Signs of Sabbath

There are signs all around us. Along sidewalks and corners are signs that let us know a political election is just around the corner. Standing above those signs are signs the seasons are changing. Maples and oaks in their splendor are signs that shorter, cooler days are on the way. Just about three weeks ago, I took Eva with me to Shelby on a Saturday morning. We had a couple of stops to make, one of which was Lowe’s. There were just a couple of items on our shopping list but, when we walked in the door, we were greeted with more signs. There were signs directing us to hardware, lumber, electrical products, kitchen & bath, and lawn & garden. There are signs everywhere.

That Saturday in Lowes, however, I noticed a big sign that was missing. You see, like many major retailers, the Christmas decorations had been on display for nearly two weeks by that point. There were beautiful artificial Christmas trees – pre-lit, of course – on display. There were wreaths, strings of lights, and boxes of ornaments. There were also large inflatable Santa Claus’s and snowmen. Alongside the Christmas decorations were Halloween decorations. There were jack-o-lanterns, a Minion holding a jack-o-lantern, and a large Darth Vader all to go in one’s front yard.

I stopped in the aisle, looked up to see the contrast from Halloween to Christmas and thought about what kind of sings they were. They were signs to customers, encouraging them to purchase these items. Almost as if to say, “Your season will not be complete without this stuff.” Together, they were signs that the holiday season is quickly approaching. The contrast caught my attention, but what has since been gnawing at me is the sign that was missing.

Amidst the clutter of commodity and the promotion of purchases was one sign that was sadly absent. There was nothing about Thanksgiving. There was not even an inflatable turkey or pilgrim hat on display. Nothing. Simply nothing about Thanksgiving. This was the strongest and clearest sign of all. The fact there was nothing about Thanksgiving suggested – to me, anyway – that Thanksgiving, and the actual practice of giving thanks, is not something that is treasured by our culture and society. It is almost as if we cannot stop long enough to give thanks for what we have because we are too busy looking for the next thing we want, need, or desire, when the truth is most of us have more than we want, need, or desire.

Since September we have placed our focus as a congregation on Sabbath. During Sunday morning worship, we have explored the meaning of Sabbath, Sabbath-keeping, and what it means to incorporate Sabbath into our daily living. You work six days and stop one. You are constantly on the move six days and stop one. Rest and satisfaction are at the core of the Sabbath.

One of the things we have learned together is that Sabbath is so much more than a religious command or a set of “blue laws.” Sabbath is a condition of the heart; a structure of character. Sabbath is itself a sign that something deeper is happening in the human soul. Sabbath is a sign that there is a change, a transformation at work. There is a shift in momentum on the Sabbath that causes us to pay attention more closely to what is around us.

Sabbath-keeping is a means of giving thanks. It is an intentional stoppage of life and work that allows time, room, space, and effort to be given to noticing all that is around us for which we are truly thankful. The trouble is our culture does not like to stop. We live in a 24/7 world where the news, the entertainment, the purchasing, and the drive for more is never-ending. It is almost as if we are so concerned with what we need next that we cannot take time to give thanks for what is already here.

In a world where it seems we do not have time to stop, the Sabbath reminds us we do not have time not to stop. The psalmist writes:

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.”

–Psalm 95:1-2

The invitation issued by the palmist is full of signs. The fact that the invitation is issued to “us” suggests that this is something we do together. We share in giving thanks as a community. Thanksgiving requires stoppage. It is a call to cease the grasping for more and to be satisfied in what is here. According to the psalmist, what is “here” is so much more than one could ever buy, earn, or work for. God is the Rock of our salvation. A sign that God is at work in life.

I believe that one of the greatest signs of our lives is the sign of thanksgiving. It is a sign that we are satisfied. A sign that we are content. A sign that we know where the blessings have come from. A sign that we can rest assured knowing God is the Rock of our salvation, the firm foundation of our living.

I think sometimes we don’t stop because we are afraid that if we stop we will not get started again. As if somehow stopping to give thanks will keep us from getting more; we will wish we had just kept going. Someone else will get the promotion. Someone else will snatch the product. Someone else will….

