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February 2 - February 3, 2022
Minister Marjorie Thompson captured this well: “Our twisted inner logic, often unconscious, can convince us that we are too bad even for God to forgive! To hold God’s mercy hostage to a determination to punish ourselves is truly a human sickness of spirit.”2
SABBATH KEEPING
Sabbath keeping is a weekly twenty-four-hour period of unhurried delight with no have-tos or ought-tos, resulting in deep rest and renewal. The contemplative life is about slowing down our pace to create space for God to transform us by his grace. So it only makes sense that keeping the Sabbath is another indispensable practice.
The fatigue we experience is multilayered.
There is the fatigue of the body.
There is also the fatigue of the mind.
there is the fatigue of the soul.
First, the Ten Commandments were given not as a means of salvation but as the result of salvation.
In other words, God never intended them to be the means by which people enter into relationship with him. He first rescued his people out of Egypt and then gave them the commandments. He didn’t give them commandments to live out perfectly as a condition leading to their rescue, like for most other religions, which are often based on human performance.
Biblically, work is inherently a good thing. God worked at creation and made humans to do the same.
Our obsession with work has predictably made us destructive people. For many in our society, overwork is about not just obsession but also oppression—that is, the various factors that force a person to work so much.
the brilliance of Sabbath keeping is that it’s not so much about our keeping the Sabbath as it is the Sabbath keeping us.
Sabbath Is Not a Reward Earned for Hard Work
we often believe that Sabbath is a reward for hard work. People who think along these lines believe that the only way to deserve a Sabbath is by working until they have no energy left. They often think of grace in the same terms, as if God’s favor is something one should strive to be deserving of; that is, “You’ve been given it, now earn it.” God’s point is, earning is altogether irrelevant to love.
Sabbath is not a reward for hard work. Sabbath is a gift that precedes work and enables us to work.
As with God’s grace, rest is never a reward; it’s a gift.
Sabbath Is a Reminder That Our Work Remains Incomplete
In the practice of Sabbath keeping, we live out the truth that one day we will leave all things unfinished as we rest in the arms of Jesus.
Sabbath Is a Day That Moves Us from Production to Presence
The Sabbath, then, is a day of presence—a day of being present to God, present to others, present to creation, and present to ourselves.
We are more than what we produce.
Sabbath is not just rest from making things. It’s rest from the need to make something of ourselves.
Sabbath creates a space for a holy unawareness in a world of technological omniscience. Sabbath forms us to be present in one place amid the desire to be omnipresent. Sabbath shapes us to enjoy the limits of our humanity rather than grasp at omnipotence.
Sabbath Points Us to the Deeper Rest We Need
There is a quality of rest that our souls need that goes beyond a spiritual-formation practice. There’s a quality of rest we need that is more than ceasing from work. The quality of rest we need is from God alone.
here’s the promise: when we place our faith in Jesus, we exchange our exhaustion for his rest.
It’s important for me to say that with two young kids, Sabbath is not always stress free. I don’t know about the kids in your life, but mine don’t automatically turn into angels just because the Sabbath has come.
SLOW READING OF SCRIPTURE
Psalm 1 is not a prayer, but it’s a statement about human existence. It is basically the gateway to true prayer and communion with God. The psalmist begins by making a staggering statement: the primary thing that distinguishes the righteous from the unrighteous is meditation on the law. When I speak of the slow reading of Scripture, I have in mind this practice of meditation the psalmist introduces. The righteous are those who are directed by God’s instruction. The unrighteous in this psalm have no room for his instruction in their lives.
Eugene Peterson, in his book Eat This Book, tells the story of his dog chewing, playing, and growling over a bone that would sometimes last it more than a week. One day Peterson read Isaiah 31:4, which says that the Lord is like a young lion growling over its prey. He immediately thought of his growling, joyful dog playing with its bone. He then discovered a connection: the Hebrew word for “growl” was the same word for “meditate” in Psalm 1.4 This becomes a powerful metaphor for shaping the way we approach Scripture. Meditation, then, is the practice of slowly chewing on God’s Word until it
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Lectio: Reading
The first movement is lectio, which means reading. But this is not a careless, flippant, perfunctory kind of reading. It’s attentive reading.
Meditatio: Meditation
The second movement is meditatio, which means meditation. In this movement, we are particularly focused on the word or phrase that one believes has been identified by the Spirit for this moment.
Oratio: Prayer
The third movement is oratio, which means prayer. In meditation, we are aware of God’s Word being spoken to our hearts.
Contemplatio: Contemplation
The final movement is contemplatio, which means contemplation. Much like the practice of silent prayer, contemplation in this moment is not for the purpose of further rumination and examination.
COMMITMENT TO STABILITY
Contemplative life is not a solo enterprise; it is an invitation to a shared life with others.
I’m referring to our call to remain connected with others, especially in moments of conflict, tension, and anxiety. The goal of contemplation is beholding, but not only a beholding of God; we also need to be beholding each other.
Something had compelled them to imagine a different way of being together. A new community was forming based not on suspicion, mistrust, and fear but on hospitality, trust, and goodwill.
One could argue that the primary fruit of the gospel is not going to heaven when you die but rather the miraculous new family that is created out of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
the Cross of Christ isn’t just a bridge that gets us to God; it’s a sledgehammer that breaks down walls that separate us.
The starting point for any Christian conversation on race must be the purpose of the gospel. The gospel we proclaim must be big enough to engage the realities of racial fragmentation.
Our understanding of the gospel will be either Christ’s kingdom catalyst for racial justice and reconciliation, or a conformity to this world’s impetus for a fragmented and divided society. Surely, the gospel is good news, but good news about what?
It is my conviction that the gospel at its core is not merely the good news of a soteriological transaction (a fancy way of saying “getting saved”).
The gospel at its core is centrally about the story and victory of Jesus; the risen and enthroned Lord is our good news.
And further, this gospel has specific purposes for the healing of our world. One of the main purposes is the creation of a new family that...
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The filter bubble is a good image for what is happening in our time. We surround ourselves with ideas, interests, and political thoughts that reinforce what we already believe. This has led to a brazen demonizing of people who think otherwise.
