Sabbath Rest

Exodus 20:8-11

Main Point: The Sabbath is God’s blessing to be enjoyed, turning our hearts to him each week.

Introduction:

A. Good morning! My name is Marcus Rodriguez, I am the minister of mobilization here at Houston’s First. I’m thankful to pastor Kike for the invitation to preach today. Pastor Kike will be back with us again next Sunday.

B. Today, we will continue our series called, “Verano de Fiesta.” I hope it has been a summer of celebration for you. Personally, I see my daughters work so hard during the school year, that it has been a blessing to see them rest.

C. This summer, we have been looking at the 10 commandments and considering the principles for life. We are saved by grace through our faith in Christ. The law of God shows us how much we needed a Savior.

D. And now that we are in Christ, new creation, we desire to obey God’s ways. His was are good and a blessing to be applied to our lives.

E. So, today we are going to look at the fourth command. The Sabbath. Today’s sermon is called, The Principle of Rest.

F. This is a topic that has really convicted me since I do not always feel like I have a Sabbath rhythm. It feels like many of my Saturdays or Sundays are filled with physical rest, but not always resting with the Lord. Even more so, I’ve noticed recently that I walk into my daughter’s bedroom and see them sitting on the floor reading their bibles, writing prayers, really taking time to be with the Lord.

G. I want to show you this rug that I bought for my daughters while on a trip to Nepal, they put them in their room and created a space to be with the Lord.

H. Seeing my daughter’s doing this, I’ve been asking myself, what about me? As their dad, how am I practicing the Sabbath? It’s been such a busy season of carrying for the family, but I ask myself how am I modeling what I hope for my children to do.

Teach Sabbath:

A. The word, “Sabbath”, in Hebrew Shabbat, means to cease, to stop. Literally, to rest from work. It is different from the other commands given at Mt. Sinai. Because:

a. The Sabbath existed before the commandments were given. In Genesis 2:2-3, at the creation of the world, it says,

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. - Ge 2:2–3.

b. God created the world, on the 6th day God created mankind. On the 7th day, God stopped working. He rested from his work. God blessed the 7th day and set it apart, made it holy. God wasn’t resting from the work of creating the Word because He was tired. God rested to enjoy all that He had created. I don’t know if you have ever thought of this before, but can you imagine what it might have been like for Adam and Eve to be created on the 6th day and literally walk into a day that God blessed and made holy. Imagine what it was like to have walked into perfect REST with God. Rest was enjoying the peace and presence of God. Physically, their bodies were not tired. They didn’t have sleepless nights, Bills to worry about.

c. Even more, God gave them WORK to do! Care for the garden and name the animals. They were productive. Sometimes we think of work as a result of The Fall in Genesis 3, but Adam and Even worked and rested with God before sin entered the world.

d. The Sabbath commandment is different because it is a gift from God since the time of Adam and Eve. The gift is to rest from work and enjoy God.

e. Well, that didn’t last very long because in Genesis 3, man sinned against God and the world changed forever. Work continued but it would be by the “sweat of their brow.”

f. But the continuation of the Sabbath was a weekly gift. Rest from work and rest with God.

g. Let’s continue by reading our passage for today in Exodus 20:8-11

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.

Ex 20:8–11.

Transition: As we continue to look at the Sabbath, we’ll look at three purposes for the Sabbath and 3 obstacles that keep us from the Sabbath.

The Sabbath: 3 Purposes, 3 Obstacles, 3 Questions

1.) For Remembrance (Exodus 20:8, Genesis 2:2-3, Dt. 5:15)

a. The first purpose that we will see today: The Sabbath was given to remember. I want to give you two things we remember when we practice the Sabbath, but first the obstacle.

o The Obstacle: We are a forgetful people. We can be a people who quickly forget the power of God and the goodness of God. Unfortunately, we can be a people that lose a sense of awe and wonder before God and focus our eyes and our attention on the problems around us. Day to day, we find ourselves living within a broken and fallen world, impacted by sin. God is at work redeeming, but every one of us go through seasons of God amnesia. But, just like in the Garden of Eden, a day of rest is necessary to REMEMBER. A day of rest helps us to lift our eyes off of the problems and lift our eyes upward. Your problems might be massive, but a day of rest reminds you that your God is mighty.

o Now, 2 things we remember:

§ We remember God, the Creator. We already looked at that in Genesis 2. We remember God’s power! He’s creator; you are not. Because we remember, we come before God in worship.