The truth of the matter is stopping to give thanks is an act of satisfied faith. We know all the things for which we give thanks come from God in the first place, so why be worried about getting more? I don’t know about you, but the sign of a thankful heart is one that I wish to keep growing in to.

Thanksgiving is a sign that God’s satisfied and holy presence is at work in the life of a believer. Let’s all stop, give thanks, and give our culture a new sign.

Thankful...

-ASR

The Sabbath of Fall

We are entering the time of year that is the favorite for so many of us. Fall brings on cooler mornings, crisper evenings, and beautiful colors. As the temperature and leaves both drop, and pumpkins are everywhere from our front porches to our dining room tables, we tend to make more out of the beauty of creation. Whether we are riding along the Blue Ridge Parkway or taking our usual path to work, there is a possibility that we will see something we have never seen before. Well, not necessarily something we have never seen before, but we will notice the colors of something we have never seen before.

You see the maple tree on the corner of your street. The same tree you have seen a thousand times as you are rushing out the door, late for school or work. But this time of year you take a special notice of it because there is a tinge of orange burning the edges of the leaves. There is the oak tree just outside your office window. You have seen it every day for the last ten years and every fall, you make mention to your coworkers about how beautiful it is. “I think this is the prettiest it has ever been,” you say proudly while in the breakroom with others. And not only do you notice the colors – the reds and yellows rounding out the green leaves – you also notice the wildlife that depends on the tree. The squirrels gathering acorns. The birds nesting. You cannot see this life during the spring and summer because of the leaves. You cannot see this life during the winter because of hibernation. But during the fall of the year you are able to notice a way of life that is different from the rest of the year. It is different because of the colorful display of beauty. It is different because we notice a living quality that we cannot see at other times of the year. It is different because….

Well, maybe because it is holy. Arborists tell us that the reason for the change in color is simple: the leaves stop making chlorophyll. This chemical transfers the energy of sunlight into food for the tree. When the weather begins to turn cooler, the tree knows it is time to stop the production of chlorophyll. It is when the production stops that the truest, brightest, and most spectacular colors of nature begin to emerge.

Since September, our Sunday morning sermon series has focused on the concept of the Sabbath. What does the Sabbath mean? What relevance does the Sabbath have for our 21^st-century living? One of the great truths about the Sabbath and the keeping of Sabbath is that it reminds us of who we truly are: we are the people of God. Every week, the season of life changes, the production stops, and our truest colors as the image-bearers of God emerges in a brilliant display of holy worship.

Note the stoppage in that cycle. In order for the true colors of the leaves to emerge, displaying what the leaf is supposed to look like, the production of chlorophyll must stop. In order for the true colors of our souls to emerge, displaying what and who we have been created to reflect, the production lines must stop as well. It is only when we stop doing that we are reminded of our true being.

One day when Moses was tending his sheep, paying attention to the vast flocks of his father-in-law, his attention turned toward a burning bush (Exodus 3). Moses had been working long hours in the fields in order to make ends meet and put food on the table when the eyes of his heart were directed toward the presence of God. His heart was tugged and towed away from the cycle of shepherding and was given over to the voice of the good shepherd who would guide a new flock through a desert; finding them, feeding them, and giving them a new future.

When Moses stopped what he was doing and paid attention to the presence of God in his life, the invasion of the eternal in the temporal became too much for him to bear. Even his shoes could not take it. And it was in this moment of holy otherness that the true identity of Moses was shaped and brought to light and life. Moses began to see who he was being called to be. God had a new identity waiting for Moses. God was going to use Moses as the deliverer of the Hebrews from Egypt. For centuries, even millennia, afterward, Moses would be remembered not for what he did, but for first what he didn’t do. He didn’t ignore the presence of God in front of him. As a result, the true colors of Moses came shining through. However, it was only when Moses stopped that a new life was able to start.

