Disciples Sabbath

God created the Sabbath, blessed it, and commanded it. Jesus kept the Sabbath.. and invites others into it as Lord of the Sabbath. If God created it for us, blessed, commanded it, and kept it himself... maybe we need it? How can we do this well... and lead others into it?

Arabelle and James Graduating

Kids are all starting to transition towards graduation. Arabelle graduates and “walks” this coming Monday. James pretty soon, but pretty sure he’s been “done” all semester. And all the kids in some ways, summer vacation are going from all the load of sports and schools and homework and study for finals… to Summer Vacation.

Any adults looking forward to summer vacation? We don’t have that. Some of y’all have something called retirement, maybe that counts? But even then, for many, the grind continues, it just looks different.

Summer is still filled with work and busy, it’s just hotter.

Margin

Margin is the space between your load and your limits.

How is that going? Does that gap exist?

Folks wired like me have a tendency to see that space as something to fill. Add a new thing, a new project, a new activity, a new responsibility or task… or catch-up on all the other tasks.

Or, of course, I can alternatively run smashing into my limit, crash. When that happens in a small way at the end of the day I can just call that bedtime. When that happens in a big way, we call that burnout… Or breakdown… or meltdown.

And those are all commonplace, not in high pressure jobs, in our students, our coworkers, our churches and ourselves.

What if God had a plan for that? What if he knew that humans would tend to in do this to themselves and to each other?

What would that look like?

In the beginning....

Sabbath Commands

In the very beginning, after he made the cosmos, the earth, the animals and, on the 6th day, male and female in his image… the God who knows when to say “enough” created one more thing in the way that He stopped.

Genesis 2:2–3 ESV

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.

God creates the Sabbath.

Then, he teaches the escaping people of Israel, leading them out of Egypt, and teaching them Sabbath day and Sabbath practice through the manna from heaven. Then on Mount Sinai he commands them in the Big 10:

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 the heavens and the 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.

Remember the Sabbath, for humans are endlessly forgetful.

And here is the only spiritual discipline that makes it into the Top 10 Words. Literally written in stone, by the finger of God, placed inside the Ark of the Covenant while all the other rules were on a scroll and set beside the ark.

And, this is the only command with a reason given, an explanation why, and it is rooted in Creation. God blessed it and made it holy.

And in the law itself what is the rule, how do you “keep” it?

Just… Stop. The word Sabbath itself is a transliteration of the Hebrew word “Shabat” whose root is “Stop” or “Cease”. So every Jewish person, every time they hear “Sabbath” they hear “Stoppy time”. No confusion about the heart of it.

Stop. Rest. Keep it Holy.

Before there is a temple, a tabernacle, before there is a place to find God, there is a time. Accessible to all, available to all, invited into.

Rest and Worship.

And here it is rooted in Creation. God rested. No matter how busy you are, if God could prioritize Sabbath… maybe you could make space.

There’s another command. A retelling in Deuteronomy to the new generation of the 10 Commandments. It is largely the same wording, but with a different reason, rooted in freedom from slavery.

Deut 5:12-15

Deuteronomy 5:15 ESV

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.

Because you are free, keep the Sabbath day. Rooted in salvation and freedom.

But the “keeping” command is the same. Remember, or in Deuteronomy “Observe.” And how? By Stopping / Ceasing… Resting… and by keeping it holy to God. Worship. Rest and Worship.

They had many years of getting this very wrong, of profaning the Sabbath in all kinds of ways. But post-Exile, and with long practice by the time of Jesus’ day, the Jewish people had a very serious and sacred practice of Sabbath.

Sabbath in Jesus’ Day

When three stars appeared in the evening sky, a community official would ascend a rooftop and sound a trumpet six times to signal the start of Sabbath (stop fieldwork, labor in town, light the Sabbath lamp, etc….) The household would gather together for an evening meal with wine.

