The Listening Ear

Sabbath Story

In his book, Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest Wayne Muller repeats a story that had been told to him by a friend named Jacob.

 

When Sheila and I were married, her grandparents gave us a brand-new washer and dryer. It was a vary generous gift, and we were very grateful to receive such a blessing for our new home. But when they presented them to us, here grandfather explained that this was a Jewish washer and dryer. “What makes them Jewish?” I asked naively. Sheila’s grandfather replied with a twinkle, “They won’t work on Shabbat.” I told that story last Sunday as I started by sermon series on Sabbath-keeping. 

I have to wonder if many of us wouldn’t be better off if we had appliances like that—some that didn’t work on the Sabbath. Maybe there’s some machinery we own that shouldn’t work on the Sabbath. I have been wondering if I would better off if my computer didn’t work on during my Sabbath time. 

In our culture many of us need to discipline ourselves so that work and the cares and concerns that come with us don’t intrude on that time that we set aside each week for rest and renewal. If we learn that discipline, I think that we will not only experience the blessings that God offers us in the Sabbath, but we’ll find that we get just as much done even when we take a genuine Sabbath break. What do you think?

The Gift of Sabbath-Keeping

I am starting a new sermon series next Sunday called Sabbath Keeping: Receiving God’s Gift Of Refreshment. I think that it is a timely topic. The average American enjoys one of the highest standards of living ever know to human beings. We live a lifestyle that we would be envy of kings and queens from former times.

Yet, what’s ironic is that we often don’t enjoy our lives all that much. We have allowed ourselves to become enslaved by schedules that starve our souls, and exhaust our minds and bodies.

And what to we have to show for our efforts—long resumes and piles of stuff? Yet we are often unsatisfied. A sense of peace eludes us.

I believe that sabbath-keeping is essential for dealing with the break-neck speed that contemporary life foists upon us. Sabbath is both a discipline and a practice that can lead us to a full and joy-filled life. I am looking forward the the series and will try to write more about it in the coming weeks.

Reading The Sacred Compass-2

How do we determine what we are supposed to be doing with our life? That’s the central question that Brent Bill looks at in his book, Sacred Compass. One of the key concepts that Bill explores to answer this question is a notion that comes from The Quaker tradition, that of a way opening.

This colloquial expression refers to the belief that God’s revelation is on-going for those who follow their sacred compass. It is based on the conviction that God works all around us to lead us, guide us and open a way for us, even when you and I don’t sense that or expect. The reflects a view of life that we are on a pilgrimage, a sacred journey that is leading us to our ultimate destination, to God.

The concept behind this Quaker expression of way opening is the phrase “to proceed as way open .” There is the expectation of movement, but only with caution. Instead of the frenzied actions that are common in our modern day life, being in tune with the sacred compass means taking time to wait for God’s guidance before moving ahead.

The idea of way opening does not mean as some would say, “God has a wonderful plan for your life” as if everything is all laid out for us and God has only one plan that has to happen. There no detailed map that we simply follow from point to point.

Bill would rather say God has plans for us. As we make each choice in life, the brings new possibilities. At each point God opens a way for us. When we are following the sacred compass we are follow that way that is open.

There is great comfort in knowing that God is continually working to open a way for us so that we can experience the fruture God wants for us. By living as pilgrims and not as tourists, by traveling with other pilgrims and by seeking God’s presence as we keep moving through life, we follow the way that opens.

Further Thoughts On My Sabbatical

In a previous post, I reported my congregation’s application for a grant from the Louisville Institute to help fund my sabbatical was not approved. The Institute received almost ten times as many applications as it had grants to award. That made the decision-making process difficult and meant that many fine proposals could not be approved.
Since my sabbatical included a trip to our companion congregation in Kidugala, Tanzania, I’ve been working on plans for the trip with our Companion Congregation Team. Our hope has been to have several people from our congregation travel with me to Kidugala.
Since the funding isn’t available, we have decided to postpone the trip and my sabbatical for a year. We plan to submit further grant applications this year.
Although it is a disappointment to have to postpone my sabbatical for a year or more, I think it may work out better in the end. We already have ideas that will not only strengthen our grant proposal, but will improve the sabbatical time for me and for the congregation. That’s all to the good.