§ We remember God, the Redeemer. In Deuteronomy 5:15, Moses gives another reason for keeping the Sabbath. He says,

15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Dt 5:15.

§ Moses tells the Israelites, “Do you remember what it was like as a slave in Egypt? Remember the oppression, the work that was grinding us into the ground? God stretched out his hand and saved us. Redeemed us. Keep the day of rest and remember your deliverance.” Having a “stopping” day each week to celebrate was a way to remember, “We’re not in Egypt anymore.”

§ “The Israelites didn’t remember creation or the exodus as a motivation to keep the Sabbath. Rather, they observed the Sabbath to remember God’s work of creation and deliverance.” And at times, they were forgetful. In Exodus 32, they’re making a golden calf as an idol…

§ Illustration: There is a worship song in English that I’ve heard recently. It’s called, “What He’s Done.” (Hecho Esta) So many worship songs are the reminder that we need. I recently read a story and saw a video of an elderly woman with Alzeimer’s. Late stage and sadly suffering from the memory loss that comes. She sat at a table with her husband and son. Her son asked her do you know who this is? She said, “No!” Her son said, “Do you know me?” She said, “well, I see you a lot but I don’t know you.” Her son said, “Do you know who Jesus is?” You see her eyes light up and she says, “Oh yes! I know Jesus Christ because he’s my savior.”

§ Question: What in your life causes you to forget what matters most? Your Creator, Redeemer, and Savior?

2.) For Rest (Exodus 20:11, 31:17, Hebrews 4:10)

A. The second purpose we will look at today. Sabbath was given for our rest.

B. Verse 11 says that God blessed the Sabbath. A blessing is something that is GIVEN to another person. The Sabbath day is GIVEN as a blessing. The Sabbath was always meant to be a blessing, not a burden.

C. Exodus 31 says,

17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”

D. I never really considered that God “was refreshed.” It means to breathe freely. To take a deep breath. God created, He rested and took a deep breath and enjoyed the work of his hands.

E. The Obstacle: Our perspective of rest is wrong. We might say, “I don’t have time to rest. I have bills to pay, needs that have to be met.” Or, maybe it is our own ambition and desire to be successful. We say, “I’ll work harder than everyone else.” Rest can be something that we see as a luxury we don’t need. There even might be some pride involved. “Rest! Ha. Rest is for the weak. I don’t need rest. I’m not lazy.” But rest is not the same thing as laziness.

F. Illustration: My wife and I grew up very differently. She grew up on some land in the countryside and she has told me stories about how MOST Saturdays, her parents would wake her up early on a Saturday morning to work outside. She worked in the garden …sometimes she would wake up to the sound of the vacuum cleaner in her room. She has a very strong work ethic. She can get things done. I, on the other hand, grew up waking up on Saturday morning to eat a bowl of cocoa puffs and watch cartoons for half the morning… :D

G. But, our perspective changes when we understand that mankind was created and entered into a place of rest with the Lord. And from that place of rest, they were given work to go do. To be fruitful.

H. We still work from a place of rest today. It is why we sleep and hopefully wake up refreshed and ready to work and be fruitful.

I. It is why we take a sabbath. From a place of resting with the Lord we are able to then go out and work. From resting with the Lord we can go and do the things he has called us to do.

