Hurry: Sabbath.
Week #4
Opening Reflections.
Where have you seen God at work in your life this week?
What did you notice this week as you paid attention to your own symptoms of hurry and ‘hurry sickness’?
How has your spiritual practice been this week? Have you experimented with anything new?
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…
Hebrews 4:9-11
A response to Jill’s message.
1. Was there anything which particularly resonated with you? (Any moments of ‘Aha!’)
2. Was there anything you felt resistance to? (Any moments of ‘Grr’, or ‘Oh, no!’)
3. Was there anything else you particularly noticed?
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour 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… For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11
“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you… Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:12-15
“…in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15.
“Sabbath is more than just a day; it’s a way of being in the world. It’s a spirit of restfulness that comes from abiding, from living in the Father’s loving presence all week long.” John Mark Comer, TREOH, p149
“In our own contemporary context of the rat race of anxiety, the celebration of Sabbath is an act of both resistance and alternative. It is resistance because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.” Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance
“Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We miss the compass points that show us where to go. We lose the nourishment that gives us succor. We miss the quiet that gives us wisdom. Poisoned by the hypnotic belief that good things come only through tireless effort, we never truly rest. And for want of rest, our lives are in danger.” Wayne Muller, https://www.waynemuller.com/cool_stuff/wednesdays/whatever_happened_to_sunday
What do you think Walter Brueggemann meant when he wrote, “Sabbath isn’t the same thing as a day off.”? How do you spend your day off? Do you practice sabbath? Do you think it is important? Why do you think Paul said, “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.” (Romans 14:5). Are you resisting a rest? (Isaiah 30:5)
Lectio Divina.
Ask someone to read Hebrew 4:9-11.
1. LECTIO (read)
Read these verses again on your own
2. MEDITATIO (meditate)
Ponder the text, imagine you are Martha and Jesus is speaking to you, allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you read
3. ORATIO (pray)
Turn you reading to prayer
4. CONTEMPLATIO (contemplate)
Silent prayer as you experience the love of God
Closing Reflections.
What you will take away from this study and discussion?
Pray together for each other, in response to your answers.
