In today’s readings two significant ideas come together: “Sabbath” and “God’s Kingdom”. A true understanding of Sabbath (which links, of course, with the idea of Jubilee), must lead us into the justice, mercy, equity and inclusivity of God’s reign. In fact, one of the simplest ways to embrace a “Kingdom-lifestyle” is to begin to practice Sabbath well. That is the challenge the Lectionary offers us this week.

Perhaps I can support this with a quote from my new book The Hour That Changes Everything – How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be:

A significant part of the practice of Sabbath is aligning ourselves with God’s rhythm. As rhythm organises a piece of music in time according to speed and pattern, so Sabbath organises our lives according to God’s sense of time – God’s tempo and pattern. This is more than simply giving ourselves a breather, or allowing ourselves time to rest so that we can launch back into our busyness with renewed vigour. Sabbath is about learning to recognise the significance of moments in time. It is about learning to recognise God’s tempo and pattern for us, our community and our world, and it is about matching our pace with these eternal rhythms.

The book releases in South Africa this week, and will be available for international purchase through Amazon.com shortly. More information will be going up on the Sacredise web site this week.

May worship lead you into a life of true Sabbath-keeping this week.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 1:4-10: Jeremiah is called by God to be a prophet, but protests that he is too young. God promises to put God’s words into Jeremiah’s mouth.
OR Isaiah 58:9b-14: God promises goodness and honour for God’s people if they will act justly and honour the Sabbath.

Psalm 71:1-6: A prayer for God’s protection and care.
OR Psalm 103:1-8: A song of praise and thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness, healing and goodness.

Hebrews 12:18-29: Unlike the people of Israel who were afraid of God’s appearing at the mountain, followers of Christ have been invited into God’s grace and the joyous community of worship in Christ. We have received an unshakeable kingdom, and must be careful to listen to Christ’s words, and worship God in thankfulness.

Luke 13:10-17: Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath, incurring the criticism of the synagogue leader. Jesus points out that everyone ‘works’ on the Sabbath, and that it is right and good that she should be freed.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
Although it is only specifically mentioned in two of the readings this week, the prominence of the Sabbath in the Gospel reading, and the underlying foundations of a “Sabbath way of life” provide exciting possibilities for worship. Closely aligned with this is the word “kingdom” which comes through in a number of the readings. These two biblical words are closely related. The Sabbath is one element of the whole Jubilee system of justice and equity that God gave to Israel, ensuring sufficient rest, and – arising from the Manna story – discouraging hoarding and accumulation. The Kingdom, as best represented by the “mission statement” of Jesus in Luke 4, is also about Jubilee, about justice and equity, and about ensuring “shalom” (peace and well-being) for all. This is the unshakeable kingdom of the writer of Hebrews. This is the call of Isaiah’s prophecy, and the message of Jeremiah that will bring down unjust kingdoms and build up just ones. This is the prayer and the praise of the Psalms. In healing this crippled woman on the Sabbath, and teaching that mercy is a Sabbath-activity, Jesus embodies the justice, grace and welcome of God’s unshakeable kingdom. The theme, then, this week could be titled “God’s Sabbath Kingdom”.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: In our “time is money” world, Sabbath has lost its essential meaning. It has become nothing more than a “day off” to restore energy to get back into the fray as soon as possible. However, this is far from what the Sabbath was originally intended to be. Rather, the practice of Sabbath – both the Sabbath day, and the Sabbath Year/Jubilee – is about realignment. It is about taking ourselves out of the human system of accumulation, self-protection and self-aggrandisement, and placing ourselves under the influence of God’s rhythms, God’s priorities and God’s direction. It is not about getting back into the fray, but about living with a whole different value system – that of justice, mercy and equity. The call to live God’s Kingdom’s values is a call to live as Sabbath people, and it is this gracious kingdom alone that is unshakeable – unmoved by the temptation to benefit by exploiting others, by the threat of economic collapse, or by the ‘competition’ for resources. When we scratch the surface of our world’s economic systems, we cannot help but see the destructive results of a Sabbathless existence. Exploitation of foreign workers in order to ensure cheap labour for producing everything from chocolate and coffee to cell phones and computers, Trade regulations and subsidies that favour the rich and powerful over poor farmers and labourers in third world countries, and political decision making that is more influenced by wealthy donors and lobbyists than by the needs of the most vulnerable all leave suffering in their wake. The drivenness and hyperactivity of those who chase wealth also wreaks havoc on marriages, families and individuals. If our world needs anything in order to become more just and peaceful, it’s a return to the Sabbath-rhythms of God’s reign. This alone will bring healing to the those who have been crippled by the Satan of our broken society.

