On Sunday 9th October, as part of our series on ‘Stuff We Do That Helps Us Grow’, Sami taught on the practice of Sabbath. You may know that the concept of sabbath crops up famously in the 10 commandments (or ‘the 10 words’), but there’s also a wealth of wisdom developed around this area of discipleship through the ages (including Jesus’ take on it in Luke 13, which Sami refers to).
As well as recommending another listen to the sermon, we wanted to provide a practical guide to building Sabbath into our lives (similar to our guide on Crafting a Rule of Life). You can also download a transcript of the sermon h
There’s good reason to believe that, in a fast-paced society that has now lost any sense of a weekly day of rest, this is a particularly powerful and subversive practice that can really help us in our quest to become like Jesus. That said, this is not homework or a guilt trip or something you must do. Sabbath is the only one of the big ten that’s not reiterated in the New Testament, possibly because many early Christians were slaves and might get a day off once every ten days if they were lucky. So it’s not a rule... but it is wise, helpful and beneficial. None of us needs to feel bad if this practice just isn’t possible in our lives right now.
Having that all that, this is the kind of practice that is always tempting to delay on. There always seems to be another time just around the corner that will be easier for building in Sabbath. Many of us may need to bite the bullet and have a go at this, to the best of our ability within our present season, and do our best to set aside one day each week for Stopping, Resting, Worshipping and Delighting.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, we suggest using this free workbook from John Mark Comer, based on his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, click here to view. This resource covers Silence & Solitude, Sabbath, Simplicity and Slowing. We’d recommend all of these, but the section on Sabbath is pages 12-18.
May this practice help make us more like Jesus, and bring about his promise of life in all its fullness and, following a Way that brings rest to our souls.
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