Read Scripture:
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
The Lord Be with You
And also with you
Let us pray:
Our Loving and Gracious God, giver of all knowledge, Lord Jesus Christ, our Teacher and Friend, we pray this day for your Spirit to fall down upon us gather here. We pray for your wisdom and discernment as we hear the Word you have for us today. May your words speak to us in ways that we never imagined, so that we may have a better understanding of what you would have us do. Word of God Speak…your sons and daughters are listening…
Rituals…we all have them. Rituals on how we do things, how we think, how we speak, how we clean or cook…they are how we live our lives. I was reading in the paper the other day about an ancient Jewish ritual called “Kaparot”, which means atonement, it is done just before Yom Kippur. During this ritual, some take a chicken, the men use roosters while the women use a hen, and they move it around there head three times, symbolically transferring ones sins to the chicken. (now I don’t know about you but I don’t think I would really want to swing a chicken over my head but if I was of this tradition I am sure that I would) Then they slaughter or donate the animal to the poor and it is preferably eaten at the pre-Yom Kippur feast. Why are there so many rituals and whose rituals are they, are they God’s or men? It can be so hard to figure that one out.
We as Christians have our own set of “rituals”. We have rituals around Communion, we have our rituals around becoming a member of our churches, and we have rituals around how we do things in the church and so on. But there is one thing, one ritual so to speak that we have that I have been thinking a lot about. Now I don’t really want to call it a ritual or a discipline because those words have a negative connotation for some, I would rather call it a practice (much because we are always trying to practice it), or a way of life. It is the practice around Sabbath or should I say “Sabbath Time.” How many of you have a hard time with practice, a hard time to be able to slow yourself down and spend time with God? We are all so busy that we can get into the habit of not renewing our soul by spending time with the One who is the source of our strength. “Tradition” tells us that we are to spend a day of rest from all of our work and spend the whole day spending time with God and the gifts that he has bestowed upon us. A day when we spend time with family and friends enjoying their company and praising god for the opportunity to be able to do so, a time spent with the people that god has put in our lives, these gifts from God.
Well…I don’t know about you but I am a Martha. Always running around, having so much to do and so little time to do it. I long to be more like Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet and learning from the Teacher. (As a matter of fact, some of us women are reading a book called “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World” in order to try and learn how to be a little bit more like Mary) Well… this whole thing about learning about Sabbath Time got me to thinking. What is Sabbath Time? What do you do during this time? What does it mean to spend time with God and how long do I have to do it in order to honor the Sabbath? How can I get the peace that is found in Sabbath, because if you’re like me, you need to find a little peace in your life. Well…I have been reading books on the Sabbath trying to figure this all out.
In Keri Wyatt Kent’s book “Rest…Living in Sabbath Simplicity”, she states that “Sabbath allows us to rest, to reconnect with our faith and each other, and to revise the very order of our lives. It invites us to pause, to play, and to pray.” She sees it as an opportunity to focus her energy on what Jesus says are the two most important commandments: to love God and to love others. But…this Sabbath keeping, this Sabbath time is a spiritual practice (notice how I said practice…it is something that we need to find what works best for us. It’s not a “Cookie Cutter” thing. It’s a practice of being in the presence of God and being the presence of God). It is a way to encounter God in a whole new way…it is not something we need to institute but something that is simply practiced and we can invite others to practice with us. You see…Sabbath is a relational thing.
There are so many rules around the Sabbath. But…Jesus tells the Pharisees in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. You see…the Sabbath was made so that man could slow him or herself down and worship and thank god for all that God has done, is doing or will ever do in their lives. God created humankind first then blessed the seventh day and made it holy. You see (and now this is my interpretation)…God created and made that day holy because God enjoyed, and still does, our “company”, God did walk in the cool of the night and conversed with Adam and Eve. But as time went on, humankind forgot about spending time with God, they forgot about who it was who created them and provided for them. So in the “Big 10” God gave rules about how one should “observe the Sabbath.” But even then, humankind put more rules on top of it. They decided that on the Sabbath you couldn’t do anything that was considered work. They even rebuked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath or even picking a few grains of wheat for him and his disciples. (Boy did they have it wrong…why do we feel the need to add to what is already set in place? Why do we, as the human race, feel that we need to change things for our own pleasure or thoughts instead of what God intended it to be)
So…the question I posed was “how can we slow ourselves down and take that Sabbath time and how can I put this practice into my life”? Well…here is my theory…Sabbath Time is a time of thankfulness to God…at time when we think of others instead of ourselves…a time when we spend time with loved ones being in the moment and not thinking about our own agendas and making our lists in our minds of all the things we have to do. Well…why can’t we have Sabbath time where ever we are…why can’t we live Sabbath time our whole day? For instance…the other day I was driving in my car, listening to Christian music (I mean really listening to it…listening to the words, the message, it had to say) and I found myself thanking God for all he has done, sing praises to God, praying to God about prayer concerns that I knew one of my “Vegas Soul Sisters” has and all of the sudden I had that “peace that goes beyond all understanding.” It was if God was sitting in the passenger’s seat…with me there, in that very moment. To me…that was Sabbath Time, a Sabbath moment with God. And there have been many other times when I have done this and receive that peace. It is breathe taking and awesome! To commune with God on that level! There have been times that this practice for me has brought me to my knees in praise and adoration. Isn’t this what Sabbath is supposed to be like? This is something that I can do while work on…practice…my Sabbath time. This is a concrete way that I can take time…no matter how long or short it may be…to be in the presence of God.
The Buddhist have a different name of this peace…it’s called Nirvana. It is when they let go of all…let go of their problems…let go of their fears…a total abandonment. When they have done this…the peace they feel is called Nirvana. We are all so busy with our lives and our days are so full that there are times when we cry out to God “enough…I can’t do this anymore…I need you....I need your peace, I need to feel your love, I need your presence, HELP ME!” and it is when we come to this point and hit our knees that we receive a peace…Nirvana, a taste of heaven in our life. How much more peaceful do you think our lives would be if we would just practice Sabbath moments with God as we work our way towards a Sabbath day with Him (and we may never achieve that but what we do need is to be able to connect and renew our lives.) . Lord…renew our minds and revitalize us so that we may do your will in the world…the things you have called us to do.
Sabbath…it is a “day” of rest and worship but we can also practice Sabbath Moments with God to help us along the way. We are all working towards perfection in our lives but we also need to have that time to remember the perfector of our faith, times with the Creator of all things. We need to practice a little Mary in our lives to sustain us through life and the trials it may bring. Beloved, are you feeling that you are on overload, are you feeling empty and thirsty for something that you can’t put your finger on? Come to the well and drink. You may not be at that point in your life that you can stay and drink fully but you can have a cup of that living water throughout your day and be replenished for the journey ahead. Taste and see that the Lord is good and waiting with the cup of love, strength, and compassion for you moment by moment.
AMEN.
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Psalm 46:1-3 (Call to Worship)
& sermon, “Whose Rule Is It?”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
9/27/09
and
Exodus 20:8-11 (Ten Commandments: Sabbath)
All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,
2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage.
See all 39,930+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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