Handing Over the Baton

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O most high, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night… (Psalm 92:1-2). Christian teaching on Sabbath is frequently rooted only in the instructions given through Moses in the 10 Commandments. As such, this training is often reduced to as list of dos and don'ts. We focus on definitions of work and what kinds of work are permissible, and which are forbidden. In doing this we reduce the Biblical teaching on Sabbath to something either bothersome or irrelevant. The Bible includes a profound and robust theology of Sabbath which, as the writer of Hebrews says, we enter by faith. And pardon the pun, we need to work at it to live it. This is not the work of survival in this world, nor is it works righteousness, but the work of faith. It is akin to the beginning of Peter's second letter. He writes that God has given us everything we need for a godly life and a host of great and precious promises too boot. Because we have all these things, we should make every effort to add to our faith goodness, knowledge, etc. The abundant life that Jesus gives us needs to be learned. Likewise, Sabbath rest is a gift God gives, like the land of promise in the Old Testament. Yet, it is also something we need to enter by faith and work for, just as the Israelites had to defeat their enemies before they could settle into the land and enjoy its fruits. Sabbath is more than just a day free from the frenetic pace of modern life. It is a way of life in which "every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath" (Heidelberg Catechism A 103). Psalm 92, "a psalm for the Sabbath day" (NIV heading) shows us the way. The work of Sabbath faith begins and ends with declaring the love and faithfulness of God. This is what Eugene Peterson called "unselfing". It's the difficult spiritual work of getting ourselves off the throne of our lives and allowing God to sit there. With resolve, we refuse to make live about ourselves, rather, we set out to pursue the kingdom of God. Sabbath is a discipline equipping us to think about the direction of our lives. It reminds us that creation ended with Sabbath, Sabbath were interrupted by human rebellion, yet history will culminate in the eternal Sabbath. Our practice of Sabbath should usher us into this grand story that God is directing. It is the discipline of passing back to God the conductor's baton of our lives. Better than anything else, it helps us appreciate and understand what all our living is for. Put simply, Sabbath discipline introduces us to God's own ways of joy and delight. As Peter says, we are given everything we need to experience the divine life of love and peace. Celebrating these attributes of God does not guarantee a life free of hardship and pain and stress. No. We are declaring by faith that God's work and providential care of this world, and of us his children, goes well beyond what we can see and experience. Sabbath is the discipline of learning to trust in this God and to live in hope of what we cannot yet see. As you journey on, receive Jesus' invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).