A moment of confusion as I visited the printers to pick up some leaflets. On arrival I was ushered straight past reception to face one of their machines and asked how long the service would take?
I soon realised that this was a case of mistaken identity and explained that I was not the engineer but as a vicar I could easily take a service, probably about 20 minutes. This being Liverpool, their response was immediate: “That’s what we need.”
I recall this incident as Robbie, the heating engineer, services our central heating boiler and gas fires – for servicing our various devices is now part and parcel of life. I recall that 50 years ago cars were serviced every 3000 miles (or three months), which at the time seemed every week.
For basically servicing can seem a pain. You may be without a car for a whole day and there’s a bill to be paid – even though there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. There’s every temptation to delay a servicing or avoid one altogether – to run whatever it is until it breaks down.
That encapsulates an entire approach to life: to keep on going until it breaks down. Alternatively, when felling a tree - to use a metaphor from forestry - we need to stop at regular intervals to sharpen the blade.
And that is certainly the case in the Christian life, to understand that we can’t be full-on in ministry for very long until we burn out. And yet sadly that is so often the case, so many fruitful ministries come to a faltering end through over-work and a refusal to take a break. If we are regularly taking services, we need to be serviced.
Christopher Ash, of Tyndale House Cambridge, reflects: “As someone who has spent the last decade training young men and women for Christian service, I have been keen to help them see that the best kinds of ministry are, more often than not, long term and low key.”
He continues: “I have tried to prepare them for a marathon, not a short, energetic sprint. In other words, to help them have a lifetime of sustainable sacrifice, rather than an energetic but brief ministry that quickly fades in exhaustion.”
Moreover, there is the constant threat of complacency. Again from Ash: “None of us thinks we are on the path to burnout until we are nearly burnt out; it is precisely those of us who are sure we are safe, who are most in danger.”
This understanding of the need to pace ourselves and take time out is at the very heart of scripture. In a word: the Sabbath, in commandment #4: ““Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)
Strangely, as far as we can see, no people apart from Israel had a sabbath – it’s what made the Hebrew scripture unique in this respect. And as far as I can see, no one is quite sure where the sabbath came from.
But what we do know is that observing the Sabbath permeated the life and culture of the people of Israel. And not just for the week. The Sabbath principle extends to years. “But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.” (Leviticus 25:4).
Above all the Year of Jubilee: “‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years.” (Leviticus 25:8). This was when slaves were freed, debts written off and leases on land cancelled.
So today in Israel the keeping of the Shabbat continues to be from sundown on the Friday but for the church the resurrection victory has changed everything, including how we mark the Sabbath, from the seventh day of the week to the first.
I must say from someone growing up in the 1950’s Sunday observance was a pain, to the extent that I was not allowed to play out and everywhere was closed. But now of course, in the space of just one generation, everything has changed – Sunday is a day for shopping and for sport. In fact, for everything – except going to church.
However, we are talking here about babies and bathwater. As individuals and as a society, we live our lives full-on. The secular equivalent of keeping the Sabbath is now a city-break or a spa weekend. So we keep at it until we break down.
Life as a student at Cambridge was certainly full-on, eight weeks non-stop with three essays a week. What kept me sane was a decision never to work on a Sunday, even if it meant sitting alone in the college library late Saturday night. Six days full-on and then one day of rest seemed to be the right balance.
Of course, servicing/keeping the sabbath can be a pain. As I write this, I’m cold while Jacqui is sitting under her thermal blanket. We have no heating as Robbie strips the boiler. It’s working fine but has stripped the heat exchanger to maintain efficiency. We could, of course, leave it until it fails and then buy a new boiler.
In other words, we need the Sabbath. It’s one thing for our secular society to ignore this God-given injunction but for churches and individual disciples there really is no excuse for denying its importance in our lives. However we choose to keep it (and for some when we keep it) it is allowing the Holy Spirit to carry out a regular and necessary service so we can flourish.
A final quote from author Alan Furst, who as far as I can see is not a Christian: “I don't work Sunday any more... The Sabbath is a very reasonable idea. Otherwise, you work yourself to death.”
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