This week Tesla is recalling some fifty-four thousand of its cars because its “Full Self Driving” software has been rolling the cars through intersections with stop signs without making a full and complete halt. This is not a goof in the software, it is a “feature” that Tesla has been programming into its software allowing cars to cruise through stop signs at up to 5.6 mph.
We’ve all run a stop sign or two. In fact, in St. Louis where I learned to drive, rolling stops were so common that I knew people that had been rear-ended because they came to a complete stop at a stop sign. But I think our “rolling stops” happen in more than just our cars.
When God rested on the 7th day, He made a full stop. Genesis tells us that He rested from all His work that He had done in creation.
Our Sabbaths today are a little bit more “rolling stop”. We maybe do the minimum required of us by Luther’s Small Catechism to not “despise preaching and the Word of God,” but are we doing much more than slowing down? Even as your pastor, I’m not sure I come to a full Sabbath stop most weeks. Most of the time I’m “stopping” at 5.6 mph or above.
God didn’t intend His Sabbath to be a chore, He intended it to be a rest – something that we would relish and enjoy. But we turn it into one. Just like I don’t go to bed when I know it’s my bed time, we argue against real rest. There’s always some good, well-meaning reason that we need to stay up. I think it has gotten even more difficult in our day of technological capability. We rolling-stop just long enough to catch a sermon on a podcast while we’re driving to work, or we rolling-stop opt for that next streaming show rather than bed time.
Are you running stop signs? I know I’ve blown through a few. We can do it sometimes. Sometimes it isn’t going to hurt anyone. But it’s not God’s plan for us. God’s plan for us is to find our rest in Jesus. God’s plan is for us to go to the one person who will give us a full stop. With Jesus there’s nothing more to do, just rest. Can you hear Him say that to you today? There’s nothing more for you to do, just rest. Come to a full stop. He has you. Just rest.
Say this prayer to Him today, “Lord Jesus, help me come to a full stop. Reassure me that there is nothing more for me to do. Hold me in your arms and let me find my rest in You.”