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POSITIVE PARENTING
By Dr. Dick Hardel
Metro Lutheran
Michael Sherer, Editor
Sabbath Moments
As I was growing up I learned that one of the rules of the Hardel family is that we will always go to worship on every Sunday and mid-week worship during Advent and Lent. During my teenage years I remember asking my father, “Do we have to go to church every Sunday?” My father replied, “Yes, for the rest of our lives.”
“ For the rest of our lives!” I struggled with my father’s response. That seem like a long time to me. “Couldn’t we just miss a Sunday or two in a year? Maybe we could miss a mid-week worship service?” I thought to myself. The thought of the “rest of our lives” haunted my thinking.
This was a family rule that was certainly modeled by my father and mother. If we went to our lake cottage for a weekend we mailed our Sunday offering to our home congregation and we attended worship on Sunday at the nearest Lutheran Church to our lake cottage. When I started dating my father had fun with the Hardel-going-to-worship-rule. “The later you come home on a Saturday night from a date, the earlier worship service we will attend.” I was very concerned when I learned that some Episcopal churches in our area had a morning Eucharist at 6 AM. I prayed that my father would not know anything about the Episcopal Church.
It took me years to discover that I did not understand the word “rest” used by my father. I kept thinking in terms of a long time. My father was talking about rest, family wellness. In Deuteronomy 5: 12-15 the emphasis is on taking time to remember who God is in our lives. To remember means more than simply recall. It means to know and observe that this same God who rescued Israel and brought them into a new place is active in our lives. God provides rest. We rest in the grace of God. This is more than simply attending worship services every week. This is taking time to remember God is active in every aspect of our lives. Because we are so busy, so worried, and so confused in our familying, we need to daily rest with God. We need Sabbath moments.
Children of all ages provide Sabbath moments. Recently I was with my daughter, Angela, and her family for a few days. There home is filled with the sounds of busyness. At least two videos were playing on televisions and one could hear a great song playing on the stereo. We were about to eat breakfast when our four-year-old granddaughter, Nikol, shouted, “Wait, wait! We have to pray!” She bolted from her seat at the table and immediately shut off all the televisions and sound systems. It was a Sabbath moment. We remembered and observed that this same God was present every moment with our family.
Later that day I received a phone call from Ed Soistman. Ed is near 80 years of age and continues his ministry as a lay minister of a congregation. “Hey, Pastor Dick! I was going through my prayer journal and I prayed for you this very day in 1982. Remember what you were doing in 1982? I just want you to know that I am praying for you today.” It was another Sabbath moment for the rest of my life.
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
- Gather the family and read Deuteronomy 5: 12-15 aloud. Discuss what are the family rules about attending worship services. Should the rules be changed?
- Discuss the daily intentional Sabbath moments for your family (mealtime prayers, family devotions, candle time, reading and telling Bible stories, singing songs of faith, bedtime prayers, etc.) If you have no intentional Sabbath moment for your family, decide on one, and commit to making it happen regularly.
- Each individual of the family share where and/or how Sabbath moments happen outside the home during the day or evening.
- Each family member draws a picture of a favorite Sabbath moment. Share it with the family.