Kingdom Living: Embracing Sabbath as a Core Value
Notes
Transcript
I want to revisit a series that I spoke on two years ago. I trust that many of you will remember this series. I remember when I taught it the first time Amy said this is something we need to here again. It was 2022 that we worked through this. We want to bring this back as one of Bridge of Faith’s core values. We will have several series of messages over the next year that will express our core values. These will not be in any particular order.
We live busy lives. We live in a culture of now. I grew up in a time without access to amazon. I remember my first computer class was in 7th grade. That means I did not touch a computer until 7th grade. We played the Oregon trail and Sim farm.
If you did not know something then you had to get out an encyclopedia and look it up(the google of books) or find someone who would know and ask them.
The only way we knew what toy was coming out was to watch commercials. We then had to go to the store and look for said toy until it hit the shelves. If it was not on the shelves, then you could not look it up and see what store it was in stock at. You went home and came back the next time to see if it was there.
Based on self-reported data, the average person touches their phone 2,617 times per day. The average smartphone user gets between 65 and 80 notifications per day.
According to the latest available data, the average person spends 6 hours and 40 minutes per day on screens connected to the internet.
Teenagers spend 7 hours and 22 minutes per day in front of screens. That equates to 43% of a teen’s waking hours.
Some more interesting things…
American teenagers from lower-income households (<$35,000 annual household income) spend 9 hours and 19 minutes on their screens each day.
That’s 2 hours and 3 minutes more than the 7 hours and 16 minutes averaged by teenagers from higher-income households ($100,000+ annual household income).
However, a whole host of damaging side effects are linked with too much screen time, including:
Sleep deprivation - Blue light interferes with melatonin production and disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm.
Obesity - Data shows a strong association between screen time and obesity in children aged 5 to 17, most likely due to the sedentary nature of viewing a screen.
Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes - In the UK, children aged between 9 and 10 who spend 3+ hours on the screen each day were more likely to show resistance to insulin
Delayed learning - Young children who watch excessive amounts of TV can experience difficulties picking up the language.
In the wider population, limiting social media use to a maximum of 30 minutes each day has been linked with reduced depression and improved well-being.
We are consumers. The system of society as consumers often demands that we have more, own more, buy more, drink more, and do more.
What is Sabbath?
What is Sabbath?
In the Old Testament it was a time from Sundown on Friday till Sundown on Saturday. Exodus 20:9 says you are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work.
In our culture, we have reduced this down to go to church. I would say some have even further broken this down to you don’t go to church you just do something that brings you rest or something you enjoy.
I remember growing up there was a time in my childhood that restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores were closed on Sunday. If you needed gas then you needed to plan ahead before Sunday.
Over 3,000 years Jews in Jerusalem have been striving to keep the Sabbath. What does this mean for a Jew to keep the Sabbath
So the first day of the week was??? Sunday. So labor for six days and then rest on the Sabbath. Again, this would begin at Sundown on Friday night and continue till sundown on Saturday night.
Here is a picture of the market in Jerusalem. You can go to the market and get fresh fruits, vegetables, honey, and produce. Amy and I got the opportunity to go to Israel and the food was amazing.
If you live near the market you have to do all your shopping before Sundown on Friday night. People get off work on Friday and they rush to the market to get what they need. They will prepare all of Saturdays meals in advance before Friday Sundown.
Here is the market on Sabbath or Saturday. Some Jews don’t drive, that would be considered work, Some will walk the neighborhoods but they don’t walk to far because if they do then that would be considered work, they have meals prepared in advance, and at Sundown Friday night they share a meal together as a family eat, sing, and read scripture. Saturday they would then go to the temple and hear the reading of scripture.
This is a little more involved then go to church. Can you imagine what this would look like for you? As I teach this series on the Sabbath, my goal is not to give you a how to guide (the Bible does not really offer this) but to share the meaning in scripture behind the Sabbath. Our hope is that you will start to implement some Sabbath practices.
Example: What if for 6 days a week you social media it up then one day a week you intentionally rest from it and replaced that time with worship. What if you intentionally thought more about a day of rest.
I enjoy working out and so I like to read articles about working out. In all my reading and research, I don’t hardly ever come across an article that says you need to workout 7 days a week. Sure there are some blitz programs for a couple of months that will say this but not many suggest that we should work our bodies for 7 days 365 days a year. The workout articles call for us to rest our bodies.
