Scripture Focus: Acts 2:42-47 (NABRE)
“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” — Acts 2:42 (NABRE)
I’m writing this from the steamy corner of the local laundromat.
It’s this little building tucked away in the oldest part of the neighborhood where we live, next to the nursing home where I just started volunteering (I’m helping host a service with the Eucharist for the residents a few times a month).
(I hesitate to even share that with you all, lest you happen to think, “wow, she’s so kind” — it wasn’t my idea, it was Jesus, and I’m simply being obedient. Please praise Him, not me. 😆)
I'm here because our dryer broke, and in my “spending” 2.5 hours of my Sabbath in this muggy room, with the machines rhythmically humming in the background...
I’m realizing how much I’ve misunderstood REST, and the purpose of the Sabbath in general.
What The Sabbath Isn’t
The Sabbath is not designed for “couch rotting”, watching Netflix or scrolling endlessly on social media.
It’s not catching up on missed sleep while the people you’ve hired to do work while you’re off toil away.
It’s not running around frantically, catching up on the house things that need done in preparation for the week ahead.
And, especially for us Catholics, it’s not methodically planning out which church service to attend so that we can check our weekly obligation of Holy Mass off of our to-do lists.
For me personally, I had turned the Sabbath into a category — something to schedule, survive, or sleep through — instead of realizing it's an opportunity to abide in God.
What The Sabbath Actually Is
It’s being more present in the Lord, abiding in Him even more intentionally than the other 6 days of the week.
It’s the joy of walking into church and knowing that for the next hour, you get to be physically close to Jesus and your church family.
It’s the joy of helping other people be able to rest in the Lord, to serve people who spend a majority of their time isolated and disconnected from the outside world.
It’s the joy of sitting here in the heat, writing this post, thanking God that I have the privilege of doing laundry in my own air-conditioned home for “free,” putting gas in the car we own to drive to the laundromat, and having the spare time to not feel rushed or overwhelmed.
It's the joy of having time and space to THINK, to meditate on how my life could be a million times harder than it is now…
And to remember that even in the few ways that I DO currently have it harder than most people, Jesus is with me and loving me every step of the way.
The First Church Didn’t Rest Alone
Here’s what struck me sitting in that laundromat: the earliest Christians never treated rest, worship, or faith as something private.
Acts 2 tells us that right after Pentecost, the believers didn’t scatter to nurse their own peace and quiet. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to life together, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
They kept showing up in the temple, in the marketplace, and in each other’s homes, eating their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God.
Their rest was communal.
Their worship was communal.
Even their table was communal.
What if we shifted our view of the Sabbath back to how the first Christians practiced it?
What if, like in Acts, we spent our time in community, breaking bread, diving deeper into the Word together, and, most importantly, praising and worshiping Jesus for what He gave us through His crucifixion and resurrection?
And what if we didn’t treat our time in the pew like an obligation, but as a profound blessing to be able to encounter Jesus “in the flesh” each and every week...
The same way that first community in Jerusalem couldn’t stay away from each other, or from Him?
May We All Rest Well
I wonder how the rest of the week would feel if more of us started resting this way — not withdrawing from people to recover from our week, but drawing near to Him and to each other because that is what actually restores us.
I hope you rested well yesterday, my friend.
But whether you abided in him, or toiled the day away, I pray that next weekend your Sabbath will be an offering to the Lord in an even deeper and more meaningful way.
Always Rooting For You,
Dr. Lee
