SESSION 15 (2024)
LEG 1 (3/25-4/7)
READING
Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest by Ruth Haley Barton
Forward (by Ronald Rolheiser)
Chapter 1: A Wakeup Call
Chapter 2: Beginning with God
Chapter 3: Finding Freedom Through Resistance
Chapter 4: Discovering Sabbath in Community
Chapter 5: The Power of Unplugging
Appendix A: A Sabbath Worksheet
Appendix B: Preparing for Reentry
Living the Resurrection by Eugene Peterson
The Message’s Easter passage in Mathew, Mark (16:1-8)
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
Reflecting back on your practice of Sabbath in Session 5, what did you enjoy most? What most stands out to you over a year later?
Ronald Rolheiser writes in the foreword, “There is a kind of hurry that is a form of violence experienced upon time that is detrimental to our health, to our families, to our communities, and to our relationship with God.” (pIX). Spend time reflecting on the violence that has been detrimental to your well being by not regularly practicing sabbath.
What does it mean to you for you to keep holy the sabbath day? Not the answer you think someone wants to hear, but the answer you as you believe it to be.
Take a few moments to reflect on the truth that sabbath begins with God, that it is part of God’s very nature, that God then shares with creation by embedding this pattern within it. What does this mean to you, or what could it mean if you let it fully sink in? (CH2, p26)
Hebrews 4:1-11 contains a rather stirring ode to the promise of rest that still remains open for us as the people of God. The writer encourages us to make every effort to enter into that rest so that no one may fall through disobedience and hardness of heart. Read this passage slowly and reflectively, allowing yourself to wonder if there is any way in which you have hardened your heart toward God's invitation to rest or if there is any resistance to this promise. It might be practical resistance (I just don't know how I can make it work in my life), psychological (I've worked hard all my life and I really don't know who I am when I'm not working and producing), or spiritual I'm so used to depending on myself that I'm not sure I really believe God will provide for me if I take a break one day a week); or maybe it's something else. But the point is, take this opportunity to go all the way to the bottom of any resistance you feel, and talk to God about it. (CH2, p26)
Ruth writes that “[t]o practice sabbath, we need to know what we are in bondage to, what has us in its grip, and that is precisely the thing we should case.” (p35) Reflecting on Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, what does this bring to mind about the bondage you may be experiencing today to patterns of productivity, never-enough consumerism, the constant stimulation of push notifications and connectivity that exacerbates stress, anxiety, and bitter controversies? Is there anything about the description of God as one who emancipates and frees people from their bondage that offers hope that we could be freed from our bondage as well? Ch3, p30-31)Taking this a step further, is there any area where you are aware that you are in bondage to some kind of addiction?(Ch3, p38)
Ed Cyzewski writes in his book on digital formation that “devices and social media apps are designed to become invasive, habit-forming and compulsive-if not a behavioral addiction at times. Many of the people who design digital technology and social media have publicly stated that their products are designed to be toxic, addicting, and manipulative, depriving users of choice and free time through habit-forming feedback loops where the reactions and notifications become the rewards to using social media.” (p54) How would you describe your relationship with technology? What are the joys? The frustrations? The conundrums? Where have you seen technology contribute positively to your life and where do you experience bondage? (Ch5, p233)
Outside of your sabbath for this session, I want to encourage you to try the steps that Ruth provides at the end of Chapter 5. Begin by experimenting with how you handle technology, observing the difference it makes. Reflect on the differences you observed in the following practices (Ch 5, p62):
going for a walk with your phone or without your phone.
having your phone with you over lunch with a friend or leaving it in the car.
having your phone with you on a date night or leaving it at home altogether.
getting dressed with the TV on or off
driving while listening to the news or a podcast, or not.
sleeping with your phone by your bed or keeping it in another room.
having solitude with your phone nearby, in the off mode, or in another room
having your phone nearby while prepping for a meeting or reading, OR leaving it out of sight and sound until you are at a good stopping point
What did you experiment with by incorporating into your sabbath this leg? How did it impact your sabbath experience (positive or negative)? Will you incorporate this going forward? How might you modify what you did?
What stood out to you in Matthew or Mark’s telling of the resurrection story by reading it in The Message?
PRACTICING: Sabbath
24-hour sabbath
Experiment with incorporating something new
Anticipate the Sabbath by answering the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHAT are we going to do (and not do)?
HOW are we going to do it?
WHEN are we going to do it?
WHERE are we going to do it?
WHO are we going to do it with?
WHY are we going to do it?
Reflect on the Sabbath by answering the following questions in response to what has passed:
What one thing did you most enjoy about your Sabbath?
What worked will? How will you incorporate next time?
What did not work well? How will you adjust for next time?
What did you prepare? How will you prepare differently for next time?
