"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Genesis 2:2-3
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Association for Theological Education and
director of the Institute for Global Engagement at World Vision.
At SPU, Dearborn helps to shape the ways in which the University knits
together academics and Christian faith. Among other things,
he leads the Christian Faith Exploration (CFE) program, providing students
with a wide variety of opportunities for worship, study of Scripture, and
service to Seattle and the world.
Dearborn and his wife, SPU Assistant Professor of Theology Kerry Dearborn,
have three daughters and live in Shoreline.
Dean of the Chapel
Tim Dearborn had a national reputation as a scholar, pastor and
author when he came to Seattle Pacific University in 1999. He had served as
pastor of missions at Seattle's University Presbyterian Church, and was the
founding director of the Seattle
Recovering an Ancient Approach to Time Management in Our High-Tech Era
In 21st Century America, time is our great foe. The cries, "I'm stressed
out, burned out, overscheduled and overcommitted," resound around us.
We have the most sophisticated technologies in history to help us save time,
manage time, make
time, keep time, and avoid losing or wasting time. Yet in spite of being
surrounded by
labor-saving devices, we're working harder and longer than ever. We have
more toys to enrich
our leisure but no time to enjoy them. We have the most elaborate kitchens
in the world, but
use only the refrigerator and microwave, preferring to graze like animals
rather than dine like
families. In the Third World, our fast food restaurants -- called "American
kitchens" -- are the
art nouveau decorating urban landscapes.
Into this frenzied modern madness, an ancient approach to time stands out as
an urgently needed,
utterly refreshing alternative. For the past year at Seattle Pacific
University, we've explored what it means to "keep the Sabbath," and to
cultivate a "Sabbath culture" on campus.
The Sabbath is God's gift to God's people to protect us against trusting our
own effort as the key to present
survival and future provision. For one day out of every seven days, and one
year out of every seven years, all of creation was to enjoy a sabbatical.
Sabbaticals were not only for professors, but for all people, including rich
and poor, slaves and free; and for all of creation, including animals and
fields.
Repeatedly throughout the Scripture God commanded Israel to keep the
Sabbath. Each time it was linked to a warning against idolatry, for at the
heart of the Sabbath is not merely managing time, but guarding our heart and
soul. God responds to the failure to keep the Sabbath with a vehemence
appropriate for idolatry. Leviticus 26:34-35 warned that
Israel will experience a year in exile for every year it failed to give the
land its Sabbath rest. If Israel didn't obey, God would force the sabbatical
by sending Israel into captivity!
There's obviously something serious here. We are created in the image of the
God who rested on the seventh day. Woven into our humanity, and into our
stewardship of the earth, is the need to rest. Encouraged by President
Eaton, SPU students, faculty, deans and administrators have
explored many dimensions of the Sabbath that are pertinent for us
today. Here are just a few:
Exposing the Illusion of Time Management
Scripture presents us with a unique theology of time. Time is like manna.
God will give us enough for today, but only one day at a time.
One reason why our efforts at time management are so chronically frustrating
is because time is fundamentally outside our control. We don't know the
length of our life, let alone the events of the next moment. The Sabbath
builds a weekly rhythm of reminder into our lives, reminding us that God is
the Lord of time and we're not.
Keeping the Sabbath is similar to tithing. We give away more time than we
can afford to, but in so doing, all of our time is consecrated to God's
service. The Sabbath centers our trust in God, rather than in our inevitably
insufficient efforts to manage time.
It is a day devoted to the worship and enjoyment of the Creator and God's
Creation, rather than our struggles with our own creations.
Therefore, the Sabbath is a day to cease from work for worship and
celebration.
Enjoying the Productivity of Rest
Jewish theologians believe that the creation of rest was God's last act of
creativity. For, in
Jewish thought, rest is not merely the absence of work -- it is the fullness
of "shalom." Rest
is peace, intimacy and well-being. When God "made rest," he gave Creation an
immensely
good gift.
Rest, menuha, is the refreshing presence of joy, harmony and
contentment. Our willingness
to rest reminds us who we really are. It restores our identity and worth.
We are not merely
laborers. We are creatures in God's image, loved and redeemed in Christ.
It's for this reason, C.S. Lewis muses, that our play is more like heaven
than our work. The
Sabbath rhythm confronts our idolatrous trust in our own work, just as
tithing checks our
idolatry of money. Both free us to be openhanded, generous and more playful.
For at least one
day a week we are released to delight in the goodness and wholeness of God
and God's creation,
rather than struggle to hold our lives together by our own effort.
Therefore, the Sabbath is a day for restoration.
Entering into Relational Rather Than Chronological Time
We are all too familiar with chronology (chronos), the time we can measure
and monitor. We note
the passing of time in moments and events, hastening or lamenting time's
movement.
There is another kind of time talked about in the Bible, however:
kairos. This is time
experienced relationally, rather than sequentially. Kairos is time
as an eternal moment,
a divine appointment, a dynamic encounter.
It recognizes that the fruitfulness of our life is more appropriately
measured by the quality
of our relationships than by the amount of activities we can cram into our
moments.
For six days we are often seduced into defining our worth by our works. The
Sabbath reminds us that our worth is given to us by God. We
belong to God, and by the Spirit of Christ we belong to one another. For
Jewish families, the Sabbath is a day of feasting on good food and
delighting in good relationships. Even the poorest family will scrimp and
save so that the Sabbath meal will be the best of the week. Seated as guests
at every Sabbath table will be strangers, aliens and those with no place to
go.
Therefore, the Sabbath is a day to enjoy intimate relationships.
Leading a Rhythmic Rather Than a Balanced Life
Time management is frustrating because we try to balance what cannot be
balanced. We seek
simultaneously to squeeze in time to excel in our professions, our family,
our church, our home
décor, our recreation and our spiritual growth. Some things are
inevitably dropped in this
juggling frenzy, and often it's our children, our marriage, our health, our
delight in
prayer -- dimensions of life too dear to drop.
The Sabbath centers life. It's the emotional midpoint, rather than the
beginning or end of the week. For three days we live in anticipation of the
next Sabbath, and for three days we bask in delightful memories.
The secret of Sabbath time is to build into every seven days a rhythm that
nourishes wholeness. We are
invited to live life for one week, rather than by days or epochs. Rather
than forestalling to the future this week's acts of love, prayer, play,
exercise, intimacy, rest or obedience, we ensure by Sabbath time that all we
need for wholeness occurs during these seven days.
Therefore, the Sabbath is a day to center our entire week.
The poet E.E. Cummings once
observed, "Pity this busy monster manunkind." The Sabbath is God's gift to
us, restoring our dignity and our kindness as people in whom God delights
and who delight in God.
By ceasing to strive, we are reminded that God can be trusted to care for
us. By giving all of creation a day off, we allow the Spirit of God to
restore wholeness to our hearts, our homes and our world.
The Sabbath is indeed God's gift to us, for as Jesus observed, "We were not
made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for us."
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