Day 17 - The Work of Sabbath

Reading: Genesis 2:1-3

Most people spend most of their lives consumed by ‘work’ – whether that’s paper’work’, garden work, home’work’, house’work’ or the millions of other works we do to maintain our lives, sustain our bodies, and keep the world orderly. We often do this work begrudgingly, wishing that we could be some of the lucky few who live lives of supposed ‘leisure’ - although those who do have lives of ‘leisure’ may dispute their leisurely quality.

Many of us do work eagerly but are motivated by getting all we can out of it – whether that’s money, power, fame, or simply sustenance. Regardless the type of work we do, since we spend so much of life occupied with it, we must take some time to examine our motivations. Instead of drifting through life, working for the sake of working, as a discipline this week, try and identify some of God’s purposes for your work. That may mean that you need to spend some time truly resting!

There is no question that there is much to do and accomplish in the world. Despite the beliefs of some, God did not give us work to do as a punishment but instead gave it to us for our delight! Because it is a gift from God, and because we are made in the image of God, it makes sense that God models for us how it is to be done. God says work is to be done always keeping in mind God’s holiness and God’s work of creation, which why we have Sabbath. Just as God’s work in Genesis 2 is incomplete without rest, so our work is incomplete without rest. Indeed, we cannot speak about work without speaking about how it is shaped by Sabbath rest.

As you are aware by now, Lent is a time when we re-evaluate the disciplines in our lives that draw us closer to Christ. Often Sabbath is considered one of those disciplines. We are taught that Sunday is to be our Sabbath, a day of worship and rest from the routine. During Lent, Sundays are feast days, not included in the 40 total days, leading up to Jesus’ resurrection. They are days when, traditionally, Christians celebrate a break from disciplines like fasting and instead feast and delight in God’s creation.

And this is all well and good! However, Sabbath is more than a commitment to coming to church on a Sunday. It’s more than stepping back from workweek work to spend time instead cleaning out the car, shopping for groceries, reading the book you’ve been meaning to get to, taking a bubble bath, or bustling around church doing everything possible to make sure the Sunday School runs smoothly. Sabbath is not just about resting and doing chores so that the rest of the week will be more productive. Sabbath is about setting time apart to stop our own creating and producing to orient our whole lives to the holiness and creative power of God.

A mentor once told me that I have a productivity mindset, not unlike many people. And this mindset can be quite a gift when being faithful to the tasks given to us. However, it also means I can begin to believe that my productivity is the be all and end all. It becomes my motivation instead of allowing my motivation to be glorifying God, regardless of the quantifiable amount of work I accomplish or the goals I achieve.

Because of this mindset, my mentor required me to spend an entire day from sun-up to sun-down doing absolutely nothing. What am I supposed to do, if I’m doing absolutely nothing?? I protested. He replied – go someplace where you can just be.

And so I went, annoyed and uncertain of what this day of doing nothing would actually accomplish, but hopeful that it would mean that the rest of my week would be far more productive… I was still missing the point…

But, once arriving at Botanic Gardens with a picnic lunch prepared ahead of time, I realized I was spending one of the most boring and simultaneously most fascinating days of my life. I spent a good half an hour simply watching a spider crawl up and down blades of grass at the edge of the pond. I listened to the bamboo creak, as it moved in the wind. I noticed the movements and laughter of other people, and I realized that all my work, my creation, my productivity, my grasping at straws to survive and thrive was in vain, if I did not center my whole life, work, and rest on God’s.

Prayer:

Holy God, as we enter into this week, whether we remembered or ignored your holiness and creativity on Sunday, help us allow you to shape all of our work, play, and rest on your rhythm of creation and rest. Set our hearts apart from our own desires to be productive and bend them toward your faithfulness in sustaining and flourishing your creation. Make each of our days holy, as we live out of the source of your rest. Amen.

Putting Faith into Action:

Set apart a period of Sabbath rest during each day this week, a few moments to remember God’s work in creating the world and creating you, personally, as someone made specially to carry out God’s purposes in all your work.

Prepare during the week to spend one day on the weekend truly in rest, ceasing every activity that is productive and creative to simply be and delight in God’s creation. This may mean you need to cook the night before. It may mean that you must reschedule necessary chores, cancel rehearsals or practices, or plan shopping ahead. If you live hand to mouth, this might mean attending the Sunday Evening Meal at MRMC so that you don’t need to worry about where your food will come from that day. Maybe it will mean spending time in quiet or simply being with family and friends. It may be boring, but it may be a crucial window into God’s holiness and love for you.