8 comments

Carolyn McCulley

Liberation and the Sabbath

Posted on 07.06.11 by Carolyn McCulley | Twitter: @CarolynMcculley

The other day, I sent an email to a client around 9:00 pm. He wrote back right away, even though it was "after hours." 

"After hours." Remember that concept? It used to be that work was contained within certain boundaries. I remember back at the turn of the century if I sent an email "after hours," I was likely to get a response that started with, "What are you doing at work so late?" But now, thanks to smart phones and other devices, our work spills into all sorts of hours and no one seems to notice anymore.

On some level, that's helpful. These tools allow us to be productive at times that serve our personal schedules. But on another level, that means it's hard to turn work off. I find that I carry around my phone and reflexively check it everywhere. With a few quick keystrokes, I can respond to emails and keep the workflow on track. As a small business owner, I need to keep the tasks moving ahead. It's a good day if my inbox is under 100 messages. But as a Christian, I wonder about how it has affected my ability to turn off, rest, and worship. I also wonder how, through these tools and habits, I affect the ability of others to rest and worship.

Ironically, it was through the Entrepreneurship Initiative (Ei) Forum in New York City that I received a recording from Tim Keller that helped me think through some of these issues. Appropriately titled "Work and Rest," this 2003 message was given before work became omnipresent. I highly recommend that you listen to it. Some of Tim Keller's key points in this message are listed below:

  • Examining Luke 6:1-11, we see that Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath, but affirmed it by saying He was Lord of the Sabbath. Which means that Jesus is Lord of rest.
  • How can you rest? You rest when you think your work is good and complete. This is modeled for us in Genesis 1, when God creates the world, says it is good, and He who needs it not, rests.
  • Why is it hard for us to rest? Because we are always seeking affirmation and identity in our productivity and accomplishments. But the incredible concept of Christianity is that the only One to whom you have to prove yourself has already completed what you cannot do. Jesus is the only One who can truly say, "It is finished." Therefore, it is through the finished work of Jesus that we can rest.
  • The Sabbath is an act of liberation. "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." (Deut. 5:15 NIV). If you don't rest, you are a slave—a slave to your job, to the expectations of others, to your own reputation, whatever. 
  • Rest is an act of trust. It says, "I'm not the One who keeps the world running. I am not God."
There's much to mine out of this message. But if there's one concept that really leapt out at me, it was the idea that the Sabbath is an act of liberation. By not taking Sabbath rest seriously, I am keeping myself enslaved when I have already been set free by Christ. And by not taking Sabbath rest seriously at this point of my life, I am also buying into the American concept that rest comes with retirement . . .  and not before then. But I do not need to be enslaved until some arbitrary age! I have been liberated by Christ Himself. 

Here in midweek, I urge you to listen to this message and plan ahead for ways you can get off the treadmill of emails, housework, scheduled activities, and the like . . . and enjoy Sabbath rest. Listen to Tim Keller, glean from the biblical wisdom he presents, and live like people liberated by the King!

(Photo: To me, contemplative rest always needs to include a water view...)

Comments

  1. Thank you Carolyn for the affirmation of what I already knew to be true. My husband went from being a business vice-president 12 years ago to farming and publishing a magazine. Both of those jobs could take up 24/7 but we purposed that on Sunday we would only do the absolute necessities and nothing further. We needed rest in order to go the next week.

    Another issue that can surface is the amount of time you allow church to have on your day of "rest". Be sure any activity you engage in is for your rest and not man's requirement.
    posted by Lori Crank
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 8:55 am
  2. "Examining Luke 6:1-11, we see that Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath, but affirmed it by saying He was Lord of the Sabbath. Which means that Jesus is Lord of rest."

    Most Christians believe that one is commiting high treason if you say that Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath. A lot of Christians believe that tithing is for today because it was established before the law and so was the Sabbath.

    There is no day that most Christians treat as sacred. Yes, we may go to church to worship one day out of the week but that day usually ends up being just like any other day.

    I'm guilty as charged but I as working to rest and worship one day out of the week.
    posted by Elveria
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 9:03 am
  3. Thank you, I will take a listen. I love how Keller takes everything through the gospel filter. I have been studying the whole "rest" thing lately myself. Sunday is such a gift as the foretaste of our future, eternal rest. It is also our affirmation that we rest in Christ's righteousness, not our own. No wonder the devil's # is 666--signifying the 6 days of man's work that never complete to God's perfect 7. On the Sabbath we are first given Christ's work, His righteousness, and then sent out to His civil kingdom to serve by His grace.
    www.housewifetheologian.com
    posted by Aimee Byrd
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 10:26 am
  4. Church is certainly a good place to go; I do not deny that. It is also a lighthouse for the community. The activity at church can wear a person out! Then we ladies cook a big Sunday dinner and invite family members. Rest?

