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Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
What Should I Do and Not Do on Sunday? with Pastor Ryan Braley
Is your work-life balance a myth rather than a reality? Discover how observing the Sabbath could transform your life, bringing you joy, rest, and a sense of freedom you never knew you needed. We kick off our episode by unraveling the essence of the Sabbath in Jewish tradition and the fascinating debates among rabbis about what activities constitute work. From the practicalities like Shabbat elevators in Israel to the differences in how Christians and Jews honor this sacred day, we provide guidance on celebrating the Sabbath meaningfully without getting bogged down by prohibitions.
Ever wondered how the ancient concept of Sabbath rest, or "manuha," could be a remedy for our modern workaholic culture? This episode takes you on a journey through the Ten Commandments, exploring how Sabbath rest extends to family members, servants, animals, and even foreigners. Reflecting on the Israelites' liberation from slavery as a reminder of our own need for rest, we dig into the extremes people go to for productivity, like microdosing LSD in Silicon Valley, and question the true cost of relentless work. This isn't just about avoiding burnout—it's about reclaiming your humanity and freedom.
Imagine a Sabbath as a delightful celebration rather than a mere avoidance of work. Through inspiring stories like Diane’s joy in using tools on the Sabbath, we illustrate that activities bringing joy and delight are in the spirit of "minuha." Drawing wisdom from Abraham Heschel and the psalmist David, the episode emphasizes the importance of true rest, joy, and delight as essential for a fulfilling life. We offer practical suggestions for observing the Sabbath, from playing games and feasting with friends to reconciling relationships and spending time outdoors. Embrace these practices and challenge yourself to reflect on your own routines, ensuring a more meaningful, joyful Sabbath that nurtures your soul and enhances your life.
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It's great to be with you and we are in the middle well, yeah, a week or so, okay, a week or so into our sermon series you Pick. So what we do is in the summertime we spend about a month or two and sort of answer all the questions that we can that you've submitted. So throughout the early summer we had people submit questions that they wanted us to answer, or Bible topics or characters and whatever, and so we're going to try to answer as many as possible, and the ones we can't answer, I'm going to try to turn them into a podcast, and so we do have a podcast that you can go to our app on your phone or you can go online and just search up Central Lutheran Church and you'll find our logo, and every other one is a sermon that we've had from last Sunday, and then every other one is a reflections podcast where Mike and I just sit like five to ten minutes long so perfect for I don't know a short drive and just riff on different things. So I'm going to try to turn those into a reflections podcast. So stay tuned.
Speaker 1:This morning's question is this what should I do and not do on Sunday, especially when the NFL season is on hiatus Was the addendum to that question. What am I going to do with my day? I don't even know. Now, here's the idea. Many people, I think. The question behind the question is like what should I do to celebrate this idea of the Sabbath? For a long time the Jewish people had this command from God We'll get to it a little bit later but to Sabbath, take one day and do no work and just rest. But it raises the question what should I do or not do on this idea of this day of the Sabbath? This question, by the way, was submitted anonymously, so hopefully anonymous. Hopefully you're here, but it does. It's a good question what should I do? And it's a question that many Jews have wrestled with for a long time. What constitutes work? What makes rest? For example, should I work my donkey in the field? The rabbis would argue, like you know, plow the fields with my donkey. Of course you'd say, no, that's work, don't do that. Well, what about if my donkey the same donkey falls into a hole? Should I help that donkey out of the hole and save its life? Yes, that's not work, you can do that. So the rabbis would argue about these things Okay, what about this one. Well, can I pick up a child on the Sabbath? Does that count as work? No, you can do that, that's good. It doesn't count as work, it's fine. Okay, what about? Can I move a rock? Can I pick up a rock? No, a rock would be work, so you can't pick up a rock. Okay, the rabbis would say, what about if I pick up a child who's holding a rock? And they would literally they'd argue about these things like what things can I do and what things can I not do on the Sabbath.
