Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again by Ruth Haley Barton
Lenten devotional by Lori Duncan

“Desire is the language of the soul and every spiritual practice corresponds to some deep desire of the human heart.”
 
“It all starts with longing and love as we allow ourselves to get in touch with the desire that stirs deep within our soul—desire for a way of life that works. . . . When we are brave enough to be in touch with this stirring of the soul, God meets us right there in the middle of our desire with the revelation of this amazing gift [sabbath] that is fitted perfectly for us. Then we simply say yes to a God who knows us so well and loves us so much that [God] has provided us with such a good gift—if we can just arrange our lives to receive it.”
 
“. . . the distance between insight and practice is huge . . . .”
A favorite saying of a former pastor of mine was, “The danger of knowledge is thinking you’ve done it.” As we learn about sabbath and sabbath-keeping during this Lenten season, what are some steps can we take to practice it, to receive and actually do it? Thankfully, Ruth Haley Barton gives some concrete steps we can consider, although we approach them with an awareness that they won’t all be easy.

One of the first things we do is pay attention to the desires of our hearts, since they reflect our inner longing for deeper intimacy with the creator and lover of our souls. This is a good thing! Once we recognize our desire for such “a way of life that works,” we can move on to more practical tips.

We can have a “sabbath box,” where we place things we’ve written down that we need to do after our sabbath is over, trusting God to hold them in the interim. We can determine time boundaries around use of electronics, especially those that contain elements of work or mindless distraction. We experiment with activities that restore and rejuvenate us (they will not be the same for everyone). We cultivate a like-minded community of people with whom to engage sabbath-keeping practices, supporting and encouraging each other along the journey, especially in the various challenges that comes with each stage of life. We ensure that the various responsibilities that still happen during sabbath (cooking, clean-up, child care, etc.) do not fall upon one person. We keep in mind that quiet moments of rest may bring difficult emotions to the surface—God wants to restore every part of us—and we remember that “. . . we can make the choice to be with God with what is and experience another kind of rest—the rest that comes through acceptance rather than denial.” The main goal is to actually move towards putting elements of sabbath-keeping into practice in our lives.

These efforts are always, always held in grace. We will fail. We will pick up our phones or binge-watch a TV show or otherwise violate a sabbath-keeping boundary we’ve set for ourselves. The point isn’t whether we succeed brilliantly or fail spectacularly—the point is that we keep choosing to move ever deeper into the gift of sabbath given to us by God.

Prayer:
God of all wisdom and comfort: We ask that you guide us into the thoughts, ideas, and practices for us—individually and as a community—that will help us move deeper into the sabbath rest that you have so graciously given us. Help us move beyond theory and knowledge about sabbath into actually doing sabbath, and help us remember to be gracious with ourselves and others as we learn to better hear your voice and follow your leading. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Monday, February 27, 2023
Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again by Ruth Haley Barton
Lenten devotional by Lori Duncan

“Sabbath-keeping, and the deeper truths it represents, is a vibrant thread that begins with God in creation, is woven into the lives of God’s people immediately following their emancipation, and is then carried through the New Testament.”
 
“To fully understand the practice of Sabbath-keeping, we must see it as integrally connected with trust—an increasing capacity to trust God for provision in the life of God’s people (Exodus 16:23-25).”

Scripture must be allowed to reflect the culture and time in which it was written. People of the Ancient Near East (ANE) would likely have recognized Genesis 1-2 as a temple-building story. In addition to other recognizable elements of ANE temple building, Genesis reflects how the last thing to be placed into a temple was an image of the god being worshiped (Gen. 1:27), and, when completed, the god being honored would then come into the temple and take up his/her “rest” (Gen. 2:2-3). The point is that all of creation is a temple of the Living God. (For your consideration, here are some articles about a book that posits this idea.)

Ruth Haley Barton draws our attention to the idea that the seventh day is when God purposefully chose to cease from the work of creation because creation had reached its fulfillment. Within the context of the temple narrative, God could then come rest in it. And God’s ceasing of work on the seventh day was in a way itself creational: Barton quotes Rabbi Herschel (whose book Pastor Travis writes about), saying that on the seventh day “[t]ranquility, serenity, peace and repose” came into being. If that day truly does speak of God coming to dwell in the midst of the temple of God’s creation – where God and God’s Living Images could dwell together in perfect relationship – how could it be otherwise? In God’s presence is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11)!

Ruminating on this framework of creation and sabbath has led me to these thoughts; perhaps they will resonate with you: If the subsequently broken-by-sin creation has been restored in Christ, how am I called in Christ – who himself both kept and fulfilled the sabbath – to live in and from sabbath rest now (Hebrews 4)? How does my avoidance of the restoration that God gives in the practice of sabbath deny my identity as the imago Dei (the image of God), hindering my intimacy with God, and how does it deny the truth that God alone is infinite and that I am finite? (Barton says, “Our tendency to reject human limits by pretending they don’t exist or pushing beyond them in ways that are detrimental to self and others is as old as the creation narrative; to accept our finiteness and live graciously within the particularity of how we have been created is to actually honor the One who made us.”) How might the unrelenting pressure I feel to “earn my keep” (financially, spiritually, relationally, etc.) belie a lack of trust in God’s power and willingness to provide everything needed in my life and in the life of God’s people?

