A Long Obedience: Worship that Rests

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.  On it you shall not do any work."  (Exodus 20:8-9)

 The Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath.  (Mark 2:22)

WORSHIP AS REST

God's command for rest on the Sabbath seems akin to a husband who "commands" his wife not to do anything while he takes care of dinner and kids on a day when she's sick or tired.  The holiness of such  rest is holiness that comes from faith and trust.  "Please trust me," he says, "I'll take care of everything."  Fortunately, God can do a better job that many of us husbands can.  The sentiment seems similar to me, though.

The danger of refusing such rest is not the same, however.  "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."  (Hebrews 4:9-11)  This does not raise Sabbath-breaking to the height of ultimate sin.  Instead, Sabbath-breaking becomes a picture of a life oriented away from God.  A life without resting in God is a life without faith in God.

So I find Sabbath-keeping not merely a matter of going to church, nor of staying at home and recreating.  It is resting from my desires and seeking God's.  In a message to the people of God in a time in which they just practiced a religion and did not really seek God, Isaiah records God words:

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

    and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the Lord,

    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land

    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.  (Isaiah 58:13-14)

Again, it is easy to see this as a threat to "worship and honor God or else."  Perhaps, though, God is pleading with his people to come back and trust in him, seek his fullness and goodness, and ponder and reflect on his greatness and glory, but not for his good, but for ours.  Maybe we cannot make it without such rest.

WORSHIP AS AN APPETIZER

What does such rest bring?  Why would God be so insistent?  Eugene Peterson writes,

[One hour of] worship does not satisfy our hunger for God - it whets the appetite.  Our need for God is not taken care of by engaging in worship - it deepens.  It overflows the hour and permeates the week.  The need is expressed in a desire for peace and security.  Our everyday needs are changed by the act of worship.  We are no longer living from hand to mouth, greedily scrambling through the human rat race to make the best we can out of a mean existence.  (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 56)

If what he says is true, then our everyday needs are changed by not participating in worship.  We will find ourselves "living from hand to mouth, greedily scrambling through the human rat race to make the best we can out of a mean existence."  I think he hits it pretty close to the mark.

Peterson describes our desire for peace as a desire for a "wholeness that results from God's will being completed in us, . . . the work of God that, when complete, releases streams of living water in us and pulsates eternal life."  (56)  The desire for security

has nothing to do with insurance policies or large bank accounts or stockpiles of weapons.  The root meaning [of the Hebrew word] is leisure - the relaxed stance of one who knows that everything is all right because God is over us, with us, and for us in Jesus Christ.  The security of being at home in a history that has a cross at its center.  It is a leisure of the person who knows that every moment of our existence is at the disposal of God, lived under the mercy of God. (57)

A SHARPENED LIFE

Unfortunately, such wholeness and leisure are at odds with the lives most of us live in the secular and religious spheres.  The secular part of our lives are often engaged in frantic entertainment when work is put aside.  The religious part of our lives now looks surprisingly similar: entertainment and work with little time for a trusting rest that brings wholeness and that "relaxed stance."  How might we explain such wasted time to such a pragmatic society?  To the parts of myself that resist any waste of time?

Look at the mower in the summer's day, with so much to cut down ere the sun sets.  He pauses in his labour - is he a sluggard?  He looks for a stone, and begins to draw up and down his scythe, with rink-atink, rink-atink, rink-atink.  Is that idle music - is he wasting precious moments?  How much he might have mowed while he has been ringing out those notes on his scythe!  But he is sharpening his tool, and he will do far more when once again he gives strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate in rows before him.  (Charles Spurgeon, quoted in A Long Obedience, p. 57)

Lord, let me not become blunt with frantic and meaningless labor.  Let me be sharpened by spiritual worship, gathered with those who worship in truth.  I do not want the activity of worship, but one that acts as an appetizer to the meal of a life with you.  Amen.

A Long Obedience: Going Deeper to Stay with Jesus

Continuing discipleship with Jesus has to run deep to remain alive.  Jesus warns that trouble and persecution will be part of my life as his follower.  He warns that unless my joy in him runs deep, I will find myself falling away (Matthew 13).  The question of eternal security aside, I believe that what he means is that I need to follow him "deeper in and higher up" or I will not end up following him.