You can also find this concept of stopping work in mental health articles and doctors suggest it for your overall physical health.
There is something beautiful when we stop the work.
When we stop the hustle and bustle of life.
We stop acting like we are the center of the universe
or
That my work is the center of the universe
My striving in work is keeping everything glued together
Everything will fall apart if I don’t XYZ...
We stop and reflect on God as the center of the world not us.
(Bible project video)
The word Sabbath means...
Sabbath (שַׁבָּת, shabbath):
It means that you STOP or to cease from
A day of complete rest from secular work following six days of labor.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Sabbath
Derivation of a Hebrew word which means “cease” or “desist.” The sabbath was a day (from Friday evening until Saturday evening in Jesus’ time) when all ordinary work stopped. The Scriptures relate that God gave his people the sabbath as an opportunity to serve him, and as a reminder of two great truths in the Bible—creation and redemption.
1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.
2 By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.
3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.
Notice what is not here on the 7th day. Every other day it concludes with
5 God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.
8 God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.
18 to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.
23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.
31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
It is interesting that on the 7th day God rest and we don’t see this evening came and then morning.
3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.
As we see a theme develop that is consistent with the rest of scripture, Shabbath points us to ultimate rest. We see this in Jesus. It also prepares us for eternity in Heaven and points to this eternal rest.
If you remember, we concluded that if God worked and God is good, then we recognize that work is good.
In the same manner, if God rested from his work and God is good, then rest is good.
I trust that less people would argue this fact about rest being good than some might would about work being good.
I would also say that while less would argue about rest being good that many of us struggle more with the concept of rest than the concept of work. That is we struggle to stop or cease work. Again if we stop then the world might fall apart.
There is always something that needs to be done. Vacation can be good because if you get far enough away from the work that needs to be done you are forced to stop and rest. Some may still be improving the vacation property or repairing things in the hotel.
Many here may not be able to take a vacation. You can establish a sabbath rythm at home on a weekly basis.
God is good. God rested and so rest is good.
Two different places in scripture we see the 10 Commandments and two reasons for the Sabbath in both of these.
This is what God did and because God did this you should also do this because that is what God did.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:
9 You are to labor six days and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.
11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.
The reason here in Exodus 20 is the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested
This links us back to Genesis. In Exodus 20, he says God rested on the 7th day and because God rested, then you too should remember the Sabbath and in so doing keep it holy.
Liberation from Slavery
12 Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you.
13 You are to labor six days and do all your work,
14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner who lives within your gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.
15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
The word for rest here is Nuakh
Nuakh [noo’akh]: to rest
It means that you have stopped but now you are settling in to the place where you stopped so that you can be refreshed.
You must stop and after you stop you are to enjoy the place where you stopped.
The reason you are to keep the Sabbath here in Deuteronomy is because you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt. Because the Lord rescued you from slavery you are stop and rest so that your slaves may also rest.
Once you go into the promise land, you are to remember the Sabbath and give everyone in the land a day of rest.
The 7th day is a celebration of liberation from being enslaved to our labor.
This is liberation from Slavery and celebrating liberation from Slavery every 7th day. This is anticipation from a full restoration from slavery or a full liberation.
Quote
Matitiahu Tsevat Israeli Scholar
He cues in on the phrase that is repeated in both Sabbath commands, “the seventh day is a sabbath to Yaweh. In Hebrew it is a Sabbath of Yaweh.” One day out of 7 the Israelite is to renounce dominion over time and recognize God’s dominion over it.
Every 7th day the Israelite renounces his autonomy over time (I own myself) and recognizes God’s dominion over time and himself or herself.
Keeping the Sabbath is an acceptance of the Kingdom and Sovereignty of God.
I don’t want to be a church that just meets on Sunday and then nothing changes. I want the Word of God to change the way we live.
My challenge this week is for you to start to think about the meaning of the Sabbath.
When is the last time you observed the Sabbath?
Friday not complete Sabbath. I was challenged with my worth by not getting work done.
What are some steps you might be able to take to experience more Sabbath?
See if you can plan a time in your week to stop and rest. The purpose of this time is just that a time to stop and rest. Maybe it is not a full day. Maybe it will be an hour. Maybe a half day. Maybe a full day focused on this.
Set some limits on screen time
How might your health, anxiety, and life improve if you took this command seriously?
What if one day a week you could unplug. One day a week you could pause and reflect on what the Lord has done. Sunday change.