Sabbath and Worship

Psalm 84 speaks of joyful worship in the house of the Lord. It says “better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” Have you ever thought about they why behind your worship? When you could be a thousand other places, why choose to be here, in this time, in this court, among these people, before God?

When Sabbath was observed, it was a time when the Jewish people would intentionally stop what they were doing and worship God. It wasn’t an obligation or a guilt trip. Worship for the Jewish people came as a gift and a witness and in itself was an of trust in God.

The last verse in this Psalm speaks about trust. It says “O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.” When the Israelites were wandering in the desert after being rescued from the Egyptians, they had to trust that God would lead them and provide for them.

In Numbers 10:33-34, the Israelites are wandering through the desert in search of the promised land. It says the ark of the covenant goes before them to seek out a resting place for them. Did you catch that? God was going ahead to find a place of rest for Israel. Better than Motel 6, God is going ahead and leaving the light on for you, preparing everything so that you can rest in Him.

Swoboda says “Sabbath is a day that God has gone in advance to prepare for us. The lesson Moses learned was that he did not need to worry about when to find rest because God was more concerned with that than he would ever be. God was going ahead and preparing a place of rest for him. Our task, like Moses’s, is to enter what God has already prepared for us.”

Sabbath is a gift that has been prepared ahead of time for you and inviting you to enter. Believe it or not, God cares more about your rest than even you do.”

There is a vulnerability to rest when you think about it. We have all kinds of things to alert us to danger when we are asleep. We lock the doors. We have alarm systems. Maybe we have baby monitors to know when our children need us. Because when we are asleep, we are vulnerable.

Worship happens in a sanctuary because a sanctuary is supposed to be a safe place. And when you are in the presence of God, it is supposed to be a safe place.

How many of you have fallen asleep in church? I remember I used to take this personally, cringing at the thought that I might literally bore you to sleep. Even if that’s the case, if you are asleep in church, then maybe what your soul needs most at this moment is a little Sabbath rest in the house of the Lord.

Sanctuary means a place of refuge and protection. Swoboda says that Sabbath worship is an act of trust in God, a sign that God keeps the world.

I can’t tell you how many Sundays I remember lying on the pews in my mom’s lap looking up at the stained glass windows and being sung to sleep by the cadence of the affirmation of faith and the rising and falling of the hymns. It was a safe place. My mom didn’t scold me to stay awake and pay attention. She just held me and ran her fingers through my hair. The house of God above all else should be a place where we feel at rest.

Worship also comes as a gift and miracle. When we worship, we recognize that not everyone can. We recognize that not everyone has always been allowed into the worship space on equal terms. We recognize that some still have to worship in secret. We recognize that to be able to rise and sing and praise and proclaim and gather together is a gift from God.

Swoboda says in that sense, “worship is a miracle.” He says “From God’s perspective, a worshiping church is a miracle…this congregation is indeed a sign of the mercy of God that is being extended to a world of sinners…God knows all their stories. God sees no Democrats or Republicans, Calvinists or Arminians, Baptists or Pentecostals. God sees children whom he redeemed with the death and resurrection of Christ. He sees people who have at times hurt each other but who have also chosen to forgive one another and who continue to worship together. He see people who would never spend time together in the world of the enemy but who now spend time together because of the work of grace.” Worship is a gift and glimpse of Heaven.

Listen to the joy found in this Psalm. There is an eagerness to worship. A longing of the soul. Heart and flesh singing for joy. Happy are those who live in your house. Happy are those who trust in you. Better is one day in your courts. Better is just one moment with you O God.

Sabbath worship is trust and surrender. Sabbath worship is gift. Sabbath worship is witness.

When we worship, we witness to the rest of the world that there is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God. In Exodus 31:12-13, Moses said to the Israelites “‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”

Observing Sabbath is a sign to all that the Lord is our God. Swoboda says Sabbath has a way of raising questions, of keeping us weird, and maybe that’s a good thing. Swoboda talks about a friend who is not a Christian who once told him the one thing he admired about Christians- “is when people of faith do something that is deeply inconvenient because they believe in it. When someone does something inconvenient in a world that worships convenience, it makes me do a double take.”

Over the years, I have witnessed many worship when it was incredibly inconvenient. Souls who have come to worship when they were in a considerable amount of pain. When they were deep in grief. When their partner had been unfaithful. When they were broke and without work. When they had lost a child. When they had no idea what their next step in life was supposed to look like. When they were caring for their aging parent, or their spouse with Alzheimer’s. When they were depressed and hopeless.

And in those moments in our worship together in the presence of God, the Holy Spirit would begin to pour out and our faces would be beaming. I don’t long for members to be in worship together because I think God is keeping a spiritual scorecard of your attendance. I long for all to worship together because it is like medicine for our souls. When we share Communion. When we pass the peace, sing the songs, and affirm our faith, I want the Spirit of the Living God to fall afresh on you, that you may come and rest in God.

Please also here me say this. I realize there may be those who have the longing to be gathered together but for different reasons are unable to in person. Maybe for you this morning your sanctuary is beside your family. Maybe your body is weary and it is too difficult to make it out of the house. Maybe you find yourself in a hospital or long-term care facility. For those of you who long to be here but find yourselves elsewhere for various reasons, I hope you always know you are loved and missed. More than that, I pray that like the ark of the covenant, that God has gone ahead of you and prepared a place of rest for you, right where you are.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.

In the presence of God, we are truly ourselves. Truth be told, there have been periods of my life in high school and college where my church attendance was pretty spotty. But then I would come home on a weekend and there at church would be the most beautiful welcome. It was like they had just been waiting on me to enter.

In a few moments, you will be invited to come and receive Holy Communion. This is a meal that God has prepared for you. This is a table that all are invited to.

So come this morning and worship. Come and taste and delight in the grace of God. Come and enter Sabbath rest. It’s been waiting for you.