A word from Jesus

Then [Jesus]  said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

(Mark 2:27-28)

What is Jesus really saying here?  What does this mean about our call to Sabbath and our practice/living of Sabbath?  Well I think the underlying understanding here is that the Sabbath is a gift for the building up (or rebuilding) of God’s people.  It is not a requirement that should become burdensome or legalistic.  Things happen in day-to-day life that we must respond to, whether on Sabbath or not, and Jesus is telling us to live.

So what does this mean for us as we draw near to the close of our congregational intentional sabbath time?  Well, it means that as we begin to process this experience and look towards the blessings we have been given in the midst of it, that we aren’t to make this a law.  We aren’t to say, “Well, we’ve got to do this, this way, all the time.”

The point of sabbath is to cease, to rest, to be still and know fully that God is God.  So may we continue that ceasing and knowing, and may we honor the gifts that we have been given during these days of rest.

Traditional Opening Prayer of the Home Service for Sabbath

Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God,

King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by Thy

commandments, and commanded us to kindle the

Sabbath lights.

May the Sabbath light which illumines our

dwellings casue peace and happiness to

shine in our home. Bless us, O God, on this

holy Sabbath, and cause Thy divine glory to

shine upon us. Enlighten our darkness and

guide us and all mankind, Thy children,

towards truth and eternal light.

Amen.

From: Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva J. Dawn

So how’s it going?

My friends in Christ – how’s the Sabbath going?  What are your discovering?

I look forward to further conversation regarding our individual and mutual experiences during Sabbath at and following the breaking the Sabbath Feast.  In the meantime, know you continue in my prayers.

Day 6 – Are you connected?

I have been doing a lot of reading while away on vacation and this passage struck me as very connected to our current experience and future conversations.  So I offer it up with no further commentary.

Living in the 21st century at times seems to be all about being connected – to the satellite, to the internet, to the network, to the wireless world.  With the demands most of us have on our attention, it’s common for our lives to become unbalanced – and for the lasting connections in our lives to become weakened.

At Church of the Holy Communion, we work to foster the connections that matter – connections with one’s self, with one’s community, with one’s family and with God.

Those links are strengthened not just by Bible study or prayer – not just trying to love your family or your neighbor more – but by balanced attention to caring for ones mind, body and spirit

From, Butler Bass, Diane. “Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith” Harper One, 2006. p. 122; where the author cites a publication of the congregation Church of the Holy Communion, an Episcopal Congregation in Memphis, TN.

Day 5 – Practices Take Practicing

In this quiet and restful space of Sabbath I have been seeing images or experiencing thoughts focusing on practice.  Not like softball practice or choir practice, but Christian practice.  And I think I have been getting these flashes or thoughts because in my life these are often the first things to go or get lost when things get busy or my life is out of balance.  Things like intentional prayer time, focused Bible reading (not study per se, but reading and being soaked in the word), and natural fellowship that doesn’t require a committee or a sign-up sheet.

I’ve noticed for myself that these three are the areas I need to be more focused on.  Not that I haven’t practiced these at all, but that my practice pattern is spotty.  So I am seeking to reengage these practices in my life – and the intentional Sabbath time is a great time to restart them.

As I sit here, preparing to head to the beach for some rest and fellowship, I am wearing a t-shirt that says, “Epiphany Lutheran Church – where practice doesn’t make perfect but forms disciples in and through Christ.”  (Where else is this phrase used?) Practicing Christian practices like prayer, devotional reading and natural fellowship take practice.  May each of us, during our time of Sabbath come to see the value of practicing various Christian practices that help form us as disciples of Christ.

Day 4: Some connected quotes from a book I am currently reading…(or just finished) :0)

“Day 45.  It’s the seventh Sabbath of my biblical year.  Well, actually, its the day after the seventh Sabbath. I couldn’t type this entry on the Sabbath itself because the Bible tells me not to work…Before my biblical year, I was among the biggest Sabbath violators in America.  I’m a workaholic…We’d have a lot of company.  In the post-BlackBerry age, is there really a boundary between the weekday and the weekend, between work hours and overtime?  We work on Saturday, the Jewish Shabbat. We work on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath.  We put in more hours than the God of Genesis himself.” (p. 71)

“I have to look forward to the commandments. I have to love them…And in a few cases – just a handful, really – I’m starting to. Like, with the Sabbath.  I used to orient my week around Monday, the start of the secular workweek.  Now it’s the Sabbath. Everything leads up to the Sabbath. On Friday morning I start prepping for it like I’m going on a big date.  I make a huge pot of coffee so that I don’t have to do anything resembling cooking on the Sabbath…Because resting is, paradoxically difficult…By the end of Saturday, as the sun finally sets, I feel as if I’ve done something strenuous but healthy, like I’ve taken a run through Central Park…And then I start to look forward to next week’s Sabbath.” (pp. 250-251)

“I’ve come to see obeying traffic laws as an urban version of the Sabbath.  It’s an enforced pause.” (p. 285)

All the above quotes come from a book that was recommended to me by a friend (he gave me a hardback, my sister gave me a paperback) and one that I think the book club read (or have talked about reading.)  I highly recommend this book:  Jacobs, A.J. The Year of Living Biblically. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. 2007

Day 3 – Still A Bit Edgy

Well, I have to admit.  Three days into this month long Sabbath for our congregation I am still feeling quite edgy.  You know what I am saying don’t you?  There are things that MUST be done, or at least that’s what we’ve been encultured to believe.  Like that one committee meeting or that one email.  These MUST be done right?

