Sabbath: A Blessing We Keep Missing
I was away for a required retreat for the first weekend of my ordination residency. I’ll go away with my fellow residents for additional training and intentional time to connect a few weekends a year to a 4-H camp in Junction City, Kansas.
The retreat was well organized, and we were blessed by many amazing clergy who offered their time and expertise to help us learn and grow as preparation for life-long ordination in two years. One of the panels was a Q/A about work-life harmony. The panelists were of different ages, genders, and phases of life and ministry. It was helpful to hear how they strive to balance caring for a congregation while being an excellent partner, parent, and human. From this, a fascinating discussion emerged on the practice of Sabbath.
All clergy are encouraged to practice a weekly Sabbath. This is a spiritual and practical way to ritualize and make holy a time for rest and connection. I also encourage my congregants to keep a Sabbath as part of their spiritual practices.
Amid all the discussion of what Sabbath looks like for each of us, someone asked where in our United Methodist Book of Discipline it says that clergy should take a Sabbath. I responded that it was in the Ten Commandments, but that was not helpful to the discussion.
So what is a Sabbath, and do we all need to take one?
The first time the Bible mentions the Sabbath, it isn’t a rule. It’s a blessing.
On the seventh day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation (Genesis 2:2–3).
Before commandments or laws, Sabbath is part of the rhythm of creation itself.
Later, God gives it as a command.
Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. Six days you may work and do all your tasks, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work on it… (Exodus 20:8–10).
In Deuteronomy, the command is tied to freedom:
Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That’s why the Lord your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day (Deuteronomy 5:15).
So what is a Sabbath?
The Hebrew word shabbat comes from the verb shavat, which means to cease, to stop, or to rest. In Genesis, God shavat — God stopped from the work of creation. Over time, shabbat came to mean not only stopping labor but also entering into God’s blessing and rest.
In the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus & Deuteronomy), Sabbath rest is made practical and concrete. People were not to plow or harvest (Exodus 34:21). They were not to light fires for cooking (Exodus 35:3). They were not to carry loads in or out of the city (Jeremiah 17:21–22). Even the land was to rest every seven years (Leviticus 25:4).
Sabbath wasn’t just for individuals. It was for families, servants, immigrants, animals, and even the earth. Everyone and everything was drawn into God’s rhythm of rest. At its heart, Sabbath was meant for life and thriving. It was about trust, that the world would keep going even if people stopped, and that God would provide.
But over time, what began as a blessing became a burden. By the time of Jesus, the Sabbath was tangled up in detailed rules about what counted as work. The life-giving gift of rest often became anxiety about getting it wrong. (Does that sound familiar?)
That’s where Jesus steps in. He healed a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:9–13). He healed a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years (Luke 13:10–17). He healed a man whose body was swollen (Luke 14:1–6). Each time, religious leaders said he broke the Sabbath.
But here’s the paradox: Jesus also told people to keep the Law.
Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).
Even after his death, his followers continued:
They rested on the Sabbath, in keeping with the commandment (Luke 23:56).
Jesus affirms the Sabbath while refusing to let it be twisted into something life-draining. His words cut through the confusion:
The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath. This is why the Human One is Lord even over the Sabbath (Mark 2:27–28).
One of my friend groups that I’ve learned the most from about Sabbath are my Jewish friends. Their tradition evolved independently of Jesus’ teachings but offers Christians a helpful perspective. Over centuries, Jewish teachers clarified that saving a life, or even easing human suffering, always comes before Sabbath restrictions. “When life is involved, all Sabbath laws may be suspended to safeguard the health of the individual” (My Jewish Learning).
Reform Jewish teaching highlights Sabbath as delight and restoration: “Shabbat is a day of rest, and also a day of pleasure and delight. Shabbat is a time set aside to take notice of the wonders around us” (ReformJudaism.org). Another resource adds: “Rest means more than physical cessation of work. It implies taking oneself out of the ordinary… to re-create our spirit and restore our soul” (ReformJudaism.org).
Sabbath is not about squeezing life out of a day through rules. It is about restoring life so that we thrive. Sabbath is central to the lives and weekly rhythms of my conservative and orthodox Jewish friends. They prepare for Sabbath so they have no trouble avoiding work, while holding that rest is essential, but life always comes first. When treated as a spiritual practice, Sabbath is always intended to be a blessing.
So how does that fit into our weekly lives? For me, it has sometimes looked like Chiefs games. I started watching football because it felt frivolous, a way to step away from work, and a way to connect with family and fellow fans. Over time, it became a rhythm of rest. My churches have been flexible when Sunday games overlap with worship, because they know I need Sabbath too. But treating football as Sabbath only works when I stay intentional. It has to connect me with God and community. I can’t let the outcome of a game define my relationships or spiritual health. I plan ahead for friends and family to join us in our home for each game. I plan meals and prepare them in advance so I can enjoy their company. We all work to clean our homes in advance for the same reason. My preparation for Sabbath has the additional blessing of starting a week with leftovers for lunches and a home that is ready for a new week. Sometimes I don’t prepare, and we still gather and practice Sabbath anyway.
Sabbath is important. It is a blessing. The secret is not perfect preparation or rigid rules. The secret is simply to take one. Say no to what can wait. Create space for rest, connection, and joy. When we make that choice, Sabbath does what God meant it to do. It gives us back our breath. It puts us back in rhythm with God. It reminds us that life is more than work.
I regularly use AI to help edit and enhance my posts. This post was aided by AI for editing. As always, the content and meaningful engagement with scripture are mine.
