"And God rested on the seventh day from all his
works."
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 (our Hebrew ancestors.) 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. Hebrews 4:4,9-12.
Sabbath is always time out of time, no matter who keeps it.
Only once have I entered a culture of Sabbath. I was staying in the Jewish
Quarter in Jerusalem and when dusk hit all went silent. Except for we non-Jews
who were moving about, all was in stillness until dusk the following day. Such
stillness and quiet we seldom give ourselves to experience. Some give themselves
times of retreat. Even when we do, our minds draw us apart from God's
stillness.
Holy Saturday is Sabbath. According to our scriptures,
this seems the day of empty or worrisome waiting. The women perhaps calculating
in their minds spices for the morrow. We know nothing of the
disciples. Except we know that as people of Jewish faith there were rituals of
prayer and study and quietly waiting, prepared meals to allow for stillness.
This was the day when: "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." This
one activity is the heart of Sabbath.
The guards also might have been in stillness by a sealed tomb
with no Jews about.
Did whatever is involved in resurrection begin as the tomb
sealed? Did it too rest until after sundown? We have assumed the latter from
Biblical text.
And what of God who rests on the Sabbath? Did God rest this
Sabbath knowing all had gone predictably with humankind. The best God had to
offer in the presence of the Divine self in Jesus had come against the walls of
evil in the twists of human will. Evil, the subtle or blatant rejection of
subtle to massive Good, had played its hand and all now seems lost. Did God
rest in these Sabbath hours knowing a creation was about to be reborn? It would
be known by any who trip on resurrection and discover life tomorrow and onward.
For now did God rest and be?
Did Christ enter the world of the dead to offer life just now, or did he wait until the sun set somewhere and Sabbath ended?
If so, what then should we do...be?
When I was in the parish, this was a morning of focused and
mildly flurried activity in preparation for the Vigil and Easter Sunday. One
would not call it Sabbath, except that there was a focus beyond self. There
was an offering to God of the many gifts we held together to make a feast. And
there always was a moment at least for me when we would stand almost done and
look at how beautiful the worship space had become. It was like a group breath,
breathing in Sabbath, a gift offered and accepted. There were little bits of
perfection woven into our imperfect world and lives and it was enough for now.
Later the Sexton and I would stand there together, alone, and breathe in the
silence. Sabbath.
Perhaps of all days, a little Sabbath should be held to on
this day. Perhaps a gentle waiting in the heart, for God to be still in
us. Here, we and God together might note what is being brought to life just now.
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