As we think about these and other questions regarding sabbath and our lives, let us remember that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). Sabbath-keeping helps root us in trusting God in the midst of our created limits, freeing our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds, knowing that the Creator of everything keeps the world going while we are at rest.

Prayer:
Gracious God, as we wrestle with the challenges around sabbath-keeping, help us learn to walk in the fullness of the freedom you provide in Christ, including the freedom to cease from labor and to rest. We choose to honor the One who made us by trusting in you, the Infinite One who entered into creation by becoming human. It is in the name of this Son of Man—Jesus—that we pray. Amen.

Sunday, February 26, 2023
Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again by Ruth Haley Barton
Lenten devotional by Lori Duncan

“Sabbath is a means of grace, a practice that creates channels for God to impart something of God’s self so we can then be a conduit of God’s nature to the world.”
 
“This is the very definition of faith – to say yes when we have no idea how it’s all going to work out, but we know it’s what we need to do. It is that deep interior yes that will carry us into and through all the knotty issues Sabbath raises until we emerge with a Sabbath practice that works. . . . In this process, we learn for ourselves that yes, indeed, the Sabbath is the most precious present humankind has received from the treasure house of God.”
I don’t know one committed Christian who does not take seriously the idea of working hard, in a variety of capacities, to serve God and facilitate growing God’s kingdom. But I do know scads of Christians who don’t know how to cease from working and really, deeply rest. As good Protestants we affirm salvation by faith, not by works, yet if are courageous enough to take an honest look, the way we tend to live betrays an unrecognized belief that, really, God is best pleased with hard and unrelenting work. (I think the Protestant Work Ethic and our cultural emphasis on individualism contribute to this.)

Ruth Haley Barton is one of the voices calling for a recapturing of God’s gift of sabbath, to embrace God’s rhythm of work and rest that helps transform us into people who better reflect God into the world. Her position is that sabbath is a gift given by God to humanity, one of the means of grace by which God saves the world (held, of course, within the saving work of Jesus Christ). She is not dogmatic about the “when’s” and the “how’s” of sabbath; she is clear that sabbath-keeping is not easy and requires the making of tough decisions. But she is also unwavering in her belief that, unless we enter by faith into practicing sabbath, we are saying, “No,” to one of God’s most precious gifts to humankind, and that our inability to rest indicates that we are slaves to something, somewhere. She doesn’t say this to bring shame – never! – but to help draw our attention to the resounding invitation from God to enter God’s own life-giving freedom and rhythm of being.

God says work is good. And God gives rest as a gift and consecrates it as holy. Both are necessary for healthy Christian lives that will rightly express God’s kingdom into the world. As we explore the astonishing gift of sabbath this Lent, can we—will we—by faith, move toward trusting and following God by making decisions to incorporate rest and cease from work in our own lives?

Prayer:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: We find ourselves conflicted—we want to work hard in our lives, but we also want to say Yes to your invitation to rest, to consistently cease from our work so you can restore our souls. Forgive us where we have embraced unhealthy rhythms, and give us ears to hear and eyes to see the eternal value of the incredible gift you give us in sabbath. Amen.

Saturday, February 25, 2023
The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel
Lenten Devotional by Pastor Travis

Heschel writes, “All our life should be a pilgrimage to the seventh day; the thought and appreciation of what this day may bring to us should ever be present in our minds.” “It is as if the command; Do not covet things of space, we’re correlated with the unspoken word; Do covet things of time.”
 
What would it be like if every day of the week, throughout our work and appointments, we had one eye on the coming Sabbath. I think that’s the gift of this weekly day of rest and prayer. When it is fully enjoyed, it gives us energy and patience and strength for the other six days. Is that the gift God intends for us, that knowing we have just come from a day of rest and joy and that another is on the way, we may fully do our work without succumbing to its burden?
 
I have tasted the gift of sabbath, but not every week. This book makes me want to receive this gift more regularly, trusting in the gift God would give me through a regular time of rest, play and prayer. Heschel doesn’t really tell us what to do on the Sabbath. It’s not about that kind of rigid obedience. It is likely different for all of us. He describes it so beautifully though, that I want it more in my life.
 
He ends his book with this powerful word. “On the Sabbath it is given us to share in the holiness that is in the heart of time. Even when the soul is seared, even when no prayer can come out of our tightened throats, the clean, silent rest of the Sabbath leads us to a realm of endless peace, or to the beginning of an awareness of what eternity means.”
 
