OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 38 - SEPT 2007

Dear Friends:

How are you? Are your energy levels high? Is your spiritual life at a peak? Are your relationships with humans all going smoothly? Are you focused moment by moment on eternal values?

OR

Are you kind of tired and worn out? Do you wish your relationship with God was far more than it is? Are there issues with other people in your life that just can't seem to get resolved? Are you mired down in day-to-day life to the extent that the eternal seems unreal?

If we are honest, we will all admit that we tend to be living more in the second paragraph than the first. Why would that be true when Jesus told us to come to him if we were tired and that, if we did, we would find rest for our souls? (Matthew 11:28-29). Where is the rest we are looking for? Where is the connection to God that we truly want? There may be a very simple answer to that question, but one that is overlooked by almost everyone – even those of us who have been following Jesus for a very long time!

Let's go back to creation for the answer. When God created the universe that we live in, he worked hard. There was a lot of creative effort that went into the design of this world and the bringing it into being. And at the end of every day, God evaluated what he had done and was pleased with his work. But, after six days of exerting all kinds of creative energy, God rested. Not because he was tired, but because he intended that rest be part of the rhythm of the world he created.

We are created in God's image. As his image bearers, we function best if we are living in sync with the rhythms he built into the world he created for us. When it comes to rest he showed us what to do and how to do it. But just in case we wouldn't pick it up just from his example, he went so far as to write it in stone when he told us, through Moses, to

“Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

Resting one day a week was not only part of the rhythm of creation, it is commanded in detail by the holy God.

So, what do we do with that? After all, we don't live under the law anymore. We don't have to observe the Sabbath with all the legalistic requirements that the rabbis in Jesus' day were teaching. In typical human fashion, they had taken the concept of a Sabbath rest and had come up with 1,521 ways in which it could be broken. So, instead of the day of rest bringing freedom, it brought bondage. We know that was not what God intended.

But I think we as Christians have made a mistake when we think that, because we are no longer bound by the law, we can simply throw out the keeping of the Sabbath. We didn't discard the other nine commandments. Why would we ignore the keeping of this one? I have been mulling and stewing on this question for a week or so now having heard a recorded lecture by Pete Scazzaro, a New York City pastor, on the subject. He went so far as to say that when we refuse to keep Sabbath, we are violating our souls. We are made in the image of God. God kept the Sabbath. When we don't, we are marring the image that we bear.

So, if we are serious about following God, we need to figure out how we can move into the mode of resting for a continuous 24-hour period every week. That's what I'm thinking about right now, so, if you are like me, I know what your reactions are already: I am too busy to give up an entire day every week. Or, I already go to church on Sunday – isn't that enough? Or, you just don't know the kind of responsibilities I carry. Besides, haven't we all been taught that we need to be productive? I can't just waste a whole day every week!

Just read those sentences again. If we are honest, we will begin to see some things about them: They are excuses for choosing not to do something we really don't want to do anyway. They are ways of saying that we know better than God does about what is good for us. And the bottom line: They say that we don't think the world can get along without us if we take our hands off the controls for 24 hours each week. (Hey, I'm not preaching at you. Remember, I am struggling with this right now and I am simply letting you in on my thought processes).

Do you remember some of the things that Jesus taught us about the Sabbath? He said it was not meant to be a burden. The day of rest was given as a gift to man. When we think about it, we can see that it is God's way of saying we have value just because we are his, not because of what we produce. When it was first given, it was right after God had delivered the people of Israel from 400-plus years of slavery in Egypt . Their value as slaves was in what they could produce, so they were forced to work seven days a week. God was saying that their value to him was in who they were, not in how many bricks they made. So he gave them the gift of rest. Maybe that is a message we need to hear in our fast-paced, competitive world today.

By his life, Jesus provided an example to us of what our Sabbath might look like. We don't see him sitting around being bored. He was in the synagogue with his fellow Jews, he was engaging in discussions about his Father and his kingdom, he was strolling through Galilee, and he was healing and doing good things for people in need.

So, if we were going to choose a day of the week during which to be obedient to God in practicing Sabbath, what kinds of activities would we do? First, I should say that for most of us Sunday is a logical day to choose if we don't have to go to work, and most of us already attend a church on that day, so we have a running start.* But what about the rest of the day? The Bible seems to give a lot of freedom on how we use our Sabbath. After all, it is a gift to us. We can apply it in many different ways, as long as those ways honor God and are filled with the concept of rest. Here are a few suggestions:

Separate from work . For most of us this would mean intentionally not thinking about the things that drive us all week, not checking e-mail, not focusing on upcoming appointments, schedules, etc. We would just stop doing what we normally do day by day.

Slow down. For one day a week, we wouldn't have goals to accomplish, deadlines to meet, and rigid schedules to keep. With that freedom, we can be enveloped by each moment. We can truly enjoy the food that we eat, the conversations that we have, the breathing in of fresh outdoor air, and simply not having to do anything in a hurry.

Spiritually focus. We can, without watching the clock, give God some quality time in Bible reading/study, prayer, meditation, music, and praise. We can also pick up some good spiritual reading and Christian publications to enlarge our thinking and challenge our souls.

Serve others. If Jesus took time to heal on the Sabbath, maybe we should use this day to serve others, too. It could be visiting someone in the hospital, sending a card, writing a letter, doing a fix-it job for someone in need, or preparing a meal for a lonely elderly neighbor. You'll think of other ways to serve, I am sure.

Savor relationships. One of the purposes of the Old Testament Sabbath was creating time for focus on family and, during that time, discussing and modeling what it means to be a follower of Jehovah God. When we separate from our work and slow down, we can really have meaningful time and maybe just plain fun with our children, our spouses, our grandchildren, our neighbors, and our friends. Someday, we will be part of an eternal Sabbath (Revelation 14:13) and I have a feeling a great deal of that time will be spent in relationship with one another. We can practice now.

So, are you ready to at least think about it? Pete Scazzaro, mentioned above, has been doing this for several years now and says that it has transformed his life relationally and spiritually. Being obedient to God's command tends to do that! Maybe we just have to be willing to believe it.

If you try Sabbath keeping, e-mail me with some feedback on what you chose to do and how it is working for you. Your experience could help others!

Blessings on all your days, but especially your Sabbath!

Bev

*For those of you who are in full-time Christian ministry, your Sabbath will have to be a day other than Sunday.

P.S. If you know of others who would enjoy receiving this newsletter each month, please encourage them to visit my website (www.beverlyvankampen.com), click on the newsletter icon, and enter their e-mail address. I would love to add them to our circle of friends.