Disappointment And Hope

I received a letter today from The Louisville Institute regarding the application that we had submitted for a grant to help fund a sabbatical for me this year. There were nearly 400 applications and only 40 grants to be awarded. Unfortunately our congregation wasn’t chosen to receive a grant.

With that many applicants, I am not surprised. As the letter noted, they received an unusually large number of applications this year which made the selection process very challenging. Many worthy applications had to be turned down.

While this news is disappointing, I am looking at it as an opportunity. We had already decided that if our grant applications weren’t approved, we would try again. I think we have a chance to make the sabbatical experience even better for myself and for the congregation which should make for an even stronger application the next time around. I was looking forward the having a sabbatical this spring and summer, but it with the way things are developing this year with our facility needs study, it may be best for me to wait another year.

Sabbatical Disappointment

I have written before about the sabbatical that I hope to take next year. Last spring our congregation applied for a Lilly grant that would have not only provided funds for my sabbatical, but would have provided money so that several members of our congregation could travel with me on the first part of my sabbatical as I visited our companion congregation in Kidugala, Tanzania. We received a letter this week telling us that we did not receive the Lilly grant. As you can imagine, that was a disappointment to me. The possibility of taking a sabbatical has not eliminated, but plans will probably have to change. Since we knew that we might not receive the Lilly grant, we have submitted another application for grant funding and will hear about that by mid-December. That grant would provide money for me to travel to Tanzania and do the other things I had planned for the sabbatical, but it doesn’t include funds for others to go with me. Our Companion Congregation team will meet in another week to discuss our options. I know that it is quite possible that we may not receive the second grant either and I have begun to think and pray about what we might do if that is the case. I have said before that the trip to Kidugala has taken on aspects of a spiritual pilgrimage for me. I think that eventually I would like to travel back there even if my sabbatical needs to be postponed until we can find adequate funding for this. I do hope that it is possible to take some others from our congregation with me when I do go. I think that the trip and the time following would provide a significant opportunity for me to write about my experiences. All of this has challenged me to trust that if this is indeed of God, that I must trust that the Lord will provide the resources for it to happen. I ask for your prayers.

Sabbath Living-4: Delight

In his book Living the Sabbath, Norman Wirzba writes:

The fact that Sabbath observance has a low priority for many people in our society indicates a profound confusion about what the Sabbath means. It ought to be our highest priority and our deepest desire, because the experience of delight is what the Sabbath is all about.

When most people think of Sabbath they have in mind sour faces or a long list of prohibitions. By contrast, the Sabbath is actually based on God's own delight in creation. We have a hard time conceiving of God actually enjoying and taking pleasure in creation because we've been influenced by the Deist notion that God is distant and uninvolved with creation. The Biblical view, however, is that God is fiercely loyal to creation and promise to love and care for God's people.

Our delight in what God has made is grounded in God's delight. That means that delight is more than pleasure. Often we find pleasure in sinful ways. For instance, if I take satisfaction in someone else's downfall, that's not true delight.

The reason that delight goes beyond pleasure is that pleasure focuses too much on how I feel. When we experience genuine delight, God is necessarily honored and glorified. And the meaning and goodness that we discover in others is what make them delightful to us. That means we have to get close to them and really get to know others so that we can appreciate them. This means that true Sabbath-keeping involves attention to our relationship with others.

The Sabbath focuses us on all the good things that God has done. Wirzba quotes Michael Hanby, "Only a joyous people can sustain pointless activity, festivity and rest. Only a people who can sustain pointless activity, festivity and rest can be joyous." 

Sabbath Living-2

In his book Living The Sabbath, Norman Wirzba takes time to look at the Biblical notion of Sabbath, starting with Old Testaments texts. He notes that in Genesis 1, God frequently stops to proclaim that each day’s creative work is good. God takes delight in all of creation, not simply humans. When humans are given dominion over creation, it isn’t a total control. Our task is to care for what God has made.

He also notices that when God creates humans, that the Lord isn’t really finished. It is only when God creates rest on the seventh day that God is really finished. It is this creation of Sabbath that completes what God creates. With the establishment of the Sabbath, God invites his creatures to bask in the glory of God’s life. It is an opportunity to delight in creation just as God does.

Keeping the Sabbath opens us to the joy that God intends to share with it. That makes the Sabbath more than an interlude. It is the goal toward which all creation moves.