Good Shabbas
Figuring out a way to cobble out a day of rest in our 365/24/7 hurly burly culture is sometimes more than we can manage.
That’s as true for Christians as it is for the rest of our society, and it may be doubly true for pastors. There are some interesting reflections on this subject over at Journeyman Preacher this week, where we can hear Doug say things like:
Keeping-Sabbath–as I understand it–is not a legalistic requirement as much as it is finding our strength and purpose in God. It is also simply enjoying God’s presence in our lives.
Go give it a read!
After that, there’s more Sabbath thinking out there for those of us Jesus people who can’t seem to stay away from Twitter and Facebook. Rhett Smith asks:
So why don’t we have sabbath patterns built into our routines? What is it about being engaged in social media and technology that keeps us from setting the proper boundaries?
Got an answer for that one?
Comment by Susan Phillips on 20 July 2009:
Walter Brueggemann was the keynote speaker for the Wisconsin Council of Churches forum on ethics and public policy in 2006 & 07. He describes the pathology of our age as anxiety and the antidote as Sabbath. For Brueggemann, this is not a passive, receptive experience of being rather than doing, but as he reads the Bible it is a counter culture expression of the holy covenant actively resisting the Empire. See any parallels to our age?
Brueggemann writes: “The fourth commandment, placed at the center of the Decalogue, is a curb on defining life in terms of productivity (Exod 20:8-11). The public act of Sabbath is a declaration to our children that the rat race of getting ahead is not the story of our life. Jews must regularly and visibly disengage from the brick quota of the consumer economy to give evidence that our life consists in being and not in getting or having or eating. The command is of course echoed in the tenth commandment on coveting, itself a curb on acquisitiveness (Exod 20:17).
“What if we take the Ten Commandments as an antidote to anxiety? There is anxiety in the empire because we will never have enough bricks. And Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about getting ahead in the world, for the Father God knows and provides what you need” (Matt 6:25, 32). Israel resists the anxiety of the empire, and offers an alternative of covenantal freedom that has peaceable rest at its center.”
After more than 8 years working 6 days/week, I asked the church I serve to move the Sat evening worship to Weds. They did and attendance is up — and we’ve added a discussion of “Living the Questions” series to it. Now, my kids, my Jewish spouse and I light Shabbat candles on Friday evenings and I have a day apart from the work of church to be faithful with my family. Thank you G-d.
Kevin Corcoran of Calvin College gave up Facebook for Lent this year.
Shabbat Shalom