Dear Faith Family,
No matter how much we'd like to think otherwise, our routines and rituals, whether religious practices or cultural adaptations, often shape our understanding of life with God more than His stories of life with Him. In other words, our experience (whether directly, indirectly, or lack thereof) is often the primary filter for our understanding. I know this especially to be true for my understanding of the Sabbath.
Growing up, there was no "Sabbath." There was certainly a day for church and God-related activities, but it was busy. Full from morning until night. And while I enjoyed most of it, the "holiness" of the day had less to do with getting into a rhythm with God's way of being than it did with meeting the expectations of our community. Later in life, it was "studying" the Sabbath practices of others that, admittedly, confused more comforted my longing for peace. There were so many ideas and assumptions and convictions, not to mention the endless list of do's and don'ts; it was hard to know where to start, or even if I should!
But I (we?) are not the first to be so influenced by the expectations and practices of others that we miss the heart of the day God made for us. In truth, especially around this topic, we are more like the Pharisees who observe Jesus and his disciples' actions on the Sabbath and get lost asking, "What is work?" and "What is rest?" We look at what others have and haven't done on the Sabbath, assessing what others are doing and not doing through our own experiences (or inexperience) and expectations of this day, and more often than not, dismiss their efforts--either in judgment or because don't know how to follow suit. All the while, we, like those Pharisees way back when, never ask, "What is the Sabbath for?" But don't fret; Jesus answers the questions we often fail to ask,
Then Jesus said, 'The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren't made to serve the Sabbath. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath. He's in charge!'
(Mark 2:27-28)
When it comes to sabbath-keeping, we fall into a long line of God-people who start with the how rather than the heart. But, if we'd just for a moment assume that we know nothing about the Sabbath and let the stories of life with God form our understanding, we'd see that at the heart of the seventh-day's design was enjoying the completeness, the wholeness of what we are already apart of.
Looking over what was "very good" (Gen. 1:31), God stops simply to enjoy His being with what He loves as it already is. In the peace of a world complete (even if not yet fully finished), in the harmony of unseparated communion with His beloved, content in Himself and His labors, God stops to be with, to enjoy, to cherish, to relish in the wholeness, the shalom, of the relationships in His presence (Gen. 2:1-2). And in doing so, God blessed us with a day to do the same. Sabbath is a day to be whole with God, with ourselves, with others, and with creation because God has made it so we can be. Through His creating work and again in His work of re-creation through Jesus ("lord even of the Sabbath"), peace is complete--even if not yet fully finished.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33)
As we discussed on Sunday, the transforming blessing of the Sabbath does not begin with what we do and don't do, but with the heart that formed this day to serve us. A day that was created and made holy, blessed (Gen. 2:3) so that we too might delight in wholeness, delight in being at peace in our relationship with God, with self, with others, with creation because of the work of Jesus.
So say you buy what I believe our scripture and Savior are selling, that Sabbath is about stopping to delight in the wholeness of life with God and others. Whether this affirms or reshapes your experience of the Sabbath, I bet you can't help but ask, "But what am I supposed to do, or not do, on the Sabbath?"
While the question is only natural, let me leave you with two better questions that I think will help us enter the heart of the Sabbath.
What are the things you do (or don't do) that cause you to miss out on or overlook your "very good" relationships or cause confusion or conflict within them? Consider abstaining from these things.
What are the things you do (or don't do) that allow you the space to delight, cherish and strengthen your "excellent" relationships? Consider prioritizing these things.
Your answers won't give you a finished picture of the Sabbath, but they might give you a place to start from within the heart of Sabbath.
Love you, faith family. God bless!