July 6, 2025
The late Walter Brueggemann, a quite brilliant Old Testament scholar, wrote this:
Like the ancient prophets, we are dispatched back to the good work entrusted to us.
It is the work of peace-making.
It is the work of truth-telling.
It is the work of justice-doing.
It is good work, but it requires our resolve to stay it, even in the face of the forces to the contrary that are sure to prevail for a season.
The faith we carry is not a sprint. But nor is it a marathon. Perhaps we could describe it as a series of brisk walks interspersed with Sabbath rest and down times. The Sabbath rest gives time for regrouping and space to remind ourselves that it’s God’s work we get to participate in. It is his kingdom that is growing even when we can’t see it. Sabbath is also space to help us restore hope. The progress may be slow and in our world there are seasons of apparent loss. Our faith though is not in human progress; it is in the growth of the Kingdom. That can accommodate all kinds of backward steps or ‘failures’ (the death of the Messiah was the greatest ‘failure’ after all!). It is as we restore hope during the Sabbath hours and reorient ourselves afresh to a Heavenly perspective that we can dust ourselves off and face the challenges of another week. And the greatest challenge – to live as a steward of hope, a person of love and kindness and as an image bearer in God’s world.
When news media, the workplace or the world in general tempts you to despair…Do not. The one who bids us to lie down beside still waters also calls us onwards as we work toward a bright future.
1 Corinthians 15 v. 58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
Julian Holdsworth
BSBC Pastor