Sabbath
What do we think about the concept of Sabbath and how do we apply it today as Christians? To a boy that grew up in a defined Seventh-Day Adventist culture, I think of sun-down Friday night to sun-down Saturday night ceasing. The command was to cease from all activity that is not for the benefit of spiritual renewal. Growing up in a SDA culture instilled in me specific memories of how this can be applied in nature walks, Bible study, naps, visits to the lonely, potluck lunches within community to end with sun-down vespers on the beach. This was my first memories of “Sabbath’s sacred space and time.” Even though some of SDA’s applications and theology was rejected, as an adult the Sabbath has stayed as a piece to the foundation for developing my Christian identity.
Now as a Catholic, we recognize this Christian truth has always remained in the Church and has always called to rest in the fight against our human tendency for self-absorption. If God believes it was essential in “the perfect garden,” how much more needed in “the sin desert?” Tools for holiness become that more essential to free from the decaying presence of sin to freshen an opening to God’s graceful relationship and rest. Maybe just maybe, the things we think that are important today are not that important for today? Sabbath helps us align with God’s priorities, moving us from our own, when misdirected, calling to us to redeem and reawaken to the potential of sacred rest for our souls.
The soul in Sabbath should become increasingly more attracted to the concept of Christian “divinization;” where man has the ability to become more like the divine that has made him. The kicker here is that with the freedom given to embrace is also the ability not to embrace what has made him, to embrace everything else that is weaker. The Sabbath is moment placed after moment to stop man in his tracts, to see his great potential for Christ-centered divinization now. Sabbath calls him to conversation with God and away from what weakness has been embraced that does not allow true rest. His conversation now teaches faithful ceasing that will produce very soon faithful action. In the Sabbath is God’s tool that teaches man to rest and trust by allowing man to more fully observe Him at work.
What do we think about the concept of Sabbath and how do we apply it today as Christians? To a boy that grew up in a defined Seventh-Day Adventist culture, I think of sun-down Friday night to sun-down Saturday night ceasing. The command was to cease from all activity that is not for the benefit of spiritual renewal. Growing up in a SDA culture instilled in me specific memories of how this can be applied in nature walks, Bible study, naps, visits to the lonely, potluck lunches within community to end with sun-down vespers on the beach. This was my first memories of “Sabbath’s sacred space and time.” Even though some of SDA’s applications and theology was rejected, as an adult the Sabbath has stayed as a piece to the foundation for developing my Christian identity.
Now as a Catholic, we recognize this Christian truth has always remained in the Church and has always called to rest in the fight against our human tendency for self-absorption. If God believes it was essential in “the perfect garden,” how much more needed in “the sin desert?” Tools for holiness become that more essential to free from the decaying presence of sin to freshen an opening to God’s graceful relationship and rest. Maybe just maybe, the things we think that are important today are not that important for today? Sabbath helps us align with God’s priorities, moving us from our own, when misdirected, calling to us to redeem and reawaken to the potential of sacred rest for our souls.
The soul in Sabbath should become increasingly more attracted to the concept of Christian “divinization;” where man has the ability to become more like the divine that has made him. The kicker here is that with the freedom given to embrace is also the ability not to embrace what has made him, to embrace everything else that is weaker. The Sabbath is moment placed after moment to stop man in his tracts, to see his great potential for Christ-centered divinization now. Sabbath calls him to conversation with God and away from what weakness has been embraced that does not allow true rest. His conversation now teaches faithful ceasing that will produce very soon faithful action. In the Sabbath is God’s tool that teaches man to rest and trust by allowing man to more fully observe Him at work.
posted by Kenneth W. Michael | 9:40 AM
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