Finding Faith and God’s Kingdom through Sabbath Rest

Genesis 1.1-2.3, Romans 8.18-25, Matthew 6.25-end

Of the few people who read these blog posts, I sincerely hope that very few indeed will ever have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. The anxieties of the affluent world are more likely to focus on precisely what the food contains and how it has been grown, than on whether it is sufficient to keep body and soul together for one more day. But although Jesus is addressing victims of absolute poverty in this gospel about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, even we cossetted and rich recipients of his word will have our own legitimate anxieties about our lives and dependents. And the word of the Good News is the same to us as it was to Saint Matthew’s first readers: have faith, and seek the Kingdom of God.

What kind of faith, and in what kind of God? It seems self-evident that God is not an over-fussy micro-manager, constantly interfering in individual lives and timelines. ‘Bruce Almighty’ memorably showed the pitfalls of this approach, when Jim Carrey briefly took over the work of God, answered everyone’s prayers with a resounding Yes, and let them all win the lottery, giving them about 17 cents each. On the whole I prefer to think of God as being our creator and sustainer, as having established the laws of physics, and as giving us the Holy Spirit to inspire and equip us for carrying out God’s work in the world.

There are such things, of course, as bad men, bad governments and bad harvests, but when we pray for the sick and the hungry we do so in the knowledge that the creation is good, and that the earth is amply abundant in providing for all our needs, and that we humans have the knowledge and the moral sense to answer most of them, as long as we keep our appetite for greed under strict control. Faith in God is therefore first and foremost faith in a loving and generous God who knows our necessities before we ask, and enables us to be co-workers with Christ in establishing God’s rule on earth as it is in heaven.

Precisely what kind of Kingdom this might be, and how it might be brought about so that no one will ever starve again or go cold in winter, is indicated in Genesis 1, the Bible’s first creation story, Here we are reminded that all humanity (that’s *all* humanity, not just the rich and the young and the beautiful) have been made in ‘the image and likeness of God’ and are therefore blessed with the most profound value and dignity, which it is our duty to honour and protect. This sets down clearly our first and foremost moral obligation, and indicates what Kingdom Christ would govern.

We are further tasked with the responsibility of ‘dominion and stewardship’ as the world’s ‘master-species’: our concerns do not end with other humans; we must care for the whole shebang. How we are to be equipped for this role is suggested by the reference to the ‘Sabbath day of rest’ which God himself institutes on the seventh day of the story. We likewise – so the priestly authors of this chapter would insist – must take our Sabbath rest in God if we are to be renewed through prayer, and fellowship with our loved ones, and made ready to play our part in seeking the Kingdom. We will also find our anxiety levels plummeting, and that’s good news for anyone.