Skip to main content

Life-giving Sabbath Rest

"Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy."
Exodus 20:8

"Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy,
as the Lord your God commanded you."
Deuteronomy 5:12

One clergy group I belonged to would spend a week-long retreat at Weston Priory.

We divided our time between worship with the brothers, study, and fellowship.

During our gathering, before the retreat started, our conversation was usually about the need for time away from routine parish life such a visitation, Bible study preparation, and preaching.

The retreat was a sabbath time.

Genesis describes sabbath time after God created the earth in six days.

God rested on the seventh day, blessing it and setting it apart for humans to imitate God, by honor that day.

The Bible describes two ways to honor God’s sabbath blessing.

First, in Exodus 20:8: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy”.

Second, in Deuteronomy 5:12: “Observe the Sabbath day, and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.”

There’s a significant difference between remembering the Sabbath and observing the Sabbath.

Remembering the Sabbath as God gave it to Moses, meant remembering the people were once slaves in Egypt, but are now free.

Remembering the Sabbath in today's society is remembering it is God who set you free from the stresses of contemporary living to time from holy rest.

Obeying the sabbath, as Deuteronomy indicates, is refraining from work in order to be ready to do the Lord's work the next day.

Obeying the Sabbath’s intention, means resting to work recharged for looking around and asking, "Who do I see needing sabbath rest?"

 Isn’t a Christians work to keep the Sabbath by asking "who needs a life-giving, holy rest because society has given up on them, or their worth, or their dignity has been stolen from them?

Who needs Sabbath rest in order be recharged to continue to “fight the good fight”?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ruler of All Earthly Kings

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (from Rev. 1:4-8 ) About 17 years ago I wrote a letter to the people in the United Church of Underhill. The purpose of the letter was to explain I was retiring at the end of the Conference Year. I felt the time had come for me personally to move on and for the church to grow with a new pastor. I secured a moving company while the church formed a search committee as we both prepared for the inevitable. This is the nature of the book of Revelation, as recorded in 1:4: “John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia.” This is Revelation’s context: it was written for the benefit of particular people at a particular time for their particular situation. John’s letter narrates a drama about God’s imminent invasion of the “kingdom of this world” ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grantchester's Warning

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, the owner would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (from Luke 12:32-40 ) I regularly watch Grantchester; a murder mystery set in 1950s England. The main characters are a local detective and an Anglican priest who, as a team, solve mysteries set in the town. Two aspects of Grantchester impress me. First, the simplicity of the 1950’s police communications done by a landline phone and not cell phone. Second, the simplicity of daily life with little television and fewer possessions allowing the characters to focus on their vocation of detective and priest. This simplicity is more than a nostalgic return to the “good old days”. Instead, it’s a Shaker type of simplicity where austerity allows freedom from distractions to focus on worship and community. Today’s distraction-filled world has seemingly countless activ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus, Deliverance, and Demons

"Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." (from Luke 8:26-39 ) Astrid is a streaming program I often watch. The plot is a basic cops and robbers action until the criminal is caught. The uniqueness of the program is Astrid, who is on the Autism spectrum, is brilliant at solving puzzles including connecting clues to solve the crime. Watching this program has given me a more profound insight to people living with this condition and their acceptance in society. My first-hand experience with children on the Spectrum was driving a Special Needs school bus for 6 years. With this experience, I can imagine the life the possessed man was experiencing, especially living among the tombs, bound with chains and shackles, having to live in the wilds. It was no wonder he cried for mercy. Jesus, with his power and mercy, cast the demons out and even...
Post a Comment
Read more