Tag Archives: Sabbath

Chapter-a-Day

New Things Come

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Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
Hebrews 8:1-2 (NIV)

He walked up to me after I’d given a message about Sabbath rest. He wasn’t mean or angry, but he was definitely not happy with me. I live amidst a culture that has traditionally been religiously rabid about Sabbath keeping. I have heard so many stories from adults who spent their Sundays growing up sitting in chairs in the living room. The entire family listening to the clock tick. Other stories recount hair-splitting legalism worthy of Jesus’ day. Tossing a football was okay, but organizing a game was work and that broke the Sabbath.

In my message, I taught that this kind of legalistic rule-keeping Sabbath worship was never the point, it was not what Jesus taught, nor does it resonate God’s intentions for us. Sabbath is about needing rest for our spiritual, mental, physical, relational, and communal health.

The man informed me that he held his family to strict Sabbath keeping and wanted me to know that I’d just thrown him under the bus in the minds of his children. I hope that the family conversation that afternoon was productive and healthy for all of them.

In today’s chapter, the author of Hebrews continues his discussion of Jesus as the cosmic, eternal High Priest of heaven. In fact, the author states that this is his main point. For the first-century Jewish believers to whom he is writing, this resonates deeply. It echoes their entire life experience. They intimately know the temple in Jerusalem, the priestly system of worship, offering, and sacrifice.

As a believer growing up in Protestant midwest Iowa, not so much.

And yet, this is part of a thread of the Great Story that is crucial to understanding all of it. If I miss this, it’s like watching the original Star Wars movie and thinking Luke and Darth Vader are unrelated antagonists. It’s like reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and thinking Snape is a cookie cutter villain.

The metaphor of temple is woven into the tapestry of the Great Story itself:

  • In Eden, the whole world was God’s temple.
  • In Exodus, God compresses His presence into a tent tabernacle.
  • In Solomon’s day, that becomes a stone temple.
  • In the prophets, God promises a greater dwelling.
  • In Jesus, the temple becomes flesh.
  • At Pentecost, the temple becomes the people. You and me.
  • In Revelation, the temple becomes the entire renewed creation—
    a holy city that is a Holy of Holies, illuminated from within by the Lamb who is the sanctuary.

Everything is moving toward union, presence, intimacy…
and the erasure of every barrier between God and humanity.

Notice, however, the changes that come with the progression. My legalist Sabbath keeper brothers and sisters want to live in an Exodus paradigm, when Jesus changed all of that. The author of Hebrews says it plaining in the chapter. First in quoting the prophet Jeremiah:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant…

It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt…

I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.”

No longer a legal written code to be kept like a rule book. The new covenant Jesus made put God’s Spirit into our very bodies, minds, and hearts. It’s not about behavior modification from adherence to an outside set rules, but life transformation from God’s holy presence within me.

The author ends the chapter writing:

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Old things pass away. New things come. The story of Scripture is not God demanding a temple and religious rule keeping.

It is God refusing to live without me.

It is God shrinking Himself from cosmos → tent → body → Spirit
so that He might enlarge me from dust → disciple → temple → bride → city of God.

Jesus said He was the temple. It was God saying:

“Where I dwell is not a building.
It is with you. It is in you.
And one day, my beloved,
it will be the whole world again.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

Safe Harbor, Even Amidst the Storm

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There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God…
Hebrews 4:9 (NIV)

As a child, my family would vacation every year at a family resort on Rainy Lake on the boundary waters of northern Minnesota. During our two-week vacation there was typically one day when the entire camp would all get in our boats like a big flotilla and head to a designated spot on the lake. Everyone would fish together, then cook up what was caught in the morning in a big shore lunch on one of the lake’s many islands. There would be more fishing in the afternoon before everyone returned to camp.

One year when I was still quite young, a violent afternoon storm rose unexpectedly. I and all of the younger children was placed in the largest boat for safety as we slowly made our way back to camp in very stormy seas. My father was alone in his john boat behind us and I still remember the fear of watching the bow of his boat climb high in the air as if it was about to flip completely over, then disappear below the next giant wave.