This is the mysterious wonder of Sabbath. It is the day of the week when the holy otherness of God invades the routine “nowness” of our living. Sabbath is a time woven into the season of the week that calls us to stop the production and to focus on the presence of God. Sabbath is that distantly close ringing bell reminding us that when we stop producing we start living a new life.

In his wonderful book titled, The Sabbath, the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel reminds us:

“The Sabbath is the presence of God in the world, open to the soul of man. It is possible for the soul to respond in affection, to enter into fellowship with the consecrated day” (p. 60).

Each week is filled with seasons. There are seasons of work, rest, play, life, family, and everything in between. There are seasons of stress and pause, tight schedule and scheduled breaks. And there might be time for lunch, but there might not. However, the Sabbath Day is the season of fall in the week. It is the season when we stop producing that which “gives life” in order to be truly alive in a way not possible through endless work.

The stoppage of Sabbath calls us to respond to the presence of God and allows the true colors of God’s image bearers to brilliantly burst forth in an explosion of praise. This is something we do not want to miss, but we have to stop in order to see it.

May each of us stop long enough to see the beautiful maples and oaks. May each of us stop long enough to hear God’s voice. May each of us stop doing in order to start being who we are truly created and called to be.

Time Stand Still Please!

Have you ever found yourself in a moment when you wanted time to stand still? It could have been a sunset so beautiful that you wanted it to last forever. It could have been a conversation with a friend or family member who meant the world to you. It could have been your wedding day. Moments like this happen every now and then. It is almost like the eternity of heaven fills the present of earth and there is something remarkably mysterious that takes place.

I don’t claim to understand it. In fact, I don’t always recognize it when it happens. Truth be told, we are often too busy to notice moments like this. It is only when we stop what we are doing, where we are going, and what we are saying that we are reminded of who we are being. These moments when we wish for time to stop are the moments when we are most in tune with who we truly are as a child of God. I believe that – because we are reminded of the brevity of time and the eternal nature of God and find ourselves living the intersection of both.

One of those moments happened to me this past Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon Annlyn woke up from her nap. Eva and Ronna were still sleeping. Annlyn wanted one thing: to go outside and ride her bike. You see, Saturday morning we spent time in the driveway and she was riding her bike and loved it. She was getting the hang of it and wanted to go out again Sunday afternoon. So we went.

The moment happened without me realizing it was coming. That’s usually how it happens, isn’t it? I watched this little girl at four years old with long brown hair pulled up in a pony tail. She was riding her bike that was decorated with Anna and Elsa and had little blue streamers coming off the bike handlebars. She was riding down the driveway to the mailbox and back up to ride in a circle. The grin on her face was as broad as the Grand Canyon.

All I could think about was that one day this same little girl is going to be grown. All I could see in my mind was one day walking her down the aisle to get married and that I would have to give her away to a man who loves her – not as much as her daddy, but close. In that moment sitting in the driveway, I wanted time to stop. I knew that in the future when I walk her down the aisle all I will be able to see is this four year old girl on a cute little bike with blue streamers riding in the driveway. Now and then. Then and now. I wanted time to stop. Not slow down. Stop.

The trouble is time doesn’t stop. It keeps moving. Time continues to click beyond us and beside us in ways we will never understand and, thankfully, never be able to control. Here we stand, at the crossroads of the past and the future, remembering what has gone before and hopeful for what is to come. Yet, we stand. We watch as time goes by. We applaud its arrival and mourn its passing. Isn't this what it means to be human? Isn't this part of what it means to bear God's image? Isn't this what it means to be a child of the God who is eternally bound to time?

I took time to pray for Annlyn and Eva - she was awake from her nap by this point and was outside with us - while sitting in the driveway Sunday afternoon. I prayed for their futures. I prayed for the men whom they will marry one day. I prayed they would always know, hear, and follow the voice of God. That they would grow to be followers of Jesus who give their lives every day in service to the Kingdom.

