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January 21, 2005
Retreat
Here is a selection from AFE that reflects on rest as metaphor for salvation, or perhaps a benefit of salvation, which we experience so intermittantly now, but which is a wonderful promise for the future. This poem was inspired by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's wonderful Cedar Campus, which was so enjoyable to retreat to with friends as a college student. And I spent a long time in college in various incarnations. You don't have to be a college student to go, though. Check out their Family Camps and Valentine's Day Weekends and cabin rentals. I highly recommend it.
This poem is a bit hard to read with its repetition of "gentle," but I think that that works to emphasize the point. Of course, in a gentle way.
cedar reflection
gentle waves lapping on the beach
breeze rushing gentle through the trees
gentle blue meets grey of choppy swells
at the horizon of my view
and friends stand gentle at my side
with gentle, glad or thoughtful talk
or silence rich and meaningful
and God is near
and whispers healing, soothing, gentle words
as praises rise for blessing and care so evident
and hearts are filled with joy and rest and gentle love
and long to stay the hand of time
prolong the sabbath,
end the journey
and savor more this sample of that final rest
but beyond the horizon of my view
beyond the ships that ply the lake
and bear witness to a greater world
are countless lives that never taste the Rest at all
and gentle words and gentle sights and sounds
drown in the curse of fallen life
The God of all wisdom has commanded one day in six to be a Sabbath rest. For the people of Israel there were various other sabbaths to be kept. God even commanded that the land be rested every seventh year, set apart unto the Lord, with no crops to be planted that year.
By the time of Jesus' advent into the world, the Jewish leaders had added numerous legalistic laws onto the Sabbath. Jesus, the Rest-giver came to liberate us from the burden of Law, proclaiming that, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Jesus, however, came not to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. He did not come to do away with the Sabbath but to restore it as the gracious gift of loving God freely given, unattached to any strings of legalistic works. And much more than that he provided for us a greater Rest that is to come.
It is this Rest that is the hope and joy of every Christian and is experienced whenever His children gather in community to glorify and enjoy God. These retreats for now, however, are merely a foretaste, there is still of work to be done, for there are those who know nothing of the Rest at all, for whom life drags on in weary hopelessness. It is out of love for these that we must return again and again from times of refreshment to bring others into the gentle love of God.
| By jackdas | 6:55 PM
