Sabbath wasn’t really a part of my life until I moved to the Middle East. Sure, Sundays were special because I got to be with my church family (and maybe take an afternoon nap) but from the time I held a job in high school, I was also involved in ministry, so Sundays weren’t especially restful. I worked my way through college doing paid work 6 days a week and unpaid work the seventh. I don’t regret those days – I look back with gratitude for all of the opportunities I had to work and minister. But when I moved to the Middle East six years ago, joining a team who practiced Sabbath, life took on a new rhythm.
The Old Testament gives two different reasons for remembering Sabbath. The first, as stated in Exodus 20:11, is that God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy after six days of creating. A Sabbath practice follows the rhythm that God put in place at creation. The second reason, as we find in Deuteronomy 5:15, is that God delivered His people from the bondage of slavery. Slaves don’t get to take a Sabbath. Observing Sabbath is a practice of rest and a celebration of freedom.
Living in a new culture brings life to a new level of intensity. I remember the level of energy that was required when I first moved to the Middle East to get myself out of the house, into a taxi, and to the language center. The 20 hours a week of interaction with an Arab – in Arabic – were rich but mentally exhausting. Two afternoons a week I would walk through Downtown, stimulated by sounds, sights, and smells to the community center where I would teach English for a few hours. By the end of my first week in the Middle East, I welcomed a “day off” with open arms!
I have discovered throughout the past six years that Sabbath is much more than a day off. I have learned to delight in Sabbath as a gift. Hebrews 4:9-10 tells us, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” Sabbath is not a work we must perform to enter into the Kingdom – it is a weekly reminder that we have entered into rest from our works.
Islam doesn’t have the concept of a Sabbath-rest. Yes, many take at least part of the day off on Fridays and prioritize the juma’a (gathering) prayers at the mosque. But it is not a rhythm of rest. I recently came across an article where a former Christian who had converted to Islam asked if he could continue to practice Sabbath. The religious leader that answered his question told him that Allah did not need rest after creating the world, and that rest is a human attribute far below the Divine. He should remember Allah every day of the week and avoid the observance of Sabbath.
My practicing Muslim friends are striving. They strive in their fasting, in their praying, in their good works. They strive, hoping that they will do enough good for God to look upon them with mercy. They are slaves to their good works, and slaves don’t get a day off. That is not our story as believers. We are no longer slaves. We have been redeemed and now live in the rest that God has purposed for us. The details of that practice look different from person to person, but regardless of our situation, Sabbath rest begins as a place where the heart enters – a place where we are reminded that we are not saved by our works, but by faith in Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath.
A weekly practice of Sabbath continues to be an anchor point for me in this season of in-between living, and I am grateful for that rhythm. But even more, I am grateful for what it represents: that I am at rest in Christ. And so today, as I look forward to my upcoming day of Sabbath, I pray for my Muslim friends who have no rest in their religion. I pray that they will turn to Jesus, who promises to give rest to all who come to Him. I pray, too, that they will see a depth of rest in me as I cease from my works, trusting in Christ’s completed work.