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 A Sports Minister’s
Reflection on the Lord’s Day
“Remembering
the Sabbath to keep it Holy” and honoring the Lord’s Day have been
amongst the most freeing, inspirational and invigorating aspects of my
faith and life as a Sports Outreach Minister.
“Remembering
the Sabbath”
provides a rootedness and a balance to my life: Rooted by being
anchored to the repeated rhythmic tension of activity and rest, and
balanced by engaging in a healthy mix of work and play. When
properly rooted and balanced, I am continually renewed and refreshed.
“Honoring
the Lord’s Day”
tethers me to the twin principles of personally and corporately
worshipping God. I personally practice the presence of Christ in my six
days of “vocational” endeavors and I also exalt God each Sunday by
engaging in corporate praise, fellowship and spiritual contemplation
centered on the preaching of God’s Word. Both the personal
and the corporate demonstrate a witness of the responsibilities and
blessings of being a follower of Christ.
Perhaps Sabbath
keeping is best summarized by saying rest (which enables play), is a
foreshadowing of the eternal rest Paul writes about in his letter to
the Hebrews.1 As Mark
Buchanan says: “play hints at a world beyond us” and “when we play we
nudge the border of eternity.”2
Abraham Heschel writes: remembering the Sabbath “rehearses heaven” and
is a “foretaste of heavenly activity.”3
Perhaps Lord’s Day keeping is
best summarized by saying worship (which enables spiritual formation)
is a foreshadowing of the eternal worship John writes about in his
Revelation.4 The
Ancient Celtic Saints believed pagan worship of the earth and nature
hinted at a heavenly Being, Who by comparison was far beyond humankind
and when we praise Him, we experience a mere touch of heaven.
These Christ-centered Celts believed worship of the “Eternal One” is
best experienced in a “Thin Place” where the veil between heaven and
earth is mystically minimized, providing a dim but expectant glimpse of
glory.
Then again, perhaps “Remembering the
Sabbath” and “Honoring the Lord’s
Day” are best understood through the two Biblical concepts of
time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos monitors time by a clock; Kairos by a calendar. Chronos makes a slave of every man
by demanding his every moment be filled by frenetic activity. Kairos makes
time a slave of men by calling men out of the moment-to-moment demands
and ushering them into a season of reflection, relationship and
renewal. Play, which happens during Kairos, replenishes, renews and
reinvigorates through re-creation. Work, even God-honoring work, which
happens during Chronos,
depletes, and deprives through slavish demands of obeisance to a
clock. Do not be confused…humankind worships God in practicing
the presence of God in daily Chronos-based
vocational activities and by a celebration of Kairos-based seasonal
experiences. Unfortunately however, secular culture undervalues Kairos,
deems it less important and often preempts it, in favor of the “tyranny
of the urgent.” It promotes a…“play is for kids, work is for
adults” ethos. I firmly believe when Jesus said we must become
like children, He envisioned more than a child-like faith.
Certainly, a child-like joy was also hoped for.
Sunsets and sunrises (Kairos
blessings) radiate intermittently changing hues of colors across
luminous clouds. But these celestial displays of a heavenly
Artist’s creativity last but a few fleeting minutes each day.
Unless intentionally prepared for and contemplatively engaged in, their
blessings are only occasionally stumbled upon, and then only by
accident.
How many Kairos blessings have you missed by being driven by the Chronos culture? How many
physical, relational and spiritual blessings have you forfeited by not “Remembering the
Sabbath and Honoring the Lord’s Day?”
When will you respond to the joyous offer of Christ to rest, play and
worship? Jesus asks for a change in your commitment, your
schedule and your mind-set but in exchange He offers renewing rest, joy
and peace, both now and forever. Shouldn’t Sports Ministers lead the
way in “re-creating” on the
Sabbath?” “The Sabbath was made for man…”
1 Hebrews Chapter 4
2 Mark Buchanan, The
Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath (Nashville:
Thomas Nelson, 2006), 141. ISBN 13:978-0-8499-1870-4
3 Abraham Joshua Heschel,
The Sabbath (New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2001), 74.
4 Revelation Chapter 4
Blog: September 2011 "Para-Ministry or Local Church"
 September 2011 "Para-Ministry or Local Church"
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