Stopping to Think Anew

I’m using this blog over the next several posts to share from Mark Buchanan’s thoughts on Sabbath in his “The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath.” This volume is not about holding congregational worship on Saturday, but about establishing a “Sabbath” principle that feeds a cycle of restoration of the believing soul.

Just as God “stopped” to rest after His six days of creation work, we too must “stop,” “be still,” “cease” from our labor, not to escape it but to express thanks to God for it – and in the process be replenished.

Not only should our labors cease, but we must stop old thinking to begin thinking anew. Built on Romans 12:2, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Buchanan states, “Transformation is the fruit of a changed outlook”- changed thinking producing changed living. “God is more interested in changing our thinking than in changing our circumstances.” (p.33) In the same way that a man and woman commit themselves (betrothal) to each other in marriage, the change in Sabbath thinking commits our whole self to this time whether it’s convenient or not. 

Buchanan has us consider Adam, the first male human. God saw that Adam was lonely. Adam had no one that corresponded to him - no mate. But before God created Eve, the first human female, He tasked Adam with naming all the animals of creation. Why? God wanted to drive home the point to Adam that His provision of a mate would be custom crafted to his need. In the same way, Sabbath time is God’s unique provision for the believer’s intimacy with his/her Creator.

Sabbath time is different from all other time on the clock or day on the calendar. “There is no day in creation that can banish our aloneness, even while meeting us in it, like this day. But first we change our minds.” (p.35)

Sabbath is not leisure. “Leisure is Sabbath bereft of the sacred.” (p.35) Leisure is escape. It is vacation - literally “to vacate.” You remember that vacation so intense you needed a vacation from your vacation; you were drained, exhausted, empty? Sabbath elates and fills. (p.36)

Sabbath is bound in time; “time as gift, as opportunity, as season.” (p.36)

“This [Sabbath time] is a gift from God: to experience the sacred amidst the commonplace – to taste heaven in our daily bread, a new heaven and new earth in a mouthful of wine, joy in the ache of our muscles of the sweat of our brows.” (p.37)

Sabbath Liturgy: Taking Thoughts Captive

Consider your ways. “Wise people ask, ‘Does the path I’m walking lead to a place I want to go? If I keep heading this way, will I like where I arrive?’” (p.40)

“Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5) Begin with David’s prayer, “Search, me O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me” (see Psalm 139:23-24). Invite the Spirit to search you and reveal one habitual thought, one attitude of your heart, that is misleading you. It may be shame, a sense that you must keep hiding, keep avoiding the light. It may be pride, or a temptation to judge others, or an insecurity that drives you into envy and rivalry. It may be just the sense of insignificance – that no one sees you, not even God. Whatever it is, ask God to change your mind. End with the rest of David’s prayer, “And lead me in the way everlasting.” (p.41)

The Rest of God

I discovered a jewel among the $1.99 books at Savers here in Phoenix, AZ. It was a spanking new hardcover copy of "The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath" written in 2006 by Canadian pastor/author Mark Buchanan. If you're not familiar with Buchanan, he is the author of several volumes written in the style and with a similar theological/spiritual insight as Eugene Peterson. I enjoy Buchanan's writing very much and I highly recommend this book.

Because of my passion for all things worship, this book caught my eye as I perused the store's bookshelf. I was curious to see how he would treat the subject of Sabbath – a word biblically connected to worship. Would he try to convince Christians to worship on Friday/Saturday, the Sabbath of the Old Testament? I quickly and happily discovered he was going in a different direction. Buchanan would devote these pages to inspiring his readers to set apart a day and develop an attitude, a perspective, an orientation - "a Sabbath heart, not just a Sabbath day. A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval. It is attentive to the presence of God and others …. It is still and knows God even when mountains fall into the sea." (p.4)

"The Rest of God" calls us to heed Jesus' invitation: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Through fourteen chapters, Buchanan delivers insightful exposition and suggests soul-scouring application of the many Scripture passages addressing God's rest.
 
Major themes include: thinking anew, paying attention, seeing God's bigness, redeeming the time, letting go, stopping legalism, practicing God's presence, wasting time on purpose, becoming whole, hungering and thirsting, listening, and practicing heaven.

Each chapter ends in what the author calls a "Sabbath Liturgy," a practical exercise to apply the truths just explored.
 
In order to "still" ourselves to know God, one must "stop" what one is doing. And that doing for most of us during most of our day is working at a job. That job might be working for an employer across town, it might be for yourself from your home, or it might be as the primary caregiver for a newborn or the dying. In whatever situation, our outlook on work colors our idea of rest. "To embrace the rest of God we need a right view of work."
 