LOCAL APPLICATION: Jesus spoke about his followers being “in the world but not of it”. This was not a call to “otherworldliness” or to check out of the world as we wait for heaven. It is a reflection of the reality that as individuals and churches we face the daily temptation to adopt the broken values and practices of the world around us. It is a call to live the values and practices of God’s Sabbath Kingdom within the societies and communities in which we find ourselves. It is all too easy for us to become driven by the same idols of success, wealth and convenience that the affluent sections of our global society embrace – and all too many churches and theological systems have done just this. But, if we are to be Sabbath/Kingdom people, we are to step out of this system, embracing rather the rhythms of justice – meaningful work, joyful rest, compassionate service, generous sharing, and a commitment to equity and compassion. In small but powerful ways we can change the world by living these values in our communities – by worshipping in venues of simple reverence; by adopting technology, practices and programs for their usefulness, not their “sexiness” or fashionable-ness; by sharing what we have with the people around us, rather than using our wealth to aggrandise ourselves; by using our influence in society to ensure protection for the most vulnerable and needy among us; and by working for a more equitable society using all the tools at our disposal, from votes to prayer. Who are those who have been crippled by the weight of the world’s unjust and inequitable systems? How can we allow the Sabbath to become a healing and liberating experience for them and us?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Rhythms Of Life
Sabbath People
Weak And Poor God

Hymn Suggestions:
Jesus Calls Us
Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind (I would prefer it if this hymn was more inclusive in its language – perhaps it could be sung as: Dear Lover of all humankind)
I Am Known
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
O Come, And Dwell In Me
Love And Justice
(Scroll down for preview and link to purchase the song)
King Of The Broken (Link to YouTube video)
Thuma Mina (Send Me) (Scroll down for
preview). Chord chart
Jubilee
(Link to Amazon.com Mp3 preview)
Chord Chart (Scroll
down for the link)
Your Grace Is Enough (Link to YouTube video)
Everlasting God (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet

Video Suggestions:
The Sabbath And The Poor
Missing The Joy
We’re Alright Down Here

Where do you place your faith? Does the idea of trusting God for protection, provision and justice sound naive and unrealistic to you? Yet, this is exactly what the Scriptures call us to do – to live differently from the self-protective, wealth accumulating, customs of our world, and place our trust in God. In the face of the huge challenges we face in the world this may sound completely out of touch, but, when the role of money in so many of those challenges is recognised, the call to give up our faith in finance and reclaim a true, child-like faith in God becomes disturbingly relevant and subversive.

Here is a reminder about the countdown excerpts from my book The Hour That Changes Everything – How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be. If you’re interested in learning more about this soon-to-be-released book, click through to the Sacredise blog for the daily excerpts that are being posted there throughout this month.

May your worship this week move you into a place of deeper trust in God, and more courageous challenge of the culture of accumulation in our world.

READINGS:
Hosea 11:1-11: Judgement is prophesied for Israel because of the people’s idolatry and unfaithfulness, but God’s compassion and love for God’s people makes judgement difficult for God, and so restoration is also promised.
OR Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23: The teacher laments that everything is meaningless, and reflects on the futility of working hard to accumulate wealth that will ultimately be inherited by others, who may or may not use it wisely.

