Hearing the Music

No Place Like Home

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."    

Mark 2:27-28

In your travels do you find your thoughts turn toward home? Just a few weeks ago we left Grand Rapids to spend a sweet time with our kids and grandkids at Christmas. Even then, at the end of that week hearts were turning towards home. Invariably, as we near the end of our journeys, near or far, there's a readiness to return to the rest and familiar comforts of the friends, family and routines we call home.

When traveling at a distance nowadays it's an easy thing to grab your phone and find an English speaking  international church. In worshipping and communing with our global brothers and sisters God gives us a glimpse of his greater work and the breadth of his love. For a few hours were home.

Our Mom, now 94 and with vision and hearing mostly gone, is approaching the end of her journey here and is waiting and longing to see the face of her Savior and the dawn of her forever Sabbath. Psalms, hymns and the gospel stories cause her to draw closer and her eyes to brighten. She's ready.

All this said to remind us that our gracious God gives us these longings. He reminds us that we're not home yet -- that he's got something better in store -- BETTER BY FAR. Until then he gives us Sabbath, a weekly break in our journeys to hear of his pursuing love for you and me; to be told and reminded of the sure hope we're given as we trust in Jesus and his finished work; and to bring us together as brothers and sisters to praise him and to experience a taste of the rest only he can give.

So thankful to be a part of this family here at Christ Church where we are encouraged to run our race with eyes fixed on Jesus. 

Photo by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash

Snow Days

       "Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath while still in this world, unless one is initiated in the appreciation of eternal life, one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come… The essence of the world to come is Sabbath eternal, and the seventh day in time is an example of eternity."

(Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath)

Well, that was quite a spate of weather this week! I hope you enjoyed your snow days off from school, church, work, etc. Snow days, while an inconvenience in some ways, are such a gift of unexpected time: time to rest, bake cookies, clean a closet, go into your prayer closet, talk with friends or family, take a nap, read a book, watch a movie, etc. In other words, snow days are a wonderful picture of God’s gift of Sabbath.

Author Peter Scazzero practically and helpfully talks about the Sabbath principle as follows:

Stop. Sabbath is first and foremost a day when we cease all work — paid and unpaid. On the Sabbath we embrace our limits. We let go of the illusion that we are indispensable to the running of the world. We recognize we will never finish all our goals and projects, and that God is on the throne, managing quite well in ruling the universe without our help.

Rest. Once we stop, we accept God’s invitation to rest. God rested after his work of creation. Every seventh day, we are to do the same (Genesis 2:1 – 4).

Delight. After finishing his work in creation, God pronounced it, “very good” (Genesis 1:31). This was not an anemic afterthought — "Oh, well, it’s nice to be done with that" — but a joyful recognition and celebration of accomplishment. As part of observing Sabbath, God invites us to join in the celebration, to enjoy and delight in his creation and all the gifts he offers us in it. These innumerable gifts come to us in many forms, including people, places, and things.

Contemplate. Pondering the love of God is the central focus of our Sabbaths. What makes a Sabbath a biblical Sabbath is that it is “holy to the Lord.” We are not taking time off from God; we are drawing closer to him. Sabbath is an invitation to see the invisible in the visible, to recognize the hidden ways God’s goodness is at work in our lives.

In a busy world where we are often on the run to obligations of various sorts may we learn to embrace God’s weekly snow days - His Sabbath.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash