Sunday, April 09, 2006

Worship is Sabbatical

M. Thompson says that Christian worshiop is a way of "remembering the sabbath day to keep it holy." Ex. 20:8 Like the Jewish sabbath, the Lord's Day is understood to be an opportunity to rest from ordinary labor and activity and to "disengage from the nose-length focus of daily life and see below the surface to life's source."

And do we ever need it! In a story called Always On in a recent Readers'Digest, Seth Stevenson writes about modern plugged-in life. He says that most nights he and a girlfriend sit and watch TV on one of a hundred digital channels. As they sit, each one has a notebook computer in the lap with cell phones and I-Pods within easy reach. Stevenson writes that he knew he was in trouble while hiking the Himalayas, he found a small storefront with internet access. And there he was in one of the most beautiful places in the world sitting in a musty room staring at forwarded emails and playing fantasy baseball on a computer. Stevenson quotes Tom Mahon, a Silicone Valley ethicist who says, "I advise people to observe a data sabbath. Take one day a week to disconnect from anything digital. We are drowning in a sea of information, but we are starved for meaning and knowledge."

In worship, we take at least an hour a week to unplug from the world and honor God with our praise. In sincere worship from the heart, we lay down our trophies of busyness and exhaustion and celebrate the overwhelming love of God. We restore our souls and drink from God's foundain of blessing and delight. And then we can return to the world refreshed, renewed and happily trusting God to help us through another week.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, and his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:4-5

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