Psalm 107:1-9, 43: Praise for God’s unfailing love, and God’s salvation of God’s people when in distress. The history of God’s people reveals God’s faithful love.
OR Psalm 49:1-12: Not even the wealthy can save themselves from death or buy their way into eternal life. Therefore, there is no reason to fear those who trust in their wealth.

Colossians 3:1-11: Because of Christ’s life in us, we are called to prioritise the values of heaven over the values of earth, and to avoid the greed and lust that of “earth-bound” existence. Rather, recognising that we are all the same in Christ, we are to find our life in Christ, and seek to become like our God.

Luke 12:13-21: In warning against greed, Jesus tells a parable of a wealthy man who feels secure because of his great riches, but whose wealth becomes meaningless when he dies. Then Christ challenges us to seek a rich relationship with God instead of material riches.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
The theme of this week’s readings is not hard to discern – all of the readings contrast a life of dependence on wealth with the life of dependence on God. The teacher in Ecclesiastes, the Psalmist in Psalm 49, the Apostle in Colossians and Jesus all warn against greed and speak about the danger of making wealth our goal and our security. In Hosea and in Psalm 107, God’s salvation and care is promised, even when God’s people have needed to be disciplined and corrected. When it comes to making our way in the world, the quest for money too easily becomes an end in itself, and will ultimately lead us into destruction, and to bringing suffering on ourselves and others. However, when life is found in our relationship with God, and in basing our lives on the values of God’s reign, we bring life and joy to ourselves and others, and our lives have eternal value. Ultimately, we all need to choose the priorities by which we will live.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: So much of the suffering and injustice in our world can be traced to the quest for money and to the greed of certain individuals or groups. The ongoing pain from the global economic crisis, the ecological disaster resulting from the Deepwater Horizon accident, the war and violence which arises between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ (so often justified as a “protection of interests”), the debates around health care, immigration and climate change – all have strong – albeit often hidden – financial agendas intertwined within the other issues. The challenge is to recognise the powerful, and often destructive, role that money plays in global affairs, and to challenge our world leaders, our business leaders and ourselves to embrace a financial ethic of sharing and giving, over accumulating and ‘protecting’. Ultimately, in a world where economic performance is measured quarterly, it will be difficult to begin to embrace an eternal view of wealth, but if the voices of Christ-followers remain silent on this difficult, prophetic, Gospel call, all hope of a more just and equitable world is lost. In what ways can you make your voice heard a little more clearly?

LOCAL APPLICATION: The way we view, earn and use money in our churches, families and individual lives, is a window into how we understand and live the Gospel. Too often there is little difference between the economic values of the “world” and those of the “Church”. Too often we spend (or hoard) money selfishly, and measure success by the accumulation of wealth – somehow falling into the trap of seeing wealth as a sign of God’s blessing – while ministry to the poor, the marginalised and the vulnerable is left undone or poorly resourced. Apart from sexuality, perhaps, money is the issue that we deal with least helpfully and honestly in the church, and yet it is a primary issue in the Scriptures. Dependence on God sounds like a quaint, outdated and unrealistic way of living in today’s wealth-focussed world. Simplicity is all too often equated with stupidity and a “sour-grapes” attitude. The imbalance between the rich and the poor, and the unequal way that the world’s resources are shared and used, are all justified – often with biblical support. But, if we will allow the Gospel to challenge us and change us, we will find our hands opening, our trust moving from wealth to God, and our lives shifting from accumulation and protection, to sharing and giving. In what ways are these shifts happening in your community?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
A Simple Choice
Plenty
Enough

Hymn Suggestions:
I Need Thee Every Hour
Bigger Barns
Take My Life And Let It Be
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross (Especially verse 4)
I Surrender All
Lord, I Give You My Heart (Link to YouTube video)
I Will Offer Up My Heart (Link to YouTube video)
Lord, You Are More Precious Than Silver (Link to YouTube video)
My Life Is In You, Lord (Link to YouTube video)
We Are An Offering (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Eucharist

Video Suggestions:
Abolishing Wealth & Poverty
Relational Tithe