8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Greetings from Chinese Community Church! Thanks for joining our worship in this unique way on this Sunday morning. My prayer is that everyone is safe at home and enjoying the beauty of this surprise snow storm. We wanted to give people an opportunity to worship together by means of the Internet even though we are separated by distance. More than a message, I’d like to share with people a simple reflection for this day of worship. I encourage you to share amongst your loved ones and friends nearby in the safety of your homes.

In our fast paced world, our schedules can get quickly busy with all sorts of things. We look forward to our vacation days, only to find that rather than resting and relaxing, those days are soon booked up with all sorts of errands we meant to do when “we have the time.” The pressures upon our schedules are not just related to work and/or school, but they can also come from our promises and appointments with family and friends. If we simply try and set out to accomplish all that needs to be done, it seems that there is not enough time in the day. As our lives get busier, we spend less and less time remembering the most important things in life, and our vision for life gets confused. It is for this very reason, that God challenges us to remember one of his most precious commands, “Remember the Sabbath”! It’s a divine call from God for us to step back and refocus our attention on God.

The Sabbath was instilled as a time to remember the peace of God and to step back and remember the presence of God in our lives. Just as God stepped back after six days of creating, He encourages us to step back and make one day different from the others. Indeed, that’s the definition of “holy”: to set apart or make different. God calls us to make a day that is different than the other days of the week. It’s on this day that we stop, worship, adore, and commune with the living God. Easier said than done! Who has time to meet with God when so much needs to be done? Having a true Sabbath is no easy task in the face of so many demands upon our precious resources of time and energy.

On this snowy day, many of us may feel inconvenienced and frustrated because we can’t do the things that we want to do and see the people that we want to. Perhaps we planned something important on this weekend or we were really hoping to accomplish some errand on this particular day. It’s in moments like these that we are reminded that life is not subject to our individual goals and agendas alone. There are greater forces at work that we must be aware of. The interruptions of our life — like a surprise snow storm — can serve as opportunities for God to use.

“But how? There’s nothing to do now! What a waste of time!”

Or is it?

The Sabbath is very much like that snow storm that comes into our life and tells us to stop what we’re doing. We may have all of our plans neatly laid out but God has other ideas on this day of worship. The Sabbath serves as a “Holy Interruption” to our daily schedule to draw our attention back to Him. Although we need these special interruptions every day, this day of worship in particular is a day where we take extra effort to set it apart (ie. make it holy).

On this day, God is not requiring great efficiency and productivity, but rather, a time where we set things aside and look to Him. Together, let us look at this “inconvenient snowstorm” as an opportunity to spend some time looking to God. We have the time! We have the chance! Let us do all that we can to make this a holy day before our God.

In closing, I’d like us to think about three questions to reflect on for this day. These questions are not just for today, but they are the questions we need to be asking ourselves for every Sabbath day. It’s through these kinds of questions that we “interrupt” our busy lives by remembering God and responding to Him in worship and thanksgiving.

1. Where have I seen the presence of God in my life lately? Take time to respond personally in worship and thanksgiving.

2. In this past week, in what ways have I been pursuing God’s Lordship in my life? In relation to that question, where have I been avoiding His Lordship?

3. In my current life circumstances, how do I feel that God is calling me to obey Him in a way that is consistent with what’s shown in the Bible?

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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Preached by Pastor Sam Kim at CCC online at the English worship service.