Oct 29 - Sabbath for a Whole Year?
Stewardship - Keeping Sabbath every day. We practice being stewards for that which God has given in our lives.
Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:27-28 (New Living Version)
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
7 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
Psalm 24:1-2 (Common English Bible)
The earth is the [Creator’s] and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants too.
Because God is the one who established it on the seas;
God set it firmly on the waters.
I Corinthians 10:23-26 (The Voice Translation)
23 There’s a slogan often quoted on matters like this: “All things are permitted.” Yes, but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted,” they say. Yes, but not all things build up and strengthen others in the body. 24 We should stop looking out for our own interests and instead focus on the people living and breathing around us. 25 Feel free to eat any meat sold in the market without your conscience raising questions about scruples 26 because “the earth and all that’s upon it belong to the [Creator].
Leviticus 25:1-7 (The Message)
25 1-7 God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter the land which I am going to give you, the land will observe a Sabbath to God. Sow your fields, prune your vineyards, and take in your harvests for six years. But the seventh year the land will take a Sabbath of complete and total rest, a Sabbath to God; you will not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Don’t reap what grows of itself; don’t harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land gets a year of complete and total rest. But you can eat from what the land volunteers during the Sabbath year—you and your men and women servants, your hired hands, and the foreigners who live in the country, and, of course, also your livestock and the wild animals in the land can eat from it. Whatever the land volunteers of itself can be eaten.
Reflection Notes:
On our fifth Sundays, we usually hear from a guest speaker but today we are using material from Everence, the financial and investment agency for Mennonite Church USA. They produce resources for worship and for 2024, the theme is Sabbath for a whole year. We are reminded all belongs to God and we are invited to a time of rest and be with God. The earth is the Lords and everything in it. How are we reminding ourselves that we are God’s people?What practices in our lives show that we belong to God and God invites us to rest so that we may attune our lives to God.
