When Sabbath Came to Church

Dr. Guy Brewer, Director, North Carolina Sabbath Living Initiative

(Guy offers this reflection on the Sabbath Living retreat held on Memorial Day weekend for pastors and clergy of AME Zion Beaufort District and UMC Sound District in North Carolina.)

“Everybody in church was your momma. It didn’t matter where you sat or who you were with. Those church ladies were all in cahoots! They had their eye on you and they would bless you out at the drop of a hat. If need be, they could give you that secret pew pinch, too, if you know what I mean. Dear Lord, I grew up with so many mommas!”

 That is how an AME Zion pastor described her memories of Sabbath from childhood. This recollection illustrates what it means to be a Sabbath community. In a Sabbath community, everybody is your momma; people take the term “church family” seriously. In such a community, folks’ lives are closely bound together. They love each other deeply, know each other well, and look out for each other as a mother cares for her own children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our experience at the Sabbath Living retreat over Memorial Day weekend was filled with deep love. The retreat began on Friday night with the celebration of a “love feast” in which community members served each other the bread of life and living water with the words, “God loves you and so do I.” What a moving scene. Old persons serving young persons. White folks serving black folks. Tough men with tears in their eyes hugging one another.

Across our three days together, we reflected on how we might live at the pace of grace, how we might make a space for grace in our lives, and how we might find our place of grace in the Body of Christ. As our time drew to a close, folks had the opportunity to come to the altar for anointing with oil. Every person in attendance—fifty-five people—came forward. It was a Holy Spirit moment, a time of healing, reconciliation, and empowerment.

It was hard to leave that place. In three days together, we had come to love one another. How could we say farewell? We joined hands, each person turned to the other, looked in their eyes and said, “God loves you and so do I.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What the Bible Says About Enjoying your Weekend

*This article was originally published by Relevant Magazine.

I love my work. Like many Americans, I pride myself on a strong work ethic. But sometimes I feel like I’m working all the time.

Instantaneous communications, nonstop connectivity and the option of working from home are all great. But they can also make us feel like we are never fully working or fully resting.

For many of us, TGIF has lost its savor.

We take on second jobs to earn extra bucks, check emails throughout the weekend and use Sunday afternoon to run errands or catch up on work.

A dozen years ago, my husband and I started a creation care ministry. It’s allowed us to meet some of the most intelligent and loving people in the world. It’s offered us ample opportunities to travel. And it’s given us a platform to speak into both the churched and non-churched culture.

And while working with my husband is one of the greatest joys of my life, it also has a dark side: We can easily find ourselves talking shop late into the night and on weekends.

Like all good things, work can become twisted. When we look for our identity in our jobs rather than in God, we can lose sight of the relationships that matter most.

The Bible is filled with admonishments to the lazy. But what does it say to a culture that finds itself working 24/7? Does God want us to enjoy the weekends?

We have only to open the scriptures to find out:

EVERYTHING CREATED BY GOD IS GOOD.

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO WORK 24/7.

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat (Mark 6:30-31).

GOD INVENTED THE WEEKEND.

The creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.

And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3).

REST. EVERY. WEEK.

God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them (Hebrews 4:1). 

EVERYONE DESERVES SOME DOWNTIME (INCLUDING IMMIGRANTS AND MINIMUM WAGE EARNERS).

You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy (Exodus 20:8-11).

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY.

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13).

GET THE PARTY STARTED.

On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God” (Numbers 10:10).

SHARE THE JOY.

Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8: 10).

REFRESH YOURSELF IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul (Psalm 23: 2-3).

DON’T FILL YOUR MIND WITH GARBAGE.

[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8).

IT’S COOL TO COOL YOUR JETS.

Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10). Or the ancient Greek (Septuagint) version: “Have leisure and know that I am God.”

YOU DON’T NEED TO DO IT ALL YOURSELF.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Weekends have a purpose. They let us step back and appreciate the goodness of honest labor. They help us value every day on earth as an undeserved gift. And they put our toil into perspective, reminding us it’s God who keeps the world spinning—not us.

Yes, work hard. Yes, steward your time wisely. And then every Friday afternoon, shout with joy: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. (Psalm 118:24)

Or as that great oracle of my youth, Dr. Seuss, once said, “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me NOW! It’s fun to have fun but you have to know how!”

