Living In God's Abundant
Grace: Sabbath as a Source for an Abundant Life
Rolf Jacobson
Session #3
back to February 2006 |
Session #3
Sabbath: God's Gracious Intrusion and the Principle of Time with God |
Dr. Jacobson further expands the participants
awareness that keeping the sabbath entails being generous. He
writes:
"God invites us...not to live in fear, but in trust...God intrudes
into our fear and offers us another way to live--in trust of God's
abundance. A way that trusts this word from God: Enough.
"...Generosity is a part of all of the Sabbath laws...observing
Sabbath means opening our hands to help our
neighbors....God...intrudes into the bondage of our lives...We...are
most in bondage to our stuff. A friend's grandmother used to say,
"Possessions are their own punishment."
--Rolf Jacobson
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Rev. Dr. Rolf Jacobson is an assistant professor of
Old Testament at Luther Seminary.
© Joint Project:
Centered Life and
Stewardship in the 21st Century, Luther Seminary, St.Paul, MN |
Leader's Guide
Goal: The goal of Session 3 is for learners to see the
connection between God's Sabbath and our generosity.
How to Use This Guide: This leader's guide is a road map that
traces the red thread of generosity through the Sabbath Laws. In what
follows, you will find:
- A lesson outline
- Key texts identified
- Learning Objectives for each text
- Background information about each text
- Sample mini-lecture components related to some texts (emphasis
on sample)
- Sample Discussion Questions (emphasis on sample)
- You will not find step-by-step instructions on what to say or do
with each text, such as "have participants open their Bibles and ask
for a volunteer to read...." That will be left up to your own
intelligence and creativity. One hint, however: The less that
students hear your voice and their more they use their own tongues
and brains to read texts and make connections, the better.
I. Gathering and Introducing the Topic
- Open with prayer
- Ask the group to reflect on: "What have we learned so far?" Ask
if there are any questions from session 1 or 2?
- Hint: Here are some things emphasized in the first two
sessions.
o God's work through the Sabbath is consistent with how God normally
works, coming to us from outside of ourselves, intruding
graciously into our bondage.
o Sabbath worship is something that God does for us, not something
that we do for God. God regularized the intrusion of the Sabbath in
order to have a regular worship time in which to work on us.
o The Sabbath is more than just a day a week, it is a principle and
it is about justice
o The sabbatical principle includes God's intrusion into the bondage
of life on earth
o The sabbatical principle is about who God is: God is a liberator,
one who frees us and blesses us
II. First Text: Exodus 16:1-26
The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel
came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the
fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the
land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to
them, "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of
Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you
have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly
with hunger."
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven
for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for
that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my
instruction or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they
bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days." 6 So
Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you shall
know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7
and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has
heard your complaining against the LORD. For what are we, that you
complain against us?" 8 And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you meat
to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because
the LORD has heard the complaining that you utter against him-- what
are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the LORD."
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the
Israelites, 'Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your
complaining.'" 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the
Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the
LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, 12 "I
have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At
twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your
fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the
morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of
dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky
substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw
it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what
it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given
you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather as much of
it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number
of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.'" 17 The
Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they
measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over,
and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much
as each of them needed. 19 And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave
any of it over until morning." 20 But they did not listen to Moses;
some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul.
And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it,
as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers
apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
23 he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is
a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD; bake what you want
to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put
aside to be kept until morning.'" 24 So they put it aside until
morning, as Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and
there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is
a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six
days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath,
there will be none."
Objective: To help learners see the connection between the
Sabbath and God's abundance; to help learners learn to live in trust
rather than in fear.
Sample Mini-Lecture: Most of us live in fear most of the
time. Fear may not rule our every thought or guide every movement of
our hands. We may not even know we are afraid or living in fear. But
at some level, fear is a factor. We don't do some things that we want
to do because we are afraid. We don't let our kids do things that we
should let them do, because we are afraid. We are not as generous or
kind as we should be, because fear stops us from giving all we can or
our hearts or from our wallets.
The Israelites had good reason to trust God. They had been slaves in
Egypt but had seen God do might things for them. God had sent Moses
and Aaron, and along with Moses and Aaron, God had sent powerful
plagues to help loosen Pharaoh's iron grip: darkness, frogs, blood,
gnats, the angel of death. God had opened the sea in front of the
people so that they could escape Pharaoh's revenge. God had led them
by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. When
thirst threatened them, God had provided water.
So what did the people do when they got hungry? They lived out of
fear rather than out of trust. They complained that God just wanted
to kill them by starvation. We human beings do live out of fear.
So God gave them bread from heaven—manna it was called. Each day the
manna came down and the people gathered it, ate it, and did not
starve. And God said this, "I want you to learn a new word:
‘Enough.' I will give you enough. I will take care of you out of my
abundance. So, each day you only are to gather enough for you and
your family. Whether you gather more than you need or less, it will
be enough." But people live out of fear. Some gathered more than
their share and some less, but when they looked, they all had
"enough."
