Sabbath

Luke 10:38–42 CSB

While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I can remember all the way back to when my first child Ryder was born. I was excited about all the things I was going to do differently than my father. I was going to play catch with him whenever he wanted, teach him how to play guitar so we could jam together, let him stay up as late as he desired and talk in depth with him about his hopes and dreams and be the father that would champion him into those dreams as his cheerleader, his best friend and his source of discernment and direction.

Needless to say I was very young when I had Ryder. Between working a full time job, playing music every weekend and trying to pay rent on a single bedroom at a friend’s house all of those plans I had been so sure would be reality became more and more distant until they eventually just became the optimistic dreams of a fledgling boy. As time went by and I got older and began really pursuing a career in music, I had a friend and fellow bandmate that would often ask me, “Kenny, how you feeling?” And my reply was always “Tired.” He would then go tell the rest of the band, “It’s gonna be a good show tonight y’all, Kenny’s tired again.” My response of “Tired,” was so consistent, that the question of “Kenny, how you feeling?” slowly morphed into, “Kenny, how long have you been tired?” To which my reply became, “How old is Ryder?” When they would tell me his age, I would respond, “That’s how long I’ve been tired.”

Why do I tell you all of this? What’s the point? I would say the point is to show the all too real illustration of how we can turn things, including parenthood, that were once so exciting into demanding tasks, duties that are meant to be beautiful into difficult burdens, commitments that were once such a source of joy into a daily grind of going through the motions, of trying to keep our head above water by attempting to perform in our own strength as father, mother, husband, wife, employer, employee you name it. I ask people pretty consistently how they are doing and the answer I receive 99% of the time is “Busy.” And I can’t help but think back to that young Father exhausted by the worries of the world, and wonder to myself, why? I know that we have all heard stories our entire life about successful people who worked 100 hours per week and burned the midnight oil, but as they might appear successful from worldly standards their inner lives often speak different stories. I don’t have time to go that direction today, but believe me that there are countless stories of families who saw an influx of money and success and as a result saw a breakdown in their family’s spiritual health for generations. That’s not always the case, but might I challenge our society, that instead of raising up our children to have a better life than we did by working harder and providing for them more creature comforts,

What if we took the time to intentionally stop, rest, delight, and worship our God with them every week? This was God’s intention for the sabbath day. To reorient our hearts and minds to the ultimate provider, so we didn’t have to be. Ryder was never the reason I was tired, I was. I was undisciplined, unprepared, and as a result overwhelmed. I was what the Bible calls a fool, or a sluggard or slothful, or a slacker depending on your translation. In Proverbs 20:4 we see this:

Proverbs 20:4 (CSB)

The slacker does not plow during planting season;

at harvest time he looks, and there is nothing.

In this proverb the slacker did not prepare in the correct season. Which can mean they didn’t do the work at all, or it can mean they did the proper work at the improper time. Pastor Lyndale pointed out a few months back, the necessity of being aware of different rhythms needed for different seasons. He rightly told us that there is a season for everything, including preparation. Preparation leads to clarity or discernment or wisdom, helping us know when to act. Notice in our passage Jesus isn’t telling Martha, “Hey don’t prepare.” But rather,

“Don’t miss my presence in all your preparations.” Don’t be so busy that you miss the very thing you were busy for. There is a time for preparation. There is also a time for waiting, a time for rest.

What’s interesting is that in church history there were two views for the deadly sin of sloth. One was laziness, as we think about laziness. Someone that refuses to do anything at all. But there was also a second view that suggested a lack of discipline, a view that they termed “acedia.” Brigid Schulte in her book “Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No one has the Time,” had this to say about the two views, “In the Middle Ages, the sin of sloth had two forms. One was paralysis, the inability to do anything—what we would see as lazy. But the other side was something called acedia—running about frantically. The sense that, ‘There’s no real place I’m going, but by God, I’m making great time getting there.” Like an octopus wearing roller skates. There’s a whole lot of movement happening, just not much progress. To drive home this point I want to quote Kathleen Norris, from her book “Acedia & Me,” she says, “It is a state of restlessness, of not living in the present and in also seeing the future as overwhelming. Acedia can invade any vocation where the labor is long and the rewards are slow to appear; such as scientific research, long term marriages, and parenthood. Another sign of acedia is a lack of caring, of being unfeeling about things, whether that be your appearance, hygiene, your relationships, your community's welfare, or the world's welfare and all of this is connected to the hopelessness and vague unease that arises from having too many choices, lacking true commitment, and of being "a slave from within." Norris relates this to forgetfulness about "the one thing needful," time in God’s presence. This is what Jesus is saying in our text, we worry and upset ourselves about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Remembering who God is and resting in that.

