Spiritual Discipline of Sabbath

Intro:

-Name

-position in the church

-thank people for coming

-Spiritual disciplines and why its important. Reap a harvest of peace and

righteousness (Hebrews 12)

About myself... married, father

Growing up on a farm. The reality of working the ground, toil and labour for

our livelihood

In its heighten seasons farm work is demanding and seemingly never

ending

But what I respect about my parents and the way I grew up was that 99%

of the time we did not work on Sundays. Sundays were the day we rested.

The day we Sabbathed. The day we stopped.

We slept in. Mom wouldn’t cook, you were on your own. My parents would

have naps. We would go to church together and worship. We went out for

lunch, we spent time with extended family. We stopped our work.

The word Sabbath in Hebrew is SABBAT, which literally means to stop, to

cease, or to keep.

Since The Very Beginning

“So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was

completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so

he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and

declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work

of creation.” — Genesis 2:1-3 NLT

- The work was finished.

- God Blessed it and made it holy

From the very beginning God himself set the example of working 6 days

and resting 1. He’s woven rest into the very fabric of creation. And in order

to Sabbath we need to get into this rhythm of 6 and 1

I asked this of myself, “if God can rest, why can’t I?” We’re made in the

image of God. Which means we reflect His values, His characteristics, His

personality, His love, etc.

Why can’t you?

Do you really need to study 7 days a week?

Do you really need to work 60 hours a week?

Is work an addiction and a coping mechanism for what’s really going on

inside?

Is your identity found in what you do? Do you not trust God enough to

stop for 1 day?

I grew up on the farm and we planted and harvested 6 days. The work

never ends but its a choice to STOP.

Even on Monday this week I had to choose between working and rest

“You can go and go and go, but eventually your body will say ‘no more’

and shut down. But you have to choose to rest. Sleep and rest are

different.”

We are designed to rest

From Slavery to Learning Sabbath

As we observe in scripture the People of God, the Israelites, had to re-

learn this rhythm of 6 and 1. For ~430 years they spend under the rule and

reign of Pharaoh, stuck in the bondage of slavery to work. Literally worked

24/7

Give some context to the narrative:

- God raised up Moses, he was sent to deliver the Israelites

- Crossed through the Red Sea

- Safely delivered on the other side into the desert

- The desert was in between them and the Land God had promised them

to inherit

Pick it up in Exodus 16 where the Israelites begin to complain to Moses,

“Did the LORD just bring us out here to die?” Things were better in Egypt,

should’ve stayed there, etc.

And God responds with another miracle by literally raining down manna

and quail from the sky in order to provide for them and show that He is the

LORD.

Also, This is where Sabbath is introduced to the People of God. Before

this moment, the practice of Sabbath isn’t actually mentioned. All the way

from Genesis 2 to Exodus 16.

“He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day

of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or

boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.””

Exodus 16:23 NLT

“Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found

no food.”

Exodus 16:27 NLT

“They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why

he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for

two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not

go out to pick up food on the seventh day.””

Exodus 16:29 NLT

Part of the 10 Commandments given in scripture

““Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. but the

seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On

that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you,

your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock,

and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the

heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh

day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it

apart as holy.”

Exodus 20:8, 10-11 NLT

Act of Resisting Slavery

Think about what slavery looks like today.

Mass production of products made available at the convenient click of a

button. Have you ever thought about where it comes from? Who makes it?

Sweat shops, modern day slavery

But also the lie from the world that we have to do more, accomplish more,

accumulate more in order that we be successful or wealthy or to retire

early.

“Can’t stop, won’t stop” “On the grind daily” attitude

Don’t be deceived, that lie seeps into the work of the church too, for those

of us who are in active ministry.

“I’m just working for Jesus. Serving the Lord.”

“Serving people”

“Just dying to myself”

In our desire for people to know Jesus or have a bigger congregation or

better programs in the church can feed into this lie of accumulating and

accomplishment. We give in and compromise our time and energy.

We justify workaholism in the name of God.

But if we are truly to live this life of following Jesus we need to be counter-

cultural by honouring the Sabbath. We best represent Him when we

actively choose and practice Sabbath. People will see Jesus in the way

you rest.

“Sabbath is an act of resistance, a prophetic act over against the

accomplishment and accumulation of our society.”

— John Mark Comer Teaching’s podcast, on the Sabbath E3

Often it comes down to trusting God that the work is done, and the work

to come can wait.

Sadly, the Israelites struggled to receive the LORD’s gift of the Sabbath...

3. Not a Legalistic Thing, It’s God’s Gift to You

Remember that God made this day holy, set apart, and blessed it

For our benefit, reap the blessings

- less stress

- Increased quality of sleep

- Less anxiety long term

- Potentially add years to your lifespan

We as Hybrid church don’t want to come across as tyrants laying the

hammer down, but rather encourage and challenge you to participate in

these spiritual disciplines, because they are for the purpose of reaping a

harvest of righteousness and peace in your life!

And how the Jewish people celebrate the Sabbath

“The traditional Shabbat is portrayed in Jewish liturgy, song, and story as a

day of joy, a sanctuary from travails, and even a foretaste of the perfected

world that will someday be attained.”

As usual, humans like to control things and make extra rules. Pharisees

and teachers of the religious law

“The Rabbis spelled out their understanding of forbidden “labor” in a

complex series of restrictions on productive activities of many sorts. They

also prescribed festive meals and ceremonies for every part of the day.”

39 categories of work that were prohibited.

*The extremes to which the law was exercised because of fear of

disobeying God

“The Rabbis decreed that one not only should avoid forbidden acts but also

must not do anything that (1) resembles a prohibited act or could be

confused with it, (2) is a habit linked with a prohibited act, or (3) usually

leads to performing a prohibited act.”

“the Jewish scholars created thirty-nine separate categories of what “work”

means, and within those thirty-nine categories there are many sub-

categories. So to follow the rule of not working on the Sabbath, there are

literally thousands of sub-rules to follow, including how many steps you can

take, and how many letters you can write on the Sabbath.”

“One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his

disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said

to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the

Sabbath?” Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures

what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into

the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and

broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are

allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to

them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not

people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is

Lord, even over the Sabbath!””

Mark 2:27-28

Mark 2:23-28 NLT

Rebuked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Ironically 7 of Jesus’ miracles

were performed on the Sabbath

“One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the

Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. There was a man

there whose arms and legs were swollen. Jesus asked the Pharisees and

experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the

Sabbath day, or not?” When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the

sick man and healed him and sent him away. Then he turned to them and

said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow

falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” Again they could not

answer.”

Luke 14:1-6 NLT

4. Show trust in God by the way we practice Sabbath

How do we practice sabbath?

There’s a lot of freedom and grace when it comes to practicing this

discipline. Challenging to apply this ancient practice to our modern day.

But we need to be asking ourselves “is this restful and is this worship?”

A day off IS NOT the same as a Sabbath day. A day off to catch up on

things around the house or run errands IS NOT stopping and resting.

“Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found

no food.”

Exodus 16:27 NLT

Depends on your personality, work schedule, what’s accessible in your life

*preparation before, oxymoron or irony of the statement “it takes work to

rest”

*24 hour period, dependant on your work schedule. 6 and 1 rhythm

*depends on your personality

*worship

*celebration

*go out in nature

*time with Jesus

CONCLUSION:

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy

burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach

you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for

your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is

light.””

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

““Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away

with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced

rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep

company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.””

Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

Encourage you to put in the practice of Sabbath. You’ll benefit. You’ll

honour God

Invitation that Jesus gives is deeper than just physical rest. He is the

source of healing