Or do they?  We need to think about God’s mission in a large picture.  Will God’s mission cease or fail if we don’t have this one committee meeting, or I wait 30 days to send that email?  Will the world cease to spin, or the church die off?  Now maybe I am getting a bit extreme but that’s how we act (or react) sometimes. We act as though if we don’t “do” this then all of it will wither and die.  Psalm 46 is a reminder for me that I am not God, I don’t have to “do” it all, and that indeed the world and God’s mission doesn’t rest in me.

Psalm 46

¹God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

³though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

⁵God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

⁶The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

⁷The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.

¹⁰“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

“Be still, and know that I am God!”  What would our days look like if we lived this call?  How can our Sabbath practice gift us as disciples of Christ? In this journey together may we be still, and know that God is God and rest in God’s gift of rest and love.

Sabbath Has Begun – So Now What?

Epiphany Lutheran Church’s month-long Sabbath begins today.  All non-essential work, events, gatherings will stop during this period; we will continue to gather together for worship each and every week, do required maintenance & upkeep, and continue with out financial obligations.

This Sabbath rest is not an attempt to be lazy or slack off on responsibilities.  In fact, this Sabbath is an act of obedience and faithful discipleship. We read in Exodus the call to Sabbath:

8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹For six days you shall labour and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

This call to rest reminds us that God created everything in six days and that God rested on the seventh day. If this is good enough for God, the call implies, surely it should be good enough for God’s children. There is also a reminder that we are called to live in humility.  In our world of 24/7 work, work, work we might be convinced that we can do it all, that we indeed are God.  But the truth and reality is that we are not God. We are not called to do it all, be it all, or fix it all. As people of God, disciples of Christ we are called to rest.  To rejuvenate. To reflect on six days of work.  To prevent ourselves and other from becoming slaves to work and ambition.

A Sabbath rest is a gift that all have been given by God for the health and wellness of all creation and for spiritual growth.  May we rest completely in God during the days to come.

Call to Sabbath – God’s Word

Genesis 2:2-3

²And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

Exodus 31:13-17

¹³You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: ‘You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ¹⁴You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. ¹⁵For six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. ¹⁶Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷It is a sign for ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’

Exodus 20:8-11

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹For six days you shall labour and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Mark 2:23-28

23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ ²⁵And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ ²⁷Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

Mark 3:1-6

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ ⁴Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

God’s Church Takes a Sabbath

We live in a world where running, running, running is expected and taken for normal.  But what if this exhuastion and speed isn’t normal?  What if God has another idea for each of us as disciples and for us as a community of faith?

The good news is that God does indeed have another idea for our lives.  It is a life that is not run by the clock, calendar, or next appointment, but in a cycle.  A cycle that our Creator practiced and laid out for us as a model.  This cycle is one of work and rest, work and rest.  It is the rest part of the cycle that we often overlook and our selves and our community are negatively affected by this oversight.  God’s pattern for work and rest is laid out in Genesis 2:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. ²And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:1-3)

God, after six days of creation desired to rest from work and to be in and with creation 100%.  This is the pattern that God put into place at the beginning of time, and for good reason.  God knows our need to be moving, to be working, to be creating and God also knows our need for rest, relaxation, refreshment, and reflection.

We, the disciples at Epiphany Lutheran Church have been running, running, running and have barely come up for breath.  At times it seems like we aren’t happy in what we are doing, aren’t connecting with the people we are working side-by-side with, and aren’t sure anymore why we are doing what we are doing.  So at the July 2009 Congregational Council meeting the leaders of Epiphany Lutheran Church voted to take action in this issue by not acting – by calling a month long congregational Sabbath.  This Sabbath will begin on August 10th and continues through Sunday, September 6th.  During this time all ministry and work will cease except for: worship (which we understand to be central and strengthening for faith), upkeep practices (such at lawn mowing, cleaning, etc…), and financial responsibilities (paying the community’s obligations, etc…)

To help support and strengthen the congregation during this time, this blog will provide weekly/daily devotions, tips and reflections for practicing Sabbath, learning about the art of Sabbath, and encouragement along the way.

During our Rally Day 2009 Celebration on September 13th we will have a Break the Sabbath Feast and discuss things like “what did we long for during this time?,” “what did we miss?,” and “what wasn’t missed?”  These reflections, along with our purpose and vision statements will equip the council and other leaders to further articulate concrete objectives that we as a congregation will focus on, in an effort to focus our life and work together.

Please check back as often as you need to and share your thoughts, ideas, struggles, etc…We are in this together and will learn and grow more when we do this together.