I was never so happy to return and dock at our camp’s safe little cove.

The Greek word used for “rest” in today’s chapter, katapausis, was used in Greek literature to describe safe harbor at the end of one’s travels. Meditating on that brought back my memory of that day on the lake, the storm, and the return to safe harbor. As I continued to meditate on that experience, the truth is that I experienced different layers of katapausis in the event.

On a grand scale, I was experiencing rest simply from being on vacation. Those two weeks were a climactic event every year when the normal grind of daily life gave way to two weeks of fun and adventure. On a micro-level, the adults’ decision to put me and the other children in the giant boat was shelter within the storm. I was never in fear for myself on that long boat ride through the stormy seas, just for my dad and the others in their little john boats. And then, there was the rest that came when we arrived at the safe harbor at the end of our voyage.

In today’s chapter, the author of Hebrews applies a similar layered approach to the theme of Sabbath rest. There is the original Sabbath rest that came at the finished work of God’s creation. He then alludes to the physical “rest” God intended for His people in the Promised Land, a promise His people refused to enter in their unbelief. There is then a spiritual “rest” that Jesus offers “Today” as shelter amidst the violent daily storms that arise unexpectedly on this earthly journey. There is also an eternal rest to which we look forward entering when this earthly journey is finished.

Jewish rabbis say “One who keeps Sabbath tastes a portion of the world to come.” I love that. As a disciple of Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath, and indwelled by His Spirit, that “taste” is readily available at any and every moment – even as shelter and safe harbor amidst the storms of life.

The author then reminds us that this “rest” is made available through Jesus, who suffered the same storms, suffered death, rose to Life and returned to the eternal safe harbor I will one day reach. In the meantime, there is “rest” available even as I strive to make my way there. The author reminds us to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Mercy for the wounds of yesterday.
Grace for the worries of today.
Rest for the weary tomorrow.

Praying you experience the shelter of His rest amidst your stormy seas today, my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

TGIF

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TGIF (CaD Lev 23) – Wayfarer

“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.’”
Leviticus 23:3 (NIV)

It has been so woven into the fabric of our lives for so long that we don’t even think about it. It is universal. It is unequivocally a basic human right.

The weekend.

It wasn’t always so. For most of human history, the toil of daily survival and commerce ground on mercilessly without fail. There was no stop. There were no weekends, or PTO, or rest from the grind. It was just as God poetically told Adam it would be after he and Eve ate the forbidden fruit:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground…”
Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV)

And so, the painful toil had been going on for the ancient Hebrews all the days of their lives. As slaves in Egypt, they toiled seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, every year of their miserable existence in chains.

Then God showed up.

God introduced Himself to Moses, delivered them from Egypt, and is now instituting a fresh start with them. He is going to live with them at the center of their camp. He is going to teach them a new way of living in community with Him and with each other.

I’ve observed along my life journey that God gets generally characterized as a tyrannical killjoy. I’d like to refute that generalization by offering as Exhibit A today’s chapter. For the record, God has laid down plenty of rules to live by so far. The most repeated rules have been don’t commit child sacrifice and don’t have sex with your own family members. Other rules include don’t drive your daughter into prostitution. Then there’s If you’ve got a festering sore, you might want to spend some time in quarantine outside the camp. Oh my goodness, what a killjoy.

We get to today’s chapter and God demands of His people a series of festivals, celebrations, and it begins with A DAY OFF FROM WORK EVERY WEEK! A day of celebration and rest EVERY WEEK!

What a tyrant.

The “sabbath” was a radical social concept in 1500 B.C. Take a day off every week. Rest from your labor. Gather with your loved ones, your community, and with God. This pattern, by the way, had already been set when Father, Son, and Holy Spirit finished creation in six days and then took a day off to rest, celebrate, and enjoy what had been created. God is teaching His people to follow His own divine example.

