Untitled Sermon (5)

Introduction

While companies are posting record profits, Americans are working harder than ever before for a nominal wage increase. The national unemployment rate has been cut in half since 2010 and the economy is projected to grow by almost 50% between 2010 and 2020. Despite this positive outlook, employees are overworked, burned out, and dissatisfied. A recent study my firm conducted, in partnership with Kronos, found that burnout is responsible for up to half of all employee attrition. Employees are working more hours for no additional pay and as a result, they are searching for new jobs. Nearly all employers surveyed agree that improving retention is a critical priority yet many aren’t investing in solving the problem, even though it costs thousands of dollars to replace each employee lost.

Employee productivity has skyrocketed between 2000 and 2014, yet wages and benefits have been stagnant. The Economic Policy Institute shows that productivity increased by 21.6%, yet wages grew by only 1.8% during this time period. Employees are spending more of their time doing work but their compensation hasn’t adjusted to reflect this increase in productivity. The legacy nine-to-five workday no longer exists either, and Gallup estimates that it is now 47 hours for a full-time salaried worker. Technology, especially smartphones and wearables, has greatly expanded the workday even more as employees are expected to respond to business matters anytime or place.

Outside of the workplace, employees are working on weekends and even on vacations. Vacations allow employees to regenerate so they can elevate their productivity upon return. A Project: Time Off study found that more than half left vacation time unused in 2015 because they couldn’t find the time to take them due to a heavy workload. Aside from vacation, employees can’t even find time to take breaks at the office. In a study with Staples Business Advantage, we discovered that about half of employees feel like they cannot get up for a break at all, and just under half eat lunch at their desk. By simply promoting more breaks at work, three out of four workers would feel more productive.

Many companies don’t realize how much burnout is impacting an employee’s work-life. For instance, when we asked them about the topic, 67% said that they think their employees have a balanced life, yet about half of employees disagree. Employees don’t even have enough time each week to do personal activities, especially when 64% of managers expect employees to be reachable during that time! When they become overworked, they are naturally more stressed and it negatively impacts their health. In a new study by Accountemps, they reported that work-related pressure has increased in the last five years. When employees are unhealthy, they naturally take more sick days, are less productive, and their entire team bears the burden of their workload as a result.

Companies need to do something about this burnout crisis now because otherwise, they will pay the high price of turnover. With a constant demand on workers to do more with fewer resources, and further advancements in mobile technology, employee burnout will only become a bigger problem. By encouraging employees to take time off, embracing flexible schedules and telecommuting, and promoting wellness programs, companies can prevent burnout from causing turnover and we can have a healthier workforce.

Follow Dan at @DanSchawbel

Introduction

Can anybody identify here? If not overworked, how about distracted, defeated, wandering or confused with life?

We gather together today to be reminded, to be refreshed and renewed in fellowship with God and each other. To worship in Spirit and in truth with a focus on the Word and prayer and through song we lift our voices and our hearts toward God to see Him for who He is and what He has done and what He is doing. What a glorious day when we can gather together as the church and worship our King!

Today, we honor the Sabbath and keep it holy and we find ourselves in that very passage in .

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This is the longest of the 10 commandments and it is the 4th as it deals with our relationship with God and we will see how it also deals with our relationship with each other. So, it bridges the expanse of the God-focused vertical commands and the man-focused horizontal commands . It is the one commandment that is disputed to this day in protestant circles about its meaning, functionality and applicability to the church today. Most Christians have questions about how we are to observe the Sabbath today. Well, maybe most don’t have questions, but most are confused about the point and place the Sabbath has in our lives today. So, let’s look to the Word and let it inform us and see if we find the gospel in these verses that will point us to King Jesus.

And as we do, I think the scripture will help us to see what we are to do to honor the Sabbath in v8; how we honor the Sabbath in ver 9-10 and why we honor the Sabbath in v11.

What Are We to Do? Verse 8

What are we to do? We are to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Sounds pretty standard here. Maybe you think of a day as a kid when you didn’t have to do your chores or school work on Sunday. You enjoyed watching the football game or taking a nap. For me it was all of the above and most of those points still apply to me today. But, what the Scripture is telling us to do?

1)Remember it; honor it..

Remember what about it? Remember whom it is that you serve. The God of creation who worked at creating this entire world and then rested in admiration and satisfaction in what He had done. Remember His promises; remember His might works; remember His tender mercies; remember His Son; Remember the hope you have for the future. Remember your God who is the gospel. He is the good news. That is why we are here. So, that we may remember our salvation is found in the gospel and nothing else. Remember these things with me. Remember how God saved you. Rejoice is the beauty and blessing of the Sabbath.

