Tag: sabbath

Pondering for Saturday, January 17, 2026

Daily Office Readings or Saturday of the 1st Week of Epiphany: year 2

Morning,  Psalms 20 and 21:1-7; Evening, Psalms 110:1-5, 116 and 117;
Genesis 6:9 to 22; Hebrews 4:1 to 13; John 2:13 to 22;

“So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God;’ (Hebrews 4:9).

Today, Saturday, is our God-assigned, Sabbath Rest Day, a gift from God. We should attend to it in a contemplative manner.

When I served in the Marines in Saudi Arabia, during the Liberation of Kuwait, Desert Shield and Desert Storm, those of us who were regular, Church-going Christians counted the weeks there by our Sundays. Two Sunday traditions took place where we were. First, the Navy chaplain came to our maintenance compound to conduct a Church Service.  I remember that I led the Lord’s Prayer when invited to do so, and helping those who wanted to participate but didn’t know the words. Second, our mess hall (dining facility), prepared pancakes for breakfast!  This was a big deal.  During this non-liturgical breaking of the “pancake” bread, we got to see others with whom we came over with but do not work with on a daily basis. We celebrated each week as time passed until we boarded planes for home.  For us Christians, worship is work regardless of how it is expressed.  The Sabbath, however, is for Rest.

I have matured theologically since that time, or at least I think I have. Now, after careful study of scripture, I believe the God-given day for all of us is Saturday, the seventh day of the week.  I still worship on Sundays but I think there is a difference between worship and rest. In my maturation I realize that there is always a need for emergency personnel to be ready to act. The military, the police, hospital staff and all first responders must be ready to respond to serious needs. And perhaps every other Sabbath should be given to them. Jesus never removed or transferred God’s gift of the Sabbath.  This rest we enter is not ours alone. It is God’s rest. And we are invited to be at rest with God as often as we can. That day is Today!

I will close this blog page for today with the closing words of our Hebrews writer for today for you to ponder: “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later about another day. So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.   Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account;” (Hebrews 4: 8 to 13). Therefore, we should rest each Sabbath until we are taken to our eternal Sabbath home.

Today we remember Antony of Egypt, Monastic (January 17) and his information may be found at: Antony, Abbot in Egypt

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: (The Collect for Saturdays 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.

Pondering for Friday, August 29, 2025

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.

Pondering for Sunday: August 24, 2025

The Gospel Eucharistic Reading for Sunday of Proper 16: Year C

 Luke 13:10-17 

 “When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” (Luke 13:12)

This is not a new situation for Jesus who continually tells them, and us, that the Sabbath is made for us, not us for the Sabbath.  God brought us into the world without Sabbaths and then saw that we needed down-time in order to put things in perspective, to ponder, and to be thankful.

But this action from Jesus in healing the crippled woman, is far more than just a simple healing; it is a metaphor of what Jesus is doing for all humanity. It shows that God is teaching love to all people while at the same time, keeping Sabbaths as commanded. Jesus continues in this formula. “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,” (Luke 13:10). This is a time of gathering so as to learn about God and how God wants us to live with one another. If it wasn’t the Sabbath the crippled woman might not have been there in the first place. He noticed her and responded to her need. And as the situation would have it, an unexpected opportunity appears. We read, “And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight,” (Luke 13:11). This woman represents all who are made cripple by spiritual weaknesses. 

“When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment,” (Luke 13:12). Jesus makes the pronouncement, the Word says the word.  That, that was holding her, was no longer in power. She is set free. But after eighteen years one does not just jump up and down in exaltation. The body is not ready for that. It needs healing hands. So, it was “When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God,” (Luke 13:13).  St Francis of Assisi said go out and preach the Gospel and when necessary use words.  Do you think this healed woman, by just walking around joyfully and praising God, is preaching the Gospel?  I do.

Meanwhile, back at “hater” ranch, “the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day,”” (Luke 13:14).  This leader of the synagogue could not heal like this on any day. Why then deny anybody healing no matter what day it is?  But the light is brought to bear on his hypocrisy as Jesus questions what any rational person would do no matter the day of the week it happens to be.  Jesus’ words were pleasing to the people “and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing,” (Luke 13:17).  We must remember that our time of respite is foreordained by God for our mutual benefit and personal healing – and for whatever good we can bring about for others.

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. 232

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Pondering for Thursday, July 17, 2025

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 10, Year 1

 Morning, Psalm 37:1-18; Evening, Psalm 37:19-42;
1st  Samuel 20:24 to 42; Acts 13:1 to 12; Mark 2:23 to 3:6:

“Then he [Jesus], said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath: (Mark 2:27).

Our Readings for today are very active with loads of stuff to ponder.  And while I am intrigued with the saga of David and Jonathan; and the name changes in the Acts of the Apostles, that is, Simon to Niger; Bar-Jesus to Elymas; and of course, Saul to Paul, I am comforted by our Lord Jesus’ words about the priority of humankind over the Sabbath in our Gospel Reading for today.  We were first. Then, as a gift to us, God gave us the Sabbath as a day of rest and reconciliation.

Rest is important. We need to know when to be quiet.  David did. He could not be reconciled with Saul, so he followed the advice of Jonathan who loved him and he left only to return at a later time.  Jacob did this in Genesis when he could not be reconciled with his twin brother Esau.  Moses did this when he could not be reconciled with the Egyptians after the killing of an Egyptian. At some point we will find the wherewithal to return to what drove us off.  We will reconcile with what was thought to be irreconcilable.  This reconciliation includes the time interval God has given to us for being quiet.

I know a young man who is running away from troubles in his state of residence to live here in North Carolina.  The problem is that until he squares himself with the authorities in his home state, North Carolina will not assist him with a driver’s license, voter registration, or even substantial employment. The stories of reconciliation are the old stories of the Bible. The greatest reconciliation we can engage in is our reconciliation with God.  And God has given us the Sabbath as the divine opportunity to do just that.

Our Lord Jesus explains that because God wants to have a pathway whereby we can “come back,” to God, we have been given the Sabbath. It is a contemplative time, not so much for gathering and chatter, but rather for solitude and simplicity.  It is a time for finding a quiet place in order that we might focus on God and ourselves.  This is why it is perfectly okay to do good works on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not a restriction on our life but rather the freeing of it.

Our Sabbath begins tomorrow evening.  Our Lord Jesus never separated us from the traditional Sabbath, which he himself set aside and kept. Let us be at peace and be reconciled back to God.

Today we remember William White, Bishop of Pennsylvania and the first Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (1836) and his information may be found at: William White.

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: For Quiet Confidence (BCP p. 832)

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.