September: Delighting in Shabbat
Labor Day is just around the corner, bringing with it the opportune time to kick back, take a quick weekend getaway, and most importantly rest. Unfortunately, in the last several decades rest has taken a backseat to hustle culture, fast fashion, and a constant bombardment of the senses. Instead of taking pride in rest, many find pride in having zero time slots open on their calendars. It has been said in American culture that we “live to work”, while many cultures “work to live”. I’m not sure how true that is but a quick glance into any vocation and it seems we are on to something. Luckily for disciples of Jesus, there is a way out of this sort of madness. It doesn’t come once a year, once a quarter, or even once a month. Rather, it comes to us on a weekly basis. The rest I am referring to is Sabbath.
The Hebrew word for Sabbath is Shabbat, it literally means “to stop” or my favorite “to delight”. Now, how we Sabbath has become a point of contention, the same was true in Jesus’ time. One story in the Bible recounts how Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field of grain; they began to pick off heads of grain to eat. The Pharisees saw this as work, thus breaking the Sabbath law. But Jesus used this as a teaching moment. Sabbath had become wrapped around legalistic practices; ceasing, stopping to be with family, friends, and most importantly God, became an afterthought. Then, Jesus dropped this line, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” (Mark 2:27-28)
Sabbath is much more than having a day off to binge our favorite television show. Sabbath is not about napping all day so we can catch up on all the sleep we missed earlier in the week, just to repeat all over again. Sabbath is intentional. Sabbath paradoxically encourages disconnection while remaining inherently connectional. When Sabbathing, we allow ourselves to become disconnected from what pulls our attention away from God, and we find refuge in Him. Sabbath is literally woven into the fabric of creative order; by its rhythmic nature we are allowed to take sigh of relief. Take a peek at the creation story:
Genesis 2:2
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Did you notice anything specific? God rested and he then blessed the seventh day while making it holy. You might look at it like this: God created rest on the seventh day. Rest was something God gave his creation. This was and is a time for us “to stop” the hustle. A time to be still and know that he is God. (Psalm 46:10) A time to resist the urge to work longer hours. Sabbath is the place where we weekly delight in our creator.
While most are not afforded the ability to Sabbath for an entire 24-hour period (likely a major reason burnout is so prevalent), Sabbathing even just a few hours on a particular day of the week begins to restore creative order. So, let’s have a personal challenge: look to Sabbath more, worry less; rest more frequently, turn off the phone and the television, be present with those we love, and of course delight in our God.
Peace to you,
Rev. Taylor Kibler