J. It’s the same truth that Jesus spoke about when he said, “I am the vine. You are the branches. If anyone abide in me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5)

K. Illustration: Semi-Circle example: Have you seen a clock that has a pendulum inside? The pendulum swings back and forth in rhythm. We must also discover a rhythm of work and rest. I can look like this. We rest. From a place of rest we swing to the other side. We work, but we weren’t made to stay there. If we stay there, we eventually find ourselves striving, tired and weary. We were created to come back, be with the Lord and be refreshed.

L. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Mt 11:28.

M. Finding a rhythm of rest and work is how we say, “I’m not god.”

Question: What needs to change in order to find a rhythm of rest and work?

3.) The third purpose of Sabbath is to delight in the presence of God. (Exodus 20:11, Isaiah 58:13-14, Mark 2:27-28)

a. The Sabbath was given to enjoy/delight in the presence of God. Verse 11 says that the God made the Sabbath holy. It was “set apart.” What is holy is where God’s presence dwells, just like the tabernacle in the Old Testament.

b. Isaiah 58:13-14; If you call the Sabbath a delight…you will see how delightful it is to be with me.

c. But the pharisees did a good job of messing up the Sabbath command. What was meant to be a blessing, the religious leaders turned into a burden. The Sabbath became about following rules, checking the list of requirements, threats of punishment, and less about the people resting and enjoying God’s presence.

d. Jesus was controversial to the religious leaders. On one occasion on the sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were hungry and picked grain in a field. On another sabbath day, Jesus healed a man’s hand and cast out demons. The religious leaders accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath, which was also not true. Jesus attended the synagogue on the sabbath.

e. But Jesus said in Mark 2:27-28.

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mk 2:27–28.

f. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man. It was a blessing for man to practice. The religious leaders had it backward, for them, man was created to fulfill the sabbath.

g. But Jesus elevated our understanding of Sabbath. He said, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” In other words, Jesus Christ is ultimately where we find our rest. Because of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of sin and enter relationship with God and enjoy his presence now and forever.

h. The Obstacle: Now here’s the obstacle for us today. Our lives can be filled with distractions. Our lives can be filled with so much noise! So many things can be a distraction in our lives. Even enjoyable things like sports can move from entertainment to identity.

a. One distraction that we’re facing today…our phones. Did you know that on average a person touches their phone OVER 2,000 times per day. That’s typing, scrolling, swiping. The average person checks their phone between 75-200 times per day. If your phone isn’t in your pocket, you start to panic a bit. Our phone usage is unique for us today and can have an impact on how we sit still and enjoy being with Jesus.

b. The disciples didn’t have the distraction of a phone. But, I’m sure they had other distractions. Maybe for you, your phone isn’t your distraction, but it might be something else. Anxiousness, worry—Distractions come in many forms. For Martha, it was busyness that prevented her from sitting with Jesus.

i. You cannot separate the sabbath from being with Jesus. To sabbath is to be with Jesus.

j. Isaiah 58:13-14; If you call the Sabbath a delight…you will see how delightful it is to be with me.

Question: Is Sabbath more about rules or relationship with? Is Sabbath more about rules or enjoying God’s rest?

Make it Practical: I’m not going tell you what you should not do. Some want to get down to, “Don’t watch TV. Don’t go to a birthday party. You better take a nap on Sundays. Don’t feed the dog because that’s work.  But, I do want to recommend what you should do…

- Make sabbath about worship more than rules.

- Set aside time for Sabbath rest. This is an act of faith.

- Align to God’s rhythm of rest and work.

- Surrender the distractions.

- Be an example to the next generation.

Ending:

Augustine Quote: Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.

One day, we will enjoy being with the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ, forever.

Closing Prayer:

Lord, we come before you today praising you. For you are mighty creator and our deliverer. You have blessed us with a sabbath day each week. We want to rest with you and enjoy your blessing and provision because you know exactly what we need. Now, help us to honor you by resting with you each week. Turn our eyes upward, to see how great you are. We thank you for Jesus Christ, our savior where we find rest for our souls. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.