Shabbat Shalom

      For eight months now the Jones family has been observing Shabbat (the Hebrew word for Sabbath, meaning rest) each week and it has been the second most life-changing, fruit-producing choice of 2021 (the first being abstaining from our social media accounts.) I have done a deep dive into the God ordained gift of Sabbath, which first makes its appearance in Genesis 2. God works for six days and rests on the seventh from all his work, then blesses that day and makes it holy because He rested. I am a big advocate for seeking lifestyle from Genesis because it is a display of God's original design and intent for His creation & creatures. Often in our home when we process through different decisions from family planning to relationships to work to stewardship to identity, we start with the question, "Well, how did God intend this to be?" Of course we live in a world that doesn't reflect how God intended things to be but as we pray, "In our home as it is in heaven," we try to seek out God's design. 

    So the start of Sabbath was just God himself resting from work. Now, we all know God is limitless and does not grow tired or weary, so why rest? He did so as a pattern to set for us- work six days then rest. We next see Sabbath as one of the ten commandments in Exodus, proving that this was not a chill idea, but a God given command. A must. Non negotiable. Right up there with don't murder. There were lots of festivals throughout the year God commanded the Israelites to celebrate, but this one was weekly. Sabbath was one of the primary forms of discipleship within Israelite families to preserve the Truth of their history and the God that led them through it. God literally sets this command to remind them of who He is and what He has done for them (leading them out of slavery in Egypt.) He knows we are prone to forget His faithfulness. Also, to observe Sabbath was a statement of faith because these people had to work the land to have the food and provide all the things, so even taking one day to not do anything but rest was an acknowledgment of God as provider and that their trust was in Him, not in their own work. Also, let me just say, I am amazed that our God is a God who gives the gift of rest. What other God is like that?  Hint: none.   

    Now Sabbath is all throughout the Old Testament and there is so much more than my short overview, but what about in the New Testament? In the sermon on the mount, Jesus states this: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least the stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside on of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt 5:17-19 So in general, Jesus makes clear the Law is not cancelled by Him, it is however fulfilled in Him. But we are still told to practice and teach these commands. (Side note: Jesus was a Sabbath-keeper.)

     Now that said, Jesus actually speaks directly about the Sabbath because the religious folk of the day, who were all in with following the Law in actions, but all out on having hearts fully devoted to God, needed some correction. The teachers of the Law were constantly trying to trap Jesus- they did not believe He was the Son of God and were determined to prove Him a blasphemer. In Mark 2, they called Him out for eating from grain fields with His disciples on Shabbat, what the Pharisees said was unlawful. And how Jesus responds to them is this: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath..." (Read the full story in Mark 2.) The Sabbath was meant to be a gift FOR man, not man to be burdened by the Sabbath. The pharisees were constantly building laws around the laws to ensure the laws were kept and holding to standards beyond what God required. Talk about burdensome.

    Now, lest you think I am now advocating for legalistic Law following, let me share Colossians 2, where Paul says that in light of Jesus paying for our lawlessness on the cross, "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality however is found in Christ." How is the reality of Sabbath found in Christ? That is precisely what we spend each Shabbat unpacking. We started observing Shabbat not out of a burden that we must, but rather out of a desire to receive the gift and follow the pattern God laid out for us in Genesis 2. We spend a 24 hour period every week remembering that we were once slaves to sin, but set free because of the blood the The Lamb, and can rest in the Truth that "It. Is. Finished." We, like the Israelites are prone to forget who our God is and what our God has done. We get caught up in the doing and the working and providing that we forget God is the One who truly provides and sustains. Jesus is the fulfillment because it is only through the work of Christ that we can truly rest. We can stop the striving and the working because of what He has done. I cannot advocate for Sabbath enough. In the chaos and busyness of our lives in culture today, it is GOOD and healthy and fruitful and a God-given gift to rest and remember. 

    So, just to give an idea of what it looks like in our home, we start Shabbat every Thursday evening at dinnertime. Our kids ask multiple times a week if it's Shabbat yet, they literally treat it like Christmas and we try to make it as fun, celebratory, gospel centered, and restful as possible....ya know with 3 kids under 6. We turn off our phones the entire 24 hours- probs the best part. At 6:30ish we light candles, sing a song, and often I will read from Deuteronomy and share how God commanded the Israelites to observe Sabbath: "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." Then I say to the kids, "We were not slaves in Egypt but we were slaves to what?" and they yell "SIN!" at an ungodly volume. Then we read from Romans 6, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin...you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." I love the imagery in that Deuteronomy passage that says God brought them out with a "mighty hand and an outstretched arm", because Jesus on the cross with outstretched arms is what rescued us from our slavery too.

    Next, we all say Psalm 23 which the kids also yell and have completely memorized because we've been doing this 8 months. Jonathan then blesses each of our kids and me and then we eat. We eat good food. A feast. Typically made in foil tins that we eat on paper plates so there are no dishes to do after, because nothing feels more like work to me than a motherload of dishes. We let the kids have chocolate milk after dinner and have an extended bedtime routine, basically we read them a million books and sing a billion songs. Then J and I will hang out on the couch and talk or we'll sit at the table and play a game together. One night we even just read. Because no phones always means more reading. 

    Fridays we sleep in as much as the kids will let us and then we walk to our local breakfast treat spot. Cinnamon rolls for the win! As we indulge in this sugary breakfast we say, "Taste and see that the Lord is good!" Typically Jonathan will send me out of the house for a couple hours and I will have some time alone with God at our coffee shop. Our Fridays are not super structured, we just try to be outside and do a lot of family things. We then close out Shabbat in the evening by praying together and writing down things we are thankful for from the previous week. I love hearing what the kids are thankful for, although sometimes it is the silliest things, but tis the silly season of littles. Shabbat has been a highlight of our week, a faith growing experience individually, and has quickly become one of the pinnacles of our family culture. We have also gotten to incorporate both Jonathan's parents and grandma and my parents into our Shabbats and hope to do that monthly. We have loved getting intentional time with them after dinner where they share their own stories of God's faithfulness to them, which the kids and us love hearing. 

    Sabbath is meant to be a gift and we have experienced it as such. If you have any specific questions shoot me a text, I love sharing about this! And also a starting place I would recommend is the podcast, "Fight Hustle, End Hurry" by Jefferson Bethke and John Mark Comer. It was absolutely a catalyst for us starting this journey and has so many practical ideas to just start! 

Shabbat Shalom. 

Making it matter, 

Laura Jones