Speaker 1:I was in Israel a couple of well a year and a half ago. We came with a team and I went on. This pilgrimage was incredible and we landed in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath. So for the Jews the day starts in the evening. So you go back to the Genesis 1 story. It says it was evening and it was morning. The first day it was evening and morning. The second day. We measure a day usually day, usually in the Western world, morning and then evening. But for the Jews they've always seen the day as evening and then morning. So in their Shabbat that's the Hebrew word for Sabbath their Shabbat is on Friday night at sundown until Saturday at sundown. Most of us Christians. If any of you do celebrate Sabbath, it's probably on a Sunday and it's probably sun up to sundown or something like that. But for Jews it's Shabbat is on Friday night at sundown and it goes till Saturday at sundown.
Speaker 1:Well, we flew in on Friday and we could tell right away that something was different. When we were staying at this hotel. All the shops were closed. They weren't baking any meals, no bread In the morning. You couldn't make coffee with a coffee pot, because that was work. So they would have instant coffee. You could stir it with your spoon. That's fine. And they also had this.
Speaker 1:My favorite thing all the elevators, except for one, they were all on Shabbat time. They were Shabbat elevators. So three of the four elevators were Shabbat elevators, those ones because they figured the Jews. Hey, pushing a button on an elevator is operating machinery, that's work. You can't do that. So what they would do is all the Shabbat elevators would stop at every floor and doors would open and you'd get on, if you're on, like floor two, and you'd ride it until you get to your floor, stopping at every single floor, and the elevators would go back down. Now they did have one elevator. It was a Western elevator and we Westerners we used that one Thankfully western elevator and we westerners we use that one, thankfully you hit the button. But if you were on like floor two and you go to floor one, you'd get on the shabbat elevator and you would ride that thing all the way up to floor eight and stop at every floor, open the doors you couldn't touch anything and then back down past two where you were all the way to one, and that was how you got to floor one on shabbat. Or you could take the stairs. That might have been easier, but this is what it meant. They would always wrestle like what can we do and what can we not do?
Speaker 1:Now, many folks I think many Christians don't celebrate Sabbath or Shabbat because they don't know what to do. So it's a great question what should we do and what should we not do? Many of us think that Shabbat or Sabbath simply means don't do things, like just eliminating all the things from your day. So many are like okay, sabbath must mean just not doing things. Don't work. Okay, fair enough. Don't plow your fields, okay, fine. Don't use your donkey to plow your fields, okay, fine. Don't give your husband more lists of chores to do, because he already did them yesterday and he loves you very much and he's also very handsome. Okay, ladies, okay, doing now, fellas, your job is to not bug your wife. Just stop bugging your wife, okay. So we often, oh, the Shabbat or Sabbath is just not doing all these things. And fine, you can do that.
Speaker 1:But I want to add something today I want to propose for Sabbath, or as you celebrate Sabbath, or maybe you've never done this or tried it, try it and we'll unpack it a bit more in a minute. But I want you to add something to your Sabbath celebration, and what I want you to add is manuha. Everyone say manuha Wonderful. We're going to add some manuha today and to our Sabbath celebration. Now, god made the world.
Speaker 1:We went through Genesis a couple of months ago. God creates the world in six days, the Bible tells us. On the seventh day he rested. So God creates all the things water and plants, and rivers, and birds, and jaguars and human beings and he puts them in a garden. And then the Bible says in Genesis 2, it says this on the seventh day God finishes his work. So on that seventh day there were some finishing touches that he had to kind of tweak or define or kind of fix or finish. So god finishes the work on the seventh day, which is a bit odd, because in the book of exodus we read something a little bit different. Here's what exodus says in six days, the lord makes the heavens and the earth. Did you catch that? Go back for me, peter. This one says in genesis on the seventh day God finishes the work.
Speaker 1:Well, the rabbis debated and argued and wrestled what does it mean that he sort of finishes something on the seventh day, even though it seems that he creates all these other things on the sixth day? This tells us that on the seventh day he creates something. The rabbis concluded oh, on that seventh day God definitely creates something. There was something lacking in the universe On those six days. He looks at them all. There's something missing. So here's the question what was lacking on the seventh day? Of course the answer, after many years of wrestling and debating and arguing and questioning and consulting sources, of course the answer was duct tape.
