| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Feb | May » | |||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
- 100 Days of Prayer (3)
- General Nourishment (24)
- News Item (6)
- Worship (5)
- 26 October 2009: Free Money for Christmas!!
- 4 September 2009: GOT FRUIT?
- 1 August 2009: Church-Wide Sabbath
- 6 June 2009: Annual Conference -- Day Three
- 5 June 2009: Annual Conference -- Day Two
- 4 June 2009: Annual Conference -- Day One
- 3 June 2009: It's that time of year, again...Annual Conference!"
- 6 May 2009: You've Got Mail (and a voice!)
- 14 March 2009: Fish Where the Fish Are
- 13 February 2009: News From the Pews
Blogroll
Web Pages
A Sabbath Heart
The worst thing anybody can do to Sabbath is legislate it, either in civil government, or church law. Reflect on where that has put Sabbath in the minds of Christians, never mind everybody else. Sabbath today is grotesquely misunderstood and taken for granted; one of those things that only religious Jews and “whacky” Christians do. Sabbath is often seen as a quaint old custom, belonging to an earlier time when people weren’t so busy. But Sabbath is also remembered with longing, thinking back to the good old days of the Blue Laws, where others decided what Sabbath was for you. But, I am not interested in how we got here, just how we get out of here. Sabbath is not a joke, and it is not something to be either ignored or endured. Sabbath is a celebration, and a form of worship.
Here at Glen Mar Church, we have had experiences with two books on Sabbath. The first, Keeping Sabbath Wholly, by Marva Dawn, was the basis for a five-sermon series in the fall of 2006 by Andy Lunt called, “Life in the Fast Lane,” the first of which can be found here. Audio copies of the sermon series may be purchased in the church office. The second book is being studied now by the Sunday 9:15 adult Bible study class lead by John Nupp, and is called, The Rest of God, by Mark Buchanan. While the two books are different, they are complimentary. The common starting point for each is the heart of the matter; that Sabbath is not a time but an attitude; it has a heart. Do we as Christians (or Jews, or Muslims) have a Sabbath heart, or do we continue to see Sabbath as an item on a checklist to be “done?”
“Legalism” is an excuse many of us enjoy using to avoid doing inconvenient things, such as observing Sabbath, or tithing, for example. Legalism is what we (Christians, Jews, and Muslims) do to a commandment from God. God never intended for us to do what was commanded without heart. God always intended for us to obey commandments with love for God and for each other. This is what it means for Christ to not abolish the law, but fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). In confronting the religious leaders, His argument was not that the law was invalid (it came from God, after all), but that our application of it was corrupt, heartless, loveless, judgmental. Try this sometime: when you come across a piece of Scripture that is a list of behaviors, laws, or rules (such as Ephesians 4 or Exodus 20), read it, and then go read 1 Corinthians 13. Put them in a bowl and mix well. That’s my idea of justice and mercy; of law and love.
How do you see Sabbath? What was your experience when it was forced on you, or when you were free to choose it? Are you willing to consider developing a heart for Sabbath?
2 Responses to “A Sabbath Heart”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
16 March 2008 at 18:55
I heard about a cool read on Sabbath from this rabbi (the Shalom in the Home guy). He says normally we are consumed by the “urgent” and we back-burner the “important.” You know, work is urgent and family is important. On Sabbath, we do not do the urgent. That’s for the other days. On Sabbath we spend bulk time (quantity time) on the important. I found this sort of liberating as a concept.
28 March 2008 at 18:02
This is a Sabbath take on the Steven R. Covey concept, “The Time Matrix,” (http://www.orgcoach.net/timematrix.html).
Covey encourages us to focus on the things that are “urgent” and “important,” then “not urgent” and “important.” He encourages us to avoid things that are “not important.” The website gives exmples. Of course, for Sabbath people, this is a good practice for six days a week.
If we do only “important” things on the seventh day, the Rabbi proposes those things should also not be “urgent.” I suggest we try not to do those “important” things, urgently.