The fourth commandment is one of the longer ones. It says this: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son or your daughter, your manservant or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.” We tend to shorten this commandment down to a few words—Honor the sabbath—but that misses out on the emphatic character of this word of the Lord.
As most of you know, a few days after this newsletter arrives in your mailbox (or computer inbox), my family and I will be on a plane heading for a three-month sabbatical in New Zealand. It will be a time of travel and seeing a new country. It will be a time for music study for both Beth and me, finally having the opportunity to learn new repertoire and daily practice on the piano (me) and voice (Beth). It will be a time of study for the children, as they are graciously forgoing a good chunk of their summer vacation to be enrolled in an intermediate school in Auckland for 10 weeks. It will be a time to see new things, visit other church congregations, learn about the multicultural nature of New Zealand society, and make contacts at the University of Auckland. Mostly, it will be an important time to be together as a family, sharing unique experiences in this precious period before the kids enter high school and the “merry-go-round of life” picks up the pace considerably.
Even while I’m on this sabbatical (a time of sabbath rest and study), I will need to be careful about honoring the fourth commandment. It is possible to be even busier away from home than we are in our regular routines. How many times have you returned from a vacation feeling like you need a vacation?! There will be the temptation to take advantage of every possible moment to see all there is to see in New Zealand, since it is doubtful trips of this distance will occur more than once in a lifetime. Fortunately, the kids being in school will keep us grounded in the “mundane,” even as we carve out moments for the “exceptional” and keep our eyes open for the “surprises of God.”
In truth, that is part of the formula for honoring the sabbath and keeping the fourth commandment in all our daily lives. To be “grounded in the mundane” does not mean that we are stuck in ruts and frazzled from trying to maintain impossible work schedules. It means that we are “grounded,” standing on firm foundations that are related to the spiritual and personal priorities in life, which allows us to do the mundane details, confident that our words and deeds are making a difference. And to carve our sabbath “moments for the exceptional” means that we take care to truly notice what is happening around us, to look people in the eye, to listen when they speak of pain or joy from their hearts, as well as to find time to breathe, to walk around, to listen, to “be still and know that God is God.” When those two things happen, then we are able to glimpse the “surprises of God”: the providential way things come together for the good, the transformative way we are able to see people around us as women and men with real stories, real passions, real humanity as sibling children of God with us.
“Surprises of God” happen when we drive through the Fort Pitt tunnel and see our hometown skyline with renewed appreciation–or when a dolphin leaps in a harbor outside Auckland. “Surprises of God” happen when we remember how enriched we are to have friendships that cross racial-ethnic-economic barriers, whether here or overseas. “Surprises of God” happen when a prayer is offered for someone else, whom we trust enough to ask them to pray for something in our lives as well, whether that involves Pittsburghers or New Zealanders.
While I’m away, I will send back some dispatches from abroad to let you know how things are going, even as I will receive occasional e-mail dispatches from Gloria and the staff. Heather, Patrice, Christiane and Mary Lynn will be leading worship and providing pastoral care, and you will continue to be a caring, active, God-directed congregation. My family flies back home on October 6 and I will resume work on October 15. My sincere prayer is that this upcoming season will provide many opportunities for all of us to re-learn how to honor the Sabbath, to rest and be renewed, and to be uplifted by the grace and “surprises” of our loving God.