On Sabbath they would attend synagogue prayers before eating, but they would eat the finest available food, prepared on Friday and kept warm without touching the oven.

And the day itself would include time of prayer and public worship. So… church, basically.

So much of the time when we talk about the Pharisees and everything they got wrong about the Sabbath and all the “don’ts” they made up to put details around what it meant to “cease” from work.

But let’s take a moment to appreciate how much they got right. Every week of Jesus’ life, preparation for a day of rest, and a day focused on Garden Rest, set apart, kept holy with a Holy God.

Jesus Sabbath Habit

Luke 4:16 ESV

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

We could take this for granted, but God rested on the Sabbath day at creation… and Jesus, God incarnate, rested and kept holy the Sabbath every day of his life. Showed us just how to do it right.

Now, this could also include Jesus standing up to read, but it at the very least refers to his custom of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath.

Jesus’ Yoke - Rest

We have been talking about Jesus’ yoke, his mantle of teaching, his Way, his practice… and disciples take on their Master’s yoke, their Way. They do as they do.

And this is a critically important part of Jesus’ Way, a weekly rhythm that Jesus baked into the Universe and then practiced himself.

How connected is this to Jesus’ yoke? This is one of my favorites, listen to these same words from Matthew:

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.”

Immediately after, it is no accident, Jesus teaches about how to rightly Sabbath.

Matthew 12:1–8 ESV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

So here is Jesus’ one sentence theology of the Sabbath. Mark captures a little extra piece, I think explaining more to his Roman audience.

Mark 2:27 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

I think the Pharisees mostly needed to hear the second clause. It isn’t about contorting yourself, piling burdens upon yourself, planting clothes so you can change on the way to reset the rule so you’re not technically traveling. It certainly isn’t about condemning someone else because they untied a knot that couldn’t be untied with only one hand. That was a rule. You have gone way off track. Man wasn’t made for the Sabbath.

But our world, and maybe just my heart, has the opposite problem. The Sabbath was made for us. A gift created for us, blessed for us, given to us.

Disciples of Jesus keep Jesus habits and Jesus commands. And this is both, from the Lord of the Sabbath.

Disciples Sabbath.

And they Sabbath like Jesus did, as he taught and modeled. As a gift made for us, as it was always meant to be, and just as it was commanded: It is rest and worship.

I Command You to Enjoy the Weekend!

Isn’t it wild that the Sabbath is even something God has to command?

It’s like commanding us to eat ice cream, to have a good steak, to do your favorite thing. God carves out for us, for humanity, space and time for our souls, for rest, and above for time with him.

Knowing that we need it. Ultimately knowing that we are made to need it, will ultimately never be satisfied until we find our rest in him.

God invents the weekend. In slavery, do you think they got off one day in 7? That’s a nope. But in God’s economy, everyone does. Yes, you, yes, your kids, yes, your employees or servants. Everybody. Down to the ox and donkey and guest.

He commands us to it because he knows the human tendency to fill our lives with frenetic activity, endless consumption, ceaseless striving, bottomless consumerism, appetite for more of everything but God.

And we need to rest on purpose. Worship on purpose. Focus again and again, every week.

What day is Sabbath?

A note on when Sabbath is.

I believe and will teach that God blessed the day itself as it says in Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy and that there remains blessing there to the day itself.

I believe theologically it is important that the week builds towards the Sabbath, Sabbath rest and worship is the goal, it is the foretaste of heaven. I believe that Jesus kept the 7th day Sabbath as did his disciples and the early church.

I believe the church changed the primary day of worship over the coming centuries in a tangled mix of pagan influence, anti-Semitism, with a very light sprinkling of “Lord’s Day” theology on top.

But let me present two options to you:

Here is a human who gets the day right. Saturday Sabbath. Even goes to church on the Sabbath, which is related to but not the same as Sabbath keeping. But everything else about his Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon… indistinguishable from any other day. Or at least from any other day off.

