Abstract
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exod. 20:8). Sure, you may have set it aside, but do you ever wonder what you should or should not do for those twelve—or is it twenty-four hours? Is it a day for leisure? Does playing hard until you are exhausted count? What of serving at youth group on Sunday? Does that negate the command to rest? Does Sabbath have to be on Sunday? Is it an opportunity for students to catch up on sleep or homework on this one day that has nothing but church lined up? If these are questions you or people around you have wrestled with, be ready to be challenged, enlightened, and released as you read this text.
Addressing those who have “worked tirelessly in the hope that young people may know themselves as God’s beloved children,” Nathan T. Stucky asks the probing question, “We’ve been willing to work tirelessly on behalf of young people. But are we willing to rest on their behalf as well?” (7). He opines that American families and institutions such as schools and churches have propagated by example a narrative that drives young people to stress, guilt, and exhaustion—and notions of resting just exacerbate this. This book stems from his experiences growing up and later working in rural farming communities, six years of youth ministry, and his current experiences as an educator and director of the Farminary Project at Princeton Theological Seminary. Stucky proposes that this problematic paradigm is built on a misplaced identity and mistaken views of work and rest. True Sabbath rest, he writes, is based on a radical trust in God as the only source of validation and identity. Work, productivity, busyness, and other forms of human effort can become false idols that mask our dependency on God. He invites us to observe the Sabbath as a gift of grace.
As part of his exploration, Stucky draws from what he calls “four movements of practical theology” or lived reality. They include: 1) his own and other people’s experiences with rest, 2) disciplines that include “interpersonal neurobiology”—an approach to human development, 3) a qualitative study with high school seniors, and 4) the study of Scripture and theologians such as Karl Barth. He concludes his discourse with this practical advice: weed out taskmaster “false gods” regularly in order to celebrate the Sabbath in the context of community.
Following a foreword by Kenda Creasy Dean, Stucky uses the introduction and first chapter to lay out the cultural contexts that drive youth to seek encouragement, affirmation, and love through hard work and an expectation to be “exceptional” (2). He illustrates this with the stories of two young people who are caught in webs of ceaseless activities and nonstop texting, and two adults (one being himself) tormented by spurious paradigms of Sabbath. He concludes, “Our hope…is not in Sabbath practice, but rather that through the Sabbath we may encounter a living and gracious God who offers us rest in the first place” (24).
In the second chapter, Stucky explores the science of adolescent development nested in American culture and draws broadly from interpersonal neurobiology scholar Daniel Siegel. Siegel debunks some prevailing views on adolescence as “an obstacle to overcome” that is beset by raging hormones and an irresponsible pursuit of independence from parents. Rather, he identifies the potential inherent in their “emotional spark, social engagement, novelty-seeking and creative exploration.” However, these assets are double-edged swords that can either support or undermine healthy development. Siegel proposes seven practices for healthy development and integration broadly categorized as dedicated time for reflection and focus, connection with significant others and with nature, and the practice of balanced rest and play.
Stucky highlights lack of integration as a major obstacle to rest. Housed in adolescents’ developing prefrontal cortex, integration is when distinct parts of life such as being present in the moment on the one hand, and owning a smartphone on the other, harmoniously work together while each maintains its individual place. In the third chapter are examples of how lack of integration, among other factors, creates anxiety and stress over rest. Stucky’s affection for young people clearly comes through as he writes about his study of 39 high school seniors, exploring their understanding and daily experiences with notions of rest. They reported anxiety and stress over the real or imagined need to constantly appear busy, so that attempts to rest were far from relaxing. Setting the stage for the fourth and fifth chapters, he concludes: What would it look like for them to know that their lives depend on a loving and gracious God [rather] than on their own efforts, or that their own efforts find their proper basis and foundation in God’s love, grace, and rest? It might look like Sabbath…(98).