 

Nancy Sleeth is the author of Almost Amish and co-founder of Blessed Earth. Recognized by Newsweek and Christianity Today as one of the “50 Evangelical Women to Watch,” lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband Matthew. For more Sabbath resources, visit sabbathliving.org.

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The Four-sided Peace of Sabbath

This week I’ve been preparing to lead a Lenten day of silence for a nearby church.  I know that may sound like an oxymoron: How exactly does one prepare for leading a silent retreat?  Well, in this case, the organizers asked me to pick a theme that relates to Lent and then select three meditations, followed by questions that the people attending can contemplate in silence.

The theme I chose is Shabbat Shalom, Sabbath peace.  It’s based on a few pages in a book I recently read: The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, by Joseph Telushkin and Dennis Prager.  The authors speak briefly about four kinds of shalom that Jews seek on the Sabbath.

The first is peace within ourselves.  The Jewish Sabbath laws are designed to bring peace on earth, a foretaste of heaven, one day each week.  This peace must begin with the person we see reflected in our mirror each morning. To promote inner peace, religious Jews don’t use machinery and external sources of entertainment on the Sabbath.  All week, we engage with (and are often enslaved by) email, television, Facebook, news, chores, and cell phones. In the quiet that descends on Shabbat eve, we re-learn how to be still and rest in God.

The second source of shalom is peace between people.   Turning off external, mechanized sources of noise on our Sabbath produces another bonus:  we suddenly have ample time to invest in relationships.  One of the nearly universal consequences of Sabbath observance is the strengthening of ties among family and friends. In particular, the Sabbath meal allows time for uninterrupted conversation, with no one rushing off to make a call or keep an appointment. Sabbath is a chance for husbands and wives to reconnect, for children to engage with their parents and each other in a relaxed atmosphere, and for friends to have leisurely conversations and share their hearts.

Third, Sabbath also promotes peace between people and nature.   Biblically, the injunctions to offer animals a break on the Sabbath, to give the land a rest every seventh year, and to practice Jubilee principles by not squeezing out every possible penny of profit are Sabbath practices that ensure rest for creation. In practical terms, if every Jew and Christian in the world worshipped on the Sabbath and then came home and didn’t buy anything or drive anywhere the remainder of the day, we could save about 14 percent of our carbon footprint. But even more significantly, by filling the emptiness inside with God rather than nonstop consumption, Sabbath peace flows into our habits the other six days of the week and allows us to stop and value our surroundings.

Last is peace between people and God.  All week, we run around trying to fulfill immediate needs and desires. Shabbat is God’s day, when we look beyond the tyranny of the urgent and reflect upon the eternal consequences of our actions.  Instead of focusing on my needs and desires, we focus on His generosity and goodness. On Sabbath we are invited to walk out onto the bridge between heaven and earth and meet the Creator of the Universe, the living and ever gracious God.

Which of these four kinds of shalom are you most drawn toward?  For the remaining five Sabbaths until Easter, consider focusing on one of these. Then reflect upon the following questions:

  • What practices can you eliminate during your remaining Sabbaths before Easter that will promote peace within yourself?  No social media? A television fast? A break from the Internet?
  • What practices can you add that will promote peace between people?  Consider a Sabbath meal with family or friends, or reading a chapter aloud from an inspiring book and discussing it.
  • What practices can you add or eliminate that promote peace with nature?  Walking around the block and stopping to admire the spring blooms? Not driving anywhere except church? Abstaining from shopping–in stores or on the Internet?
  • What practices can you add that will draw you closer to God?  Thirty minutes of prayer on your knees sharing a heart of confession, adoration, and thanksgiving with God? Singing the Psalms?  Memorizing a piece of scripture that has always delighted you?
May your Sabbath rest during this Lenten season be overflowing with God’s peace!
Shabbat shalom,
Nancy and Matthew Sleeth

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Lent: A Time for Meaning-Making and Remembering Who We Are

 

As the Church moves toward the season of Lent, Margaret Kornfield offers us the following reflection in Cultivating Wholeness. Kornfield’s message of meaning-making and remembering who we are especially resonates with us as we live into Lent:

 

“It is through religious celebration of the liturgical year that most of us stay connected to the cycles of life: to birth, death, and rebirth in human life and in nature, even to our own biorhythms.  In recent times there has been a radical change in our relationship to the cycles of nature and to time, itself.  Many adults today had grandparents or great-grandparents who worked the land. (In 1850, 60 percent of the working population was employed in agriculture.) Today, many of us only have memories of having visited a farm—we are far from the land. (Now, less than 2.7 percent of the working population is directly engaged in farming.) Today, in any modern supermarket we can buy any food, at any time, from anywhere.  In being disconnected from the cycles of the seasons.  We forget our creatureliness.

