The Invitation Still Stands

The invitation still stands. God is again inviting us into rest, to enjoy the gift of Sabbath. The summer held many moments of Sabbath time for me personally, and for a while I was even able to find a rhythm to my life which included feasting with friends, sitting and basking in the sun in the early evening. I found a creative space this summer for coming up with new topics of discussion for the youth, and new possible gatherings for the congregation. I spent more time on the golf course then I ever have, but after reading this scripture I realize that I had missed one important thing – Rest!
Rest isn’t simply about sitting still for me, or for that matter sleeping or napping. When I think of Sabbath rest I think of spending time in intentional reflection with God. Taking time each week to read scripture and then journal and talk with others about it has deepened my connection with God, and that is what I was missing this summer. My spirit had become restless, and longed for a sense of peace and grounding, that I had found last fall. My heart longed to be opened. The Sabbath ritual had been a place where I allowed myself to feel, to release my spirit and to hear God’s voice in everyone around me.
I was disappointed this summer when week after week there was no scripture posted, but I did find other ways to share Sabbath with others. At the beginning of June, the Youth Forum Design Team for General Council 40 met for the first time. Rick, Adam and I felt that it would be very important to share the principles of Sabbath with the group, those being feasting, resting, ceasing, and embracing. The first night we split our team up into small groups and had each group prepare a different part of our evening meal. With each course part of our group would serve the food, another group would pray and then we would spend time in conversation learning about our passions, our dreams, our faith and our lives. Taking over 3 hours to eat together proved to be a blessing beyond anything we imagined. I marvelled at the depth of sharing we had reached in such a short time, I smiled as each member of our team seemed to find a place in which to share their gifts. And throughout the weekend we found time to play together, to delight in our surroundings, and to sing in a monestry together. At the end of our meeting people commented that they were leaving a meeting feeling full and not empty for the first time. The amazing thing is that we got all of our work done and more.
In my own congregation, I shared the principles of Sabbath with the staff and from that we have recreated the opening of our worship and have decided to spend the year exploring the question, “Is it well with my soul?” Each week we ask the congregation to reflect on this question, and we have been focussing on the four principles of Sabbath in hopes that people will find ways to implement them in their lives. We have thought about what we need to cease being about this year, we have looked for places in our ministry where we could make room for God’s spirit to work. What I have witnessed over the past several weeks is a congregation who is beginning to shed some of their expectations of themselves and others, and who are finding more ways to hear God’s call to mission.
For me the most important part from the Hebrew’s scripture was verse 1, “therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.” I think God is calling me to keep practicing my ritual and keep finding ways for others to enter this rest, for in doing so my spirit feels free, energized and at home – I enter God’s rest. I am ever grateful for the second invitation into this rest, I hope you are too.
I want to thank Rick Gunn for his reflection as well. It’s wonderful to hear how the scripture touches each person. It reminds me of the richness that community can bring.
Blessings my friends,
Karen