Speaker 1:On the seventh day, god created duct tape. You know what I'm talking about. This is a fancy item. You can fix anything with this. You can make clothes with duct tape. Okay, it wasn't duct tape. Fine, fair enough. What was lacking? God looks at this like, okay, all these beautiful, wonderful, mysterious things I've made, what's lacking?
Speaker 1:And the rabbis conclude, what was lacking was manuha. Everyone say one more time manuha. Now, what does this word mean? Manuha? Was the idea of manuha? It really just means to rest. That on the seventh day, god looks and's like, okay, something's lacking. It's manuha. In fact, the great abraham, joshua heshel says this on the seventh day, god gave the world a soul. What does this word mean? Minuha? Well, it means rest, and it comes and shows up in the first part of the Bible, and the first time it's mentioned is in the story of Noah. Remember the story of Noah? Okay, a couple of you. Do Anybody go to Sunday school as a child? Okay, thank you. Okay, I thought maybe more of you did so.
Speaker 1:The first time minuha is ever mentioned in the bible is in the story of noah, and it says this that when the rains came, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Then the rains begin to recede after it stops raining and they're going down, and the ark slowly begins to follow the waters down as they recede until it finally hits the top of a mountain. This is the ark began to rest, or to nua, which you get the word manuha from. It begins to nua, on top of the mountain, so it's where nua means to rest, or to nua, which is where I get the word minuha from. It begins to nua, on top of the mountain. So this word nua means to rest or to stop and to sit on top of this mountain. By the way, inside of that ark is a man named Noah. Noah is sort of a transliteration of the Hebrew word for his name, which is the word nua. Did you know this? So this ark begins to slowly recede with the waters until it begins to nua on top of this mountain, and inside is the man steering the ship and his name is nua. It means rest. So somehow this story about Noah or nua and his boat resting on this mountain, this story of recreation or baptism or cleansing, has something to do with rest, rest and new creation and new life has something to do with rest, rest and new creation and new life has something to do with. They're all kind of intertwined. So this word nuach, manuach, means to rest and it has something to do with new creation and new life.
Speaker 1:Now the word manuach also shows up as a command in Exodus 20, as you just heard Logan read here. It is just to remind you. So in Exodus 20, this is the Ten Commandments, and the fourth commandment is this Sabbath idea of resting. So it says this Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, and on the seventh day it's a Sabbath day to the Lord. On it you shall not do any work. And notice, by the way, who shouldn't do any work. You shouldn't do work, but neither should your son or your daughter, any kids in the house. Can I get an amen? Let's go. Young ones, tell your parents, hey, I'm off. Today. It's my Sabbath day.
Speaker 1:Ryan said to create some manuha. Nor your male or your female servant. So if you have employees, they get the day off. Also, your animals, they get a day off. So give your animals a break, okay. If you've got a cow or a chicken, let them be free for a day. Nor any foreigners residing in your towns. Foreigners should be welcome in your towns, it says, and you should give them the day off as well.
Speaker 1:By the way, foreigners were non-Jewish people. These were folks who didn't celebrate Sabbath on their own. You were to be salt and light to them and give them the day off. As a Jewish person. Here's why, though, notice why they're supposed to have a day off, because in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day the Lord rests. Therefore, the Lord blesses the Sabbath day and makes it holy. By the way, abraham Hesha says there's one holiness, and it's holiness in time in the beginning of the story. So there you go, but here's why, notice why they're to take a Sabbath day, the Jewish people, because there's this rhythm of God making the world in six days, of creating and administrating and designing and implementing, and then he takes one day to rest to minuha. So it's a rhythm sort of baked into the foundation of the creation of the universe, somehow living in tune with this idea of Sabbath and minuha, and rest has something to do with tying into or tapping into the foundations of the creation of the universe. It's living in reality as it was intended to be according to God Six days of working, one day of resting. Now, later on.
Speaker 1:So remember, you might know the story. The people of Israel were given this promised land and they go to the promised land, they're given this law. That's one of the laws, one of the four commandments. Actually, there's many laws, but one of the laws was this. But then they wander around the desert for 40 years. You might know the story. Then, after 40 years, they're finally allowed to enter the promised land. Well, by then they might have forgotten some of the laws or the rules or ways they were supposed to live. So they get given the law again.