It caused me to think differently about the words of Paul to the Thessalonians:

"Rejoice always, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5"16-18)

I had read these verses a thousand times before. I have preached and taught these verses. But something happened Sunday afternoon as I re-read these verses. I had never really seen - not in the context of a girl riding her bike - the instruction to rejoice ALWAYS and pray CONTINUOUSLY. These words are irrespective of time. They encapsulate time. It is almost like time stands still in their midst. Where we are now is not where we were and it is not where we will be. Give thanks for the present moment. Allow time to stand still. Know that our prayers are as timeless as the God to whom our prayers are addressed.

The image of Annlyn riding her bike is one that will never leave my memory. It is forever treasured. When the then becomes now, I will give thanks for the now that has stayed in my heart. May we all have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to catch a glimpse of the inbreaking of God's presence among us.

Finding Our Place

Maybe more so than any other time of year, Christmas becomes an opportunity to celebrate our traditions as families. And we all have them. Whether we realize it or not, we all have traditions. Some of them are meaningful only to us and unique to our family. Some of them are kind of across the board, traditions that most people might keep but we put our own touch to them.

I can remember as a child how my mother would make her “famous” Christmas cookies every year. It was a recipe that she adopted from her mother then adapted to make it her own. I’ve known other families who have a tradition of watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” together as a family every Christmas. Others still might take a Saturday and volunteer at a soup kitchen and that act of service becomes a meaningful marker of the love of God during this time of year.

One tradition, however, that I have treasured since childhood and we are now attempting to instill into our children, is the reading of the Christmas story from Luke 2. Every Christmas Eve our family would attend the candlelight communion service at church and then hurry home to get ready for bed. But before we would put out milk and cookies and go over our wish list one last time, my dad would call us all into the living room. He would open his bible and read the birth of Jesus as told in Luke’s gospel.

I was always captivated by the reading of the story. It is the most grand birth announcement and at the same time is invitingly simple. Mary. Joseph. Angels. Shepherds. Sheep. Travelers. Innkeepers. Caesar. Jesus.

The birth is broadcast to the world via the largest screen in nature: the pixels of the night sky. Cracked open with the glory and joy of heaven the angels step forth to tell a bunch of night watchmen about the arrival of a baby boy in Bethlehem. It is the news of good tidings of great joy are for all people.

I have always been most blown away by what the Angels say to the shepherds: “This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger” (Lk. 2:12). The angels somehow knew the shepherds would want to join in the action. After all, who wouldn't? Out in the cool Judean night air and all of a sudden the host of angels announcing the birth of the Son of God. Surely that will get your attention.

The shepherds looked at one another and decided it was time to go into Bethlehem and see this thing that they heard about. Luke goes on to tell us – you likely know the story better than I do – that they found the baby with his mother and father. Things were just as the angel of God told them they would be.

I think what has always drawn me into this story is that while there is something for everyone – those who want drama, those who crave action, those who are on the lookout for political power – this is also everyone's story. From the Caesars of the world to the innkeepers of our lives, the story is for everyone. But the story of the shepherds is the story of you and me. We have heard the grand and glorious announcement once again that Christ has been born. We have all been the ones sitting out minding our own business when the interruption of incarnation comes our way.

And we are invited to go and see the place where the baby lay. The angels had a gut feeling the shepherds would want to be a part of this in some way. They never tell the shepherds to go but they let their own desire to be part of the story take over. Call it the move of the Holy Spirit or call it a hunch of curiosity, there is born within all of us a desire to know God and God’s work in the world.

These guys were not the Caesars of Rome. They were shepherds. They did not manage an inn in the center of town. They managed flocks of sheep. Their jobs as shepherds is all we know that they had in common with one another. They may have come from different families and certainly all had different hopes and dreams about what they wanted to see out of life.

But each of them became one when they hurried off to find this child born in Bethlehem. They became part of the action of the story together. They have been written into salvation history because they desire to know this thing that has happened. They share the urge to know what God is doing.

That has always been one of the most incredible things about the story of the birth of Jesus – each of us are written into the story of salvation by our desire to see this thing that has happened. To experience it both ourselves and together.

