THE CREATION OF REST

God’s final act of the creation story was the creation of rest.

And while all the work of the other days was “good,” this seventh day was designated “holy.” This unlikely conclusion to the creation story emphasized the nature of the world God had made, His intention for human life, and God’s nature as Creator.

God demonstrated the absence of fear and anxiety by this practice of rest, and He declared such an attitude and posture holy. When we launch a new project or operation, our instinct is to check on its progress and ensure its continuity. Sometimes, this is necessary; often, it says more about our state of mind. In contrast, when the work of creation was done, God rested. “God did not show up to do more. God absented God’s self from the office. God did not come back to check on creation in anxiety to be sure it was all working. . . . The world is an anxiety-free one because the creator is anxiety-free and publicly exhibits that freedom from anxiety by not checking things out. . . . God rests, confident, serene, at peace. God’s rest, moreover, bestows [restfulness] on creatureliness.”* If it was not already there in the essential goodness of creation itself, God instilled an anxiety-free, stress-reducing, fear-rejecting rhythm into the nature of our world. This would be the rationale for the Sabbath commandment given to humanity at Mt. Sinai (see Exodus 20:8–11). At that time, it offered the recently enslaved Hebrews a different rhythm to their lives than the perpetual work of survival that had been forced upon them in Egypt. And it still invites us to live in the harmonies and relationships that God intended for our lives and our world.

* Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 29, 30.