Entering His Rest
This last Sunday’s second lesson emphasized the Sabbath Rest, which is so important for us in our walk of faith. Here is a portion of that sermon.
In his book, The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos, Sohrab Ahmari writes of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s experience of Sabbath. In the observant Jewish tradition, everything ceases 20 minutes before sundown on Friday evenings. All that is at that point unfinished would be left unfinished. Candles are blessed and lighted. Another Sabbath had arrived “like a caress,” Heschel wrote, “wiping away fear, sorrow and somber memories.”
“The Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays,” Heschel wrote. “The weekdays are for the sake of the Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living.” The purpose for the Sabbath is to be ever more cognoscente of the presence and providence of God, Who has worked through the week that is past and will be working throughout the week that is to come.
That understanding is built upon this observation: an observation concerning the “realm of time” in relation to the “realm of space.” Modern civilization is all about conquering space: winning territory in geopolitical contests, building ingenious contraptions, growing and prospering economically, and purchasing more. The danger in this begins when in gaining power in the realm of space we forfeit all aspirations in the realm of time. For in that realm, the realm of time, the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. It’s about restoring the world to the Kingship of the Lord, as Heschel put it.
God’s blessings to you as you repeatedly enter His Sabbath rest, always looking forward to the ultimate Sabbath rest, when Christ Jesus returns in glory.
A Good General Prayer
This is from the fourth volume of “For all the Saints”, our devotion for this morning. From Basil the Great of Caesarea (329-379)
Remember, O Lord, this congregation present, and those who are absent with good cause; have mercy upon them, and upon us, according to the multitude of thy loving-kindness; fill their garners with good things; preserve their marriages in peace and love; take care of their little ones; lead their youth; give strength to the aged; comfort the timid and afraid; bring home the scattered, restore those who have erred; and unite them all in thy holy catholic and apostolic church. Succor those who are vexed with unclean spirits; go with all traveling by sea or land; protect the widow, shelter the fatherless, deliver those in the mines; and those in exile; those in distress or poverty, or any kind of trouble. Remember all who stand in need of thy pity; those that love us; those that hate us; those who desire our prayers, unworthy though we be to offer them to thee. Remember, O Lord, all thy people, and pour upon them in abundance of thy goodness, granting all their prayers unto salvation. All those who we have not remembered through ignorance or forgetfulness, or through the multitude of their names, do thou thyself call to mind, God, who knowest the name and age of each even from his mother’s wombl. For thou, O Lord, art the Helper of the helpless; the Home of the homeless, the Saviour of the tempest-tossed, the Harbor of the voyager, and the Physician of the sick. Be though all things to all men. For thou knowest them all, their petitions, their dwellings, and their minds. Amen.
"Homes"
There is an old adage, adopted from the title of a 1940 Thomas Wolfe novel, that states, ‘You can never go home again.” Actually, the title is “You Can’t Go Home Again,” but it’s very close and you can probably catch the drift. The saying is meant to infer how nostalgia causes us to view the past in an overly positive light, and how people tend to remember places and people from their upbringing in static terms.
Last weekend Jami and I had the chance to return to Christ Lutheran, Norfolk, Nebraska, for their sesquicentennial celebration. I could easily have said their 150th anniversary, but how often do you get to use “sesquicentennial”? I was a vicar in Texas during their sesquicentennial, so I’m partial to the word, to boot.
In any event, it was a wonderful time to (1) see our family in Omaha on the way there, (2) reconnect with dear, dear friends from our 15 years in Norfolk, and (3) see how both Christ Lutheran and Norfolk, itself, were moving forward. Norfolk is on the cusp of the eastern third of Nebraska where two thirds of the population lives. Its downtown is thriving, the hospital is expanding, and the new construction is impressive. Christ Lutheran is undergoing some modifications and its Child Care and School are growing. Thanks be to God!
We did not see our old house and the trip was too brief to go into depth. So, we really didn’t go “home”. But then again, the truth is that Peoria IS our home, and we are most thankful to be blessed in this place! Still, it was good to see the “old stomping grounds,” to see such dear friends, and to know that God continues to work in all the corners of His vineyard in a variety of ways.