Baptist Spirituality

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath
   from pursuing your own interests on my holy day...
If you honor the sabbath,
   not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;

Then you shall take delight in the Lord,
   and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth...

Isaiah 58:13-14

In her book, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest, Ruth Haley Barton states that people who take their first sabbatical confuse their wants with their needs. People plan sabbatical to engage in long swaths of recreation, only to find that they spend hours toiling on a project that doesn’t renew them. Others seek to learn a new craft, but soon realize they failed to connect with the Creator who longs to be their creative center.

Barton explains, “While the idea of planning might sound a bit cerebral, in my experience the planning phase can actually be quite tender and soulful because it forces us to get in touch with our needs and longings in order to be really honest with God and others as we plan” (Barton, p. 160).

Poorly planned sabbaticals, in short, become times of “study leave” instead of extended times of keeping sabbath (Barton, p. 145). We are called on sabbatical not to pursue and serve our own interests (Is. 58:13), but to delight in the Lord and let the Holy Spirit lead us in regenerative healing.

I am a week into my sabbatical, and I resonate with Barton’s words. I spent over a year studying cosmology as the centerpiece project of my sabbatical, but I’ve spent this trip (so far) in prayerful reflection, not on the First Day of Creation, but on the Seventh Day of Creation. Here’s some of what I learned…

Keeping Sabbath involves a Spiritual Examen. This re-orientation has forced me into a time of spiritual examen to discern the Holy Spirit’s work in my body, mind, and soul. I’ve had to heal. I’ve had to have hard conversations with my family about my lack of presence when I am with them. I’ve had to confront my insecurities and (in the words of Henri Nouwen) my neediness in light of my desire to be liked and loved.

You might also do an extended version of examen, looking back over your whole week to notice where God was present, where God felt absent, where God was at work transforming you (praise God!), and where you might have been caught in a place of un-freedom and you need to confess something to God” (Barton, p. 107).

Examination is not for rooting out or tossing those blessings and burdens from my life, but to make a home in my heart for all that God created me to be, with my short-comings, and idiosyncrasies, and ADHD propensities, to face (again, in the words of Henri Nouwen) “our brokenness . . . squarely and befreind it” (Pritchett and Thompson, p. 100). 

This has informed a deeper trust in the Lord, a level of trust that I am only beginning to understand: “. . . a trust beyond betrayal, a surrender beyond despair, a love beyond all fears” (Nouwen, in Pritchett and Thompson, p. 114).

Keeping Sabbath involves a Rhythm of Rest. For the past ten years, I’ve made Friday my sabbath day. But, as I read Barton’s book, I can see that Friday is a terrible day for sabbath. On Fridays I balance my checkbook, watch a movie or two, clean the house, work on the cars, straighten up the yard, and — at least once or twice a month — participate in some non-profit work. I believed all along that this was sabbath-keeping because I enjoy doing all of these things. Besides, on Saturdays (my other day off), my mind is on sermon prep.

But after experiencing a deep conviction from the Holy Spirit, I can now see that these things, no matter how fun they are to me, are not energizing. They incorporate things I like to do and people I enjoy seeing, but they do not revive the soul for long-term, sustainable ministry. In fact, some activities make me feel more tired by the end of the day.

I will practice making Saturday my sabbath — after all, it is the seventh day of the week! — which will take some intentional work on my part, especially when it comes to technology.

Speaking of which…

Sabbath Keeping involves Difficult Technology Decisions. If my Saturdays are to be a true sabbath, then I must make difficult decisions regarding technology, primarily related to social media and television. I always thought these tools were appropriate avenues of recreation in my weekend schedule. I enjoy watching movies and, on the weekends especially, I can spend long periods of time perusing social media without feeling guilty or infringing on work or family time.

I have found (after spending this whole week avoiding both TV and social media) that these technologies suck the life out of my soul, no matter how much I enjoy them. This is a difficult pill for me to swallow: I grew up in a household that prized Saturday morning cartoons and movies with family. If I am to avoid “going your own way,” as God warns in Isaiah’s prophecy, then sacrifices will have to be made.

To swallow the pill more easily, I am taking Barton suggestion that keeping Sabbath is not a legalistic day filled with dos and don’ts, but a day of community. Sabbath is for keeping community with God in prayer, silence, solitude, and spiritual reading. It is for keeping community with family by engaging in face-to-face activities, such as long walks or gaming. It is for keeping community with our neighbors by deepening our friendships: making a few phone calls to connect with friends, or writing a letter or two for those who live afar.

So, here I am — one week into my sabbatical, and no additional work on cosmology to be seen. But I am now seriously wondering if this is why I didn’t get that sabbatical grant for which I applied last year: God doesn’t want me to have a study leave, but a true sabbatical. God wants all of me.

I plan to return to cosmology this upcoming week, but it will no longer dictate my schedule. I hope that it stems from the Lord’s invitation to keep sabbath and, therefore, venture “upon the heights of the earth.” If my spirit is going to soar into the heavens, it might as well be courtesy of God’s Spirit rather than my planning.

Source: Ruth Haley Barton, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest (Downers Grove IL: Intervarsity Press, 2022).