Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 16: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 16 and 17; Evening, Psalm 22;
1st Kings 5:1 to 6:1 and 6:7; Acts 28:1 to 16; Mark 14:27 to 42:
“My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also shall rest in hope” (Psalm 16:9)
As we enter the eve of our God-given Sabbath Day, I look for words in our readings that suggest rest. Our Sabbath (Saturday), is our gift from God.
In our Gospel reading from Mark our Lord Jesus reprimands Peter, James and John for sleeping and taking their rest while he, (Jesus), was praying. However, I believe prayer can, and should be done while at rest, especially on the Sabbath. Of course, the day that Jesus was arrested was by all accounts, a Thursday.
Maybe the Sabbath should not be for public worship. A worship service requires work. I believe the original worship services conducted on the Sabbath were a way for the spiritual leadership to ensure people were not at their normal avocations or occupations. God did not give us the Sabbath as a day of worship; but rather, a day of rest. So, shouldn’t we all hold Saturdays aside as a day to remember the Goodness of God, and be thankful? I realize that not everybody can. First responders, medical staff, the military, police, detention staff and others must have a way of rotating a Sabbath observance. But that does not mean we should just ignore it altogether. We need to take time weekly to just ponder about our relationship with God and one another. I don’t believe the spiritual leadership should incorporate micromanagement tools like attendance at a certain house of worship to make sure we are not working our regular jobs. Real rest is relaxed.
To get a fuller understanding of the Sabbath, I have again attached my favorite YouTube website about the Sabbath. This YouTube video will explain the importance of Sabbath from the Jewish perspective from which our Christian tradition comes. It is God’s gift to humanity. God loves us and wants the best for us. This is why God wants us to rest on the seventh day.
My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also shall rest in hope, and more especially for me on the Sabbath Days.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.
What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: (BCP p. 99)
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
onewhoponders 