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April 18, 2011Wholehearted Sabbath
Preparing for commanded rest
There’s something about the Sabbath that’s like taking a deep breath of fresh air. However, there’s also something about it that produces anxiety within me. What is the Sabbath supposed to look like? What should I be doing? What should I not be doing?
I grew up in a family that practiced the Sabbath, sort of. My parents were lay leaders in church, so Sunday was a day of work and ministry. Saturdays were closer to what I’d call a Sabbath. While the morning was spent doing chores, lunch marked the beginning of time for family, the park, movies, and long, leisurely meals. It was a kind of hybrid Sabbath, where we spent half of what God commanded as a day of rest.
With that personal background, the question of what should I be doing and not doing on the Sabbath still lingers. Exodus 20 tells me, “Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work” (The Message).
Sabbath to do: focus on God in my rest.
Sabbath not to do: tasks that need to get done, like bills, chores, and shopping.
With the backdrop of the Hebrew Scriptures and hundreds of years of rules interpreting this command, Jesus clarifies and deepens our understanding as only he can. In Mark 2 the disciples get in trouble for breaking established rules, and Jesus teaches: “The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath. And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!” (2:27–28). In Mark 3 Jesus notices a man with a withered hand and asks those gathered in the synagogue: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” (3:4).
Sabbath to do: do good by helping people and be flexible.
Sabbath not to do: take my Sabbath so seriously that I ignore or avoid doing good to others.
Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Israel and experience a modern keeping of the Sabbath. We ceased our travel and learning by sunset on Friday. One of our hosts offered the traditional prayer over the wine and the two loaves of challah bread to mark the beginning of this weekly holiday. We partook in a leisurely Sabbath meal in which we had time to get to know and enjoy our fellow travelers and our Israeli hosts. It was a wonderful opportunity to remember God’s blessings of rest and to delight in the gift of friendship.
Sabbath to do: Cease, end, and rest (which is what the Hebrew word Shabbat means), delight in God’s good gifts of people, rest, and nature, and start the Sabbath with “‘Shabbat shalom,’ ‘The peace of the Sabbath be with you.’”
Sabbath not to do: ignore the tradition and wisdom of generations who have obeyed God’s commandment.
I learned that preparation and planning are necessary to enjoy delightful rest. However, even with these insights, I still struggle with the planning and practical side of the Sabbath and with the desire to do it wholeheartedly.
Can you relate? What do you do to prepare and delight in the limits and the activities of Sabbath?
Comments
Thank you for writing this blog. I recently accepted a job that requires me to be working on call every Saturday and Sunday. I have been tormented by guilt since taking the position, not just for working on the Sabbath, but for how that impacts my family and the example I am setting for my children. I had just decided today to put in my 2 week notice and this was confirmation to me that I'm making the right choice. Praying for God's provision and blessing to result from my obedience.
Posted By: Michelle | April 20, 2011 6:00 PM
Truly loved this...it was so refreshing, beautiful and transparent... thank you.
The Lord teaches us that we are to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done IN earth ( our lives) as in Heaven. I share that to say as we obey and honor the earthly sabbath of SHABBAT SHALOM... we sow to the Spirit and we will find that we EXPERIENTIALLY ENTER little by little into the divine rest of understanding that Christ is our LIFE.
More of His life, peace, provision, deliverance... His all.... is experienced and manifested within our earthen vessels.
It is not the form that is important but the essence. The essence is HIM.
Christ Jesus is my Sabbath.
To Michelle...oh how He loves you...may the Lord of glory reveal Himself mightily upon your behalf! His blessings to you and your family!
Posted By: S.Schulz | April 20, 2011 9:34 PM
Have you read the NT and how Jesus fulfills the Sabbath? Col. - Heb. - Rom. No guilt for resting in the Lord's finished work every day.
Posted By: Ben | April 21, 2011 6:25 AM
I love the renewed interest in Sabbath and the invitation to rest that God has lovingly given us. He so wisely knows our need, and His, to choose this respite in the middle of the craziness of life, especially in this era of non-stop technology.
Posted By: Linda Stoll | April 21, 2011 7:36 AM
Michelle- peace and blessings to you as you put God's commandments and your family above work.
S.Schultz- I agree that essence is more important than form, but form helps us remember the essence. Sometimes we forget that and I believe it's to our detriment.
Ben- if we rest in the Lord's finished work every day, stopping our work for a day is one way of honoring him for his.
Linda- I agree that there is an aspect of humility and submission to God involved in the Sabbath. I love that Swenson quote.
Posted By: Beatrice | April 21, 2011 9:04 AM
The 4th commandment is the only one the Lord said...Remember....He created us, knows what is best for us, and resting is best for us. As a Seventh-day Adventist, the Sabbath (Saturday) is our day of rest from the labors and toils of this world. It is a day when no work is done from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. It is spent in fellowship with God, others, nature. There is also the other aspect of the Sabbath, not just a day of rest but all days, how do we spend our time. Do we take rest every day to commune with God.
Posted By: mitzie | April 22, 2011 2:46 PM
I'd just like to point out that Jesus didn't tell us to keep the Sabbath on Sunday every week. You can have a Sabbath rest on any day of the week. There are many professions out there (mine included) that require 24/7 staffing. If all Christians ceased working on Sunday we would have no Christian doctors, firemen, police, nurses, pastors...
Personally I have two types of Sabbath. Some weekends I have Sabbath on Sunday morning when I go to church & lunch with my family, but then I go to work for the afternoon and evening. I then make an effort one other day during the week to have more Sabbath time. Other weekends I have a traditional Sunday Sabbath. Sure, I'd love to spend every Sunday having that time together with my family and my Lord, but I know God called me to do the work I do in the hospital & working some weekends is an absolute requirement. We can be in obedience here without observing the Sabbath on Sunday.
Posted By: Cara | April 24, 2011 9:24 PM
Thank you for this post. It's so easy to forget about taking time for the Sabbath. Thank you for the practical & loving "to do" and "not to do." Especially for me, it's easy to be rigid in how I do things. It's also a great reminder in how well God knows us and how He provides for our rest :).
Posted By: Ela | April 26, 2011 10:17 AM