Here is a human who honors the Sabbath, takes it seriously. Yes, church is part of it, but the whole day is dedicated to the Lord, holy to the Lord, and he faithfully enters into Rest and Worship. But he does it on Sunday, because he was taught that it is the Lord’s Day in honor of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead.

Now I think the second guy is missing out on God’s blessing on the Day.

But the first guy is missing out on God’s blessing even more. He is missing the rhythm AND missing the day for the real.

Just as, on the opposite extreme, the Pharisees are missing the blessing of the day.

And all too often, I am the first guy. Life is full and busy and it so easily spills into my Friday night, my Sabbath afternoon. The heart of busy-ness, hurry, can spill right into my Sabbath worship in service here. It doesn’t have to… it’s a heart thing… and it’s a preparation thing. Prioritizing the preparation before-hand so that the Sabbath is unhurried and full of shalom.

So… how do we do this well? Like Jesus? As Created and Commanded and Practiced by Jesus?

Rest AND Worship

So here is the simple decision grid to run activities through. If it fails either, it isn’t Sabbath.

Now there is allowance for the emergencies of life even in the Levitical law. If your ox falls in a ditch, get it out even though that might not be restful.

But, the next day, fill the ditch or fix the fence. Make intentional preparations to prioritize God’s Sabbath gift to you.

Is it Rest AND Worship?

That answer will look different for different folks. Some in this room may well find it restful and life giving and a sweet time of worship to go for a run, cover a couple light miles. For most that would be torturous work.

This is why codified rules fall apart… and God gives us the Spirit to guide and instruct as we walk out his commands in his footsteps.

It is an ongoing conversation for you and the Spirit, you and the family… is this bringing rest, joy, delight? Is this holy, is it God time, is it worship?

If that last one feels like it shuts down all the fun things, I would guess your view of God time is way too small. Consider the God of feasts, saving the best for for Sabbath’s, creating the best wine, the God who invented fun and joy and adrenaline and sex and humor and right heart of everything you love.

That doesn’t just baptize everything you already want to do. It’s a heart question for each of you. Does a 3 hour Roblox session give rest and delight in God’s presence? Not for me, not so much.

Does grilling burgers and watching a great movie together as a family full my heart with restorative joy and have me shouting God’s praises for my amazing family?! Yes and amen!!!

Is it rest and is it worship?

This is different and far richer than just a day off. Eugene Peterson calls a “day off” an illegitimate child of the Sabbath. Actually, he uses a less nice word.

I love this list from Comer reflecting on the difference between the two. Which one describes your Sabbath better… or your life?

Day off vs Sabbath

Restfulness vs. Restlessness

Margin vs. Business

Slowness vs. Hurry

Quiet vs. Noise

Deep relationship vs. Isolation

Time alone vs. Crowds

Delight vs. Distraction

Enjoyment vs. Envy

Clarity vs. Confusion

Gratitude vs. Greed

Contentment vs. Discontentment

Trust vs. Worry

Love vs. Anger and Angst

Joy vs. Melancholy and Sadness

Peace vs. Anxiety

Working from love vs. for love

Work as contribution vs. work for accumulation and accomplishment

This is about enjoying the gift God gave you. This is about caring well for your soul, living life well. With God’s margin. He carved it out for you. He made the space.

Disciples Sabbath

Be a disciple of Jesus. Sabbath. Prepare well for it, so that you have the space to rest well and worship freely.

And as you make disciples of Jesus, what a beautiful and winning and loving thing to model for folks and teach them the way of. They need it. It is the way in which they were created, the rhythm God put down in Creation.

Help them see rest. Encourage them to prioritize it. It doesn’t come for free.

Help them see worship. It’s bigger than our praise set, though it includes that too. Help them learn to worship in all kinds of ways, in the midst of it all.

And as in all the commands of Jesus, I suspect as we teach it to others, we will see more deeply, more clearly into the gift ourselves.

Let us continue to rest and worship together. Amen.