TRANSFORMATION THROUGH SABBATH REST

(Preached on Sunday, February 18, 2007)

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.  And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.                                                                                     -Luke 9:28-29

 

We live in a world that never really stops: filled with 60-70 hour work weeks, cell phones that keep us always available, internet and email that connect us when our cell phones are out of range.  We are arguably the most work-oriented culture in history.  Workers in every segment of the economy C from Wall Street lawyers to factory hands and hospital aides on double shifts C put in significantly more hours than comparable workers did a few decades ago.  We live lives filled with stress and anxiety that comes from feeling we have too little time.  The arrangement of time is one of the basic building blocks in a society=s way of life C and in our society, these blocks are building not a habitable dwelling, but an all-night arcade. 

 

The truth is, it is out of our control.  Diane Fassel, a management consultant, has observed: AEverywhere I go it seems people are killing themselves with work, busyness, rushing, caring and rescuing.  Work addiction is a modern epidemic and it is sweeping our land.... I call it the cleanest of all addictions.  It is socially promoted because it is seemingly socially productive.@

Addictive behavior is an attempt to cope with some psychological or emotional pain C emptiness, loneliness, low self-esteem, etc. C by turning to some substance C alcohol, drugs, nicotine, or some behavior, obsessive sex or compulsive work.  While the substance or behavior may help for a time, in truth it only masks the pain, does not deal with the source of the pain, and eventually takes control of our lives as we turn to it more and more because the pain remains.

That is the definition of an addiction: we are powerless before the addictive behavior.

 

The only way to break an addiction is to admit we are powerless before it C it controls us C and seek to shift that control to God, a power greater than the addiction.  When we do that we begin to take an honest look at who we are and whose we are.  The antidote for our addiction to work is God=s call to Sabbath Rest.

 

In the Hebrew scriptures, Sabbath Rest memorializes two acts of God: the seventh-day rest from the work of creation and Israel=s deliverance from slavery in Egypt.  The two memorials complement one another.  First, it reminds us of our relationship to God, the Creator.  That we are created in the image of God, who is a creator, engaged in creative work, yet who understood the need to step back from that work and rest and enjoy the fruits of the labor.  Second, it reminds us that our freedom from God is freedom from slavery and at the same time freedom for worship.  The command to Pharaoh was to ALet my people go, that they may worship me.@

 

Sabbath is a time for renewing ourselves, but also a time for renewing our relationships with God, with one another, and with all the creation.  As we engage in that time of renewal, we are reminded that we are not slaves, but neither are we gods C we are beloved children of God, created to join God in the work of creation and to join God in the enjoyment of that creation.  But first and foremost we are created out of God=s love.  Sabbath time reconnects us with that truth.

 

This addiction to work is not an easy thing to break.  Quaker and spiritual writer Richard Foster shares a story in one of his books that illustrates that fact.  He was on a small island off the Pacific coast of Canada with a small study group.  During a morning break he found a canoe and paddled over to a tiny island, beached the canoe and began exploring.  When he reached the crown of the fir-covered outcropping, he discovered a small wooden platform with a weathered old chair.  Easing himself into the chair, he sat back into the warm sun and drank in the stillness of land, sea and sky.  He had come to the island, not to pray, only to explore, but sitting there he recalled his wife=s good-bye words: AI want you to come home refreshed!@  Soon, he found himself prayer, ARefresh me, Lord.  Refresh me.@  Sitting in the silence in reverence, in his conscious mind he next heard, AI want to teach you Sabbath Prayer.@  Not sure what Sabbath Prayer was, but eager to learn, he leaned forward and responded, AYou will have to lead me, because I don=t know what I am supposed to do.@  Then came the words, ABe still ... Rest ... shalom.@  That was all.  Those words and no more.  As he sought to enter into the experience of each word, he kept experiencing intrusions from the world.  He became away of the time and thought he ought to go back for lunch or he would be missed.  The same words were spoken, ABe still ... Rest ... Shalom.@  Then he became agitated with hyper-responsibility about returning for the next session, and possibly causing a stir because others might worry about his being missing.  Again, the same words, ABe still ... Rest ... Shalom.@  Finally, he was tempted with the need to write the experience down in order to preserve it.  Again, >Be still ... Rest ... Shalom.@  Focused at last, he settled back into Sabbath Prayer.  In a short time it seemed like Athe Presence in the midst@ ended, and so he made his way back to the group, which, as you probably guessed, had scarcely noticed his absence and was going right on with the day=s schedule.

 

This experience helped Foster learn once again the importance and need for Sabbath Rest.  He also learned how difficult it is to take that break.

Because Sabbath Rest is about more than just taking a break from work.  It is taking a break from all the expectations we carry around with us, taking a break from our self-importance, taking a break from our need to control.  Sabbath Rest is about taking time to reconnect with God and with who we truly are, God=s beloved children.  That is what Jesus was doing on the mountain.  It is the priceless gift given Peter, James and John C the opportunity to experience such a moment for Jesus and catch a glimpse of what such a moment can be for them.

 

Such Sabbath Rest can be found in the most unexpected ways and more often than not comes to us as gift.  I came across a story that illustrates this in an amazing way.  There was a family, a mother, father and five children, one of whom was a little girl born brain-damaged.  She could not sit up and was unable to speak.  She died before reaching adolescence.  She spent her apparently useless short life lying in bed in the sunniest room of the house.  Several times during the day one or the other member of the family would go up to the girl=s room and keep her company.  When she died people said it was a blessing.  But the family mourned for a long time.  Someone asked the mother, AWhy does the death of this child who has never spoken or moved among you make you all feel so deeply bereft?@  AYou don=t understand,@ was the answer.  AWhenever one of us was sad or happy, joyful or depressed, we would go to her room and laugh or cry or just put our head on the pillow next to hers.  The room was always quiet.  When we left we would feel restored.@  ABut she could not even speak.@  AThat=s right,@ her mother answered, Ashe could not even speak.@

This little girl with an apparently useless life, was a presence where her parents, her brothers and sisters, found rest and felt restored.

 

There are many ways to find Sabbath Rest.  Worship on Sunday may be one way, although, far too often it is not, as we come to worship with so many expectations that are too often not met and thus get in the way of our drawing close to God and God=s love.  Plus worship is such an active time that we are often too busily engaged to hear the voice of God.  Sabbath Rest is about being still, resting and basking in the peaceful wholeness of God=s love, and listening for God.