But it doesn’t end with just a weekend day off. God goes on to establish annual festivals and celebrations for the whole nation to rest, gather, celebrate, mourn, and remember. Once again, NO WORK! There are eight in total when you break it down, which we’ve already learned in this chapter-a-day journey through Leviticus is an important metaphorical number. Seven is the number of completion (e.g. seven days of creation) and eight is a new beginning after the completion. So the annual festivals God ordains follow the flow of His peoples annual trip around the sun and then the beginning of a new one. God is teaching His people about the flow of life and time, and God is all about flow. It’s an essential part of who He is.

So, when we get to the end of the work week and say, “Thank God it’s Friday” we can take that literally. Sabbath was a particularly Hebrew tradition until the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine, learned about God’s Sabbath and decreed that the entire Roman Empire would get one day off each week. With that, what became the modern weekend was born.

By the way, the two-day weekend would not be firmly established until the 1800s in the midst of the industrial revolution. This time it was the British Empire (which had become, and remains, the largest empire in human history) that became the source of the social change. While the additional day of rest evolved over time and the lobby for it came from a host of sources, church leaders were on the front line of the crusade arguing that having Saturdays off would lead to a refreshed workforce and higher church attendance on Sundays.

So, in the quiet on this Thursday morning as I approach the end of another work week, I find myself feeling grateful for God who by His very nature enjoys rest, celebration, gathering, and festivity. I’m consciously thankful for something I have always taken for granted. I am reminded once again that the God I encounter in the Great Story stands in contrast to the killjoy tyrant that others have perceived Him to be, often twisted by humanity’s own fundamentalist religious perversions of His intended guidelines for life.

Tomorrow morning, when my eyes open and I climb out of bed, I can truly, sincerely, and genuinely utter, “Thank you God. It’s Friday.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Best of ’24: #6 When Rest Becomes Work

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For two weeks, while Wendy and I are away enjoying some warm weather, I’ll be counting down the top ten chapter-a-day posts of 2024 (based on total views anIt’ s always interesting which posts resonated with readers and listeners. The chapter for tomorrow’s post will be listed at the bottom.

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.
Mark 3:7 (NIV)

Wendy and I are in the process of selling our place at the lake. For those who know us and for those who have followed my blog for any length of time, this may come as a surprise. “The Playhouse” has been a part of my family for over 25 years, and for the past 15 years it has been regular place of retreat, refreshment, and relationship for ourselves, our family, and many, many friends. The featured image on today’s post is our final farewell to the Playhouse as we moved things home.

The truth is that Wendy and I have been praying about the end of this season in our lives for a few years. We’ve talked about it with friends, but circumstances consistently told us that it wasn’t time. This summer, we once again prayed in earnest whether it was time and everything rapidly fell into place in a way that told us the time was right.

One of the themes that God weaves into the Great Story from the very beginning of Genesis is the blessing of rest. God creates everything in six days, and on the seventh day He rests. Then, in the book of Exodus when God through Moses prescribes how His people should live and conduct themselves, He emphasizes rest in multiple ways on multiple levels. This was a radical idea. For 400 years God’s people had been slaves in Egypt without a day off. Now God prescribes that they need a day off every seven days. In fact, whether you’re a believer or not, you can thank God every weekend because the weekend was born when the Roman Emperor, who was a Christian, followed God’s prescription and declared that everyone in the Roman Empire gets Sundays off.

In today’s chapter, Mark’s choice of scenes reveals several things. Jesus’ teaching and miracles are drawing huge crowds from all over. Word has spread and people are traveling from far away places. Between the crowd scenes, Mark shares that Jesus “withdrew” from the crowds. Once He withdrew to a lake. Another time He withdrew up a mountain. What that tells me is that Jesus knew He needed rest from the crowds, the teaching, the miracles, the exorcisms, and the chaos of His Miraculous Mystery Tour.

