It’s Gonna Be a SNOW DAY on Sunday!
This past Wednesday, local schools were cancelled as we braced for some severe weather that never really materialized. A measly couple of inches of snow. While it wasn’t enough for proper sledding or cross-country skiing, it still won our kids and young people an official snow day. Despite the lack of precipitation, I’m confident that many kids woke up on Wednesday morning with a Christmas-like glee when they learned, “No school. It’s a snow day!”
As an older parent, with no kids in the house, I had this thought: “This is what the Sabbath is supposed to be like. The slate just got wiped clean. It’s a snow day!”
I believe there's a theological connection between the unexpected gift of a snow day and what God intends for his people to experience each and every Sunday. In fact, a good snow day is only part of the experience God wants to give us every seventh day of our lives. Which means this Sunday is going to be a snow day, too!
What do we do on a snow day? First, we smile happily in our beds when we get the news and possibly fall back asleep for a while. For many families, snow days hold the possibility for some bonus fun and play: maybe board games, maybe a trip to the sledding hill or skating at the neighborhood pond, maybe watching a movie that you’ve been wanting to see, maybe catching up on cleaning and reorganizing around the house if you’re into that kind of thing. A good snow day has a playful element to it.
Additionally, a snow day affords an opportunity to rest: perhaps spending a little quiet time under a cozy blanket with a good book, taking a full-on afternoon nap, or stoking a fire in the fireplace. If you experienced the gifts of rest and play on the same day, you had a great day, indeed!
But God desires to give you a third gift each and every Sunday. In addition to rest and play, God also designed us for a pattern of worship on his special day. This is the biblical pattern:
Sabbath = Worship + Rest + Play. One out of seven. Enjoy. Repeat.
Likely most of us will not attend organized worship on this Wednesday’s snow day (all events at ECRC were even cancelled, though perhaps our collective prayers of “Thank God, no school!” qualify). From God’s perspective, the worship of the church is like a family gathering. Worship is not only crucial to Sabbath, but it’s the essential starting point. In worship we gather as the family of faith and enjoy the presence of the Giver of all good gifts. Having sung, prayed, listened, and remembered, we can go forth into the wider world to enjoy the other aspects of Sabbath in a more customized way. This is the pattern: Sabbath = Worship + Rest + Play. One out of seven. Enjoy. Repeat.
Whether it’s winter outside or not, every Sunday can feel like a snow day, only better. I pray you have an awesome Sabbath experience this Sunday as you worship, rest, and play.
Grace and Peace,
- Pastor Gregg