I returned yesterday from our annual Clergy retreat for all pastors in the Central Texas Conference. Not all clergy were able to attend the retreat, but a greater number were present than in years past. I suspect that the largest contributing factor to that was that our new Bishop, Bishop Lowry, was the presenter for the two days. Since he selected Sabbath as his theme for his three presentations and we just recently talked about Sabbath during our weekend services, I thought I would share some of the notes I took from the Bishop’s reflections over the next few days.
Today I will begin with our first session.
The Bishop referred to the fourth commandment as “the forgotten commandment,” and in his first message shared with us from Exodus 20 [the Ten Commandments] as well as Hebrews 4: 9-11.
So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; 10 for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.
The Bishop noted that the sharing of the Ten Commandments begins with the introduction of God as the one who, “brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Commandments then, he said, come out of the realization that God has already powerfully acted on our behalf. The idea that we matter to God should bracket all understanding of the ten commandments.
A couple of other quotes from that first message are below.
“We are at our worst when we say, ‘if I just work harder, I can please everyone’.”
“As pastors, we often take great pride in our availability, and practice a sort of spiritual arrogance by expecting lay people to take time out to study, pray and reflect, but we don’t do it ourselves.”
“Failure to rest on the Sabbath is a failure to let God be God in our lives.”
The Bishop noted that the fourth commandment begins with the word remember, and in that remembrance we are reminded of the first Sabbath day when God rested. So the practice of Sabbath should be read as another command to “act like God.” God has ordained and declared sacred the act of resting. The exercise of remembering should lead to resting.
A final note which I thought was of significance was the interpretation of vs. 10 which the Bishop shared. He pointed out that in reading verse 10, God is making the practice of Sabbath an issue of justice as well. The text carefully includes the note that the practice of Sabbath should extend to, “you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.” All are included in the commandment to rest. The Bishop noted that, “it’s an intentional inclusion of the poor and the powerless.” He continued, “It’s not right for people to have to work seven days a week just to get by, and we should say so.”
If you are interesting in more, check back tomorrow for my session two notes.