Guys, let’s face it, we’re bad at rest. We say that we rest, but even in our “free” time we often fill it with meaningless work, busyness and obligations. Or we lay on the couch all day and zone out on the TV or our phone. Hear me, when I say that I am not shaming, I am there with you. This message is so powerful to me because it convicts my heart so deeply. But we are living out the enemy’s dream for our lives as Christians. We’re tired, spiritually asleep, ineffective to the counter cultural life Jesus has called us to live in His strength, not our own. We have at one time or another been Martha in this passage. Shouting,

“Jesus, look at all the work I am doing. I never seem to get ahead and even people that I thought cared for me are too busy sitting at your feet to notice how hard I am struggling over here.”

Jesus says calmly, “I have offered you the same invitation that I have offered them, you are the one that chooses to labor, to fill your time with busyness instead of me. You are living as a slacker and a fool. I’ve called you to life by asking you to lay yours down. Only one thing is necessary, remember God, and rest, for he’s in your presence.”

Pastor and Author John Mark Comer says that the Sabbath is an ancient practice and an invitation for us to

STOP. REST. DELIGHT. WORSHIP. This sermon is not a call for us to avoid work. God desires that we work, he desires that we cultivate the surrounding soil. God says that work is good. This is a call to observe the sabbath day and keep it holy. This is the fourth commandment in the Decalogue or Ten Commandments. The first commands us to honor God by having no other gods before him, be that, work, our schedule or any other good thing that we turn into a God thing, the second to not construct anything in our lives that we would worship over him, the third to set apart his name as the name above all names, not profaning it, and the next commandment is to keep the Sabbath day holy, right before commandments 5-10 where he tells us what we must do as his children in this world. So before we can do anything, we must first remember who God is and then set aside a whole day every week to STOP, REST, DELIGHT, and WORSHIP him, allowing the next 6 days to be lived in observance of his commandments, but through an overflow of the joy filled day he allows us to experience every sabbath. Every Sabbath we are invited to live out Psalm 16:11.

Psalm 16:11 CSB

11 You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.

I am currently leading a group this year, through 12 Spiritual disciplines as laid out in Richard Foster’s book “A Celebration of Discipline.” Foster says in his book, “In contemporary society our adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness” and “manyness,” he will rest satisfied.” What if we were to see that the things that keep us from faithfully living as apprentices of the Lord Jesus were not the big noticeable desires we all struggle with, but rather they were the things that often go unnoticed and unchecked such as, busyness, distraction and hurry?

Sabbath is a discipline. And like any discipline it will require us to direct our hearts, not follow them. We’ve often heard Lyndale speak of preparing his body for running a marathon. It meant he had to perform duties through disciplines, not through desires. And as duty leads to discipline, discipline always yields delight. It is important to note that sin never works through duty or discipline, but always through weakness. We never say, “I’m gonna go lose my temper on my children. I don’t really want to, but I know its best.” We do it when we feel overwhelmed. When we haven’t taken time to STOP, REST, DELIGHT and WORSHIP who God is. James, the brother of our Lord, mentions this in his letter,

James 4:1 CSB

1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?

James is saying our passions and desires have not been put in their proper place in light of who we are in Christ. We can’t properly walk out who we are, because we haven’t properly honored him for who he is.

The Sabbath was made for our good. We see throughout the Bible men and women seeking first their desires and leaning on their own understanding, when we have been commanded to seek first the kingdom, and to lean not on our own understanding, but to follow the Lord in all our ways so that he might make our paths straight. The Sabbath is not just coming to church and grabbing a bite afterwards and then planning for the week ahead by catching up on chores and shopping etc.

The Sabbath is an intentional stop, an admission as a child of the most high that no matter how many days we work we will never get it all done, but we trust you Father. We trust that you know what’s best for us. We trust that if you command us to stop, to lay down our need to get things done and achieve, that you will bless that time. And he does! He blesses that time with real rest, not the fake rest we get from laying down and filling our mind with junk food of the world, but real rest received by laying down and filling our mind with the feast that is God’s presence.

In his book “A Hunger for God,” John Piper says that, “If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” The Sabbath is a day of preparing ourselves to make room for the great. The word shabbat or sabbath literally means STOP, REST, DELIGHT and WORSHIP.

Mark 2:27 CSB

27 Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

Jesus tells the Pharisees who were questioning his observation of the holy day, that the sabbath was meant to be a blessing to those who observe it. Not a burden.

So if the sabbath is meant to be a blessing, and literally means to STOP, REST, DELIGHT and WORSHIP what does that look like?