But Mark plants another seed when he begins by telling the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue. Jesus challengers, who I wrote/talked about in yesterday’s post/podcast, have now become His outright enemies. No longer simply challenging Jesus, they’re seeking a way to accuse Him, discredit Him, and bring Him down. So, they lie in wait to see if Jesus would perform a miracle on the Sabbath day of rest. Because the good religious fundamentalists had deemed that performing a miracle was work.

Mark says that this “angered” Jesus, and He was “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” Why? Because they had perverted and profaned the plan. The Sabbath, which had been prescribed as a blessing of rest, had been transformed into a burden in which people had to expend time, energy, and resources to track and follow all the rules that had been made around it. What was meant for rest became work.

Which brings me back to our place on the lake. As Wendy and I prayed and discussed it over this past spring and summer, we realized that things had changed. What was meant to be, and used to be, full of retreat, refreshment, and relationships had slowly become a burden on multiple levels. And, the opportunity arose to pass it on as a blessing to others in answer to their prayers

So, in the quiet this morning I’m reminded that the prescription for rest remains. Like Jesus, Wendy and I need to find our new places to withdraw and find retreat, refreshment, and relationship amidst the chaos of work and worry. We are excited for the new season ahead. And, in the wake of a long and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, I’m also grateful as I think about what a blessing God has woven into the plan of creation in prescribing, and exemplifying, regular periods of rest.

Tomorrow’s Chapter: Romans 9

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

When Rest Becomes Work

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Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.
Mark 3:7 (NIV)

Wendy and I are in the process of selling our place at the lake. For those who know us and for those who have followed my blog for any length of time, this may come as a surprise. “The Playhouse” has been a part of my family for over 25 years, and for the past 15 years it has been regular place of retreat, refreshment, and relationship for ourselves, our family, and many, many friends. The featured image on today’s post is our final farewell to the Playhouse as we moved things home.

The truth is that Wendy and I have been praying about the end of this season in our lives for a few years. We’ve talked about it with friends, but circumstances consistently told us that it wasn’t time. This summer, we once again prayed in earnest whether it was time and everything rapidly fell into place in a way that told us the time was right.

One of the themes that God weaves into the Great Story from the very beginning of Genesis is the blessing of rest. God creates everything in six days, and on the seventh day He rests. Then, in the book of Exodus when God through Moses prescribes how His people should live and conduct themselves, He emphasizes rest in multiple ways on multiple levels. This was a radical idea. For 400 years God’s people had been slaves in Egypt without a day off. Now God prescribes that they need a day off every seven days. In fact, whether you’re a believer or not, you can thank God every weekend because the weekend was born when the Roman Emperor, who was a Christian, followed God’s prescription and declared that everyone in the Roman Empire gets Sundays off.

In today’s chapter, Mark’s choice of scenes reveals several things. Jesus’ teaching and miracles are drawing huge crowds from all over. Word has spread and people are traveling from far away places. Between the crowd scenes, Mark shares that Jesus “withdrew” from the crowds. Once He withdrew to a lake. Another time He withdrew up a mountain. What that tells me is that Jesus knew He needed rest from the crowds, the teaching, the miracles, the exorcisms, and the chaos of His Miraculous Mystery Tour.

But Mark plants another seed when he begins by telling the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue. Jesus challengers, who I wrote/talked about in yesterday’s post/podcast, have now become His outright enemies. No longer simply challenging Jesus, they’re seeking a way to accuse Him, discredit Him, and bring Him down. So, they lie in wait to see if Jesus would perform a miracle on the Sabbath day of rest. Because the good religious fundamentalists had deemed that performing a miracle was work.

Mark says that this “angered” Jesus, and He was “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” Why? Because they had perverted and profaned the plan. The Sabbath, which had been prescribed as a blessing of rest, had been transformed into a burden in which people had to expend time, energy, and resources to track and follow all the rules that had been made around it. What was meant for rest became work.