So, the idea of the Sabbath was established in creation. God labored in creating the universe for six days. All that we know and see…our existence....he spoke into being. It wasn’t hard work for the all-powerful God. He simply spoke and the complexity, diversity and beauty of this world came to be. And it was perfect.

Genesis 1:31–2:3 ESV

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. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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.

He saw that it was very good and He rested, blessed it and made the seventh day holy. What this points us to is worship. Because God rested. Meaning His point was to create and then dwell among us. He created us and all in the universe out of an overflow of love in the Godhead so that He could have creation and a people as an expression of who He is where we would benefit and He would be glorified. So His rest was not out of weariness, it was significant of His establishing a relationship with us where He would relate to us, live with us and draw us into His beauty and truth.

He also set a pattern for us in creation. So, in all His creation He made man special above everything else. The pinnacle of His creation. Created in His image for a relationship with Him. We were then given a mandate to create culture by taking dominion over the earth. Being His rulers and caretakers who would multiply to fill the earth and care for all He had made. And this would be how we worship. Through our obedience to this command. And so we would remember who He is and why we are here He gave us a pattern for our lives. To work six days and then to take a day off to focus on the relationship with Him. To rest and remember the sovereignty of our God, His blessings, His promises, His perfections. The Sabbath is a gift to us and points us directly to the gospel.

Because though all was perfect and His creation and mandate were good, the first man and woman rebelled against God and sinned. And all who have come after them have sinned. Born with a sin nature and choosing sin over God. But through God’s promises and His plan of salvation the Sabbath served as a reminder to the original plan and the hope of being rescued from the curse of sin and death. God chose His people, the Israelites, by whom He would show the world who He is, and by which He would send the Savior. Throughout the history of the Israelites God showed His faithfulness and mercy; His justice and wrath; His grace and love. So, He saved them from slavery in Egypt by sending a savior figure in Moses and He reminds them of the Sabbath and commands them to observe and keep it holy. It is a sacred day that points them back to God and is given to refresh and restore.

And so, today for God’s people, the church, it is the same as it was at creation and through the history of the Israelites. We are given the blessing of the Sabbath that we would remember. That we would focus on the promises and the power of God and celebrate, rest, worship our Savior. It is the time for us focus, refresh, and grow in our love for God and for each other as we press in and focus on His Word and all the ways that He has blessed us. When we do that we are obeying the command to remember and keep the day holy. It is not about what day of the week or about a focus on what we can or cannot do. It is kept holy, which means, to set it apart for sacred use. A day set apart to come together to remember, to focus, to worship in fellowship together. What a blessing we have in this commandment. It calls us, woos us, and focuses us in on God. His promises, His character, His love for us so that we might be refreshed and prepared to be His representatives, His stewards, His witnesses in the world around us. Thank you God!

How Are We To Do It? Verse 9-10

So, we know what we are to do: remember and keep it holy, but how are we to do this? To understand, we have to see the other six days of the week and how it all relates together. What are we commanded to do the other six days? To work.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

Colossians 3:23 ESV

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Not simply for money or status, but that we would work as unto the Lord, this is an act of worship in itself that brings benefit to the world and to ourselves and those that we love. It is a reflection of who God is and what He has made us for as His stewards. We can reflect the glory of God in how we work. It is a gift just like the Sabbath! Now, I am not sure how many of us have this attitude toward work. Work is hard. There is toil and frustration. It can be tiring and stressful. Whether it is an office job, a farm, keeping a home, taking care of your home and belongings, caring for others, creating with your mind or your hands, there is always an element of toil and there can be great satisfaction. But if you see your work, your life, as a gift from God by which you can glory Him, honor His name, worship Him, then it changes the game and really helps you see beyond the toil to the glory. You can then struggle and struggle well as a witness. And through it you can find provision and satisfaction and see the gospel at work in the struggle because you can know as a Christian that work was created for good and the difficulty in work is the result of sin.

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

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Genesis 3:17–19 ESV

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis

You see it wasn’t supposed to be this way, but God had a plan. He promised to reverse the curse and send a Savior who would be our Sabbath rest. He would fulfill the law perfectly and thus become the perfect sacrifice that could pay the penalty for all our sins and then after being dead three days He would be resurrected and give us the victory over sin so that we could now live again to the glory of God. Fighting, working and pressing on to bring honor to His name and looking forward to the hope of heaven when God will make all things new and we will work again for all eternity to rule and reign with Him. There will be no curse then; no struggle in our work; no toil. It will be pure joy and “easy” so to speak with our perfected bodies and eternal purpose. Do you see how the Sabbath is pointing us to the good news of the Gospel?

