{"id":39214,"date":"2024-10-31T10:37:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T17:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39214"},"modified":"2024-10-31T10:38:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T17:38:16","slug":"working-to-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/working-to-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Working to Rest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner known for refusing to run his preferred race in the Olympics because it was on a Sunday. He, instead, trained for a different race on a different day and broke a world record.[1]<\/a> As a kid, I first heard of his story in the movie Chariots of Fire. <\/em>His story inspired me to start my own journey of determining what it meant to personally \u201ckeep the Sabbath.\u201d \u00a0When we had to pick a recent leadership book to review, I immediately looked up one of my favorite Christian leaders and authors, Ruth Haley Barton. I was thrilled that she had published a book within the past five years. I was even more delighted by the title, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again. <\/em><\/p>\n

Like many of her other books, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest <\/em>bridges knowledge and theory to practical application. In the book’s first half, Barton addresses many facets of the concept of the Sabbath. She defines the Sabbath as \u201cthe biblical practice of a whole day set apart for rest, worship, and delight.\u201d[2]<\/a> In the second half of the book, Barton bridges the importance of a sabbatical. She recommends a sabbatical every seventh year for those leaders in full-time ministry when maintaining a weekly sabbath is not always enough.[3]<\/a> Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest is<\/em> a practical guidebook on the sabbath and sabbatical. Every chapter includes reflection questions. The book also includes several practical tools to put these into action. This rich resource affords many different levels that could be explored. I have chosen to look at a few themes that have been showing up in my Sabbath and leadership journey.<\/p>\n

Freedom in Rest<\/strong><\/p>\n

Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest <\/em>quotes Adele Calhoun, \u201cIf you aren\u2019t resting, you are a slave to something.\u201d[4]<\/a> The Sabbath allows one to rest, regroup, and refocus on freedom from the everyday grind.[5]<\/a> In Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, <\/em>Dr. Swenson reminds readers that Sabbath rest is a time to remember our freedom in Christ.[6]<\/a> The Sabbath was given to the Israelites after they left Egypt as a sign of their freedom.[7]<\/a> I always saw the Sabbath as rest, renewal, and rejuvenation. Seeing it also as resistance to the oppression of sin and everyday life brings freedom to say \u201cno.\u201d No<\/em> to the things of the world, and yes<\/em> to a day to focus on what I have been freed from.<\/p>\n

Obstacles of Busyness<\/strong><\/p>\n

While visiting a mission team in another African country, I asked how the team found time for rest. The answer is, \u201cOur team is made up of hard workers. We don\u2019t really rest.\u201d This is a common response that I get when I pose this question. Another popular response, especially with medical missionaries, is that there are too many needs around us to be able to take a full day off. In Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul, <\/em>leaders are warned that \u201cbusyness will not only distract, it will infect\u201d and can cause harm to our souls.[8]<\/a> \u00a0Barton addresses the need for balance, \u201cWork is not better than rest nor is rest better than work; God did both, and the goodness is in the movement back and forth between the two.\u201d[9]<\/a> I have experienced this in my own life. Maintaining a Sabbath day has allowed me the courage, practice, and freedom to set healthy boundaries from work and busyness on the other six days of the week.<\/p>\n

Connection of Community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest <\/em>emphasized to me the importance of doing Sabbath with others in community. Throughout the book, a call is woven to leaders to prioritize the Sabbath for themselves and their community. Barton gives several practical steps for leaders to take in building a Sabbath-focused community.[10]<\/a> Keeping a Sabbath day each week has become a precious part of my weekly routine that I cannot imagine living without. Ecclesiastes 4:12 talks about the strength of a cord with three strands. I believe this is a picture of how the Sabbath can be protected, enjoyed, and shared with others. This is an area of lack in my Sabbath practice and one I hope to take strides in changing.<\/p>\n

There are countless lessons in both this book and in the practice of Sabbath. I will end with some questions I am asking from this exploration: What areas of my life hinder me from truly enjoying the freedom of the Sabbath? Where is busyness keeping me from enjoying the peace and rest God is offering me? What can I do to lead my community in the practice of the Sabbath? For those of you reading this, to what is God inviting you concerning the \u201crhythms of work and rest\u201d in your own life?<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Bob LeFavi, \u201cEric Liddell Has Run His Race,\u201d Effingham Herold<\/em> (blog), May 25, 2015, https:\/\/www.effinghamherald.net\/lifestyle\/church\/eric-liddell-has-run-his-race\/.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ruth Haley Barton, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again<\/em>, 1st ed, Transforming Resources Series (Novato: InterVarsity Press, 2022), 11.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, <\/em>152.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, <\/em>27.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, <\/em>28.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives<\/em>, Rev. ed (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2004), 201.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Barton, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest, <\/em>28.<\/em><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Lance Witt, Replenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 62.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Barton, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest, <\/em>23.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid, <\/em>131-134.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner known for refusing to run his preferred race in the Olympics because it was on a Sunday. He, instead, trained for a different race on a different day and broke a world record.[1] As a kid, I first heard of his story in the movie Chariots of Fire. His […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3337,2967],"class_list":["post-39214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-barton","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39216,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39214\/revisions\/39216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}