And God said, "Eat what you have and don't save any. If you try to
save it, it will be rotten. Trust me, I will provide more for you
tomorrow." But people live out of fear. Some tried to save some for
later, being afraid that there would not be enough later, but what
they saved went rotten.
And God said, "As long as you are with me, you will get to rest on
every seventh day. No exceptions. Everyone rests. So, in addition
to the miracle of giving you manna each day, on the seventh day, I add
a miracle so that the manna will not go rotten for two days."
What does it mean to live in the love of God, to dwell all of our days
in the shadow of the Savior? It means, among other things, that we
trust in a God who cares for us, who gives us enough, who is abundant
in his gifts. God has said this to us: "I will give you enough, as
much as you need." Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, though, and
sometimes we want more than enough. And should we be surprised when
it goes rotten? And we live in fear. Instead of sharing with our
neighbors out of the abundance that God has given to us, we horde our
small stack of coins and live in fear.
But God invites us to live differently. To live in God's abundance.
Not to live in fear, but in trust. When God intrudes into our lives,
it is strange to say, one of the thing God does is intrude into our
fear and offer us another way to live—one that is not in fear, but in
trust of God's abundance. A way that trusts this word from God:
Enough.
Sample Questions: In what ways are we like the Israelites who
tried to gather too much? In what ways are we like those who tried to
keep some manna for later? In what ways does what we have go rotten
when we live in fear and try to too much?
II. The Red Thread—Tracing the Thread of Generosity Through the
Sabbath Laws
Objective: To help learners see that generosity is a part of
all of the Sabbath laws and that observing Sabbath means opening our
hands to help our neighbors.
Sample Mini Lecture: Now, I would like to go back with you and
look an aspect of these Sabbath laws that we have not looked at as of
yet. This aspect has been hinted at now and then, but the hope is
that by looking at many of the texts at the same time, you will be
able to see this aspect more clearly than if we had talked about it a
little bit here and a little bit there. This aspect is generosity.
Part of the issue of what it means to observe Sabbath is to be
generous. Consider again some of the laws that we have looked at so
far, and look at the highlighted parts:
- From Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments): "10 But the seventh day
is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work-- you,
your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your
livestock, or the alien resident in your towns."
- From Exodus 23:12-17: "15 You shall observe the festival of
unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread
for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it
you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before me empty-handed."
- From Deuteronomy 15:12-17: "14 Provide liberally out of your
flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press, thus giving to him
some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you. 15
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD
your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you
today. 16 But if he says to you, "I will not go out from you,"
because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with
you, 17 then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his earlobe
into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. You shall do the
same with regard to your female slave. 18 Do not consider it a
hardship when you send them out from you free persons, because for
six years they have given you services worth the wages of hired
laborers; and the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do."
- From Exodus 23:10-11: "For six years you shall sow your land and
gather in its yield; 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest
and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what
they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your
vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
- From Deuteronomy 15:1-16: "7 If there is among you anyone in
need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the
land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted
or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. 8 You should rather open
your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it
may be. 9 Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought,
thinking, "The seventh year, the year of remission, is near," and
therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing;
your neighbor might cry to the LORD against you, and you would incur
guilt. 10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on
this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and
in all that you undertake. 11 Since there will never cease to be
some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, "Open your hand
to the poor and needy neighbor in your land."
It should be clear in all of these texts, that generosity is a
part of God's Sabbath intrusion. In the Old Testament, the foundation
of Christian generosity and charity is the Sabbath commandment. The
connection has to do with how God frees us from those things that keep
us in bondage. God's way is to intrude into the bondage of our lives,
as we have seen over and over again. One of the things that we are
most in bondage to is our stuff. A friend's grandmother used to say,
"Possessions are their own punishment." Luther wrote in the Large
Catechism, "A god is that to which we look for all good and in which
we find refuge in every time of need." To have a god is nothing else
than to trust in and believe him with our whole heart." Luther also
wrote that, "money. . . is the most common idol on earth." God comes
into our lives and says, "Christ is raised from the dead, your sins
are forgiven, you no longer need to seek the living amongst the dead
or serve the false god of money. Let go, quit living in fear, live in
my abundance."
A friend of mine once said, "I used to give to the poor because I
thought they
could not live without my giving. Now I give because I have learned
that I cannot live without my giving." She had learned that living in
trust rather than fear is freedom. She had learned to live in God's
Sabbath. She had learned that, yes, we serve the poor and serve
justice when we give. But even more than that, she had learned how a
free person lives.
Sample Questions: Have you ever connected the idea of keeping
the Sabbath with generosity? Why are the ideas of worship and rest so
connected to Christian generosity? In what ways do our possessions
possess us?
Permission granted by Centered Life Learning and
Stewardship In the 21st Century, Luther Seminary, for use in
congregations.
Click on the following for other sessions:
Session 1 - SABBATH: GOD'S GRACIOUS INTRUSION AND THE PRINCIPLE OF
TIME WITH GOD
Session 2 - SABBATH: GOD'S GRACIOUS INTRUSION AND THE PRINCIPLE OF
JUSTICE
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