Core Rhythms - Work and Rest

Introduction

Core Rhythms in a Closed System:  Education vs. Inoculation

Praying for Tears

The Context in Culture: Our Cult of Work, Worry and Speed

 Cultural Maladies & Missteps

• Ancient Witness:  Sisyphus, the Absurd Hero
• Contemporary Witness:  Ed, the Ostrich Philosopher

Cultural Remedies & Responses

• Another Rote & “The Voice of the Inside”

The Content in Scripture: Sabbath in Creation and Redemption

“...the Sabbath…”

• Dueling Decalogue:  The 4th Commandment Exodus 20:8-11 vs. Deuteronomy 5:12-15
• The Created Order & Unprecedented Work & Rest

“...If you turn back your foot…your ways...talking idly...”

• Disorderly Conduct
• Jesus & the Sabbath: Centers of Controversy  & the Structure of Confrontation
• Sabbath Smack Talk

The Missional Mandate: The Highest Hedonism

“...your pleasure...your own pleasure...”

“...call the Sabbath a delight...take delight in the Lord..

..the heights of the earth...the heritage of Jacob your father…”

• Far and Near Gods
• God’s Commitment to Joy:  A Divine Curbstomp on Rote
• Our Commitment to Kingdom Pleasures:  Foretastes of the Fullness of Sabbath

Community Meditation Questions

• Are we prone to think about our core rhythms (Scripture, prayer, work and rest,  etc.) in a closed system (limiting the scope of spiritual benefit to ourselves)?  If so, how can we change our perspectives on them in order to bless others (i.e., bring rest to others)?
• How often do we slip into being “Sisyphean” and “Ed-like” over the course of a day, week, season?  How can we provide each other wisdom and accountability to be radically countercultural here? 
• Aside from “just being Jesus,” Christ actually pursued the delight of true work and rest by being organic and organized, in solitude and in community.  Which way do we lean?  Towards work?  Towards rest?  Towards individualism to the detriment of community?   Towards community to the detriment of individual responsibility?  Are we so organic that we’re sloppy and lacking discipline?  Or, are we so organized that we’ve become too rigid to share lives with others? 
• How long are we willing to attempt cultivating a genuine Sabbath life of delighting in work and rest? Recognize the cultural pressure to give up quickly.  Instead, commit to helping one another hunt for Gospel-centered joy, the highest of all hedonisms.