Which brings me back to our place on the lake. As Wendy and I prayed and discussed it over this past spring and summer, we realized that things had changed. What was meant to be, and used to be, full of retreat, refreshment, and relationships had slowly become a burden on multiple levels. And, the opportunity arose to pass it on as a blessing to others in answer to their prayers

So, in the quiet this morning I’m reminded that the prescription for rest remains. Like Jesus, Wendy and I need to find our new places to withdraw and find retreat, refreshment, and relationship amidst the chaos of work and worry. We are excited for the new season ahead. And, in the wake of a long and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, I’m also grateful as I think about what a blessing God has woven into the plan of creation in prescribing, and exemplifying, regular periods of rest.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Truth & Wackiness

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Truth & Wackiness (CaD Col 2) – Wayfarer

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Colossians 2:16 (NIV)

I have been something of a denominational nomad during my faith journey. The ancient Apostle’s Creed says “I believe in the holy catholic church” which confuses a lot of modern believers. They get it confused with the Roman Catholic tradition. The word “catholic” means “broad, universal, comprehensive.” In other words, the “church” is not contained by one denomination or tradition. I’ve always embraced this belief. Thus, rather than play for one team, I’ve been a bit of a free agent. I feel at home in many different denominational traditions, even though I may not agree 100% with the jots and tittles of their particular doctrinal statements.

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve encountered a number of individuals and groups that hold what I consider to be wacky beliefs. There are the Pentecostals who equate “speaking in tongues” with spiritual elitism (“You don’t have to speak in tongues, but why go Greyhound when you could fly first class?”). I’ve never had to work hard to find all kind of legalism that still exists around the Sabbath (“You can go outside and play catch, but don’t you dare play an actual game!”). I have a friend whose parent refused to attend their wedding unless they were baptized three times. Silly.

I find it fascinating that Christianity began as a spiritual movement. Jesus did not fret too much about structure. Twelve marginally capable men and a handful of dutifully faithful women were directed with little detail to spread Jesus’ love and teaching to the ends of the earth. Peter was given a leadership role, but no real job description. It wasn’t an organization as much as it was an organism.

As the Jesus movement spread, the reality is that there were a number of wacky beliefs that emerged in various locations. Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae was specifically written to address some of these. Paul doesn’t name any specifics. It’s likely that it wasn’t a single, organized false teaching but rather a loose number of strange things different individuals were spouting. What Paul does make clear to the believers in Colossae is that they were to hold fast to the simplicity of Jesus’ core teaching:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

In the quiet this morning, I am prepping for a message I have to deliver on Sunday from the book of Revelation. Talk about a book that spawns a wide range of thoughts and beliefs (and, yes, some of them are wacky). I find John’s Revelation is a lot like what Paul was communicating to the believers in Colossae. One can get spiritually distracted by all sorts of things. For the Colossians it was dietary restrictions, Sabbath regulations, and New Moon festivals. In John’s vision it’s beasts and horsemen and plagues. As I get to the core of it, however, the vision is about one thing: Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul was telling the Colossians to ignore the wackiness stay focused on that.

I’ve always found that to be a good plan.

I’ll stick with that.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Rules and Principles

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Rules and Principles (CaD 1 Sam 21) – Wayfarer

So the priest gave [David] the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
1 Samuel 21:6 (NIV)

I once attended a local gathering of Jesus’ followers that belonged to a particular denomination. The denomination was hundreds of years old, and over those years the leaders of this denomination established a set of rules and regulations regarding everything from how the local gathering should be governed, how meetings were to be handled, and even how one goes about both personal and corporate worship.

There was in this particular gathering a man whose family had been members of this denomination for generations. He had the denominational rule book practically memorized, and he let everyone know it, all the time, by bringing it up whenever he sensed that one of the rules and regulations was being broken.

I confess: I found him annoying.

I have one vivid memory of him questioning something I did, pointing to the denominational regulation manual and expressing that I may have gone afoul of its religious code (as he interpreted it). I pointed him to the scripture that directly motivated my actions. It was obvious that he was zealously studying and following the denominational rules, but he was oblivious to God’s fundamental life principles.

