Remember the sabbath day, and 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; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20:8-11)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.
Once upon a time, June represented a calmer time in people’s lives. School let out for summer vacation, families planned get-aways, even many workplaces adopted a slightly more casual atmosphere. (Of course, our memories are probably more relaxed than the reality. We tend to remember the great fun we had on vacation rather than how many times Mom or Dad threatened to ‘turn this car around!’)
Now…the busyness continues. Community programs charge ahead full speed. Sports camps, Bible camps, summer classes, get underway. Teams take advantage of the ‘down-time’ to have ‘unofficial’ practices to get ahead of the curve before the season begins. Teens try to get as many hours logged at work while they have school ‘vacation.’ Teachers try to plan ahead for the coming year of lesson plans. Oftentimes, ‘vacation time’ from work is used to catch up on chores or projects at home.
Vacation and rest can be hard work. We often work so hard at planning and making the most of our time of ‘rest,’ we fail to actually rest. The ‘rest’ portion gets lost amidst our attempts to make that ‘rest’ absolutely perfect. There is a certain irony in how hard we work to achieve the best quality of ‘rest & relaxation.’
This is not a new problem. The Pharisees put an incredible amount of work and energy into clarifying the third commandment – efforts to perfect the state of ‘rest.’ They spent countless hours and an amazing amount of effort to perfect ‘rest.’ Jesus pointed out how far they had strayed from God’s intent. They missed the point.
Rest is a gift from God to grant us a change of pace. Hopefully that change helps us reflect on God’s Word and work in the world and our lives. The third commandment is intended to aid our awareness of God’s presence in our lives. It is not intended to be or make more work. It is about presence – being present to God and to one another. ‘Being’ present does not require perfection or work. We have to stop working in order to rest. It defeats the purpose when we try so hard. It is just ‘being.’ Enjoy the gift of rest given to you by God. Just be.
The grace and peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,
Pastor Carla

So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest… (Hebrews 4:9-11a)