Because while we are to work and labor those other six days, He gives us the gift of the Sabbath that we can rest and wholly dedicate ourselves to the worship of God. To point us back to His promises and the hope that we have in Jesus. To do this together so that we can encourage and bless one another; hold each other accountable; sing His praises together and see obedience in action in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. What a glorious day this Lord’s day.

And so many of us think negatively about Sunday. We think of all the things we have to do or the game that is on or the nap we want to take! We allow negative attitudes to rob us of the blessing when we just think about ourselves and not about the glory of God. By grace, may God give us hearts to worship Him and rest in Him and set aside the Sabbath to see Him for who He is.

Maybe we think negatively in that we just want to know what it is we can’t do, rather than on focusing on what we can do in worshipping God. I mean we know that we can’t go to Chik-fil-a, but it would also seem that many times when people want to keep the Sabbath they think about what they think they shouldn’t do. I mean it used to be a very common and accepted thing that people wouldn’t mow the lawn on Sunday or wash the car. For some, it was that they would not go out to eat or watch TV. But the key is to see the Sabbath for what it is as a day set aside to focus on the worship of God. I don’t want anyone to violate their conscience, but I do want to root out legalism, false worship or judgmentalism against our brothers and sisters. The Sabbath is a gift, it is for us, and while it is taken very seriously in the OT we see the fulfillment of it through Jesus in the NT. And lest we fall into Pharaism we must see the freedom we have in Christ.

Matthew 12:1–8 ESV

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. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 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? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

The day is given to Christ and the worship of Him so it is a heart matter; not an activity matter. It is a day where we can focus on just enjoying God and His blessings and benefits. In other words, rather than asking what you can get away with on the Sabbath which is usually the heart of our asking what we can do; ask yourself is what I want to do an act of worship that is resting in the work of Jesus. Are the things I want to do showing that I am trusting Christ or are they working for more money or self-satisfaction or to get a jump start on my week so I won’t have to work as hard? Can the Sabbath be a day when we focus on worship and fellowship? I have had several people testify to me lately that for me to be successful as a financial advisor that I need to come to work on Sunday to prepare for the week of work. I don’t do that. My success is not defined by the world and I am preparing for the week by renewing my focus, my strength and my soul for the battle that I am going into when I enter the workplace. Indeed many studies have shown the benefit of the Sabbath for economies and cultures overall where people are given the day off to rest and worship. But as always, no matter how practical God’s benefits are in His commands, and they are truly practical to healthy functioning of family and culture, this is secondary. It is always a matter of the heart. So, don’t focus on what you can’t do on the Sabbath. Focus on what you can do—worship God; fellowship with one another; set it aside for pressing into the promises and blessings of the gospel and the activities of your Sabbath day will tend to take care of themselves and don’t burden yourself or others with man made prohibitions. Point people and yourself to the freedom found in Christ.

Why Are We To Do It? Verse 11

Why? God commanded it! And in doing so we find many practical reasons: for rest and worship; for restoration; for the establishing the ebb and flow of life and the flourishing of mankind. In it we are reminded of God’s promises; we are able to see Him more for who He is; we find fellowship with fellow man; we realize our freedom in Christ and so much more. It is simply a blessing. But most of all, the why of the Sabbath is that it points us to Jesus. He is our Sabbath rest. In Him we find our all in all; the redemption of our souls and a life lived to become more like Him. He is our Sabbath rest now and will be for all eternity because Jesus came and did the work we could not do. He lived obediently to every command of God and His obedience wasn’t a burden; it was a delight. Even in the struggles; even through the suffering and humiliation of the crucifixion He was able because knew the love of God and the glory of God and He lived the perfect life that none of us could ever live so that we could be brought back to God by grace through faith.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