Speaker 1:This is the book Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy just means a second giving of the law, or repetition of the law. So when you read Deuteronomy, it's very similar, so the commands are repeated, but notice the difference In this command. In Deuteronomy, it says this Notice the reason given why they should celebrate Sabbath this time so earlier, it was the rhythm of God. God took six days to create, one day to rest. This time, though, it says this Remember you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord, your God, brought you out of there with a mighty hand and outstretched arm.
Speaker 1:Therefore, the Lord, your God, has commanded you to observe the Sabbath. So the first go around. It's this idea of living in tune with the creator himself and how God designed the world. There's six days of creating and putting things together and building and administrating. Then one day, that's sort of the rhythm of the world. The second time it's given. Oh, god's like, hey look, you guys are no longer slaves. Time it's given, oh, god's like, hey look, you guys are no longer slaves.
Speaker 1:Slaves work day in, day out, work, work, work, go, go, go, hustle, hustle, hurry, grind. And God's like, that's not how I created you to be. You were slaves. Now you're no longer slaves.
Speaker 1:Something about being a slave and working, working, working, working, working somehow defaces our very humanity. God would say I don't want you to do that. Take one day and remind yourself you are not a slave. You're not simply a work unit. Your value is based on many other things Because for them, for 400 years, all they did was work, work, work, and their value was predicated upon how much they could produce. I'm so glad we don't have that problem anymore in our day and age today. Right, your value being based on what you can produce. Nobody here has that problem, right? And God's like no, no, don't do that. Something about this defaces your very humanity. You're not designed to work, work, work, work, work.
Speaker 1:I read a story about these people in Silicon Valley, they will microdose LSD. This is a true story. Maybe some of you have heard of this or maybe you do this. They will microdose LSD to keep on going, to extend their workday, to get more in, to get more production, to produce more, to give more, to get more, to make one more dollar, to get more in, to get more production, to produce more, to give more, to get more, to make one more dollar. But the question is at what expense, at what cost? Do we need to really micro-dose LSD to produce more? What on earth are we doing? And God says remember the Sabbath, because you're not slaves any longer. So to Sabbath to create manuha.
Speaker 1:This idea of resting that, according to the Noah story, has something to do with new creation and new life and baptism and flourishing of life. It's somehow connected to this rhythm of God of working but then also not working. And it's also this idea of reminding yourself hey, I'm not a slave, I'm not just a work unit, a number, another cog in the machine. I'm, I'm. I'm somehow a reflection of the divine image of god, invited to partake in the very thing that god, the divine, has done. I'm invited to also do, to live in tune with this divine rhythm of work and then not working. This is is, of course, the Sabbath. Now here's the question that it raises for me.
Speaker 1:We're told in Genesis that God rests, and then in Exodus, you should also rest, because God rested. It raises the question was God tired? I mean, does God get tired? See, in our Western minds we think, oh, I will rest, because for many days before that I will go, go, go, go until I collapse. Maybe this is your work week, or work weeks, or work month, where you go, go, go, go and then you collapse and you rest in order to then get out there and go, go, go, go, go some more. Are you with me? I won't have you raise your hand, but that's how many of us think about resting. Oh, I will only rest in order to make sure I'm ready to go again tomorrow to go, go, go, go.
Speaker 1:So, if you can sense, the work becomes the thing. That's what drives me, drives me a whole week. My whole life is organized around the work. I will go and go and go. I, my whole life is organized around the work. I will go and go and go, I'll rest, but only so I can get back out there and go, go, go some more, get out there and do more. But this is not Sabbath. This is not creating manuha. It's not what the command is Just to rest and take a breath so you can get back out there and grind some more. What if, instead of work being the thing, what if the Sabbath was the thing and the Sabbath prepared us for everything else? The work supports the Sabbath, rather than the Sabbath supporting the work.
