The Shadow

Below is the text from this week's Bible class curriculum that I have been preparing at our church. We are currently engaged in a congregation-wide study that ties together the sermons and all of our adult classes (including junior and senior high). We are basing the study loosely on Darryl Tippens' recent book Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life. Each week, I prepare the Bible class curriculum and the teachers meet on Wednesday night to discuss it together.

Each teacher has the freedom to shape the material for his audience, but we all commit to reach the same point: a challenge to engage in a concrete activity during the week. Each class breaks into small groups at the end, and class participants commit to call one another during the week and ask about the weekly challenge. This week's focus is "Refilling," part two of a two-week focus on rest. Last week we focused on "Decluttering" and asked people to carve out a two-hour block of time and get away from the clutter of life. This week we are challenging them to carve out the same two hours, but use that time to give attention to God.

David Hunter, our preacher, is teaching on Sabbath in his sermon; my class is meant to compliment his lesson. Last week we were getting away from something; this week we are going to be with someone. With that long introduction behind us, here are the notes I gave our teachers:

(NB: Thanks to my good friend, Luke Tallon, for starting my thought in this direction. See his post about his new daughter's name, Avra.)


What comes to mind when you think of the word “shadow”?

Often the word has negative connotations: things lurk in the shadows, hiding from the light, waiting to pounce on us. Shadows are tucked into dark corners where one sneaks to avoid the light. The biblical authors utilize this imagery. To be in God’s presence is to be bathed in pure light that chases away all darkness, all shadow (see Job 12:22; 1 John 1:5-7; Rev 21:23-25). Everything is exposed; nothing remains hidden.
Sometimes resting in God’s presence is like being washed in light. Our souls are revealed; the darkness therein is driven back. We feel enlightened and illumined.

Are you a person who prefers light and airy spaces, or dark and cozy ones?
What type of mood does most church architecture set? Light or dark? How does that affect your worship?
In which type of setting do you feel closer to God? Why?

Maybe you’ll experience the light of God’s presence this week during your rest time: you’ll come back filled with light. I want to offer another image, however, a different way of understanding “shadows,” that may appeal to those who prefer the dark, cozy places.

Psalm 91 reads, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. They will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Rather than being a den of darkness, the shadow is a place of protection. In the shadow, one is sheltered, covered, and shielded from the “terror of the night” and the “pestilence that stalks in the darkness.” The shadow is a place one can rest, a refuge from the arrows of life. And once protected, those in the shadow can thrive. Under the shadow of her wing, the mother hen cares for her young and nurtures them to maturity. God longs to shelter you there (Luke 13:34), to protect you and nourish you in his shadow. May we find rest and joy there; may we rejoice with the psalmist, “I sing in the shadow of your wings” (63:7).

This week, we are going to rest with a purpose. We won’t simply be taking a break; we’ll be engaging in sacred idleness. We’re not merely stepping back from the world; we’re fleeing to the shadow of God’s wings to find protection and nurture. We’re emptying our schedules to be filled by his presence.