Stucky turns to the New Testament in Chapter 5, elucidating how by his eternal sacrifice, Jesus fulfills the law and declares it a response, not a precondition to faith. He repeatedly healed the powerless on the Sabbath, and directly confronted the Pharisees’ misuse of power and authority to enforce the law. Jesus invites the weary and heavy burdened to take his yoke of new life received by sheer grace (Matt. 11:25-30). In the final chapter, Stucky posits the practical ideal of the Sabbath as a regular, identity-rooting encounter, experienced in celebration and worship in the context of community. This is a foretaste of that eternal rest for which we long.
This text is a deeply inspiring discourse that exalts God as the reason and the giver of the gift of rest. It is a much-needed elixir that unjumbles our oft-convoluted interpretation of the Sabbath. Hardly will one find teaching on Sabbath that specifically focuses on young people, while also offering numerous “Aha” moments for adults. Culture often determines what rest means to Christians, ranging from conservative contexts that legalistically prescribe the dos-and-don’ts, to more contemporary busyness of play, service, and endless activities and entertainment on the Sabbath.
This book is a gift to those who especially see Sabbath rest as transactional, only earned after a hard week of sweat and toil. It invites us to receive this free gift from God who experientially offered it to Adam prior to any mandates. Moreover, it cautions youth workers not to measure their worth by how busy they can keep their charges. To them, Stucky might rephrase Exod. 20:10b to read, “On [the Sabbath] you shall not create busywork, neither you, nor your own family (that just yearns for you to be present), nor male or female youth workers and volunteers who report to you, nor any contractors you invite to entertain your youth-group.” Stop trying to validate your ministry through toil and labor, and model how to let go.
Stucky anchors his propositions to lived experiences, sound theology, biological and social science research. However, to reap the full benefit of his research, reflections and theology, it requires keeping a finger on the extensive endnotes that accompany each chapter. They contain important details, some of which might have been better served more accessibly in the main text.
Stucky favors a Positive Youth Development perspective (see http://www.search-institute.org) that views young people as potential rather than problems. He describes the subjects of his study as “high functioning, articulate, self-disciplined, delightful young people who regularly say they feel connected to God” (97), without diminishing the gaps and challenges they encounter with resting well. This echoes God’s own pattern of naming young people’s potential and honoring them before leading them to great exploits. At his command, his messengers addressed a young, cowering Gideon as “mighty warrior” (Judg. 6: 12), anointed young David as king (1 Sam. 16), and called a young unmarried virgin of low status “highly favored” (Lk. 1:28) prior to calling them into God’s service.
This book is written from a decidedly American cultural context which is understandable, but means that it does not fully accommodate a growing global readership of youth ministers who sorely need to hear from Stucky. The Scriptural narratives referenced draw from communal and collectivist Near Eastern cultures which would have had more relational similarities with today’s Majority World (see how Scott Moreau defines this term in Contextualizing the Faith: A Holistic Approach, Baker Academic, 2018) than with the Western context which he addresses. Some acknowledgment of such cultural differences might help alleviate guilt by Western readers for “not getting it right.” In some Majority World contexts, daylong communal celebrations, worship, story-telling, and breaking bread on the Sabbath are commonplace, and might offer contemporary models from which to learn what works and what should be tempered. Reciprocally, there are some redemptive aspects of Western practices from which the Majority World can learn. Jesus modeled the best of both worlds. In one Gospel account, he called his disciples to “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mk 6:31) with the intention of resting in community. He modeled the need for quiet “alone time” later, after their rest time was interrupted by a large crowd, whom he fed. He sent his disciples away so that he could be by himself in prayer (Mk 6:46). Majority World youth might need encouragement to, “In the stillness, remember God’s provision for God’s people” (173), while the West needs to learn to “Sabbath with others…and with God” (156). The eternal Sabbath that Stucky refers to is indeed a consummation of the very best of “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev. 7:9).
The book is well-researched and contains several appendices, an index, and an extensive bibliography. Overall, this text is liberating, and would do well in the hands of not only youth ministers, but all who are in ministry. Professors and students of education ministries and spiritual formation will likely resonate with some stories written in these pages. Stucky’s message of Sabbath rest is universal, crossing generational, cultural, and geographical boundaries. “Our existence doesn’t begin with what we can accomplish, and it won’t end by what we can achieve. We are here because God made us, because God loves us, and because God calls us his own” (177).