 

“The relationship of the cycles of religious celebration to our experience of time may have even farther reaching implications to our health and wellbeing.  Our sense of the time of the week has been changing.  It used to be punctuated by the Sabbath or by Sunday.  There was a break in the week for rest and renewal and this break was experienced by us and our neighbors.  Now, for many, Sunday is a day almost like any other.  Many stores are open for shopping.  And because of shifts in work—very much created by technology—machines work full-time, therefore their operators work all the time, too.  While most of us have a “day of rest,” it might not correspond with that of our family or friends.

 

“We still have bodies with biorhythms connected to another time, when we were more in contact with the rhythms of nature.  Built into our bodies is a rhythm of activity, rest, renewal.  James Ashbrook has noted that this cyclical rhythm, which we experience in waking and sleeping, is also the rhythm of the Sabbath.  The Sabbath is a time set apart by God for rest and remembering.  It is a time for change in activity—from working and making to reflecting and synthesizing the experiences of the week.  This is what Dr. Ashbrook calls “meaning-making . . .remembering who we are. ‘ He also sees a parallel between the rhythm of the Sabbath and the rhythm of our deepest “active” sleep, REM (“rapid eye movement”) sleep.  Through REM sleep we rest, dream, synthesize the experience of the day, and thereby renewed.  Through sleep we are reintegrated.  Through keeping Sabbath we experience a similar integration.  He says that we can keep the Sabbath by setting aside a “timeless” time to catch our breath and savor life.  Sabbathing can be “the way in which we keep body and soul together.

 

“We are supported, as we support others in their changing lives, by remembering who we are.  And as we remember, we will experience the Sabbath cycle of activity, rest, synthesis, renewal.”

 

Even the season of Lent remembers the Sabbath, and keeps it holy.

 

Peace and blessings,

Cynthia V. Vaughan

 

 

Cynthia V. Vaughan serves as a lead Sabbath Chaplain for Blessed Earth.  She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor (ACPE, Inc.) of hospital chaplains. Cynthia regularly emails an inspiring Sabbath reflection to a growing list of Sabbath keepers.  If you would like to grow in your Sabbath journey, please contact Adam@blessedearth.org and he will add you to Cynthia’s distribution list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Sunday Sabbath Poem by George Herbert

from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert


Sunday
O Day most calm, most bright,
The fruit of this, the next worlds bud,
Th’ indorsement of supreme delight,
Writ by a friend, and with his bloud;
The couch of time; cares balm and bay:
The week were dark, but for thy light:
                  Thy torch doth show the way.

                  The other dayes and thou
Make up one man; whose face thou art,
Knocking at heaven with thy brow:
The worky-daies are the back-part;
The burden of the week lies there,
Making the whole to stoup and bow,
                  Till thy release appeare.

                  Man had straight forward gone
To endlesse death: but thou dost pull
And turn us round to look on one,
Whom, if we were not very dull,
We could not choose but look on still;
Since there is no place so alone,
                  The which he doth not fill.

                  Sundaies the pillars are,
On which heav’ns palace arched lies:
The other dayes fill up the spare
And hollow room with vanities.
They are the fruitfull beds and borders
In Gods rich garden: that is bare,
                  Which parts their ranks and orders.

                  The Sundaies of mans life,
Thredded together on times string,
Make bracelets to adorn the wife
Of the eternall glorious King.
On Sunday heavens gate stands ope:
Blessings are plentifull and rife,
                  More plentifull then hope.

                  This day my Saviour rose,
And did inclose this light for his:
That, as each beast his manger knows,
Man might not of his fodder misse.
Christ hath took in this piece of ground,
And made a garden there for those
                  Who want herbs for their wound.