In today’s chapter, David begins his life on the lam. King Saul wants him dead. David’s first stop is in the town of Nob. Nob is where the Hebrew’s traveling tent Temple, known as the Tabernacle (from the time of their Exodus out of Egypt) is set up. David talks to the high priest and expresses his need for food and a weapon. While it is not explicit in the text of today’s chapter, David will quickly be joined in the wilderness by his brothers and men who are loyal to him. They’ll need food. The sword of Goliath is there in the Tabernacle, which David takes. The only food available for David to take is the bread that has been consecrated to the LORD as part of the temple’s regular thanksgiving offering ritual. The high priest allows David to take it for himself and his men.

About a thousand years later after this incident, Jesus will be cornered by the religious rule-keepers regarding the fact that His disciples break the rules by picking grain to eat on the Sabbath day of rest.

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus’ point is that there are fundamental principles on which the laws were given. Chief among them are principles of love for God and loving others as you love yourself. There is also the law of life. David was in dire straits and the compassionate thing to do was give the consecrated bread to David for him and his men to stay alive as he flees into the Judean wilderness, even though it was going against the established religious ritual protocol. To put in terms of Jesus’ Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12) it was the “pure in heart” thing to do, and it was the “merciful” thing to do, and those things supersede ritual protocol.

One of the things I love about Jesus was the fact that He was constantly ignoring the religious thing to do in order to carry out the right thing to do. I endeavor to always follow in Jesus’ footsteps, even if/when it completely ignores religious rules and regulations.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Rest Sans Rule-Keeping

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Rest Sans Rule-Keeping (CaD Ps 92) – Wayfarer

They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green…
Psalm 92:14 (NIV)

It’s the first full week of a New Year, and this morning marks the official end of the holidays. I’ve so enjoyed this Christmas and New Year’s having our kids home and celebrating our wedding anniversary. My soul is full.

I found some synergy this morning in the fullness of Spirit I feel coming out of the holiday season and today’s chapter, Psalm 92. This ancient Hebrew song lyric was a “Sabbath” song. Sabbath is the weekly “day of rest” which God commanded of the Hebrews. It’s number four in God’s Top Ten list of commandments given through Moses.

After the Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians, the Who’s Who of Hebrews had been forced into exile in Babylon. There, without a central place of worship, the Hebrews were forced to find ways to keep the faith without a physical location of worship. The result was that both their study of “the Law” (in layman’s terms that would be the first five books of the Great Story or Genesis through Deuteronomy) and keeping the Sabbath day became cornerstones of the faithful.

After the exiles returned and the Temple was rebuilt, the Sabbath continued to increase in importance. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene some 500 years later, the Sabbath had ceased to be a day of rest and celebration. It had become a burdensome, endless list of things you couldn’t do unless you wanted to be called out by religious busybodies and even face possible corporal punishment. That’s what human religion does; It takes a spiritual principle meant for health and well-being and reduces it to a burdensome list of rules used to determine who’s naughty or nice, who’s good or bad, who’s righteous or wicked, who’s in and who’s out.

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve learned to shun religious rule-keeping and seek those things that promote Life and Spirit. What I’ve learned is that there is a crucial difference between religious rule-keeping and spiritual discipline. I shun the former while fully embracing the latter.

Yesterday, Wendy and I attended worship with our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. We did so, not because we felt we had to but because we desired to do so. We’ve established a discipline over time of joining to worship with other believers because it refreshes our souls to worship corporately, to regularly connect with friends and loved ones, and to be spiritually challenged and encouraged. It’s part of the spiritual rhythm of our lives.

As I read the chapter this morning, I found that the overall vibe of Psalm 92’s lyrics matches the spirit of rest, community, friendship, and worship I experience each week. It promotes our spiritual health and has led to “fruitfulness” and keeping our souls “fresh” and “green” as prescribed.

In the quiet this morning, I find my mind and spirit ready to head into a new work week and a new year. The rest and time with family have been so good. God knows I need regular rest to recharge my bodies, my mind, and my spirit – not as religious rule-keeping, but as physical and spiritual rejuvenation.