Speaker 1:In Israel, at Shabbat, they prepare that whole day leading into Shabbat, they get the meals ready for the next day, they turn the lights down, they sing songs and they dance around the living room many of them Abraham Heschel would do this with his daughter Susanna and they lead everything going into the Sabbath. They're like, ready and prepared, eyes wide open, to celebrate the Sabbath because God wasn't tired, right? I mean, is that what God was like? Was he tired? When he sort of decides to rest, he creates for six days and he's just going and he's just sort of spent and he sits down in his cosmic lazy boy chair with his Dr Pepper and says thank me, it's Friday. I love that joke, by the way. No, he's not tired. He's introducing the world to this rhythm, this cosmic rhythm of work and rest and manuha, see, if you do it the other way around in the Western world, where we go, go, go and then collapse, that's not rest, it's actually like sort of checking out or escapism.
Speaker 1:You probably have heard of this collective movement where people do this every single day around the end of work. They call it happy hour. Now, look, I movement where people do this every single day around the end of work. They call it happy hour. Now, look, I'm not opposed to having a drink here. I'm just saying many of us are just trying to escape the day and the drudgery and the burden we've been carrying all day long. That's not rest, it's escapism, and maybe you got to do that every now and again. I get, I get it, but that's just escaping and vacating and numbing out or checking out, and maybe it doesn't happen to drink or three or four or whatever at the end of every day or over the weekend. Maybe it's like just doom scrolling on your phone and those things feel good, like there's a euphoria that comes with drinking alcohol or using some other substances or doom scrolling on your phone. It does work, you do check out, you do escape and it feels a little bit good. Maybe yours is. You go to the gym and work out for four hours every day. I don't know, maybe it's eating a bunch of chocolate. Whatever your things are, you know what they are. This isn't Sabbath, that's not rest, it's escapism.
Speaker 1:So I was in Colorado for five days a couple weeks ago I think I told you this and we were there to go and engage in sort of search for God in the wild and then just in the silence and the solitude, which is very difficult for me. I like to talk, I like people, that's why I do this, and so for me to just sort of like engage with silence and solitude and walking in the woods alone and listening for God is very difficult work for me. It's why I do it. But I wanted to bring my fishing pole because I also love to fish and they had a lake stocked with cutthroat trout. I'm bringing my pole, perfect, and the guy leading is a friend of mine. He goes hey, you can do that, ryan, it's fine. But I just want to ask you is there any chance you want to bring your pole so you can kind of escape here and there and check out of the hard work and just sort of go fishing when you're tired of the silence and solitude. And I said, how dare you accuse me of that? I didn't bring the pole. Fishing's not bad, of course fishing isn't bad.
Speaker 1:But I'm saying there are things we do in our lives that just check out or numb out and substances we use, or phones or computers or more work, and these things are not resting. They're not Sabbath. It's not creating manuha. You're simply checking out. What if, instead, we check in and, like the Jews, with eyes wide open, prepare for the day and what is going to happen? I mean this kind of work Sabbath work is very subtle and you can miss it. If you numb out with substances or things or addictions or distractions, you can very much miss it. Many of us do miss it because we want to check out over and over again.
Speaker 1:But minuha isn't about eliminating a whole bunch of things. It's about something positive. It's not about the absence of something, but it's about the presence of something else. See, minuha is this. In the biblical mind, minuha was about peace and tranquility and harmony and stillness and happiness, about delight and joy. If you could do anything that would create delight in you, what would it be?
Speaker 1:Quick story. I just heard this from Diane at the earlier gathering. She's like Ryan, when I was a young girl we were not allowed to use any kind of like electronic tools to cut or to create things as the part of the Sabbath. Our church many of it couldn't do that because it was Sabbath. And she's like but I like to. She would use these tools to cut out dolls and things for her dolls, but I like doing that. So she would sneak and do it because she knew her dad who was a bit strict. Her dad would get mad at her and like sort of say, hey, you can't do that. And she'd sneak and do it and she'd get caught and then he'd come lecture her. She told me and she's like but, dad, for me, using these tools it isn't work. It's it like brings me joy. So the dad's like no, let her do it because it brings her delight and joy. So they had this big announcement at church Okay, on this day, you can now use tools. If it brings you joy and delight, it's awesome. I said can I share your story? She's like yeah, of course. Of course.
