It is not a question of recuperation after a toilsome and well-done job. Even the Sabbath rest of man corresponding to the divine rest does not have this sense in the Old Testament, but means negatively a simple cessation and abstention from further work. The freedom, rest and joy of the Sabbath consist in the fact that on this day man is released from his daily work. On the Sabbath he does not belong to his work.Nor is it merely a question of having to recuperate from the work that lies behind him and to fortify himself for the new tasks that are ahead. On the Sabbath he belongs to himself. Whether he be farmer, artisan, servant or maid, he is just the man who for six days had to be these things and to perform the corresponding tasks, but whose being and existence are more than all these things and his work, who in and with these things seeks to be a man, male and female, and as such before God. That he does not strive in vain towards this goal; that his work cannot devour him but consists of steps towards this goal, is confirmed at the end of each week by the proffered freedom, rest and joy of the workless Sabbath which he is granted. It is this which gives perspective and depth, meaning and lustre, to all his weeks, and therefore to his whole time, as well as to the work which he performs in his time.
–Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (ed. Geoffrey Bromiley and Thomas Torrance, Edinburgh: T and T Clark, 1958 E.T. of the German 1945 original) III.I.para. 41, Creation and Covenant, p. 214
There is a New Sabbath for the people of God, who have been created and birthed into the New Covenant by the Word (James 1:18) and by the Spirit (John 3:3). This Sabbath is not a day (Col. 2:16) or an external observance, but a spiritual condition or state of being. This Sabbath rest is walking in the Holy Spirit, not in the flesh. It is ceasing to do our ‘own works,’ those sinful harmful destructive works that belong to our fallen nature, but instead, loving, living, speaking the truth by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
This Rest is entered into through faith, revelation and worship – worship in joyful complete surrender of self to God, worship in the beauty of holiness, worship in Spirit and Truth, worship in ‘knowing’ God, worship that comes out of a trusting abiding union with Him, worship bringing sacrifices of repentant contrite hearts, sacrifices of thanksgiving, praise and joy.
The people of the New Covenant and new Sabbath rejoice in the hope of being called according to His holy purposes, in bringing a harvest of souls for His Kingdom of Love, Truth and Life, Righteousness, Peace and Joy.
The people of God (and those connected to them) have suffered because of the works of the flesh and do not want to live that way any longer. They are armed with the desire to crucify the flesh with its sinful desires, to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, and to live in the Spirit, to be transformed and restored to the Image of God, the likeness of Christ. (Romans 12:1, Galatians 5:16, 24, Hebrews 12:1-4, I Peter 4:1)
THIS is the new Sabbath rest for the people of God.
I have a genuine question, after reading Barth’s moving description of the Sabbath for our understanding of human nature, in God’s design. My question is this: How do clergy observe this teaching? Of course we have a day off, but in my experience trying to cram into the day off the many things you could not do during the working week (visit to the bank; new tyres for the car; meal out with friends; phone calls to family scattered across the globe; etc) means that the day becomes far from restful. And I am a celibate – I imagine that for clergy with family, it must be more difficult still. Lastly, there is the question for a priest of where you spend your day off. Stay at home and you are tempted by desk work or voicemail or email; not to mention callers at the door. Go away from home and you miss the comfort of the familiar.
I suppose, reading through the above, that Sunday ought to be the Sabbath Day for clergy, not only because it is resurrection day but also because of the privilege of leading God’s people through the eucharist. Well, it is a great and joyful privilege, but in a busy parish it also drains you. Any positive thoughts and ideas out there? I would be glad to learn from the experience of others.
Kendall, I’m guessing you paired this and the article above it about “gadgetry” intentionally. This is a great quote, thank you for posting it.
I really identified with this line:
[i]The freedom, rest and joy of the Sabbath consist in the fact that on this day man is [b]released from his daily work.[/b][/i]
It was in fall of 2009 that I really understood on a new level what this sense of being “released” from work means, and how important it is.
I had “held down the fort” here in the African city where I work through an extraordinarily difficult 5-6 weeks in August – Sept. 2009, in a very tense security situation (terrorist killings and bombings), and with most of my colleagues away for 3 -4 weeks for vacation and a conference. God’s grace was abundant, but still by the end of that period I was mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted. To recuperate, and debrief in the wake of the summer’s events, I had the joy of being able to attend a 10 day retreat in Austria. The retreat leaders specified no laptops, no work, no email.
So I was truly RELEASED from work during that time. My team leaders and colleagues knew that I was not available to do work, and I had made sure to notify others as well… It was incredible how freeing that time was. I began to recognize that even when I make time for physical rest at other times, I often am carrying around the weight of all the “SHOULD DOs” – either work, or errands, or whatever, and that when I carry around those burdens and the sense of guilt for all the undone things, my rest is never restful.
My rest in Austria was DEEPLY restful precisely because I was so specifically released from “Should dos” during that time. I could stop carrying around the burden of my expectations of myself, and others too freed me from their expectations. It was a revolutionary concept for me. I had not understood how heavy the weight of all the “should dos” I typically carried around could be, how draining.
Since that retreat, I’ve learned to apply this lesson quite a bit in my daily work routine. I make regular time with my team leader to review my list of tasks and projects. Especially if I’m feeling overburdened, I make sure to ask: what is the one thing you expect me to do today, and then I focus on that – thus being explicitly released from other tasks until I’ve completed the first thing. I NEED that kind of release, or else sometimes my brain just shuts down due to the paralysis of too many demands, too many expectations.
Sabbaths are truly a gift to us that I am learning increasingly to enjoy and receive from God. How wonderful that in Christ we DO find TRUE rest and eternal freedom!
Our rector’s Sabbath is Monday. Unless it is a bonafide emergency, we don’t call, tweet, email, fax, or bother him in any way. at least that’s the way it’s suppossed to work. I don’t know how well it is working in practice.
“On the Sabbath he does not belong to his work.Nor is it merely a question of having to recuperate from the work that lies behind him and to fortify himself for the new tasks that are ahead. On the Sabbath he belongs to himself. ”
Not sure I understand that last sentence. If I belonged totally to myself, I doubt I would get out of bed for church or do anything on Sunday I didn’t feel like doing. I always thought the Sabbath was to free ourselves from our earthly chores and rest in the Lord, through worship, contemplation, meditation, etc. I welcome some help with Prof. Barth’s statement.
Billy, I would understand Karl Barth as follows. Barth always stresses that we must feel ourselves to be under the word of God, both the word of scripture and Christ the Word. We do not begin from the world around us and move to God from that – rather, we begin with God’s self-revelation, God reaching out to us in salvation. God’s initiative towards us challenges us in turn to respond to God, with a commitment of trust, of faith and love. We renew this commitment, this orientation of our lives every Sabbath. But to do this we have to be free – free from the distractions, snares, cares and toil of everyday life. Hence on the Sabbath we could be said to belong to ourself, because with this freedom comes the ability to commit ourselves to the Lord, and resting in him, to find our proper perspective when we return to the world of work.
(Writing the above it struck me how difficult it is to explain Barth without starting to sound like Barth. Lastly, may I thank Karen B for her contribution above).
Thanks, Terry. And, yes, thanks Karen B.