Sabbath
Sabbath
The fourth commandment reads: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20:8-10). The Jewish understanding of sabbath embraced a special twenty-four hour rest time that was different from every other day. Other days of the week were given over to work, but the sabbath reminded people that they were finite. They could not constantly be on the go. There were limits to their energy. And to honor these limitations was to honor the infinite God, who himself worked and rested.
Jewish sabbath began in the evening when the family set aside all the to-dos of the work week. As the lamps were lit, everyone settled into the evening calm of Shabbat. Candles, prayers, blessings, food, the empty chair at the table—it all represented delight and refreshment in the presence of God and each other. When bedtime came, the family rested in God’s covenant protection. They woke on sabbath morning to a world they didn’t make and a friendship with God they didn’t earn. Over time, this one intentional day for delight and refreshment turned into a sobering legalistic exercise. Enjoying God and others was replaced by scrupulously keeping sabbath rules. The day God had given as a respite from work became simply another kind of work.
Jesus took specific aim at this misunderstanding of the sabbath. As Lord of the sabbath (see Matthew 12:1-14; Luke 6:1-10), he freely interpreted the sabbath command, claiming that God gave it to people as a restorative and recuperative gift. God did not intend for life to be all effort, so he punctuated each week with twenty-four hours of sabbath rest, during which people could remember what life is about and who it is for.
Sadly, everything about us works against slowing down. Our compulsion to produce and not waste time invades the space God gave for us to rest. Children’s athletics, national sporting events, round-the-clock accessibility to work, e-mail and stores also fill up the sabbath day, so we never stop. When you get indignant over how seemingly incompatible sabbath is with the tiring and relentless demands already facing you, consider what your tiredness means. Animals don’t think about how tired they are. And they don’t have a sabbath they set aside for rest. It’s humans who recognize the difference between work and rest. The fact that we make distinctions between being tired and rested is an indication that we need to do both. Made in the image of God, we are like God, who on the seventh day “rested” from all his labor.
Sabbath is God’s way of saying, “Stop. Notice your limits. Don’t burn out.” It is a day he gives us to remember who and what work is for as well as what matters most. Sunday generously hands us hours to look into the eyes of those we love. We have time for loving and being loved. Rhythmically, the sabbath reminds us that we belong to the worldwide family of God. We are citizens of another kingdom—a kingdom not ruled by the clock and the tyranny of the urgent. God’s sabbath reality calls us to trust that the Creator can manage all that concerns us in this world as we settle into his rest.
Reflection Questions
- What difficulties or compulsions surround your resting on the sabbath?
- How does taking a sabbath enhance your enjoyment and worship of God?
- What makes a sabbath day nourishing and replenishing to you?
- What happens to you when you go without regular rhythms that allow you to rest in God?
Spiritual Exercises
- Plan a twenty-four-hour sabbath you can enter with anticipation. The night before your sabbath, remind your body how long it has to luxuriate and rest in God. • Consider the things that would nourish you: worship, music, a nap, making love, walking, reading, playing with children, afternoon tea. Plan them spaciously into the day.
- Gather your family together to discuss how to arrange your sabbath for refreshment, renewal and relationships. Ask “How do you intentionally leave the school- and work- week behind? • Let everyone tell one thing they love to do on Sunday. • Share what makes Sundays difficult for you. • If getting to church is a hurried time that brings distress to the family, spend some time talking together about how to take the pressure off “getting out the door on time.” Should you consider going to church at another time? Would the family enjoy having Dad fix breakfast? Would they rather just drink juice and share a family brunch? What can be done the night before to make it easier to get going in the morning? • How can you approach sabbaths in ways that do not force, rush or demand?
- Begin your sabbath gently on Saturday evening. Light a candle. • Invite the presence of Christ to guide you through your sabbath. • Eat with friends and family. • Go to bed early, speaking peace to one another. • Pray for Christ to give you deep, refreshing sleep. Rest in his arms. Commit your dreams to the Lord.
- Prepare a “sabbath box or basket.” Choose a basket or cover a grocery-size box with gift paper. Each Saturday evening, gather as a family to put all the things you don’t need to take with you into Sunday. Drop cell phones, credit cards and pagers into the box. Put work projects and homework in the box. • Tell one another what you are looking forward to as you enter Sunday. • Pray together to receive the gift of sabbath.
- The night before your sabbath day, enter into sleep as a spiritual act of worship. Consciously let go of your compulsion to be indispensable. Drop all that brings you anxiety into the arms of your heavenly Father. Lay your head on the pillow imagining that you are putting your head into the lap of God. Commit your body and dreams to him. Relax in God and rest.
- Awake gently to your sabbath day. If it is possible, don’t set an alarm. Let your body wake naturally. As you come to consciousness, take several deep breaths and open your body wide to God for the new day. Stretch out and feel the full length of yourself. Thank God that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank him for the gift of the day before you. • Is God speaking to you in any way? Listen and respond. • Get up slowly and attend to your desire to encounter God today.
Resources on Sabbath
Sabbath by Wayne Muller
Sabbath Keeping by Lynne M. Baab
“If worship does nothing else for us, it helps us discover the things that are important. Real worship will transform your life.” —Warren Wiersbe
Worship
DESIRE | to honor and adore the Trinity as the supreme treasure of life |
DEFINITION | Worship happens whenever we intentionally cherish God and value him above all else in life. Worship reveals what is important to us. |
SCRIPTURE | “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11) “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (Matthew 4:10) “God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” (Hebrews 12:28-29) |
PRACTICE INCLUDES |
|
GOD-GIVEN FRUIT |
|