Speaker 1:This is minuha. It's about creating delight and joy and goodness and stillness and quiet and community and wholeness. The great Abraham Heschel also says this. He says the essence of a good life is minuha, this idea of creating minuha. See, life is not just go, go, go, go collapse, go, go, go, go, collapse, go, go, go, go collapse. It's not about checking up, it's about resting. Yes, of course it's also about creating joy and delight and harmony with you and your friends and your community. It's good for the body, of course. It's good for the body, but it's also good for the soul. It brings your soul to life. Abraham Heschel says this. I love this. He said hey, it's a sin to be sad on the Sabbath. It's a sin to be sad on the Sabbath. So the invitation on the Sabbath is to create delight, create joy, celebration. So, young people, the next time you throw a house party and your parents get mad at you, just tell them, mom and dad, I was creating manuha. And tell them Ryan told me to Just kidding, don't do that, unless you invite all of us, then we'll all come over and we'll all have Manuha together. But it's about creating celebration and joy.
Speaker 1:The psalmist David writes this I love this in Psalm 23. He says hey, you probably know this psalm, but it might give you some new perspective on the psalm. It says the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. If you can picture green pastures, which were very rare in Israel. Most of them are brown. He leads me besides the still waters the word for still there is the word menuhot. These waters of menuhot. There's still and quiet, peace, tranquility, fullness, life celebration, joy, goodness, abundance. He leads me to those waters to drink deep, the waters of life. Can you get a sense of what minuho or minuha really is? It's his presence. So, just so we're clear.
Speaker 1:Then, later on, the Jewish rabbis began to talk about and use this word, minuha, as a synonym for the age to come, for life in the kingdom of God, for resurrection. So last week we talked about resurrection, this idea that they looked forward to and they longed for. They began to use minuha as a synonym for this idea of resurrection and new life and abundance, of the kingdom of God come on earth as it is in heaven. So here's what Sabbath is not then, just so we're clear. Sabbath is not just rest.
Speaker 1:Now, we all need rest and, fair enough, rest is good. In fact, we sleep every night. That's part of Sabbath. You should sleep seven to nine hours every night, okay, but no less. If you're going less than seven hours, I would invite you to consider are you in fact Sabbathing, or are you trying to sleep less, to grind more? You can ask about how they're doing by somebody saying hey, how are you sleeping at night?
Speaker 1:Many folks in today's culture don't sleep well, and this is why we need sleep. Our bodies need to sleep to recharge, to download all those things it's so good for the body. So sleep is a part of Sabbath, yes, indeed, but also it's attending to the things that bring the body and the heart and the soul joy and delight. What are things that bring you joy and delight? Because, remember, you're not just a slave, you're not. You're to reflect the image of the divine God who does this thing called rest and minuha. You're not human doers, you're human beers. Wait a minute, I got that wrong. You're not human doings, you're human beings. There we go. You're not slaves, you're going to enjoy this goodness of life.
Speaker 1:So, breathe time in and out, let the day unfold before you without an agenda. Remind yourself of the grace and the goodness of God that is there whether you show up or not. Remember that even when you're sleeping, this whole thing, this project, humanity and creation of the cosmos it was here long before you got here. It will be here long after you leave here. So settle down. You're not that big a deal, okay. No matter how much you work, you're not going to help the whole thing survive. You could not show up and everything will be just fine. In fact, if you don't show up, they'll probably replace you in a couple of days. So just embrace the goodness and the grace and the love and the mercy of God and know that we're all going to be okay.
Speaker 1:Sabbath is also not just vacation. Now, vacations are great. I love them, but many of us vacation in order to just check out and escape. We often will escape to a different location and fine, fair enough. But this is not always Sabbath. Sabbath is creating something while you're on vacation creating manuha.
Speaker 1:It's also not this. It's not this sitting around praying and being silent all day long and being super spiritual and holy and doing nothing but meditating on the Lord all day and reading your Bible all day long and nothing else. That's not Sabbath. Now look, if that's your thing and that brings you delight and joy, then go ahead and pray all day and meditate on the Lord and the scripture, and that's great. Some folks get nervous. Do I have to read my Bible the whole day long on the Sabbath? Do I have to read my Bible the whole day long on the Sabbath? No, you don't have to. That would be not joy or delight, that might be drudgery. So it's also not that. Now, if that brings you joy, then do that. But it's not just that. It's about creating joy and celebration. So here's what Sabbath is.
