I text messaged my sister and asked her how she was doing. Her response was “Raising three kids, working full time, and trying to take 14 credit hours of college classes.” I responded with “You are too busy…I love you.” She responded, “I always have time to love you.” This message reminded me of Carla Aday’s sermon on the ten commandments which demanded the question, “Why is it so hard for me to take Sabbath?”
Some of us are busy trying to become adults, navigate high school safely, raising a family, or maybe we’re desperately trying to make our dreams a reality. In all of this busy-ness we lose sight of the fact that we are not valuable because of what we do or don’t do, but because we are. We find satisfaction and validation in achieving, but God doesn’t call us to “achieve.” I didn’t read a commandment that says “Thou must be successful and achieve things and titles.” What we do have are divine patterns of love, to remind us that we (and all others) are beautiful and worthy of love. My sister is constantly juggling her schedule to be a mom, a student, a nurse, a wife, and my ever-patient advisor. In her juggling or roles she remembers what is most important, and that is love. Sabbath is a time to say to ourselves and others “I always have time to love you.” It’s hard to take Sabbath because our culture says “You’re only loved if you achieve.” Our God says “You are loved if you exist…so slow down and exist with joy.” I hope that you know that here at Country Club Christian Church we don’t care what you’ve achieved, but we care about you because you exist…and so does God.