Prayer:
Oh Lord, give me sabbath. Let the rest and renewal of a day with you seep into every day of my week. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 

Friday, February 24, 2023
The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel
Lenten Devotional by Pastor Travis

Heschel writes, “Unless one learns how to relish the taste of sabbath while still in this world, unless one is initiated in the appreciation of eternal life, one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come. Sad is the lot of him who arrives inexperienced and when led to heaven has no power to perceive the beauty of the Sabbath.” 
 
Heschel describes the Sabbath as a taste of heaven. It is the experience now of what eternity might be like. As I was reading this I thought of those times in my life when I really experienced full presence in the moment without a thought or care about what came before or what came after. Have you had time like that, experiences when time seems to lose its meaning? I remember fly fishing in the Missouri when I served a church in Montana and experiencing the harmony with nature as I was chest deep in the water watching the river ebb and flow around me. I could have been there for an hour or a day and it would have felt the same. I think this is what eternity will feel like and what sabbath can prepare us for. 
 
Through reading this book I’ve come to name my woodworking as a sabbath practice. When I’m in my garage working on a project, time loses its meaning. All of a sudden, it’s lunch time or dinner time and I am surprised that much time has passed. But the experience of this is a way to experience God’s presence differently. God exists in this kind of time, which is only present, and it fascinates me. God is there in a new way to me, and I look forward now to this sabbath practice as a way to get to know a new side of God that I hadn’t paid attention to before.
 
Prayer:
Holy God, you are present to me now in ways I can’t fully understand. Help me to step into eternity, into the present moment that never ends, so that I might experience now a taste of what you have in store for me in the life to come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thursday, February 23, 2023
The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel
Lenten Devotional by Pastor Travis

Heschel writes “The Sabbath is a bride, and its celebration is like a wedding.” In part two of his book, Heschel describes the Sabbath as a person you love and prepare to meet and celebrate. He talks about the Sabbath as our mate. He writes “just as the groom does no work on his wedding day, so does a man abstain from work on the Sabbath day; and therefore, the Sages and ancient Saints called the Sabbath a bride.” 

I find this a fascinating way to think about that weekly time of rest and renewal with God. Ignoring the Sabbath is like a man ignoring his wife on their wedding night. Can you imagine? When you think of the Sabbath in these terms then you imagine attending to the Sabbath, spending time with the Sabbath and enjoying that time like a date with someone you love. 

Or if thinking of this time as a spouse is too much for you, imagine the Sabbath as a good friend coming to visit. What do you do to prepare for that friend? When the friend arrives, you give all your attention to that time together. Have you ever visited someone, and they failed to carve out time to be with you, but went about their day as if you hadn’t made a special trip to be with them? 

I really like Heschel’s analogy. Rather than a time to obey, it’s something to look forward to, something to enjoy. Imagine the Sabbath as that day on the calendar you circle and star because you are so excited for it to come. That’s the energy that Heschel is hoping we will find in our anticipation of weekly time of rest and renewal with God.

Prayer:
O God you wait for me like a man waiting for his wife. Help me to run toward the Sabbath with that same kind of joy and anticipation and trust that our time together will be full of joy and leave me refreshed and renewed. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Wednesday, February 22, 2023
The Gift of Time: Sabbath Devotions for Lent
By Pastor Travis Norton

Today we begin our daily devotional readings around the theme of sabbath. Members and staff of the church have agreed to read various books on the topic and share what they’ve learned through these daily emails. This first one is sent to our whole mailing list, if you’d like to continue to receive these please make sure to sign up below.

We’ve chosen this theme because we recognize how busy people are or feel and how difficult it is to experience the gift of rest and renewal that God has for us each week. Our hope is that these devotionals will help you experience the gift God intended the Sabbath to be, and perhaps experience it in a way that you hadn’t considered beforehand. 

Today we begin with the book I read, The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Heschel lived from 1907 to 1972 and wrote this book in 1951. He was professor of Ethics and Mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In the next four days, I’ll introduce you to some of his thoughts on sabbath that have already had a profound effect on how I experience God and keeping the Sabbath holy.

Heschel writes “There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, become our whole concern.” 

He goes on to talk about the difference between space and time. We spend most of our concern on the things of space. Our houses, our jobs, our money and how we use it are all primarily concerned with things of space. But Heschel says that God is found in Time, and the first thing called holy, was not a thing but a time.  Sabbath time is where we connect with God so that that the things of space do not dominate us. He writes “Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time.” He talks about the Sabbath – which for Jews is Friday night through Saturday night – as a “palace in time.” It is built of soul, joy, and reticence. We learn who God is by our abstentions, by what we don’t do. He says of the Sabbath, it is “adjacent to eternity.”

The Sabbath is a time when we regain our dignity and are protected from the tyranny of civilization and all the things of “space.” Sabbath is a time when we are to be free from personal anxiety or care. Heschel even says we shouldn’t even try to remember our sin or failures or anything that might dampen our joy. He says we should rest from labor but also rest even from the thought of labor!


Prayer:
Holy God, you have given me the gift of sabbath and I thank you for it. Teach me to revel in a time set apart to just be. Give me rest from all my worries and concerns. Show me the path to joy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.