I am grateful that Jesus warns me about such things, but I am even more grateful for his promises in the midst of trouble.  He calls such a life "blessed" (Matthew 5:11-12).  In the Psalms, this promise is written "The Lord will watch over your life, he will protect you from all harm."  (Psalm 121)  When I read this I asked myself, "What is the life that he protects from all harm?"  For a believer, life transcends the body; it is more than biological existence.  It is the spirit that God keeps from all harm.  "At no time is there the faintest suggestion that the life of faith exempts us from difficulties.  What it promises is preservation from all the evil in them."  (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 42)

Continuing with Christ involves a putting aside of evil.  I believe this involves weeding and watering.  Weeding involves repentance.  It also involves perseverance.  The roots of the weed have to be pulled, not just the stalk.  If roots run deep, I have to dig around them first before I can pull them out.  What I mean is that a direct assault on my sins and faults rarely works.  I have to work my way around them. An example is the acronym HALT used for dealing with addictions.  It stands for Hunger, Anger, Loneliness, and Tiredness.  One way to dig around sinful behavior is to develop a lifestyle that limits these privations.

Watering is the process of filling up with the good things of God so there is no room for evil.  I do not need to get rid of all the evil around me.  That's impossible.  I need to rid myself of the evil inside of me.  One image I have found helpful is that my life is like a glass full of black coffee.  I picture adding ice to the coffee.  It gradually gets clearer and clearer.  "All the water in the oceans cannot sick a ship unless it gets inside.  Nor can all the trouble in the world harm us unless it gets within us."  (43)

Lately, I have been struggling with distrust.  I find myself angry and I hardly know why.  Something has got inside.  Whatever hurts I've had can be healed and helped by God.  He is my strength and shield.  When I dwell on them, I let them in.  I see I need more time with Jesus to clear out these wounds.

My Lord, cleanse me.  Pull me away from the hurts I want to rehearse.  Let me live in the shadow of your wings, aware of your goodness always.  Your grace is everywhere.  Your grace is sufficient.  Amen.

A Long Obedience: A No That Is a Yes

STUCK

When I was little, my older brothers used to try to put me into snow pits or various traps I could not get out of.  They would think my distress was funny, as older brothers often do.  They would say "Matt, you're in the STUCK."  I would cry, "No, not the STUCK."  We laugh about it now.

After receiving good instruction and encouragement at church or a conference, I am eager to try to get going with something new or releasing something destructive.  I think of all sorts of strategies and ideas about how good change could be.  When I come back to my life, however, I find I am in "the stuck."  The ideas don't seem to want to get started in my everyday life.  The old habits just seem too hard to overcome and new habits don't seem so appealing when I'm alone at work or tired at home.

A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find motivation to set out on the Christian way.  As long as we think the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith.  A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.  (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 25)

A good idea, then, is not enough.  I vague hope will not propel me into a changed life.  Something else has to happen.  It does not need to be dramatic, but often it feels that way.  It is not so much a matter of feeling as it is a resolved will.  "It is the turning point marking the transition from a dreamy nostalgia for a better life to a rugged pilgrimage of discipleship in faith, from complaining about how bad things are to pursuing all things good."  (28)

NO BEFORE YES

thegospelcoalition.org

This decision is what the Bible calls repentance.  "A 'No' that is a 'Yes'" as Peterson puts it.  (29)  I think I am put off by the negative part at times.  I think I can just add more to my already full plate.  I think I can just squeeze faith in next to my hobbies and work and family time. John the Baptist came to clear the path for the Messiah.  Jesus basic message was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!" Both knew that my life is always more cluttered than I think and that much of it is not compatible with a life of faith.  "Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts.  Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace." (30)

When I finally get around to repentance, I face an even greater danger.  The strength of my resolve brings an expectation for immediate results.  I want to change now.  Such changes are like the seed that fell in the shallow soil in Jesus' parable of the sower and the seeds.  It grows up fast, but dies off quickly.  Depth is needed.  The soil has to be broken up and worked over.  Fast changes usually only yield disappointment.  The path is a long road, not a runner's sprint.

