pausing to seek God and praise God. Where can you find Sabbath? I suggest starting with an evening as a family – turn off the phones, the TV, the radio – and look for the holiness around you. The holiness of laughter, of a job well done, of a toddler-paced walk. Tell each other about the wonder and the challenge of your week, pray together, and bless one another with the sign of the cross.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy – keep every day holy by finding God, finding rest, and finding holiness.

Peace,   

Pastor Nissa