Fall Retreat: Sabbath Rest

Introduction

How many of you have had a busy couple of weeks?

My heart for this weekend is that each of us are able to slow down and rest

Take a deep breath

After a long journey of working, Jesus told his disciples:

Mark 6:31 CSB

31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

Who here is in need of some rest?

So that’s what we are going to be doing this weekend

Resting

Resting in the Lord

Resting in the company of friends

Enjoying great food and fun times

And that is what ‘Sabbath’ is all about

How many of you know what a ‘sabbath’ is?

In Hebrew, Sabbath literally means ‘to cease’ or ‘to stop’

We stop the endless churn of day-to-day life to be present

The enjoy the world that God has given us

Walter Hagen:

"You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."

I think we’ve all felt the pressure to keep going to power through in life from one thing to the next—in a rat race

And this weekend our aim is to step off that treadmill—and be refreshed

Richard Foster:

“Our adversary, the devil, majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds.”

We are going to have so much fun this weekend—and the devil hates it

Resting is an act of spiritual resistance—spitting in the devil’s face

Now lets open our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 4:

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 4:9–11 CSB

9 Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 10 For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

In these three verses we see the following:

An invitation to rest

The practical importance of rest

The theological importance of rest

And we’ll tackle these in backwards order

The Theological Importance

Hebrews 4:11 CSB

11 Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

Failing to rest results in patterns of disobedience

What is another word for disobedience to God? — Sin

It’s not just something we do because it is good for us—there is a moral aspect to resting

And if we think about it—it actually shouldn’t be that surprising

Observing a Sabbath rest is in the 10 commandments

In case you need a refresher, here is the list:

Do not have any other gods before God

Do not make idols and bow in worship to them

Do not take the Lord’s name in vain

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

Honor your father and mother

Do not murder

Do not commit adultery

Do not steal

Do not give false testimony (lie)

Do not covet others belongings

These are very serious sins we’re talking about here

In fact, any of these other ones would would still say are serious sins

Observing the sabbath is in the 10 commandments given to Moses

Are there any of the other 10 commandments that we say are outdated and just for Israel?

Yeah murder is okay now because Jesus came and has forgiven us

Yeah adultery is actually fine now because there is grace in Christ

Observing the sabbath must be a pretty important deal if it is on a list with the rest of these commandments

In fact 15 chapters after the 10 commandments are given in Exodus, Moses declares the penalty for anyone who disobeys the sabbath rest

Anyone want to guess what it is? — Death

It was one of the reasons that Jesus himself was hated by the religious leaders

Now why is this so serious?

Any guesses on why this is such a grievous sin?

It is found in the first half of the 10 commandments—that deal with how we relate to God

No other Gods — No idols — Don’t take his name in vain

And remember the sabbath

In a very serious way: Not respecting our own limits is telling God that we know better

He has created us as partners—that both work AND rest with him

And when we rest—we honor God

I am human—and you are God

I have my limitations—and you do not

Even while I rest—I know you are still working

We are not God

So when we reject rest—We are rejecting who God has created us to be

It’s adjacent to idol worship

We worship our productivity, achievement, value to others more than God

Our limitations are not something to shun or look down but to honor

Tim Keller:

Sabbath, then, is the deliberate limitation of productivity, as a way to trust God, be a good steward of yourself, and declare freedom from slavery to our work.

So that’s the theological importance

It is an invaluable way for us to honor God and fight pride

The Practical Importance

Hebrews 4:10 CSB

10 For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.

Very practically—We enter God’s rest by resting from our works

The Sabbath isn’t a rule for God to watch us—waiting for us to make a mistake

It’s modeled by God himself—in Genesis

What did God do on the 7th day after he created everything we know?

He made it holy and rested on that day

And God doesn’t rest because he’s tired

He rests in delight and enjoyment

We all need to take time delighting

Resting from our work and delighting in God—in our friends and family—in creation

Imagine if you spent a ton of time and effort into making an amazing meal

Would you want someone to take time to enjoy it or scarf it down because they have better things to do?

God has created a whole world for us to live in and enjoy—and he wants us to take time to enjoy it

What are some restful things for you?

Reading, napping, laughing

Video games, movies, gym, eating

And this isn’t distracting ourselves, or indulging—but enjoyment

It takes intention

God I’m going to give you all of the stuff I’m worrying about so that I can rest for a while

When I’m done—I can begin to work again—but right now—help me rest

And one last practical bit of advice:

Our phones are one of the biggest sources of restlessness in our lives

There’s a million studies about it, but we rest better when we aren’t on our phones

As restful as they might feel, they only keep us wound up

So we’re going to try to spend this weekend apart from our phones and enjoying the world around us

Finally we see

An Invitation to Rest

Hebrews 4:9 CSB

9 Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people.

A rest remains for us:

It’s not something we strive to achieve on our own

But it is present and available

In the greatest sense, God has made a way for us to rest

We no longer have to strive

We no longer need an identity founded in how much we work and achieve

God has given us peace

In the cross, God has bought us back—ransomed us

He has bought us from the cruel and wicked taskmaster that Satan is—always demanding more and more and never enough

And brought us into his family—where we are his beloved children

Jesus died so that we might rest with God

Our sin has been dealt with—and we have nothing keeping us from God

I imagine an orphan at a cruel orphanage

Where they are worked to the bone for as long as they remember

Hard work is rewarded

Not performing well enough is punished

Every day—no rest—trying to prove themselves

And one day an amazing family comes—pays the fees of adoptions—and takes them home

The child still probably has deeply engrained habits and ways of thinking that keep their identity rooted in their performance

They might profusely apologize when they forget to do a chore expecting a beating

But that’s not the way of the new family

They simply need to trust and receive love

And God has extended his own invitation to rest—a sabbath rest is available

Are we willing to step into it?

We’ll pray about this later in small groups, but I want you guys thinking:

What is keeping you from rest?

Maybe it’s a circumstance you want changed

Maybe it’s a never ending busy schedule

Maybe it’s your own failure and guilt — you feel restless in fighting your own sin

What is robbing you of peace?

Because as we enter this weekend—we want to give these things to God

If we want to cease from all our restlessness—we have to give God our burdens

And we are here as a community to bear one another's burdens

Small Group Questions

ICEBREAKER: Describe your ideal day of rest.

What makes resting difficult for you?

What are your hopes for this weekend?

What is keeping you from resting?

Prayer