Speaker 1:Sabbath is far more like hanging out with God in a French cafe drinking an espresso Come on now and talking about Simone de Beauvoir and listening to jazz music all day long. Are you with me? Okay, a couple of folks, okay, oh fine. If this is not your deal of Sabbath, how about this one then? Sabbath is also a country fair pig roast after the judging of the calf competition. The day is sticky warm, yet the first coolness of the night is pressing out the heat and it's time to sit back and compare notes about who got the blue ribbon this year. A fiddle begins its compelling tune. It's about the good food and drink and music and conversation and the remembrance of sitting with god in the garden. How about that one? Yeah, a little more of your style. Elk River, I hear you? All right, okay, all right, this is by Dan Allender.
Speaker 1:How about this one? How about Sabbath? Is this One more? An invitation to enter into delight? What would you do if you were invited to enter into delight? It can be the best days of our lives. Oh, there we go, I'm back. How about this one? Sabbath is, dan Allender says, the holy time where we feast and play and dance and have sex and sing and pray and laugh and tell stories and read and paint and walk and watch creation in all of its fullness. How many of you expected to hear this quote when you came in this morning to church? Ha, ha, ha, ha ha. Dan Allender wrote that in his book on Sabbath. Check it out, that's Sabbath. How about this one? Sabbath is a command. Keep it, protect it. Jesus doesn't overturn this idea of practicing the Sabbath. How about this one? Sabbath is a command. Keep it, protect it. Jesus doesn't overturn this idea of practicing the Sabbath. He iterates that Sabbath is made for us to utilize to engage in this manuha, not the other way around.
Speaker 1:The Pharisees were mad because they were trying to keep this law as rigorous. No, no, no. The Sabbath is to bring us life and joy, not to be a legalistic thing. You can and can't do so. Protect it. If you don't protect it, other things will begin to fill that space. If you don't guard it, other things will begin to cross over and take up your time. So keep it and protect it.
Speaker 1:See, friends, we were made for life, jesus said. He came to give you life, and life to the full, this abundant kind of life, not just heaven when we die, but fullness of our humanity. Living in this rhythm of Sabbath, of work and not working, doing and then not doing, of creating and administrating, but also resting and enjoying the delight in the creation and sitting back. Doing of creating and administrating, but also resting and enjoying the delight in the creation, and sitting back and watching it all and giving thanks to God for his grace and his goodness and mercy. Now, the Jews were given this command and then, years later, they were captured by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. These other kingdoms come into the land and kidnap the Jewish people, they raise the temple to the ground and they take them into captivity, into Babylon and Assyria as well, and the Jewish people are now out of the land that God had given them. The temple's been destroyed, the Torah is gone, it's all gone, everything was gone. And the reason why we know is because of their disobedience that God kind of turns them over to their ways that they want so badly.
Speaker 1:But also in Ezekiel 20, the prophets begin to say also you guys are in exile because you failed to live in the rhythm of the Sabbath. It's the reason given because you didn't practice the Sabbath, you didn't rest, you didn't take the time to let the land lie fallow or let your animals or your foreigners have a day off. So the message is if you don't practice minuha and have this rhythm of Sabbath, of resting, things can unravel very, very quickly for you and for me. And oftentimes, when we don't rest, we end up in this existential exile, separated from our loved ones and our families, and our own selves, our own souls and even from God. In these existential ways. This is what happens when we don't practice things like the Sabbath.
Speaker 1:So I've got to answer the question. I've got like one minute to do it. So here's what you should do on the Sabbath. I'm going to have a bunch of ideas and they're like real ones. You can take a picture with your phone if you want to, or write them down quickly, but here we go. Here's what you can do on the Sabbath. You can play.
