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Minutes
of Meetings with God |
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Jesus, and the Eternal Sabbath |
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"Sad, but ever so true!" I thought to myself as I listened to a young, new father talk about his recent insights into his culture, faith and life. He had just told me how he was beginning to understand that we, in our culture, that he, in his personal life didn't really rest. Part of the reason for that failure to rest, he was also beginning to understand, is because we in our culture, have found it too easy to forget to set aside time with God. I wish I could remember exactly how he said it, because it was so good! Mostly, we just charge head-long through each day with the result that every day is just as hectic and draining as the next. We don't observe Sabbath or keep Sunday as "a day of rest." So, we miss out, not only spiritually, but also physically, because we don't have any regular "down-time." We don't build up a reservoir of rest. We press on until our bodies and spirits are just totally exhausted. Yes, I thought to myself, it's sad, but so true for most all of us, including me. This young father ministered to me by what he said, when I had been the one who had come to minister to his wife, to their new baby, and to him. Actually, this "moment of truth" happened in his wife's hospital room as the couple waited to see if some complications for both mother and baby would sort themselves out or demand medical interventions. The baby's birth, a wonderful miracle of new life, was accompanied by other miracles, the birth of insight and ministry. As I have continued to think about this episode, I have realized that it probably wasn't an easy insight for this new "dad" to experience. He is a farmer, which isn't something simple anymore; it means that he is increasingly forced to be something of an agri-businessman. He has to make decisions that can cost tens or, even, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lost time (whether in the fields, in the trucks transporting crops, or in the shop getting equipment ready for the next round of field work) means serious loss of income. And, he is a husband and a father who wants a good life for his family. Here, he is thinking about "un-plugging," to take time out for God and for rest. In our culture, we tend to think that working hard every moment that we have, will get us the good life. Most of what we call recreation and vacation tends to be just another form of work. In other words, rest isn't rest for us anymore. We take pagers, cell-phones, lap-tops, fax machines and all sorts of other communications technology with us wherever we go (including the bathroom); we never un-plug. We, Christians, tend to forget that there is a sense in which Jesus came to bring us a revolutionary new Sabbath; that is, he came to bring us an extraordinary time of rest and a totally amazing time with God. Jesus has said us:
The Kingdom of God can easily be described as an eternal Sabbath. Jesus was more than a little radical in his everyday living. If Sabbath is about un-plugging from work, from the world, and from everything to spend time with God and to experience "rest," then Jesus tried to do that all day, every day. Sabbath is about leaving off concern for doing things and getting things so that it is possible to focus on nurturing a mature relationship with God and with other people. Jesus' only work, all day, every day was loving God and loving people in concrete ways. Repeatedly, Jesus, in so many words, said to people: "You have to unplug from everything, point the direction of your life toward God, and live like you've already died! All of your life needs to be given over to loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself." Jesus was succinct:
So many of us, even in our religious and spiritual lives, never really rest. We are constantly on the go. The New Testament offers a very vivid picture of how most of us are, in contrast to how Jesus wants us to be. It is the picture of Martha and Mary.
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