Dear HBIC Family,

So, a little while back, I started a new practice. Upon greeting folks, when they asked me how I am doing, I intentionally didn’t want to answer…busy. This had become my default answer for years. This was me being too comfortable with busyness as the best way to describe my life. And answering “busy” also fell short of describing how I was doing. 

What we do cannot be the primary identity of who we are. This limits our value to our schedules. It defines us by our productivity, and what’s next. And it leaves no room for much else. Being busy is very much the norm in our ever-dizzying world. “What’s next?” seems to be the question we are all chasing and fighting to answer. We are so much more than what we do, or how busy we truly are.

Our primary identity should be Christ. The Lord of All must remain the Lord of us. The gods of schedules, productivity, and busyness only lead to burn out, frustration, and despair. Jesus offers rest, restoration, and relief. Our busyness cannot be satisfied, won’t relent, and leads us on a pathway to destruction. Perhaps now, just as it was in the very beginning, we need to become and remain people of Sabbath. 

God created the Sabbath to help remind us that the busyness of our hands, feet, and lives must not define us. We need rest. We are all poured out in so many ways. We need to be refilled. We are quick to focus only on what is immediately in front of us. We need to be refueled. Sabbath is about making time to abandon our go-go-go routines, and to sit with Jesus, be filled by the Spirit, and dwell in God’s presence.  

I am excited to have Pastor Ryan bring us such a timely word on Sabbath this week. I hope you plan to join us in person, or online. As you prepare for this week’s services, I would like to invite you to read and meditate on Luke 6:1-11. As you reflect, I would like to ask you to focus on the following questions:

• How do you currently practice Sabbath?
• How do you get refueled by the Holy Spirit?
• How do you intentionally connect with God?
• Where do you need to submit to Jesus, as Lord of your life?
• What good can God do in and through you, if you spent more time in God’s presence?

Luke’s story is centered on the disciples submitting to Jesus for guidance, and then heeding his instruction. It is a practical rendering of what it means for Jesus to be Lord of all our life. It is a reminder that God made the Sabbath for us, and not us for the Sabbath. It also tells us that the good that God intends to do may go beyond where our eyes can see; yet we are invited to trust in God, and let God rule in our hearts. 

In a world that is moving too fast, I pray we learn to slow down each day, each week, each month, and each year. In a world defined by busyness, productivity, and consumption, I pray we find rest, restoration, and refueling. Sisters and brothers, I pray that Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, will reign as Lord of all our lives. 

God bless you all and take care. 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Hank (Luke 6:5)