John 4:34 ESV

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

So, Jesus is the only one who could and did work His way to God so to speak. Throughout the history of mankind we have been trying to find our own way back to God. Whether it was to make our own false gods or to make ourselves gods or to even know who the true God is, but to try to work our way back to God—it has all been an effort in self-righteousness. But how could sinful man ever work into gaining the approval of a holy and eternal God? All our works are like filthy rags before the Lord and we are unable to know what righteousness truly looks like because we are blinded by our sin and selfishly ignorant of the glory of God. So, in this hopeless state, Father God sends Jesus His Son to be born of a virgin so He thus would not inherit original sin like the rest of us; Jesus then lived a perfect life—earning, through His obedience, the glory of heaven, but He sacrificed it all and died a sinner’s death, in our place, dying for us to satisfy God’s wrath toward our sin; showing then that He really lived for us too and because of this by repentance and faith we are unified with Christ in His obedient life; in His sacrificial death and in His glorious resurrection! So, you see He worked His way to God for us. He is our good works; He is our righteousness and because of that we find our rest in Him. That is how He is our Sabbath. When we trust in Him we stop striving; working; toiling trying to please God and find rest. And in that rest we find freedom so that now we can do good works. Now we practically can work our six days with passion and purpose to glorify God—not out of obligation, but because we have been born again and given new life to live by the power of the Holy Spirit and God gives us a new heart to love and serve Him. And because of that He also practically gives us this rest by which we remember and keep holy and fellowship together to set apart this day to rest and be refreshed; to be reminded of the hope we have in the gospel for this life and for all eternity. You see it is no longer called the Sabbath for the believer. It is the Lord’s Day. It is all about Jesus and it is fulfilled and finds all its meaning in Jesus. It is not on Saturday any longer because we celebrate on Sunday as the day Jesus was resurrected and won the victory. So, the Sabbath is still in effect, but not by ceremony or laws or religious observance. It is a command of the Lord for all time to rest in Jesus. To remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

So, don’t forsake the Lord’s Day and the gathering of the saints. Remember it and keep it holy because it is a blessing like no other.

Matthew 11:25–30 ESV

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“At twelve years old my parents took me to a concert,” says Jason. “It was in a big arena, and I was this boy that was not validated. I did not feel accepted. I did not feel noticed. And here was this guy on stage in front of 20,000 people, in a sense being worshipped. And loved.”

Jason Davis started writing songs and performing them with his friend Chris. By high school, Jason knew where he was headed.

“And I sold probably 1,000 or 1,500 cassette tapes just in my school over a couple years period. And I realized in high school, I was like, ‘This is what I love, this is what I want to do.’”

After high school, Jason got a day job and continued writing and selling his songs. Then at 23, he wrote his first big hit, Captured.

“It shot up the charts and became a really big Christian hit song. I made enough money off the song to where I was able to quit my job and really spend a solid year just focusing on music and trying to go after it. But I didn’t know God at all.”

Jason used that one hit as his calling card in the music business. Within eight years, he had climbed his way to the top.

“I was taking meetings with Dr. Dre’s people, Eminem’s people. I worked with the band Sugar Ray, Snoop Dogg. I used to have tons of meetings with Jay Z. And I was developing artists that were getting multi-million dollar record deals. Had all the money that I could ever ask for. Had everything that I dreamed of, everything. And it was the most empty and miserable I had ever been in my entire life. Because I realized that I had gotten everything that I wanted and I still did not feel loved, I still did not feel like I had love in my life.

“And when there was nothing left to buy, and nothing left to distract me, I got to the point where I said if this is it, if this is what years and years of killing myself produces, if this is what making it looks like, I don’t want to be here anymore. And the next day, I went out and I bought three bottles of sleeping pills. I checked myself into the Ritz Carlton, and I was committed that I was not going to check out.”

As Jason started to take the pills, his cell phone rang. His business partner asked if he was available to meet with a client the next day.

“And I hung up the phone and said what am I going to do? I just told somebody to book their flight, so I said you know what I’m goint to do, I’m going to check out, I’ll take this meeting tomorrow, and then I’ll just check back in. And I’ll finish it. The next day, at the meeting, this guy asks me if I know Jesus Christ. And no one in my life, I was 33 years old, no one in my life had ever asked me that before.”

They talked for hours, and Jason learned about Jesus Christ for the first time. The next morning, he went to the beach near his house.

“I was looking at the dark, deep body of water on the ocean. And I was noticing how wide and vast the darkness of that water was. And I was tracing this narrow path of light back and it hit me that the light source was called the sun. I closed my eyes in that moment and I saw the brightest white light. I saw the face of Jesus and bright white light. And I knew for the first time in my life that Jesus was God and this was real, it was the most impactful moment I’ve ever had in my life. It was the most beautiful moment I’ve ever had in my life.”

Jason asked Jesus Christ into his heart.

“I started reading what Jesus said in the Bible. How He said to live your life. I hurt a lot of people in my childhood, a lot of people in my teenage years, and a lot of people in my in my 20s. And to know that I was actually loved and forgiven despite all that drew me to God in a way that He had my heart.

“And that’s when I noticed my life changing. A 180 degree change. My thoughts started changing, my heart started changing. My view of people started changing.”

Jason doesn’t write much these days, but still works in the music industry. Now married, he and his wife Heather manage several musicians and performing artists.

“I love Christian music personally. But I also love helping people with the dream that God planted in them. My work is no longer about me getting gratification or getting satisfaction. It’s about me pouring into others, loving others, caring and fighting for others. And that is a radical change from where I was and the only thing that changed was Jesus.”