LEG 2 (4/8-4/21)
READING
Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest by Ruth Haley Barton
Chapter 6: Sabbath as Delight
Chapter 7: Sabbath and the Seasons of Life
Chapter 8: Shaping Sabbath
Interlude: On Time
Living the Resurrection by Eugene Peterson
The Message’s Easter passage in Luke
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What is it that delights you? Really, what delights you? Take a moment to get specific about this and allow yourself to dream of a day taht had more of this in it. (Ch6, p74)
Have you ever rested long enough to move from exhaustion to gratitude to worship? If not, what has prevented that from taking place and how can you reorder your life to incorporate this on occasion? If so, how did you experience rest or sabbath differently? (Ch6, p74)
Is there anything in your life right now that feels so hard you might be avoiding it by giving in to distraction, emotional numbing, or denial? How might sabbath offer an opportunity to enter more fully into the rest that comes from trust and acceptance? Are you open to this? (Ch6, p74)
How can sabbath guide you in being with loneliness in a way that draws you into intimacy with God? (Ch6, p74)
What are the unique challenges and opportunities for sabbath embedded in the season of life you are in right now? How did you relate to the stories told in Chapter 7? (Ch7, p93)
Ruth defines sabbath keeping as a “means of grace - a way of opening to the transforming work of God beyond anything we can accomplish for ourselves.” How does this change your view of sabbath, thinking of it as a means of grace? (Ch8, p96)
How do you relate to the idea of limits? Do you tend to lament your limits, ignore them, hide them, try to overcome them, use them as excuses? What would it be like to embrace limits as part of God’s goodness in creating you? Let yourself imagine that. (CH8, p112)
As you consider what to say no to on the sabbath (work, buying and selling, worry, technology, etc), what seems hardest or raises questions for you? Why do you think that is? What is your reluctance telling you about what you value and what you worship? (Ch8, p235)is leg? How did it impact your sabbath experience (positive or negative)? Will you incorporate this going forward? How might you modify what you did?
What did you experiment with by incorporating into your sabbath this leg? How did it impact your sabbath experience (positive or negative)? Will you incorporate this going forward? How might you modify what you did?
What stood out to you in Luke’s telling of the resurrection story by reading it in The Message?
PRACTICING: Sabbath
24-hour sabbath
Experiment with incorporating something new
Anticipate the Sabbath by answering the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHAT are we going to do (and not do)?
HOW are we going to do it?
WHEN are we going to do it?
WHERE are we going to do it?
WHO are we going to do it with?
WHY are we going to do it?
Reflect on the Sabbath by answering the following questions in response to what has passed:
What one thing did you most enjoy about your Sabbath?
What worked will? How will you incorporate next time?
What did not work well? How will you adjust for next time?
What did you prepare? How will you prepare differently for next time?
LEG 3 (4/22-5/5)
READING
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
Chapter 7: Checking Email - Blessing and Sending
Living the Resurrection by Eugene Peterson
Forward (by Eric Peterson)
Chapter 1: Resurrection Wonder
The Message’s Easter passage in John
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What is one step you can take today to quiet the noise in order to listen more attentively to the voice of Jesus and slow down in order to live more faithfully to the way of Jesus? (EHS-WB, p26)
Fill in the blanks: What I am beginning to realize about God this week is _______. What I am beginning to realize about myself this week is _______. (EHS-WB, p34)
Tish writes, “There is no competition between the work we do as a people in gathered worship…and our vocations in the world. For believers, the two are intrinsically part of one another.” How do you see your work life entwined with your faith and worship? How do they (or should they) shape and influence each other? (Ch7, p167)
Tish writes about “vocational holiness.” How would approaching work as a craft and as a place of formation change the way you think about your work? How does this view of holiness as a craft affect your understanding of growth in the Christian life? (Ch7, p167)
Tish discusses a “third way - neither frantic activity nor escape from the workday world…This third way is marked by freedom from compulsion and anxiety because it is rooted in benediction - God’s blessing and love. But it also actively embraces God’s mission in the world into which we are sent.” Do you feel you are on your way to finding this third way in your work life? Why or why not? (Ch7, p167-168)
Do you struggle to find a way of working that is less anxious, on one hand, or does not escape from the world, on the other? How might your identity as one “blessed and sent” change your life and work in the world? (Ch7, p168)
Peterson writes that “sabbath and work are not in opposition. Sabbath and work are part of an organic whole - either one apart from the other is maimed and crippled.” (p37) Describe one way that one day of sabbath without six days of work is incomplete. Describe one way that six days of work without one day of sabbath is incomplete.
Peterson writes that “sabbath is not primarily about us or how it benefits us. It is about God and how God forms us. It is not, in the first place, about what we do or don’t do. It’s about God completing and resting and blessing and sanctifying.” (p39-40) Is this in any way freeing as you think about the spiritual practice of sabbath? If so, how so? If not, why does this remain feeling like an obligation?
What did you experiment with by incorporating into your sabbath this leg? How did it impact your sabbath experience (positive or negative)? Will you incorporate this going forward? How might you modify what you did?
What stood out to you in John’s telling of the resurrection story by reading it in The Message?
PRACTICING: Sabbath
24-hour sabbath
Experiment with incorporating something new
Anticipate the Sabbath by answering the following questions in anticipation of what is to come:
WHAT are we going to do (and not do)?
HOW are we going to do it?
WHEN are we going to do it?
WHERE are we going to do it?
WHO are we going to do it with?
WHY are we going to do it?
Reflect on the Sabbath by answering the following questions in response to what has passed:
What one thing did you most enjoy about your Sabbath?
What worked will? How will you incorporate next time?
What did not work well? How will you adjust for next time?
What did you prepare? How will you prepare differently for next time?
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, March 19th, 2024, at 4:30 PM CT
UPDATED: -