    Rest comes in the mind as well as the body. When I seek to have the mind of Christ in the activities of each day, then I find satisfaction that what I did on that day, was His choice. I admit, I live alone and that helps my activity level. No one is interupting me (usually). The problem with stimulating activity is that the mind is not at rest. Leisure is a change of activity and not necessarily a stopping activity altogether. With that in mind, we can go to church, sing in the choir, teach children's church, and still feel rested because it is a change of activity. Perhaps that is why one of my pastors described the hour nap on Sunday afternoon as the "baptist nap." Rest, then, in my opinion, is not just stopping activity; it is changing activity to a pleasurable time of rest. Yes, the sabboth is liberating because it allows us to serve in the lighthouse, spend time with loved ones deliberately, and focus on God's Word. The temptation to work seven days a week is strong; but it can be conquored. Attending church is not a requirement to rest. It is a good place to go for a change of pace, and that helps us rest of minds and refocus for the coming week. If church is just a habit, or a duty, then something needs to change: the heart.
    posted by Karyl
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 10:38 am
  5. You are so right when you mention that all the tools we have today don't help in us find rest from our work. It is so easy to 'stay connected' that even 'vacation time' doesn't quite keep us away from our work.

    My husband and I have been very convicted in this area. I find that I really have to be intentional in finding times to rest... otherwise I get caught in a 24/7 - always- connected- mindset.

    Thanks for these liberating truths that help me remember that I am weak and that I (and my work) is not indispensable.

    These Scriptures came to mind "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
    eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. (Ps 127:2)..
    posted by Laura
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 10:51 am
  6. Hello Carolyn:
    Thank you for your post. I look forward to listening to Tim Keller's thoughts on "Work and Rest." I recently purchased a book by Mark Buchanan entitled, "The Rest of God--Restoring Your Soul By Restoring Sabbath." I have read portions of this book and have found it to be insightful. Some of his comments: "...I submit this as Sabbath's golden rule: Cease from what is necessary. Embrace that which gives life." Another comment: "...when I say Sabbath, I also mean an attitude. It is a perspective; an orientation. I mean a Sabbath heart, not just a Sabbath day. A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval. It is attentive to the presence of God and others even in the welter of much coming and going, rising and falling. It is still and knows God even when mountains fall into the sea. You will never enter the Sabbath day without a Sabbath heart...."

    Randy Alcorn, one of the authors who endorsed this book, said, "A craftsman skilled with words, Mark Buchanan has written a penetrating book with an easy contemplative tone. This is enjoyable reading about something precious most of us have lost, and some of us have never known. I needed to sit back, relax, and savor this heart-moving, thought-provoking book. I suspect you do, too."

    So if anyone wants to explore further the Sabbath rest, Pastor Buchanan's book would be a good resource.

    Thanks again for your post.

    Blessings,
    Arlene
    Matt. 11:28
    posted by Arlene
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 4:43 pm
  7. So appreciated this post, Carolyn! I've been thinking much about our desperated need for regular cycles of rest and how much that goes against the grain of our thinking/culture. But I had never considered that not taking a sabbath rest is an example of the many ways I so often attempt to live apart from the gospel!

    Wow...Not only were we created to NEED a sabbath rest, but because of Jesus death and resurrection we can rest!!!

    This is definitly a " theme" I'm hearing from the Lord recently! I stumbled across this verse in Isaiah 28:16 recently...
    "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes ( in the gospel - in Jesus) will not be in a hurry!"

    Thanks so much for sharing this! I look forward to listening to Keller's message.
    posted by Carrie Gaul
    on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 8:50 pm
  8. So appreciated this post, Carolyn! I've been thinking much about our desperated need for regular cycles of rest and how much that goes against the grain of our thinking/culture. But I had never considered that not taking a sabbath rest is an example of the many ways I so often attempt to live apart from the gospel!

    Wow...Not only were we created to NEED a sabbath rest, but because of Jesus death and resurrection we can rest!!!

    This is definitly a " theme" I'm hearing from the Lord recently! I stumbled across this verse in Isaiah 28:16 recently...
    "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes ( in the gospel - in Jesus) will not be in a hurry!"

    Thanks so much for sharing this! I look forward to listening to Keller's message.
    posted by Carrie Gaul
    on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 7:11 am

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