Everyday Yes #10 --

So Father's Day last week delayed my post until Wednesday partly due to continued waiting on the message from Week #7. At this point, I'm thinking I'll just try to view it on FB in the next day or 2 and see it from there. I was going to ask about it again after Church this morning, but I also had to check on something else up the street, so I forgot. I was going to ask if it had even been recorded because maybe that's why it didn't end up getting downloaded yet... Idk... Anyway, I saw more evidence of Sheila's move on Thurs., so the "saga" continues there. Exciting time for me on Thursday, Mike was able to visit for about 5hrs.!! We were hoping it would be longer, but his friend needed the car early Friday. Oh well, still grateful for any time together. So as a result of that, I missed the first night of competition for our local Karaoke Competition that goes on during Concord Market Days. The street fair has been going on each Summer for about 45yrs. It used to be a full week, but got reduced to 3 days at some point. So now it's Thurs., Fri., and Saturday. The "Idol" Competition just completed it's 17th year. Sadly, I've only been aware of it for about 6 now. Some of the contestants are friends of mine from the bar down the street*. Others I don't know, but all were amazing!! Last night was extra exciting as they had a tie for the first time ever!! Of course they had to do a final song to solidify the results, so it ran a bit later than usual. And then the winner always does a "victory song" as well. But both nights, Mike "walked me home" by video chat so I felt safe. (I always do anyway) It was just extra special that I was able to share my excitement in the music with him right away and that he was sacrificing sleep to be there for me*. Pray I can replace my water bottle soon though. That was the "extra" thing I went to check on after Church. In my haste to pack my towel I sit on and get my hat and bag, I forgot my bottle on the cement steps of the "mini-amphitheater" where the event takes place. Not that I don't have anything else, it's just the one I usually take on my walks. :) Almost forgot to mention the major news story of the week. (probably because I tend to avoid politics on here) :p All I'm going to say is that you look back at Week #5's message and footnotes and pray for us as the Body of Christ in this world*.

What do you do to relax?? What brings you joy?? For me, music is key. Those who've been reading my blog for a while (or know me personally) know that I used to belong to two local chorus groups and my former Church Choir as well as singing karaoke every weekend!! (yeah, it was a lot!!) I even participated in a local theatre production of Hunchback in 2017 as a choir member. That was an absolutely incredible experience!! The reviews literally said, "Broadway worthy performance!!" Also, in 2019, the mixed voice group I was part of was invited to share the stage with a community orchestra in NH's Lakes Region for their performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. (If I never sing that again, I'm fine with it!!)* Also, as evidenced on the Card and Jewelry page of this blog, creativity is important to me. But I've found the truly deepest fulfillment in sharing my Church notes here on this page. It's the "tool" God has given me in order to do my part in obeying The Great Commission. My gift for words (at least non-fiction)* is being put to the best possible use, God's glory. If there's any blessing to be found out of Covid, this is mine because it provided the money needed for tech assistance for this blog rather than risking something going wrong and The Word not getting out. The blog set-up itself is free.

At the beginning of the service today, Pastor Matt invited a woman to the platform to share a bit of her story. I didn't write her name down, but she is a former International Spokesperson for the Special Olympics. She shared about her experiences a couple of weeks ago down in Florida and how she was on the Bronze Medal team for the first ever 3 on 3 Basketball Team that Special Olympics has ever done. She had a moment where she was able to lend encouragement to a fellow competitor as well as a "David and Goliath" moment when going against the team from Texas. LOL Pretty neat stuff!!

So today's message leads us to the short, but oh so powerful passage of Mark 2:23-28

Mark 2:23-28 New International Version

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

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Although the series title is "Everyday Yes", today's message has us exploring our weekly rhythms of rest and worship. At the same time; you will discover how this actually "blends together" with our everyday practices in order to "make room" for our single day of rest in Him.

