Sabbath

Sabbath
Posted on August 15, 2008 in Wine Before Breakfast by Rick VanManen

It might seem a little strange to reflect on Sabbath at the beginning of a new semester. Shouldn’t Sabbath be a topic of discussion at the end of a semester, like it was at the end of creation? It seems to be a nearly inevitable fact of human nature that thoughts of Sabbath, thoughts of rest, only come to our minds when we’re already caught up in the overwhelming busyness of our lives. Then Sabbath only appears as a mirage in the distance, the possibility of a break in our routines if only we could escape them. But such escape becomes impossible when our lives, when our selves, have become trapped in the dehumanizing realities of our culture. These realities create a world of endless growth, in which we see ourselves as self-sufficient, self-made and self-actualized individuals. This perception produces in us an inhuman anxiety that overwhelms us and controls us. What shall we eat? and what shall we wear? become the questions that preoccupy our minds and our hearts as we struggle to maintain our way of life. We become overly busy and overly anxious thinking that one more committee meeting, one more practice, one more phone call, one more hour of studying, one more answered email, one more brick for Pharaoh, one more of anything will make this world a better place and enhance our sense of self.

Sabbath serves not only as a cessation of labour, as a way of stopping our frantic attempts to get ahead and stay ahead. Sabbath calls us to renounce our autonomy and our self-reliance. Sabbath allows us, or, if necessary, forces us to acknowledge a rule other than our own, a reality other than ourselves. It calls us to remember that God is at the centre of life, that life is ordered, blessed and given by a God who commands us to relinquish our control, to release our grip on the world and to desist in trying to secure the world on our own terms. But this command isn’t harsh; it’s not heavy-handed or coercive. Rather the command falls upon our ears and our hearts in gentle and humble tones:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Sabbath restores to us our humanity. It becomes for us an occasion in which God intervenes in our lives in new and often unexpected ways and calls us back to a real life, a radical alternative existence in which our freedom is rooted in the abundance of the God who loves us and loves creation.

So as you finalize your fall semester schedules, I encourage you to deliberately include Sabbath. Make it a part of your monthly, weekly and even daily routines. And it’s my hope that you will consider your participation in campus ministry activities as a part of your Sabbath, an opportunity to step away from the busyness of life, to be refreshed and recreated, to rest, to reorient yourself in the midst of our disorienting culture. [ This final paragraph can be easily written by you, the reader in terms of your time and circumstance ]

from - www.seekingwisdom.ca

O Come All Ye Faithful

God Who Acts

This is the first paragraph of the Preface to G.E.Wright's monogram "God Who Acts" - Biblical Theology as Recital which was published in 1951. It was published in the series "Studies in Biblical Theology No. 8" by SCM Press, London

The purpose of this monogram is to describe the special and characteristic nature of the Biblical presentation of faith and to defend the use of the word 'theology' for it. This means, however, that the term must be rescued from the exclusive and private use of the systematic theologians. To most of them, as to most others, it has meant propositional dogmatics, stated as abstractly and universally as possible and arranged in accordance with preconceived and coherent system.
Obviously, the Bible contains nothing of the sort; in fact' its writers seem completely uninterested in this type of discussion. As a result, there has been a tendency to disparage the Bible and to assume that since it belongs to a pre-logical age, it cannot be allowed to speak in its own way.
Instead it must be systematised in some manner, else its witness for the modern Church will be ineffectual. But to systematise it has meant that one has attempted to organise its data by means of a pattern of thought foreign to its nature: ie, by means of the rubrics of propositional theology. such procedure is a matter of great concern to the specialist in Biblical history because it so easily disregards the Biblical variety, change and flexibility.
It is more Hellenic than Hebraic, and the heart of Biblical faith somehow eludes it.

I have long felt the truth of this concern and find myself drawn to this work. It does not reject Systematic Theology but seeks to put it in its proper place. While propositional dogmatics was my impression of systematic theology at Theological College. A somewhat unsatisfying impression given that I was expected to go forth with such propositions and change the world. It didn't happen. The Biblical Drama and Narrative is the correct place to understand what God has said and done.