Speaker 1:Yesterday it was me and my two girls at home alone. My wife was sick and so it was me and the girls and we sat and played Clue a bunch yesterday yeah, I'm a Clue champion, just so you know. It was awesome. It brought me delight and joy. I loved it. Played Clue, so play. Go play pickleball, go play tag in the backyard. Go play football or basketball or cards, play spades or whatever card game. Cribbage is what my son loved Play.
Speaker 1:How about this one? You can also do this. You can feast, have a big meal, have some friends over and cook for them, or vice versa, or make a pizza. Do something fun that would bring joy and delight. How about this one? You could also again have some friends over. It might look like this Go and have a fire and play guitar or the fiddle.
Speaker 1:Whatever is your deal. Make some s'mores. Of course, s'mores are very godly, we know this. They're very holy food to eat. How about this one, then? For me, peter, create delight. Just do something that creates delight, or this oh wait, hold on.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, this is it, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is my good friend, kelsey, who is over here, by the way, and on Friday night was it Friday night? She went to the Anoka County Fair. Anybody else go to the Anoka County Fair? Okay, a couple of folks. Yeah, they had a silent disco where you put these headphones on and everyone's wearing different headphones and the DJ this is DJ Hick Hop in the background there great name, by the way and they play different music for different headphones. You just dance and Kelsey went by herself for a couple of reasons.
Speaker 1:One the rest of us knuckleheads said we were too busy or didn't have time. Uh, even her own husband didn't go. But I go, I go, kelsey. Why are you going this? She goes right, because the world needs more joy. All right, that'll work, that'll preach, so I don't know. Go to the silent disco by yourself and dance with goats that's a goat in the front there and DJ a hiccup and have some fun. Create delight, do something like that.
Speaker 1:It's Sabbath, okay, peter, also reconcile. Maybe you have broken or fractured relationships. Maybe it's the time to fix those and go and make things right. How about this one? Let the day simply unfold. Scrap your agenda, even just the morning, see where the day takes you. It's kind of fun. How about this one? Forgive somebody, jesus said to Might as well. Try it. How about this one? Go outside, get out of the buildings, for goodness sake, and go outside. If you aren't Sabbathing and taking time away from computers and phones, you're truly missing out. Go outside, get off a screen, go play kickball with your kids it's a lot of fun. Or the neighbor kids, whoever Breathe in and out the time of the day and let it pass.
Speaker 1:There's like this new trend I just heard about where people get on airplanes and they'll do this. They go on the airplane and there's a name for it, and they just sit. They don't bring a phone, they don't bring a book, they just stare at the screen in front of them and just watch the plane fly across the. Not for me, but maybe for you. You can try. Okay, here's what not to do, and then we'll end Don't do this, don't use the day.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. What's that? How is it? Yeah, so okay, if you're using the day to produce or to work or to let the day just be a gift to you and enjoy the day that way. So create delight, but don't use the day as you got to accomplish something, to get through it, to get somewhere, to get something done.
Speaker 1:How about this one?
Speaker 1:Don't work there you go. How about this one? Don't stay plugged in? There's the phones, the screens, the, even the tvs and the netflix. Just turn them off, even just for a moment or two. Make others around you work. If you have employees, let them have the day off, it'll be fine.
Speaker 1:Think about work. Now, this is hard because I know you're like even if you're not doing work, you're like thinking about work. Just try to like take some time and like check out mentally from thinking about work, prepare for the work. You're like oh Ryan, it's cool, I didn't do any work, I just sat with my journal for four hours and planned the next day. Don't do that either. Use it as a day off.
Speaker 1:I think I meant by that just don't just sort of check out, but check in and engage. I think, lastly, I have any activity that dampens the spirit of joy Central. May you know that this whole thing was created with a rhythm to it. Six, this whole thing was created with a rhythm to it. Six days, god made the world. On that seventh day, though, he creates manuha, delight and joy, engagement checking in, and we're invited to do the same thing to work and to rest, to produce and to play, to create and engage in community. Now you today. By the way, it doesn't have to be a Sunday. I work on Sundays, so your Sabbath can be any day, any afternoon. It may be 24 hours, maybe not 24 hours, but give it a good chunk of time. But may you, as you celebrate Sabbath, may you indeed feel the joy and the goodness and delight of God in you and around you, and may you create Minuha, Amen.