We are told by the World that we are only valuable according to what we produce and consume. There are literally entire industries that exist for no other reason than to increase our productivity no matter what the job looks like. I mean, wall calendars have helped us keep track of our days since the mid-1800's. (Yes, I looked it up) Of course, the set-up of the Julian Calendar has been around since 46 B.C. So clearly, humanity has a long-standing tradition of organizing time beyond light, dark, and phases of the moon. But you can't go into any store that sells stationery items without seeing Planners or stickers to create Planners, calendar schedules on our phones that can be synched to our computers, etc... How much space are we allowing in our Planners for relaxation?? For Church?? For Sleep?? The only encouraging things I've seen are Social Media posts reminding people that rest is equally productive because we can't be "on" all the time. And I recently picked up a sticker set to use on a friend's (now belated) birthday card that includes sayings like "Relax, Refresh, Renew". All the focus on productivity can easily become entangled with our identity and that is every part of a bad thing. It is into these "Hell-centered" voices that God speaks His "Holy Rebellion" of peace and calm. Of quiet and rest. Of our humanity. Of identity in Him. It is really something we, as Christians in particular, should be taking more seriously.

Now a bit of historical context for those who may be new to The Bible. You may look at today's passage and wonder why the issue of stealing wasn't addressed. The answer is that it simply wasn't an issue. It was part of Jewish Law to leave a bit of harvest at the edge of your fields for the poor or for travelers passing through. Very generous and compassionate idea as opposed to making a profit out of every grain as opposed to being seen as a kind-hearted person who puts others ahead of himself. Because as it says in other places throughout the Bible, what you give out will be received back in multiple*.

I always appreciate Jesus' approach in responding to the Pharisees. While sharing the truth in love, He tends to take little "jabs" at their intelligence and knowledge to bring them down a notch or two. In the passage above, when He mentions David's "indiscretion" of taking bread off the Lord's Altar and snacking on it with friends*, He is reminding them that others have done worse than what is currently taking place. Especially since there really wasn't anything at all taking place in terms of Sabbath Law. They weren't technically "harvesting" since it wasn't their field to harvest from. They were simply partaking of legally available snacks on the road. As always, Jesus turned it into a teaching moment.

Working from the end, we see in verse 28 that Jesus makes one of the most powerful and important statements of His entire Ministry. He says, "So the Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath." As we know, God established sabbath literally from the beginning. "On the 7th day, God rested..."

It was no mistake that God gave Moses The Ten Commandments after coming out of Exile in Egypt. In the entire 430 years of slavery, there was no rest for the Israelites. There was no "sabbath" in captivity. They were nothing more than objects of production*. During the 40 years in the dessert, God was effectively having them "walk off" the mindset of hard labor that they had grown so accustomed to. He reintroduced the practices of Temple and sacrifice*. This is also when the official Judaic Laws were established. Some of these were geared toward keeping millions of people healthy and having fresh food while others were strictly about the sacrifices and priestly ordinances. But it's interesting to notice that keeping the Sabbath makes it into the "top 5" out of the Ten Commandments. Our thinking would naturally lean toward stealing, murder, and adultery being more important to every day life, right?? That's always where God gets us, isn't it?? His priorities are the opposite of ours, or at least approached differently. That's because His ways get better long term results. Our thinking tends to the immediate rather than to the Eternal. People who play Chess (not me) understand that the game is not played "move by move"; but there's a whole strategy according to the style of play. That's how God thinks. His priority lies in placing pieces according to the "game" He's technically already won. It's just a matter of playing everything out to it's eventual conclusion*.

His ultimate purpose, as most of you know, is the restoration of humanity. The humanity of the Israelites was stolen by their enslavement to the Egyptians. Today, our humanity is being stolen by the idolatry of money, production, and consumption. This is why God established a Sabbath rest. In the interests of restoring our humanity and re-orienting our hearts and minds to Him. This is why Sabbath became part of the identity for Israel. No other nation in that time practiced it. They were therefore not simply defined by their productivity and consumption. They were a people who understood that they were more than the sum of their "commercial value". They were people first; workers second. As I said above, sometimes we allow our identity to get tangled up in our production or work. Think about those you may know who have retired or maybe you are among them. How hard was /is it to just stop working?? The first 2 or 3 weeks may feel like a nice vacation; but then it may start to "get old"... "Who am I??" "What am I accomplishing??" We're not all good at "resting". Others of us, (me) are really good at resting; but not so great at being productive. (at least not if I'm getting paid)* If we're not careful, retirement can steal our identity. The World's ideals of production and consumption become so ingrained that we believe them. The truth is that they are ruining and corroding the image-bearers of Christ.