                  The rest of our Creation
Our great Redeemer did remove
With the same shake, which at his passion
Did th’ earth and all things with it move.
As Sampson bore the doores away,
Christs hands, though nail’d, wrought our salvation,
                  And did unhinge that day.

                  The brightnesse of that day
We sullied by our foul offence:
Wherefore that robe we cast away,
Having a new at his expence,
Whose drops of bloud paid the full price,
That was requir’d to make us gay,
                  And fit for Paradise.

                  Thou art a day of mirth:
And where the Week-dayes trail on ground,
Thy flight is higher, as thy birth.
O let me take thee at the bound,
Leaping with thee from sev’n to sev’n,
Till that we both, being toss’d from earth,
                  Flie hand in hand to heav’n!

 

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Blown Glass: An Advent Reflection

by Guy Brewer

I yearned to pray today but found it very hard to calm my racing thoughts. Like many others, I feel a lot of internal and external pressure to complete my “holiday chores,” whatever that means. I tried making a “to do” list so I would not forget all of the important trivia of the day, but this didn’t help much at all with my inner chaos. And then, I remembered that poetry is the language of the soul. And, I sensed that my soul had something it wanted to say to God and to me. Perhaps the soul poem that emerged will be helpful to some of you as well. It is entitled, “Blown Glass.”

“Blown Glass”
The prayer began more with human worries than divine promises
Like blown glass, molten and fragile
Its shape depending upon the breath of the glass blower who gives life but does not control the masterpiece taking form
Until a sculpture of the soul emerges.
The glass blower cannot tell if the objetd’arte has the right proportions or is a reasonable facsimile of the deep well within.
All the artist can know is that something with life in it lies before him, precious simply because it is.
And so, the prayer moves in the only way possible with no more words or attempts to speak the soul’s deepest longings.
This blown glass prayer lies before God as a thing of beauty that takes His breath away, making God laugh and cry and draw nearer for a closer look.

 

Guy Brewer is the Sabbath Living Program Director for Blessed Earth. You can read his bio on our staff page. 

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A Sabbath Reflection for Christmas

by Cynthia V. Vaughan

This week I’m reading from The Sabbath by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld.  It has been considered the “finest exposition of the Sabbath available in English” written to “fill an urgent need among English-speaking Jewry.”  You might ask why I am interested in reading a book which was written for Jews.  It’s simple:  Jesus was a Jew. During this Advent season, I find myself wondering (more than usual) what it was like when Jesus was a child.  Perhaps it is because I am more intentional about Sabbath keeping these days.  In any event, I like what Grunfeld writes about the celebration of Sabbath, “itself a great spiritual experience.”

“Throughout the thousands of years of its history Sabbath has always been a day of joy and gladness in the Jewish home. Its coming is an eagerly awaited event for which the family begins preparing days in advance.  In fact, Sabbath casts its radiant glow over the whole week.  The days themselves are named in Hebrew in relation to the Sabbath:  ” the first day to Sabbath,” “the second day to Sabbath,” etc.  This is how the week looks to Jewish eyes:
                                             SABBATH
                                       Friday
                               Thursday
                       Wednesday
                Tuesday
        Monday
Sunday

Everything looks forward to Sabbath.  Business and social arrangements are made in such a way that they will not interfere with the Sabbath.  Little luxuries bought during the week are stored up for the Sabbath. When Friday comes the tempo increases.  Every member of the household plays his part in the preparations. . . . the table decked with fresh linen and sparkling silver, with wine and challah and the Sabbath lights.  The whole family change into their Sabbath clothes and a festive air overhangs the house.  The scene is set for Sabbath, the royal bride, to enter.”

There is joy in the air, I can feel it! As we are preparing for the visitation of the Holy One, the Christ Child, this Sunday, let us strive to experience every Sabbath with the same joy and excitement and expectation that we had this week.
May the joy of Christmas surround you and may your special gift be the joy of remembering the Sabbath, to keep it holy!
In addition to her hospital chaplaincy, Cynthia serves as Sabbath Chaplain for the Harbor District in the North Carolina UMC Conference. She is ordained in the North Georgia Conference of the UMC, appointed to extension ministry in North Carolina as a CPE Supervisor/Chaplain at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington.  She attends Wrightsville UMC in Wilmington.

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