Chapter-a-Day

Sabbath

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Sabbath (CaD Ex 31) – Wayfarer

“[The Sabbath] is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.“
Exodus 31:17 (NRSVCE)

One of the things that becomes really clear when you read through the Moses story is the emphasis that God placed on the idea of what’s called Sabbath. It’s one of God’s Top Ten rules and God keeps bringing it up, over and over again, and reminding the Hebrew people how important it is to knock off work every seven days. In concept, Sabbath is really pretty simple. The Creation story at the very start of Genesis describes God as having created the universe in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He took the day off and got some rest. Easy. Work six days, then take a day off. Get some rest. Be refreshed.

I have always scratched my head at what a sticking point Sabbath has been for people ever since. I mean, just a few weeks ago Grandma Vander Hart reminded me that God doesn’t want me mowing my lawn on Sunday, and she was quite serious. She also has a thing with tattoos, but that’s a post for another day.

When I grew up, my family were regular church attenders and sincere about God in a general sort of way. Going to church on Sunday was pretty much a given. We had rote prayers for family meals and bedtimes. During Christmas or Lent, mom might make us do the family devotion prescribed by our church which always felt a little awkward. The religious thing was always there, but it wasn’t a pervasive part of life. Sundays were always a restful day. After church mom usually made brunch, and then the rest of the day was spent chilling out. We kind of did Sabbath by default but nobody got uptight about it.

After becoming a follower of Jesus and becoming exposed to the traditions of other families and churches, I learned that this “Sabbath” thing was something certain churches and denominations took very seriously. Mothers prepared all of the Sunday meals on Saturday so they wouldn’t have to work. But that didn’t make sense because they still had to warm it up, serve it to the family, and clean up afterwards. So, I guess women still had to work, but less. I had friends tell me that they literally sat around in their living room with their family doing nothing. Some of them even had to be quiet. Maybe they got to read, but some couldn’t watch television because that meant you were making someone else work to entertain you and that was considered “conspiracy to commit Sabbath-breaking” in their religious code.

As I started to try and study and understand it, it got so confusing because the 7th day of the week was prescribed as the Sabbath. We read it again today! I knew my Jewish friends treated Saturday as “church day” but all the Christian churches I knew treated Sunday (which is the first day of the week) as the Sabbath day. When I asked about this I was told that when Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, the Sabbath changed to Sunday in the Christian tradition, but I knew for a fact that wasn’t anywhere in the Bible. After the resurrection, there’s not one shred of evidence that Jesus said, “Hey boys, we’re going to make an official Sabbath switch.” In fact, the record states clearly that the Twelve continued to follow all of the Hebrew traditions. So, these same people who were being ultra-legalistic and literal about obeying the Sabbath weren’t literal or legalistic at all about obeying the Sabbath on the only day prescribed for the Sabbath in scripture!

Sabbath confusion and conflict has been around forever. It started with the Hebrews and Moses and it was still causing conflict when Jesus showed up. Jesus was perpetually hounded by the religious leaders about keeping the Sabbath. If Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath He got in trouble. If His disciples picked a fig off a tree as they were walking by He got in trouble. And each time it came up, Jesus brushed it off. In fact, He made a point of healing someone on the Sabbath just to make it clear to the religious fundamentalists when He said: “The Sabbath was made to help humans. Humans weren’t made to serve the Sabbath.”

And, in the quiet this morning I’m reminded that this was the point. The Hebrews in Moses’ day had been slaves for hundreds of years. They never got a day off. The concept of a day of rest was foreign to them. They were an agrarian people with farms and livestock, and it’s easy to become a workaholic when there are fields and animals that need constant tending. When you’re so focused on your work all the time, you have very little physical, mental, or spiritual energy left. It’s unhealthy on multiple levels. What did Jesus say were the two commands from which all the others flow?

  1. Love God with everything you got. But if I’m working all the time then God ends up getting little or nothing from my depleted body, mind, and soul.
  2. Love others as you love yourself. But, if I’m working all the time then I’m really not loving myself well, and everyone around me gets nothing of me but what meager leftovers of self I have left.