God saves us completely, body, soul, and spirit. That is what the concept behind Sabbath really is. He knows that we have limits. That's why He literally Commands us to respect them and take the time away to focus on Him. Because, ultimately, it is only through Him, and His strength, His wisdom, and His peace that we can be at our best productivity in our every day work.

As the Giver of the Law, He is greater than the Law itself. He is not only Lord of the Sabbath, but He literally is our Sabbath!!* The laws the Sadducees created to "properly observe" the Sabbath were basically "guardrails". To exert control and make themselves feel important. Okay, yes, God said no one should work; but the Sadducees "stuck their noses" into it and defined what qualified as "work". They made the observance more important than the Giver or the Gift itself. How many of us do that today?? We feel such a need to control "how things are done" that we miss out on "why it is done" and Who it's being done for. Some my age or a bit older (53 next month) may have grown up with the idea that, "Sunday is only for God". Which for a kid, basically translates to, "No fun on Sun." This made "the Day" more important than the One who gave it. I thankfully didn't grow up with that restriction. We were in Church every Sunday morning*, but Sunday afternoon might be time for a scenic drive or a bike ride around town. Whatever we basically chose to do. Conversely, there are people who view it as "Sunday Funday" and pay no attention to God whatsoever in their frivolity and licentious behaviors. As with most things, the proper stance is somewhere in the middle.

Looking at verse 27, we see that Jesus sets the Pharisees straight in the concept of Sabbath by saying, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." This brings out the point I made earlier about how God understands our human limitations. He understands that we need rest on a regular basis. This also emphasizes the difference of sleep and rest. Sleep restores our physical bodies on a daily/nightly basis. Rest gives our minds and souls a break as we pull our minds away from work and make time to step back and relax. Time to "stop and smell the roses", if you will. And that may even be taken literally if your joy is found in gardening. :) Our souls are refreshed by getting away from the stress and focusing on God in whatever that looks like for you. Maybe it's more time in the Word and/or singing Worship Songs, maybe it's in hiking, biking, or just walking through your neighborhood enjoying whatever nature has to offer. If you're in the City, maybe a Park or Zoo. Maybe it's painting or just reading/writing a novel*. The point lies in the lack of work-related activity. It's in the fullness of life and abundance of joy God wants for us. Sabbath stands as a sign of redemption in a broken world. We need to be reminded sometimes that we are "human-beings", not just "human-doings". I know, "cheese", but sometimes cheese = truth... LOL

So what does Sabbath do for us?? It can be summed up in 3 major ways --

Sabbath frees us from the powers and principalities of this World. It is an act of Spiritual Warfare against the idea that our worth is defined by anything other than God's love. As we said above, it is only out of His strength, wisdom, and peace that our work can truly thrive.
Sabbath frees us from the tentacles of the fear of scarcity. As long as we, "seek first the Kingdom of God..." He will take care of us. ("seeking first" is my thought)
Sabbath frees us from the shame of not having more. Opposite of those who fear scarcity, those who are already "rich" may feel guilty for not doing better or being "more than they are". It can be a source of doubt and insecurity. As Pastor Matt expressed it for himself, "If I were a better Pastor, maybe people wouldn't be leaving" "If I were a better preacher, maybe there would be more people..." All nonsense, of course, because those things are all based on the opinions of others, and not on the truth that the numbers of people he has are there because he IS good!!

In closing, Pastor Matt shared some thoughts on Sabbath from Christian author, Peter Scazzero* and his book, The Emotionally Healthy Leader. They pretty much sum up everything I've said above.

