Preaching Series on Sabbath (2 of 3)

Week 2 of a 3-week preaching series on Sabbath

Moses
Moses by John August Swanson. Image from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, Tenn. Original source © 1983 by John August Swanson.

August 25, 2019

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Commentary on Genesis 2:1-3; John 15:9-15



Week 2 (Aug. 25, 2019)

Preaching texts: Genesis 2:1-3; John 15:9-15

It’s a radical thing to have a Deity who rests. To be so secure in one’s power and place as to stop and step back? It’s almost as though God’s only job isn’t keeping the world going! It’s almost as though God has other things to do and be, other facets of personality, other interests and thoughts and isn’t defined solely by the act of creating!

Besides creating and declaring things good, God gives three blessings at creation: God blesses the creatures (1:22), the humans (1:28), and the rest itself (2:3). God stops working and enjoys what God has made. An integral part of creating this earth for God is enjoying the beauty and harmony of each creature and feature contributing its unique music to the exquisite symphony.

God does not create for the sake of creating, God creates to enjoy and relate and connect. Like a parent stepping back to see their child learn and grow, resting is God’s, I love watching you be you. Made in the image of God, we are drawn into the rest of God, in fact, commanded to participate in it, in order to remember who God is, and who we are outside of what we do to keep things going.

Jesus invites us to abide in him. Connecting back to last week’s text, we cling to the faith of Christ in God, the life of Jesus that is both absolute trust and belonging to God, and in absolute mutual care and connection to other human beings. We are made for this love, made to live in and share this love. And like our Genesis text, we’re meant to enjoy the life we’ve been given, to share the fullness of life that Jesus enjoys with God in this world God made and loves. Abiding in God’s love brings us joy. What would it feel like to have our joy made complete?