I've been learning how to start small and even test things out.  I try not to let my resolve move me into commitments I cannot keep.  The influence and power of God usually work into my life like yeast works through dough, with a lot of kneading.  A little bit can go a long way if it is done with faithfulness and in love.  I've often told my kids that five minutes of real devotion before God is worth hours of distracted or dissatisfied acts of charity or devotion.  Sometimes it takes a while to really stand before God and seek his face because of all of the clutter in my life, though.

Repentance is the beginning.  A "No" that moves me from self-satisfaction to brokenness, from worry to hope, from oppression to challenge.

Lord, I do not want to be cynical, but I do want to learn how to die to the world so I might live in you, with you, and for you.  Keep me from quick changes that only tire me out.  Allow my repentance to be the beginning of refreshing times with you. Amen.

A Long Obedience: Rooted-ness

WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?

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Our church held a Renovare Essentials conference a week ago.  One of the perils of conferences and retreats is the return home from them.  Suddenly everything is back to normal and all the new thoughts seem almost unreal in the face of everyday life.  What can I do with the hope I may have acquired during my time away?  How can I deal with the return home?

Eugene Peterson wrote a book called A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.  Even just looking at the title, I begin to suspect that change might not come as quickly as the hopeful feelings for change.  Inspiration is indispensable.  Without it, change becomes impossible.  The problem is that hope that is disappointed too often falls into cynicism and despair.  So inspiration must take root and become endurance if change is to occur.

Should I be surprised that the opening lines to Peterson's book are, "This world is no friend of grace."  (15)  This is not to be merely down-faced and negative, but a real assessment of our situation.  When I arrive home or even as I drive there I find out quickly that "the spiritual atmosphere in which we live erodes faith,, dissipates hope and corrupts love, but it is hard to put our finger on what is wrong."  (ibid)  This is not meant to disperse inspiration and hope, but to encourage them to "hunker down" for some long days of mundane work and even opposition.

Another quote from the book captures the main illness of our day: "Everyone is in a hurry."  (17)  Instead of expecting that my relationship with God should be like "Google" search or a pop tart, I need some other ways of understanding why hurry and growing in faith have little to do with each other.  As long as my faith and practice are "understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when [I] have adequate leisure," (16) I will find the hope and excitement of walking with God too time consuming and even tedious.

NEW IMAGES FOR LIVING LIFE

Peterson recommends, "For recognizing and resisting the stream of the world's ways there are two biblical designations for people of faith that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim."  (17)  Both of these images require a "rooted-ness" which makes war on hurry in my life.  A disciple is rooted in a learning relationship where "we do not [merely] acquire information about God but skills in faith."  (ibid)  Jesus did not come to satisfy my curiosity, but comes to show me how I might live well and fully.

The pilgrim is rooted in a journey.  He cannot stay in one place for long, but is always moving, not in a frantic or worried way, but in a deliberate and hopeful way.  This world is not my home.  Jesus is himself the only way to get home.  Not only by his death, nor just by his teaching, but in a continuing conversational relationship with him on the way.

Jesus warned about the danger of inspiration without rooted-ness.  "The one that received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away."  (Matthew 13:20-21)  How often I have heard this and only thought of persecution because of the word and not the trouble!  "This world is no friend of grace."  Following Jesus as a disciple or pilgrim is full of trouble not because Jesus is a troublesome person, but because the people and human systems we are part of oppose the life he gives.  The seed is good, but the soil needs work.

The images of disciple and pilgrim can place my feet on the path of long obedience.  As with any training or adventure, deliberate planning is necessary.  There will be work.  Everything worthwhile demands it.  It need not be tedious or worrisome, however.  If Jesus keeps his promises, then the life I live in long obedience will be an escape from being weary and heavily-burdened into a partnership with him where he does all the heavy lifting.  (Matthew 11:28-29)

Lord, may my obedience be long and my worry short.  Take my hand for this journey.  Instruct me in living.  I want to leave behind what this world promises as "the good life" and learn from you as my gentle and humble teacher and friend what the good life really is.  Amen.

Traditionally, followers of Jesus find it necessary to adopt a "rule" or a planned way of living in order to remain rooted.  A rule brings my daily life into Jesus's presence.  Regular prayer, self-denial, Bible reading and study, service to others, are some ways I have found God in my life and remained near to him.