First in light of knowing that Jesus is lord over sabbath, we must pick a day to sabbath. The Christian sabbath is historically on Sundays because it is the time when we all worship together. But that doesn’t work for everyone all the time. The Jews do it from Friday at sun down to Saturday at sun down. If your family has a different schedule that changes often, do what works for you and change it accordingly. If you can’t do a whole day, do a half day. Start where you are, not where you want to be. The Sabbath is intended to be a blessing, not a burden. My family and I do Saturday night to Sunday night.

STOP - In order to intentionally stop we have a beginning and ending ritual. One of our kids will begin by lighting a candle, I will have prepared Scripture for them to read and then we will pray over everyone, thanking God for the time together and then have a meal which Miss Kathi prepares beforehand. There are several sabbath resources that you can find online that can help with many more ideas. I recommend John Mark Comer’s ministry “Practicing the Way.” We end our sabbath day in much the same way as we began.

REST - In order to intentionally rest it is important to define and know what this word means. Kathi and I began with a different definition which caused some hiccups early on, but we now know that rest is not the absence of activity but that rest is the absence of reactivity. This allows us to spend time at the Master’s feet by preparing beforehand. We go grocery shopping for the meals, clean the house, take care of anything online we need to take care of because everyone turns off and turns in their devices, and then we each pick something specific we are going to give up for the day. Mine is always school because there is always so much school work to do in this season, while the other family members pick something different each time. As an example, Kathi gives up things that need to be done around our home, Maggie loves to be on top of things, she at times gives up the need to be in control, Phoenix loves sports so he has given up playing them, Ryder loves working out, so he will lay that down, and sabbath is a day of the week that we are allowed sweets, so at times the children will give up that gift for the day. There are countless things we can give up, but not for the sake of giving them up, but rather, for the sake of acknowledging the God who provides them. That they are nothing apart from our relationship to him. Pick some things you know need to get done on the sabbath. Lay them down. Rest.

DELIGHT - In order to intentionally delight, we each pick something that we will do so that we may most fully enjoy God. This is often, napping, reading, going for a walk. And as I mentioned earlier Sabbath is our day where we can have sweets, so we will have ice cream or cookies or some kind of dessert after our meal. It allows these incredible flavors to not just terminate on themselves. Meaning we don’t look at our meals and our treats as beautiful things, as much as we look at the God who has given them to us as beautiful, and the things as gifts from the giver of all good things. He is the source of their beauty. We delight in our God.

WORSHIP - St. Augustine of Hippo says that to sing is to pray twice. And Pastor Caleb has spoken many times about how when we sing here as a body on Sunday mornings we get a glimpse of the great multitude from every nation singing in Revelation 7 that we will join. We are preparing ourselves for eternity. That is what the sabbath is. A day set apart each week to prepare for our eternal rest as mentioned in Hebrews 4. We come to church and worship with our church family, but the act of intentionally stopping and resting and delighting is also an act of worship. When we make time to sit at His feet our hearts will be tuned to Him. We will be as members of the body under the head. We will abide in the true vine, and bear fruit. This allows our worship to go with us from His presence. A.W. Tozer says it like this,

28  If you cannot worship the Lord in the midst of your responsibilities on Monday, it is not very likely that you were worshiping on Sunday!

A. W. Tozer

Whatever Happened to Worship? (20th century)

A. W. Tozer

Worship is what we were created for. We are all worshipping something. And what fills our minds when we are in secret almost certainly commands our allegiance in public. God has commanded that we STOP, REST, DELIGHT, and WORSHIP. God has commanded that we sabbath. Timothy Keller who is a spiritual Jedi has said, “Because the world is full of ugly things, we need the sabbath to feed our soul with beauty.” God gives us this beautiful gift once a week to reorient our minds in a disorienting world onto a truth that is higher, deeper, and wider than whatever is being screamed by society in our current cultural moment. When I find my heart struggling with belief, I tell myself that the word of God has been tested by millions over thousands of years, has never been debunked and has often converted the ones trying to disprove it. God’s word is alive and active. We don’t read it as much as it reads us. Jesus Christ lived a perfect and sinless life in order to die a guilty sinner’s death, not because God needed him to, but because we did. He mercifully invites us to remember that we have been saved by his atoning work on the cross. ((DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURE))

Luke 10:41–42 ESV

41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

We have been given a gracious invitation to lay down all the things we think are important and good, to hand over all of our worries and the many things that upset us for the only thing necessary. So let us be like Mary in this text and make the right choice. May we STOP, REST, DELIGHT and WORSHIP the one who laid down his life, that we might truly live, for he has promised that it will not be taken away from us.

LET’S PRAY.