I’m also reminded of observing how the legalism and fundamentalism I experienced early in my spiritual journey created really sad, angry, and bitter people whose lives, and even their worship, appeared to me to be void of anything close to resembling peace, love, or joy. I observed that what it did create were people driven to keep up religious appearances in public while sneaking around doing what they shouldn’t in secret.

This is exactly what Jesus came to free us from. And Sabbath is a great foundational lesson. It’s easy. We each need regular rest, relaxation, and relationship with our fellow sojourners on life’s road. We need to stop work for a day and fill the life tank with a good meal, some meaningful conversation, playing together, laughing together, and sharing of life together. Sabbath is about lifting the burdens and the drudgery of everyday life, not adding to it.

And, speaking of Sabbath, it’s the 4th of July holiday weekend coming up here in the States. Wendy and I will be doing a little extended Sabbath, exactly as I just described, with a couple of other families who are dear friends. So, I’ll be taking a few days off of blogging.

I hope you experience some Sabbath, as well, my friend. And, experience it in the fullness of the way God always intended it. Cheers!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Spiritual Batting Average

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Spiritual Batting Average (CaD Ex 20) – Wayfarer

Then God spoke all these words:
Exodus 20:1 (NRSVCE)

Ironically, I have had multiple conversations in recent weeks regarding the text of today’s chapter which is more commonly known as The Ten Commandments. For being an ancient text that’s well over 3,000 years old, the Ten Commandments continue to reverberate in our culture, our spiritual thoughts, our religious practices, and even in our politics.

I spent the past weekend at the lake with my sister and my parents. While driving I noticed one ranch in Missouri that had giant signs on either side of the gates that looked like tablets and had the Ten Commandments inscribed on them. I thought about our weekend and the fact that Jody and I were attempting to do right by Commandment five in honoring our parents.

While at the lake, we spent the bulk of our day sitting on the deck and on the dock chatting. The conversation meandered into the use of language and what we, previous generations, and our next generation perceive to be acceptable, profane, and obscene. Of course, the third Commandment about the improper use of God’s name was a part of the discussion.

I came home last night to discover that my lawn really needs to be mowed. It was Sunday night, and I couldn’t help but think of Wendy’s grandmother who just a few weeks ago reminded me that I’m not supposed to mow on Sundays because it would break Commandment four.

In yet another conversation prompted by a good friend, we swapped self-evaluations on our adherence to God’s Top Ten. My friend, taking a literal interpretation of the text, stated that he was batting .300, which would get him into the Baseball Hall-of-Fame but doubted it would get him through the Pearly Gates. Begin a follower of Jesus, I was forced to interpret my success based on Jesus’ interpretation of the Commandments that raises the bar:

“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

“You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’ But don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.“
Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28

Let’s just say that adjusting my moral batting average based on Jesus’ spiritual sabermetrics, I am hitting well below the Mendoza Line. So, if the heavenly entrance exam is as simple as my batting average with the Ten Commandments, then I’m in big trouble.

As I mull this over, I couldn’t help but think of Paul’s letter to Jesus’ followers in Rome:

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

In the quiet this morning I find myself impressed that a story and text that is thousands of years old is still found relevant and creating multiple conversations with different people in my life over the past few weeks. I am fascinated that it is still stirring people, myself included, to contemplate about our words, our behavior toward God, our relationships with others, and our ultimate spiritual standing.

I find my spirit leading me back to this from Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus. And, I have to remember that Paul confessed to spending most of his life trying to strictly and religiously adhere to every letter of the Ten Commandments. When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything changed:

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (MSG)

Monday mornings are always a mental and spiritual “reset” button for me. As I prepare to enter another work-week I’m thankful for Jesus’ reminder that all of the Commandments, rules, and laws in God’s Book are summed up in two: Love God with everything you’ve got. Love others as you love yourself.

Now that is a pitch I can hit.

Let’s play ball.

Have a great week my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.