Preaching at The Good Shepherd a couple of Sundays ago I enjoyed starting a conversation around the idea of Sabbath rest.
Our gospel reading was Luke 13:10-20, which describes Jesus setting free a woman who had been bound by illness for eighteen years. That upset the synagogue leader because Jesus did it on the Sabbath – the seventh day – when he was not supposed to be working.
You can listen back to the talk on the church website (I don’t have a script as the talk was interactive and I only had notes); I’m always happy to hear comments and feedback on what I’ve said.
The Bible translation from which I re-read the gospel passage is the First Nations Version, which is written in the style of Native American storytelling. You can read the passage here: Luke 13 (that’s a link to the whole chapter; we started at v.10).
The book I mentioned is Fully Alive by Elizabeth Oldfield, which is a good read overall. I was particularly mentioning The Sacred podcast where, a bit like Jesus, she chooses to have conversations with people who are not like her and have very different opinions and views of the world. Jesus’ approach may have been part of what made the synagogue leader ‘indignant’ as we found on Sunday. Oldfield also addresses the question of Sabbath rest in a chapter I had not reached when I was preaching.
If you want a really deep dive into the Sabbath, Seventh-Day Rest, and its significance through the Bible, try The Bible Project’s 14-part podcast series on this.
I hope you can find a rhythm to lifting your eyes from the everyday stuff of life to enjoy the on-going Sabbath rest of the Kingdom of God.