The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church, and the World

by Marva J. Dawn

Why is it so hard to serve God these days? Church workers suffer from low morale, while Christians of all stripes struggle to find their way in a culture fixated on sexuality, violence, and wealth. In Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (1989) Marva Dawn introduced the vital Sabbath aspects of resting, ceasing, feasting, and embracing. Now, in The Sense of the Call, she expands these into a way of life for serving God and the Kingdom every single day of the week.

A Sabbath way of life, Dawn asserts, consists of resting in the Kingdom's grace, ceasing by grace those attitudes and actions that hinder the Kingdom, feasting so as to radiate the grace-full splendor of the Kingdom, and embracing the Kingdom's gracious purposes. To this end Dawn teaches skills such as learning to rest in prayer, saying no to busyness, enjoying one's body as God's temple, and embracing the cost of living as a Christian disciple.

Both frank and compassionate, The Sense of the Call will guide Christian servants into a more restful, joy-full life of trust in God.

Genres: Theology, Spirituality, Christianity, Christian Living, Faith

327 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2006

About the author

Marva J. Dawn is an American Christian theologian, author, musician and educator, associated with the parachurch organization "Christians Equipped for Ministry" in Vancouver, Washington. She also serves as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dawn is generally perceived as a Lutheran evangelical.

Reviews

[Michelle Raybourn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book at L’Abri! This was a great book on principles of Sabbath (and it certainly wasn’t just the day).

The authors vulnerability in her faith is a comfort and her quotations are wide ranging.

I did skip one chapter but the book was 300 pages, so I give myself grace there. Marva did also advise to skip a chapter if it didn’t seem applicable.

The chapter on saying yes and no felt particularly helpful, honest, challenging, and straight forward.

[Abbey Dupuy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, and I wanted it to be useful…written for people (like me?) who labor for the Church—whose Sundays are devoted to helping others keep their Sabbath well. We work hard on Sundays, and yet we still need Sabbath as much as anyone else. But she writes mostly about herself, and not in the way that invites others to see themselves in the reflecting pool of her shared experience. Just…about herself. That felt disappointing.

Also, I was frustrated by the constant use of secondary sources in the footnotes. If someone is going to quote the Desert Fathers or Bonhoeffer or Saint Benedict, I’d much prefer they’d found the original quote from a primary source instead of just referring so frequently to books that curate and filter those quotations.

I can’t recommend it, and I’m sorry about that. The book I thought it was going to be is a book that’s very much needed by modern ministers. This just isn’t it, at least not for me.

[Rev. Val Ohle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a serious hate-love (in that order) relationship with this book. I nearly stopped reading at the end of the first chapter. My side note margins are not very kind. I'm glad I kept going. There is so much good in this if you weed out all the unnecessary rhetoric and (as a friend I turned to for understanding one section called it) attempts to wax poetic. Dawn has so much to teach and teaches so very much, but this is not, in my opinion, written for anyone but the well-trained seminarians. Had it been more straightforward, more universal in who would be able to read and therefore learn and gain from it, I might have given it a higher rating.

All that said, my prayer and hope is to employ what she has to teach in this book in my own life and in the lives of those I touch.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marva Dawn was once described as a "Renaissance Woman" and I have always agreed with that description of what she brought to the body of Christ. This work is another example of someone who read widely and thought deeply.

Probing the contours of spirituality, particularly for those in ministry, Dawn elaborated on a number of key elements that influence our thinking and motivation. She quoted extensively from a wide assortment of writers to weave together various rich traditions of the Christian faith.

The work is divided thematically around the central motifs of resting, ceasing, feasting and embracing. Each of these delve into a mentality of Sabbath instead of uniquely focusing on Sabbath day observance. For example, she expounded on how Sabbath thinking allows us to cease work at the end of the day and rest in the awareness that this is ultimately God's work and He will not fail to perfect it.

There is something liberating in a spirituality that places intimacy over action. The spiritual habits only carry value to the extent that make us theo-centric in our daily lives. Dawn used a lot of her personal story (physical sufferings which were substantial, dealing with deadlines and limitations, etc.) to create a sense of transparency. These anecdotal insights added a human texture to the book that I found very appealing.

Over all, readers will be faced with questions at the end of each chapter that draw out more reflection. Certainly, the contents of the book are predisposed to contemplative reading. Thus, this was part of my abiding time each morning as I journaled, reflected on Scripture and pursued that place of rest in God.