I can still see our family gathered around my fathers chair in the living room to hear the story of Christmas told once again. I remember going to sleep at night being blown away at the sheer power of it all. That God would come to us in the form of a baby and that each of us are invited to come and see. Thus taking our place in the story ourselves.

Another great Christmas tradition for so many families is the decorating of the Christmas tree. No other time of year do we haul a tree inside, set it up, and put ornaments on it. But this time of year it is ok. Just last week our girls helped us decorate the Christmas tree in our living room. They loved it. For days leading up to it Annlyn would ask if she would be allowed to help decorate the tree. She was desperate to put the star on top. Eva has “ooed” and “aahed” over the brilliancy of the lights, being drawn to the beauty of the tree with childlike awe.  They both wanted part of the action. They both wanted in the story.

In this simple act of decorating the tree, we are coming to take our place in the story. The tree is an evergreen – symbolizing the eternal nature of Jesus. When we come to take our place in the story of Xmas we are finding our place in Jesus. We are grafted into the evergreen tree of Jesus Christ and his story of the salvation of the world.

The Christmas Tree is always much larger than the individual ornaments. There is always room for ornaments. We hang ornaments on the tree and might be finding bare spots until the tree is taken down. There is room for you on this tree of evergreen life. The tree is the central piece to the whole story. Without the tree the ornaments are left floundering in a sea of desired purpose. However, the ornaments hung side by side become part of the story as individual ornaments and as part of the larger whole.

That too is you and me. The ultimate expression and fulfillment – the completion of our own story and who we are is found only when we take our place in the story of Christmas. One of the greatest interruptions of the incarnation is that we are brought into the story of salvation. No longer are we bound to wandering in darkness for a great light has been lit in Jesus. Our own individual story, the flocks we have tended our whole lives, the night skies we have seen week in and week out, and the inns that are full of traveling emotions and desires, are now brought into the story of redemption.

Reading the story of the birth of Jesus is refreshing because it truly interrupts everything about life. It interrupts where we are headed on our own. It interrupts our inclination to be self-sufficient. It interrupts the taking of censuses to remind us that there is a much larger story being told than the story of ourselves. It is the story of what God has done, is doing, and will do by finishing what God started. It reminds us that when we hear the words of the angel that there will be a sign, and we head for Bethlehem to see this reality, we are all of a sudden part of something so much bigger. We are part of something that fills the skies with the glory of heaven and the praises of God. We are part of the story of stories that never gets old. We are part of the evergreen tree of Jesus as His ornaments of grace.

I will always remember Christmas traditions. But finding and taking our place in the Christmas story is something we have to do on a daily basis. Each day we decide to be part of what God is doing in the world. I pray this Christmas begins that very journey. I am grateful that the season of Advent is the beginning of the Christian year – may this year be the year of finding and taking our place in the story of the evergreen, the story of Jesus, the story of the shepherds.

So come to the tree and find your place in the Christmas story as you gather around the chair of our father to hear the good news again.

Oh God who has split the night sky with angels, to you we come. Running. Leaping for joy at the good news for all people. We are grateful for your call on our lives and that you bid us come, find our place in you, and grow as one onto the tree of your evergreen salvation. May this Advent be one of grafting and growing, one of searching and knowing, one of coming and going to find each and every day the place where you are writing us into the story. In the name of the one who has been born that man no more may die.... 

Is God At Rest Or At Work?

Luke 24:1-12: At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared.  They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in.  But once inside, they couldn't find the body of the Master Jesus.  They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this.  Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there.  The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship.  The men said, "Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?  He is not here, but raised up.  Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?  Then they remembered Jesus' words.  They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest.  Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn't believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.  but Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb.  He stopped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that's all.  He walked away puzzled, shaking his head. (The Message)

Have you ever been afraid to go to sleep at night?  What was the reason for your fear?  Was it because of the events of the day you are leaving behind?  Did those events have some kind of impact on you that left you in fear?  Were you afraid to go to sleep because of what you knew was waiting for you in the morning?  As if to say that what the new day will hold strikes fear and terror in your heart.  Was it because you knew that your heart was so worked up that you would not sleep well?  What if it were all of these things?