A truly Biblical Sabbath includes first and foremost, a 24 hour period of time. (not "slices" through the week, but a single block of time) That time should look as follows:

Stop Work -- This doesn't just include paid work, but also housework and errands. (this is where the other 6 days come into play because it involves intentional planning to clear the time)
Enjoy Rest -- This relates to our physical, mental, and emotional limits. Napping can be a sacred thing. (If I were only capable of it other than extreme situations)* Pastor Matt suggests that rest is the other side of boredom.
Practice Delight -- This is your time for hobbies, recreation, nature, etc... Whatever brings you joy. (legally and morally, of course) lol
Contemplate God -- Use the time to focus on God in the joy of your chosen activity. Use at least some of it alone with Him.

The Sabbath and the practice thereof reminds us both of Who He is and who we are. Remember that He IS the Sabbath. -- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

"bar down the street" -- yes, I go out and "imbibe" now and again. Never to excess, but just enough to be sociable and have some fun. Remember that Jesus hung around people that others judged Him for. He also turned water into the best quality wine of the Wedding at Cana. He was obviously familiar with how it should taste. :)
Mike sacrificed sleep for me -- He has COPD and is usually in bed by 9 pm. These past 2 nights ran to 10:30 and 11:15, respectively. <3
Pray for the Body of Christ in this World that we would not just act because, "All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke. The point lies in acting in wisdom according to what Jesus would have us do. We need to realize that a "blanket policy" cannot properly cover specific situations.
Singing B9 is incredibly challenging!! I'm honestly not sure that Beethoven understood that singing a high A in pianissimo is just not healthy for the vocal chords... ;p
My gift for non-fiction words -- As mentioned last week, I'm not good with Math. As to the "non-fiction" bit, I've tried and failed at Fiction. Just ask my friend who is a published author... LOL
Verses on overflow include, but are not limited to -- Prov. 3:10, Ps. 23, Lk. 6:38, Ecc. 11:1...
King David's story of eating from the Altar is found in 1 Samuel 21. In order to shed more light, I found this fairly short article -- https://apologeticspress.org/did-king-david-break-the-law-in-1-samuel-21-5712/
"Objects of production" -- How familiar does that sound, especially to those of you in service industries?? My oldest works in a restaurant, and my ex works at Wal-Mart. They understand this implicitly...
"Reintroduced Temple and Sacrifices" -- definitely sacrifices, if not Temple. They didn't offer sacrifices in Egypt because it would have been disrespectful. https://www.thetorah.com/article/sacrificing-a-lamb-in-egypt
God "playing out" a game He's already won -- Again, if you've been around my blog for a while, you know I don't embrace the idea of Predestination. God gave us Free Will knowing the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46:10.
I'm really good at resting -- To be clear, I have a very strong work ethic when I am being paid. It's just that my High Functioning PDD has presented enough challenges to working that I'm better off on benefits. At least until this blogging actually produces some financial results... (hint, hint, nudge, nudge)
He IS our Sabbath -- First, see Matt. 11:28-30. Secondly, I'm calling out the SDA people. While God commands the practice of sabbath; He at no point mandates the time and day it is required for us to do it. Those of us who are Gentiles are not only not under Jewish Law today, but as of Jesus' death and resurrection, technically, neither are they!! Look at Ps. 118:24, or 2 Thess. 5:17. There are no dates or times specified in either passage. Besides which, David wouldn't have penned a song during Sabbath, now would he??
My parents and I were generally in one Church or another every Sunday depending on where mom was playing the organ.
Reading is another joy of mine. I'm always in the process of reading something; whether it be a novel (possibly that my friend wrote) or the last several years I've also been focusing on Bible Commentary-type books. (and learning a lot!!)
Peter Scazzero -- I know that he's considered "controversial" by some, but if you can separate the advice from the person, you're on the right track....
I'm personally only able to nap when either sick or extreeeemmely tired!! Not that my life currently requires it anyway, being mostly "rest" and very little "work"... ;p