In chapter one, Buchanan explains that when our work is seen as a gift from God we can offer it to Him as an act of worship. "…simple tasks – preparing sermons, cooking soup, cutting grass, growing corn – when done [in a spirit of thanksgiving and faith] are holy. It is all the Lord's work [a calling from Him]. Virtually any job, no matter how grueling or tedious – any job that is not criminal or sinful – can be a gift from God, through God, and to God. The work of our hands, the alchemy of our devotion, becomes the worship of our hearts." (pg. 24-25)
 
When our work is performed in honor of Him, our rest from it is not a diversion or an escape but the opportunity "to rest in Him in the midst of our threats and our burdens" (pg.17). Rest then, is not medication to mask our pain, but time and effort devoted to recapturing the wholeness God intends for His creation through an intimate relationship with the Creator.

Sabbath Liturgy – Work: "The next time you're tempted to complain about your work, praise God for it instead. The next time you open your mouth to gossip about people you work with or smear those you work for, stop yourself and turn in the other direction: pray for them, thank God for them, find the good in them. The next time you want to quit, pour that into worship." (pg. 27) Wow, that's a sobering challenge; harder than it looks, but worth every ounce of effort.
 
My intention for this Searching For Sanctuary blog over the upcoming postings is to interact with you about each chapter of this insightful and captivating book. Together we'll begin a journey to find God's rest and rejuvenation of our souls.
 
I invite you to get hold of your own copy of "The Rest of God." It would be wonderful for a group of us scattered around the nation (maybe the world) to discuss these great themes of biblical spiritual transformation. You can purchase it through Amazon.com or search the shelves at your local Goodwill, Savers, or used or new bookstore. Check with your local public library to see if they have it in circulation. (I checked with the Phoenix (AZ) Public Library - they have two copies.)

Until next time….

Worship Is The Purpose of the Church

In established congregations, most of the struggles about worship revolve around musical style, use of technology in the sanctuary, and how the singers and preacher dress on Sunday, superficial issues that are only skin-deep. Few churches wrangle about meaty matters like the divine/human nature of Christ, the supremacy of God, the social impact of the gospel on society, or the sacredness of Communion and baptism. Too much of the banter revolves around cherished traditions and personal preferences – surface stuff. What escapes so many is the true purpose of the Church.

Consider this: the purpose of the Church is worship, everything else that the Church does are the tasks that result from her worship.

The idea for this blog is based on the fantastic paper authored by Dr. Chris Alford, pastor of Epiclesis – An Ancient Future Faith Community (www.epiclesis.org), in Sacramento, California. You can access a free pdf copy by clicking here.

Let's consider the significant difference between the meaning of the word purpose and the word task. In my thinking, purpose has to do with the reason for existence. It's a big picture, primary importance word. It answers the "why" of "Why does the Church exist?" God created all of creation to worship Him – that is to bow before Him in utter and complete submission to find their greatest delight in Him and Him alone. Chris Alford: "Worship is our created purpose, it is our present vocation, and it will continue for all time." [p.3]

A task is an important but less big word. It answers the "what" of "What is the Church supposed to be doing?" The Church has been given many tasks to accomplish: make disciples…baptize… love one another. But tasks follow purpose. "The idea of the church having less to do with purpose and more to do with tasks is akin to a bride ignoring her groom because she is too focused upon writing wedding invitations…."[Chris Alford, p.4]

We gravitate toward tasks because they are identifiable and tangible.

Here's Chris again, "The tendency to focus on task apart from purpose is understandable and natural. Our task is a challenge, but it may also strike us as manageable: With even a little vision we can see the patch of ground before us and pull up our sleeves and get to work. This is an enterprise we can understand, a project we can accomplish. We will clear the ground, tear out the brambles, remove the rocks, and till the soil. We will sow seeds and cultivate the growing plants and pray for a great harvest. We will sing about our work while we are working and we will work knowing that God is indeed pleased with this kind of work." [p. 18]

But, the task is not the purpose. God has called out a people from Genesis to Revelation to serve as witnesses to God's magnificence, power, holiness, mercy and grace. Worship is the reason for the Church's existence. Evangelism and discipleship flow from the encounter with the God of our salvation.

I believe from the bottom of my heart that if congregations focused on their God-given purpose, worship - and worship is seen as face-down surrender before the God of the Bible - then the controversies over non-issues will not be an issue.