You are afraid to go to sleep because of what has taken place during the day.

You are afraid to go to sleep because of what the tasks that wait for you the next day.

You are afraid to go to sleep because you are so anxious that you know you will not sleep well.

I feel confident that the women in Luke 24 were afraid to go to sleep.  Much had taken place during the day before them.  Jesus, the one they were looking to as the Messiah, the one who would deliver them from Rome, had been arrested because of one of His own, muscled through an unfair trial, and died on a cruel cross only after having been beaten.

They follow Jesus and watch His body be placed into a tomb.  And they went home for the night.

What a terrible way to end a terrible day.  Everything they had hoped for was gone.  And now they must try to sleep?  How can you sleep with these things tossing around in your heart and in your mind?  How can you rest knowing what has just happened?  How can you sleep knowing what you have to do in the morning?  This is the day of Sabbath; this is supposed to be a day of rest.  But not this week.  The day that has been set aside for us to rest in God has brought us to a place where there is no rest at all!

Often times, as Christians, what keeps us from resting is wondering what in the world God is doing.  We toss and turn and even lie awake, worried about the future and what it is God is up to.  Are you spending sleepless nights worried about what God is doing….or maybe, like in this case, what you think God is NOT doing?

Most of the time we cannot see what God is doing.  If we could see all that God is doing, we would likely not believe it anyway, because God is….God.  God is up to something.  God is doing something, in the darkness of the night.  There is a work stirring that no one can see and, until it is seen, no one could believe.  God, the Father of all life, is breathing resurrection into His own Son!

While the women, and the other disciples, attempt to sleep, God is doing something that will change their lives FOREVER.  It will change the world…FOREVER.  It can change YOU forever.

Now, after a sleepless night of tossing and turning, terrified from the day before and worried about the day ahead, the women get up to accomplish the task that they really don’t want to do: to visit the tomb of Jesus with the spices they have prepared.  Because the day before was so terrible, they did not have time to properly prepare the body of Jesus for burial.

And there they see it….the stone is rolled away.  They have already been wondering what God is up to and now that wonder, that fear, is taken to a new level.  The news they receive upon arrival to the tomb, from an angel, is the news they were not expecting.  God has done something!

While we were attempting to rest in our worry, all we needed to do was rest in God’s work.  God was up to something in the lives of these women.  I can promise you, God is up to something in your life.  God is up to something in your heart. 

God is raising Jesus from the DEAD!  Our days sometimes can keep us from sleeping at night because we are worried about what God is doing or not doing.  But, He is up to something! 

This Easter sunrise, allow the surprise of Easter to awaken you to a new reality – the reality of resurrection.  Allow the power to Easter to bring peace to your heart and life – the peace of resurrection.  Allow the work of God at Easter to bring you rest.  After all, the one who is not dead but alive….He’s the one who said,

"Are you having a real struggle?  Come to me!  Are you carrying a big load on your back?  Come to me - I'll give you rest!  Pick up my yoke and put it on; take lessons from me!  My heart is gentle, not arrogant.  You'll find the rest you deeply need.  My yoke is easy to wear; my load is easy to bear." -Matthew 11:28-30

When we arise this morning, we can arise well-rested because God, the Father of all life and the giver of eternal life, has risen His own Son from the dead.  This gives us reason to say, “We have nothing to fear!  For our God is ALIVE and death is now dead!”

I pray we all will move forward in the power of Easter!

We hear the glorious news, Jesus, that you are alive!  You are not dead!  Yet we come this morning with fears and worries and anxieties that keep us awake a night.  We are unable to rest.  May it be so that what we find this morning, the reality of Your resurrection, awakens us to a whole new world – a world where we can rest and trust in Your work.  We ask that You, once again, defeat the powers of death that hold us down so often.  –AMEN!