Sabbath

He's comfortable resting.  Why shouldn't I be?

  Last week, I was blessed to spend a few days at a Q conference in New York City listening to a conversation about spiritual practices between Gabe Lyons and Eugene Peterson.  If I tried to capture everything they talked about on this blog, I'd be writing for the next month.  Another blogger has already invested his time capturing much of what was said, so rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll send you in that direction.  If you're interested in watching a few of the sessions online, you can click here. 

  I've had an idea bouncing around in my head for the past week, one that hasn't yet settled down into that region where interesting thoughts go to die--this one prefers to keep itself alive by cropping up in idle moments.  It's something Eugene Peterson said, not so much as a definitive statement but rather as a proposal for us to consider:  Perhaps the church's main responsibility is to keep the Sabbath.

  Perhaps it was just so different than anything I've heard before that I'm startled by the idea's freshness.

  Or maybe there's something deeper than that.  Maybe there is something that I, that we, have been missing for many years.

  Maybe the church is so caught up in trying to do the right thing, in trying to be relevant in society, of trying to keep ourselves and our members busy with this and with that, that we haven't bothered to emphasize the importance of Sabbath.  We talk about Sabbath quite a bit, but do we do it in the right way.  I know I have discussed Sabbath as 'holy rest' quite a bit, but I'm not sure that anyone would say that keeping Sabbath is a priority of New Hope.

  But Eugene Peterson said it is the most repeated commandment in the Bible.  (I'm not going to invest much energy in arguing with someone who has paraphrased the entire Bible, so I'm assuming he is correct.)

  If it is the most repeated commandment in the Bible, why aren't we spending more time with it?

  Is it because we're afraid that if God's work isn't dependent on our actions, then we won't have an important role in the church?  Do we not trust God enough?  Are we afraid of Sabbath, of being viewed as lazy?  Are we afraid of what might happen if we slow down, if we stop?  Does silence linger around the corner like an unwelcome guest, so we keep ourselves so busy we don't have to notice him at all?  Are we afraid that we'll discover that we're wrong?

  I believe it's probably a combination of all of the above, with some factors being more prominent than others.  I'm probably more afraid that God will think I'm lazy than anything else, but that's just me.

  Peterson talked a lot about how important Sabbath is because in Sabbath we stop and pay attention to what God is doing in the world.  When we're immersed in the busy-ness of day to day life, even when we manage to invest time and energy into our spiritual lives, it's often about what we are doing, rather than about what God is doing.  When we keep Sabbath and truly slow down, we notice more in the world, and in so doing we can enjoy it, and then, when we feel like we know what God is doing in the world, we can join in.

  Sabbath gives us the freedom to admit that we aren't in charge.  In Sabbath, we are discovering that God is in control, that creation is in good hands, and that the world (or the church) doesn't depend on us.  When we rest, we notice that the world won't collapse without our efforts.  In Sabbath, we are reminded that God is sovereign, has been for a long time, and won't forget how to be, either.  In Sabbath, we detach ourselves from the compulsive need to work, and we rest.

  In our rest, we notice God at work in the world, see the wonders and beauty he has created, and we appreciate God's grace at work.  We can enjoy the creation God has made, and recognize that our role is probably much smaller than we think.  In Sabbath, we are free to play in what God has made, to do unnecessary things, to revel in beauty.  In Sabbath, we discover that rest is as important as work.

  So maybe keeping the Sabbath is the most important thing we can do.  It's probably the most challenging, because it goes against so much of what we believe as modern Americans--that we must work to prove our worth, to our families, to our employers, to God.  So Sabbath goes against what we believe when we say that we need to slow down, to rest, to receive, to enjoy what God is doing.  But that's a good thing--because in resting, in slowing down, we can wonder at God's role as ruler and creator of everything, and we can thank him for creating and sustaining life.

  Perhaps we can even recognize where God is working, and it might be (and probably will be!) in places we might not have expected.  But this insight can help us join in with God in new ways, all the while recognizing that we join what God is doing, but it doesn't depend on us.  We are simply giving back in gratitude.

  Sabbath is more worthy than the time and energy I currently give to it.  But rather than feel guilty about that like I normally would, I'm just going to slow down, to breathe deeply, and remember that God is in charge.