It's Friday, but Monday's a comin'...

It's Friday afternoon, April 26, 2019.  I have served in pastoral ministry for almost 20 years now and at Pigeon River Mennonite Church for nearly 3 and a half years and as I sit in my office, I know that Monday's a comin'...

It's Friday.  I am a pastor.  I am a son.  I am a husband.  I am a father.  I am a child of God.  I am a servant of the Lord of the Universe.  On this Friday, I am all these things looking into the distance, where I see that Monday's a comin'...

It's Friday.  It's a day of meeting with the elders.  It's a day of finalizing the bulletin.  It's a day of hammering out my sermon and coordinating my PowerPoint.  It's a day of preparing for Sunday, but on this Friday, I do so knowing that Monday's a comin'...

Last Friday was Good Friday.  As we journeyed through the day, we reflected on the tragedy of Jesus' death on the cross.  But we did so with the vantage point of knowing that Sunday's a comin'! That Jesus would not remain in the grave, but that He would be resurrected to new life.  We knew that new life was comin'.

Once again, it's Friday.  And once again we know that Sunday's a comin', a day in which so many people take their sabbath rest.  A day in which we set aside the life sucking toils of this world, and we rest in God's presence that we might be restored to newness in life before entering into a new week of work.  But for me, as a pastor, Sunday is rarely sabbath in the way that it is for most people.  For me, while Sunday is a joyous day of worship, nurture, fellowship and being the body of Christ together; the sabbath is Monday and it's a comin'...

Today is Friday.  And Sunday will soon be here.  But so will Monday and this Monday will be the start of an extended sabbath experience, a sabbatical.  It will be three months of spiritual renewal, connecting more deeply with my family, and serving Christ's kingdom in focused and intentional ways.

Today is Friday and people wonder what I will do come Monday.  And there are some things that I will be doing.  This blog will serve as a place to share about some of my doings; but in general if you ask me "What will you do?" my response will be, "I won't."  That is I won't be "doing."  That is I won't be driven by my daily "To Do" lists of what I need to get done like Martha may have been when Jesus visited.  Rather more often that not, I will simply "be."  I will be in the presence of my God and of my family.  I will attempt to be like Mary who set aside the business of life and simply set at the feet of Jesus.  That is what is on my mind because while today is Friday, Monday's a comin' and restin' in the presence of God is what the sabbath is meant for.

On this day, it is Friday.  But thanks be to God, Monday's a comin'...