The Spiritual Discipline of Rest
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Why Rest?
Why Rest?
It is the Pattern Established for Us by God
It is the Pattern Established for Us by God
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
3 “ ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
Not Resting:
Not Resting:
Not trusting God
Vanity
Idolatry
2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
“A great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us — not by becoming passive and lazy, but in the freedom of giving up our feeble attempts to be God in our own lives.” ― Marva J. Dawn, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting
2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.
“A great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us — not by becoming passive and lazy, but in the freedom of giving up our feeble attempts to be God in our own lives.”
― Marva J. Dawn, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting
NIV2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
How to Rest?
How to Rest?
Resting Requires Discipline
Resting Requires Discipline
"Sabbath ceasing means to cease not only from work itself, but also from the need to accomplish and be productive, from the worry and tension that accompany our modern criterion of efficiency, from our efforts to be in control of our lives as if we were God, from our possessiveness and our enculturation, and, finally, from the humdrum and meaninglessness that result when life is pursued without the Lord at the centre of it all." ~ Marva Dawn
Resting “in the Lord”
Resting “in the Lord”
Let God lead.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
“Resting in the Lord” is Restorative
“Resting in the Lord” is Restorative
Doing things that are not restorative won’t help.
What actually “fills” you up?
Watching TV?
Playing Video Games?
Playing a Board Game?
A Nap?
A Walk?
Playing a Sport?
Reading a Book?
Making Something with Your Hands?
What do you think of as “resting”, but doesn’t really restore?
Watching TV?
Playing Video Games?
Being Alone?
Being with Other People?
An Intentional Rhythm
An Intentional Rhythm
3 “ ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
So, What’s Your Rhythm?
So, What’s Your Rhythm?
1 Full Day per week?
What if you can’t have Sunday as your “Sabbath”?
What about a half-day here, and a half-day there?
What about daily Rest?
What about monthly Rest? Yearly? Every 7 Years? Every 50 Years?
Moving in and out of Rest
Moving in and out of Rest
Moving in and out of Rest
Moving in and out of Rest
Come Away From Rush and Hurry
Marva J. Dawn
Come away from rush and hurry
to the stillness of God’s peace;
from our vain ambition’s worry,
come to Christ and find release.
Come away from noise and clamour,
life’s demands and frenzied pace;
come to join the people gathered
here to seek and find God’s face.
In the pastures of God’s goodness
we lie down to rest our soul.
From the waters of his mercy
we drink deeply, are made whole.
At the table of his presence
all his saints are richly fed.
With the oil of his anointing
into service we are led.
Come, then, children, with your burdens –
life’s confusions, fears, and pain.
Leave them at the cross of Jesus;
take instead his kingdom’s reign.
Bring your thirsts, for he will quench them –
he alone will satisfy.
All our longings find attainment
when to self we gladly die.
“Grant, O heavenly Father, that the spiritual refreshment I have this day enjoyed may not be left behind and forgotten as tomorrow I return to the cycle of common tasks. Here is a fountain of inward strength. Here is a purifying wind that must blow through all my business and all my pleasures. Here is light to enlighten all my road. Therefore, O God, do Thou enable me so to discipline my will that in hours of stress I may honestly seek after those things for which I have prayed in hours of peace.”
― Marva J. Dawn, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting