Cushion

August 20, 2018

Of the Ten Commandments, perhaps the fourth is the most broken by Evangelical Christians in our frenetic activity fueled by a mistaken belief that the conversion of the world depends solely upon the amount of ministry we undertake. Don’t get me wrong—I believe in Jesus’ Great Commission to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel,” but I also believe in the inviolability of the Ten Commandments. It is that Fourth Commandment—to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy—that we neglect to our own hurt. After all, no less than Jesus himself said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It isn’t given as a restriction on our freedoms, but as a relief from our labors.

This summer has been for me, almost non-stop activity. It’s been good stuff, and I have been deeply blessed with all that has gone on. But all that activity has a price, and lately, I’ve been feeling pressed. I’m not frustrated or frantic...just pressed. I’ve been trying to come up with the right words to describe how I’ve been feeling, and today it came to me. It’s a single word: CUSHION. It feels like the cushion is gone; that little bit of leeway that provides just a bit of breathing space, a little softening of the day. 

Knees and hips that lose their cushion grate and growl, and hurt enough to limit movement. The cartilage wears out, and we get knee and hip replacements that have some cushion built in. And if we are in a car accident, we are grateful for those airbags that cushion the blow, preventing serious injury. When someone brings bad news, we appreciate them trying to cushion the blow with gentle and kind words.

Cushion makes the difficulties of life a little more bearable, and when we are constantly busy, we deprive ourselves of the cushion that enables us to respond to life with resiliency. In short, without cushion, we wear out. 

I have mixed feelings about this. It doesn’t take much of a look around me to see people who have much less cushion in life than me. They are stretched and stressed to the max, and I often wonder how they do it. I watch parents of young children or teenagers, chasing all over the countryside trying to provide every advantage to their children, making sure they attend every game, concert, and production the kids are in. And in the church, instead of helping people choose wisely the activities they may need to abandon in order to serve God, we simply tack Christian stuff onto all the other things, till we live on the edge of collapse. We just have to keep the wheels turning.

Pastors often are the worst with this. I heard a pastor once say, “We’ll, the devil never takes a day off, so why should I?” The answer should be obvious: Since when is the devil supposed to be our example? Maybe we should take a page from Jesus’ playbook. He was sleeping in the back of the boat in the height of the storm, and instead of hurrying to Lazarus’ side, he took his time getting there so the greater glory of God could be revealed. I wonder what greater glory we miss because we were in so much of a hurry to do God’s work that we outpaced God himself.

There are seasons to life, and this summer (and especially this week) have been pretty busy. The farmer needs to make hay while the sun is shining, and there are times we just have to keep going. But tonight, I am thankful for the wisdom of Jesus and the command of Scripture that give me perspective and remind me to make sure I build a little cushion into my life. It can’t happen for a couple more days, but I’m going to make sure it does. And when that day comes, I’ll kick back, breathe deeply, and thank God for the Sabbath he has commanded.