Winter Retreat 2024 | Sabbath

Sabbath | Day 1

Genesis 1:31–2:3 ESV

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Sabbath. Sabbath in our culture has lost it’s meaning. When we hear the word Sabbath we think of the Lord’s or we think Sunday. The word conjures images of a calendar rather than images of rest.

Sabbath is the Lord’s Day, but not in a way of defining when a week ends or begins. Sabbath is the Lord’s Day because He rested on this day. Literally the day when God took a day for Himself.

So what is Sabbath? Sabbath is the unforced rhythm of grace God gives us as a means to rest, a means to breath, a way for ourselves to be restored. Not just in the sense of physically being rested, but rest for both our bodies and our soul.

Sabbath is a spiritual discipline, where the discipline requires us to slow down and take a moment or two.

For us in the modern day we tend to look over Sabbath as either unwanted or unneeded. We either, at best, see it as an Old Testament law that doesn’t apply anymore or, at worst, a practice that we do not need in our modern lives. We are either ignorant to our own exhaustion or arrogant to our own abilities.

Think for a moment and write down what comes to mind when you think of the word Sabbath.

lines for response

How tired have you been in the past few months? Have you felt like you have been busy but get nothing done? Why? Take a moment and think about why you may feel like this. Does your family also seem like it feels this way?

Lines for response

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Why Sabbath?

The Problem - We are a people who do not know how to slow down. We survive on the fast pace of life. We Hurry. We Hurry through life.

What is Hurry?

Hurry is a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness. (REOH)

Hurry is the death of a fulfilling walk with Christ.

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Hurry steals the rest Jesus offers us in a life of following Him.

Let’s take an inventory really quick read through these symptoms of a hurried life and ask if you may have some of these?

1. Irritability — You get mad, frustrated, or just annoyed way too easily. Little, normal things irk you.

2. Hypersensitivity — All it takes is a minor comment to hurt your feelings, a little turn of events to throw you into an emotional funk and ruin your day. Minor things quickly escalate to major emotional events.

3. Restlessness — When you actually do try to slow down and rest, you can't relax. You give Sabbath a try, and you hate it. You read Scripture but find it boring. You have quiet time with God but can't focus your mind.

4. Workaholism (or just nonstop activity) — You just don't know when to stop. Or worse, you can't stop.

5. Emotional numbness — You just don't have the capacity to feel another's pain. Or your own pain for that matter. Empathy is a rare feeling for you. You just don't have the time for it. You live in this kind of constant fugue.

6. Out-of-order priorities — You feel disconnected from your identity and calling. You're always getting sucked into the tyranny of the urgent, not the important. Your life is reactive, not proactive.

7. Lack of care for your body — You don’t have time for the basics: eight hours of sleep a night; daily exercise; healthy, home-cooked food; minimal stimulate margin. You gain weight. Get sick multiple times a year. Regularly wake up tired. Don't sleep well.

8. Escapist behaviors —When we're too tired to do what's actually life giving for our souls, we each tum to our distraction of choice: overeating, binge-watching Netflix, browsing social media, surfing the web, mindless TikTok.

9. Slippage of spiritual disciplines — When you get over busy, the things that are truly life giving for your soul are the first to go rather than your first go to-such as a quiet time in the morning, Scripture, prayer, Sabbath, worship on Sunday, a meal with your community, and so on.

10. Isolation -You feel disconnected from God, others, and your own soul. On those rare times when you actually stop to pray, you're so stressed and distracted that your mind can't settle down long enough to enjoy the Father's company.

Same with your friends: when you're with them, you're also with your phone or a million miles away in your mind, running down the to-do list. And even when you're alone, you come face to face with the void that is your soul and immediately run back to the familiar groove of busyness and digital distraction. (REOH)

Is this any of this you? Good news.

Matthew 11:29–30 ESV

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Christ offers us life a part from hurry, a part from the daily grind of this world.

He is offering us rest, not just good sleep but soul restoring rest.

Take a few moments and think, what things cause me to hurry? What things that are of no real importance taking me away from the one who will give me true rest. Make a list of them.

Lines for response

Take a few mins and pray to finish up. Pray for the Lord to give you fresh eyes to His goodness this weekend. Pray He would show you makes you hurry in this life. Pray for a rest that is lasting. Pray that you will rest in His creation this weekend.

Sabbath | Day 2