[Freddy Lam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many great gems but also can become too long-winded and lose its audience. But the framework of ceasing, feasting, etc. and the key of revitalizing, and two other re- for others through worship and recapture the kingdomReign of the church is a challenge we need to hear lest we drift from one place to another. Sabbath, solitude and silence becomes the counter narrative to the restless and spectacular church.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I began with such hope and expectation ended with disappointment and disinterest. She is too self-referential. There is something to be said about the pastor or author not making herself the hero of the story! Yet, I am also reading a book by Barbara Brown Taylor that is also very much centered on the author and her actions and thoughts. It’s just better.

[Noah Schumacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Wordy at times but well worth reading every page. This is primarily for those serving in ministry. Dawn does an amazing job illustrating what a Sabbath life entails and how to practically live it out and lead others in doing the same. I highly recommend it.

[Amy Jacobsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to read. There was nothing super compelling in it. I found it to be outdated in language and tone. It lacked a compelling call to action.

[Sagely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually being a pastor is hard work. Sometimes, it becomes much more than hard. It's then that I need a book, a reminder of what it is--of Who it is that called me into this work. I need a book that reminds me why this call makes sense.

Marva Dawn's The Sense of the Call is not quite that book. When I stumbled on it among the boxes of books bequeathed me by a retiring pastor, I thought, "Hey, maybe this is just what I need to read." But only a chapter or two in, and already I could see that in TSC Dawn was doing something different.

I'm still not quite sure what it is that TSC is doing. Whatever it is, there are points that I like it. I've dogeared a few pages, lifted out snatches for leading in prayer or even in sermons on a Sunday morning. But for the most part, the message of TSC gets lost in needlessly complicated grammar and an encyclopedic style.

Take, for instance, TSC's oft-repeated centering (thesis?) statement:

God's Kingdom reclaims us, revitalizes us, and renews us and thus reigns through us before others, on behalf of others, sometimes in spite of others, and always with others.

That is one--count it, one--sentence. It's not quite the first paragraph of Ephesians, but it certainly carries the same syntactical spirit. It's too twisty to hold in the mind all at once. It's the kind of sentence you get lost in. With the various repetitions, you might imagine that it's a Baptist-style alliterative mantra. But the terms fall too technical, too arhythmic to sit in your mouth well.

Don't get me wrong. There's good stuff being said here. But it gets bulldozed by poor editorial choices.

That, basically, is a rap sheet for the whole book. This sentence is more or less symptomatic of the Dawn's writing throughout the book. It's long and circuitous enough that it's hard to know how all the pieces hold together, how they're supposed to relate to one another.

For me, it reflects what above I called an "encyclopedic style." TSC tries to say everything that even maybe should be said about every topic. It feels like its trying to cover all its bases, all the time. This may be a good approach if you're writing a thesis you'll need to defend before a committee. But it doesn't make for clear pastoral writing. The backdoor wars derail attention to the main point.

I'm glad I made it through TSC. I took away some great stuff. But I'm not certain if what I received was Dawn's goal in writing TSC.

Maybe this is a book that needs a second or third reading to really show its true gift.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dawn is a woman from whom I have much to learn: she has a deep faith, a profound humility, and a sharp intellect. She's read deep and she's read wide and she's thought about the Sabbath a lot. For all of of those things I'm grateful. It's enjoyable to sit at her feet, hear her tell stories, and recount wisdom and verses from poets and theologians of all stripes. There's hardly a topic Dawn doesn't cover in "The Sense of a Call." But that's ultimately a weakness in the book as well.

I love hearing her wax eloquent on all varieties of topics, but often the book feels more like a junk drawer than a knife block. I would still recommend it, though. Dawn is a wise companion, and those are always good to walk alongside.

[Anna Brotherson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had been recommended the author's earlier book ("Keeping the Sabbath Wholly") by a couple of people, but decided to try this one first. I found the author's line of thought impossible to follow. It was like a string of unrelated thoughts - although good, it was too difficult to hold onto the communicative thread. After ploughing through most of the first chapter, I skipped to chapter 2 in hope that it would improve. It didn't. I couldn't go on. Disappointing.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an important read for those in leadership in the church - at any level! It's so tempting for me to think that ministry is up to me, and this often fuels a frantic, busy mindset. Yet the truth is that God is the one who ministers through me, and this empowers me to be able to truly rest and say "yes" and "no" with conviction, to advance the Kingdom. A must-read for church leaders!

[Jennifer Layte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me much longer to get through than I anticipated, but I think it's an important read, especially for people in Christian religious work. I vacillated between feeling inspired and guilty by Dawn's ideas of what living a 'Sabbath way of life' really looks like. Her book is very thorough and insightful. I suspect I'll be referring back to it in future.

[April]

for spring '09 VOM

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to others. It's very practical and I know I need to read it again and again.

[Carl Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book on ministry work. Dealt well with the issue of avoiding burnout through Sabbath rest and allowing God to lead you rather than trying to take on everything.