Sabbath and Rest

Intro

Today we are going to be looking at a timeless practice that I think might be one of the most needed in our culture. One that can help us more than an other. It’s a practice we all know about, but most of us fail to actually do. And that is rest…

And I’ll be honest I don’t really want to talk about this. Not because I think it’s bad or boring or anything. But because I fail to actually live this out in my life, regularly. When I first starting thinking about writing this sermon a month or so back my first thought was I don’t have time for this! I don’t time to rest, never mind write a message on rest. I’m not good at taking a break. But it’s the thing I desperately need.

I’m guessing you can relate too… We are a culture that doesn’t like to slow down.

Keep your hands down for these… But does anyone just feel like they’re always behind? Anybody struggle to sleep even though you are exhausted? Anyone feel like your juggling a thousand things and you are just one mistake away from it all crashing down? Anybody feel like you are letting others down? Anyone have anxiety? How about this… Anyone ever get angry and blow up at someone for seemingly no reason?

Those are all signs of burn out… And my guess is everyone in here has experienced these, or is experiencing these.

Talk about a time when you were burned out

I was relying on things to help me cope. Rather then dealing with the root of the problem… And if I continued down that path long enough, those bad habits I was creating would have become addictions. Maybe that story seems a little bit too real for some of you..

Here’s what’s important to understand. It’s what I can see now that I couldn’t see than. At the time I had a thousand excuses why I was in the situation I was in. It was their fault, it was the job, I just didn’t have a choice… If only this went away I could rest, once this project is done. Once this happens THEN I will take some time off.

Once I was removed from the situation I realized the reason I was in the spot I was in was not because God gave me something I couldn’t handle. I was in that spot because I refused to rest, I refused to trust God, I kept trying to do everything on my own.I share this story not for you to say wow look at bad he had it.

I share that story because I know some of you that’s not something you have to imagine… That’s your life, that’s the story you are living. You are there. And I want you to know there’s a better way. God has given us a better way for life.

Some of you aren't there yet. But you are well on your way. You might not realize it yet, but that’s the path you are on. And listen if you don’t rest it will only lead to burn out. There’s no other option. We are built to rest. And you need that.

We need rest. It’s built into creation. We are designed to rest. God model this for us after he created the earth.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

God didn’t NEED to rest. He’s God, he wasn’t tired. He was showing us the importance of taking a break. It’s part of who we are. He was modeling what he built into creation.

And when we ignore rest. We are in danger of burning out. And here’s the thing with burn out… It never only effects you. It effects everyone around you. Sure you can hide it for awhile. But eventually it will creep into all your relationships. You will lash out your spouse. Stop paying attention to your kids. Your productivity will fall at work. We aren’t built to not rest.

This is maybe the most ignored spiritual discipline in our culture. We don’t value rest. Of the develop countries in the world we work by far the most hours.

There are 134 countries that set a max amount of hours workers can work, but not the US. Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.

Check this out… America is the ONLY industrialized country that has no mandatory annual leave. In other words we don’t really value rest.

To top off our vacation time… The US averages 13 days off. Almost every other developed country (expect Canada and Japan) has 20, up to as many have 30 days. To make matters worse the average American worker will only take 50-60% of their days off. (Create these into a slide)

Maybe you are thinking this is good, hard work is a good thing. But just because we are putting more hours in, doesn’t equal anything good. One study found that Since 1950 Americans productivity had fallen 400%… So we are working more, taking less vacation and sick time, and we are doing substantially less work.

Listen… I’m not tying to make any political statement over this… It’s WAY above my pay grade to decide what the laws of this country should be. But these stats do illuminate exactly how important rest is to us and how little we actually take it.

And I think we can plainly see the signs of it everywhere, including our personal lives.

God knows this, so it’s no surprise that the Bible talks a lot about rest.

From the very beginning God commanded His people to do this.

But there was purpose in this law. And there were three huge benefits to taking this day regularly.

-Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as for working for the Lord, not for human masters.

“He who idles his time away in the six days is equally culpable in the sight of God as he who works on the seventh.” (Clarke)

Many Christians should give more “leisure time” to the work of the LORD. Every Christian should have a deliberate way to serve God and advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

Humans have this thought that the more I do, the busier I am, the more I will get done. But that’s simply not true. Studies prove that wrong time and time again. Humans need rest. That’s not a christian statement, that’s a universally true thing. We need rest. God knows this because he designed us. So he commands we do it.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

We will actually accomplish more, be more efficient, and be under a lot less stress when we rest. When we take time off our productivity actually increases. Not decreases. We get more done when we rest.

This God gave this commandment purely for the benefit of the Israelites. God wanted the best for the Israelites so he commanded they rest.

Now today we aren’t under the law anymore, when Jesus came he fulfilled the law. In other words we are bound to follow it any more. However Jesus made it clear we shouldn't just throw the law out. It still have great benefit to us. And I think we would be foolish to ignore this. We need the sabbath. We need rest.

That’s why Jesus said Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

What’s interesting about this passage is Jesus is really revealing the purpose of the Sabbath. You see Jesus and his disciples just got in trouble with the Pharisees… Surprise, surprise… For working on the Sabbath. They are accusing Jesus of breaking the law. And he shocks them by saying this. What he’s doing is flipped the Pharisees way of thinking about the Sabbath. They thought the day was just an other opportunity to show how holy they were, to show how dedicated they were to God.

But Jesus says, no no no… This day is for you. This isn’t a day to symbolically take off. It’s a day that you actually need. The Sabbath is for YOU.

How many of you have had the thought… There’s no WAY I can take even an hour off right now? I just have to much stuff to do… Anyone? Yeah, me too…

A few weeks ago my wife told me, you need to take a day off… You need a break. I instantly got defensive… I thought you have NO idea how much stuff I have going on. You have no idea what I have to do. You just don’t know. I can’t… Maybe next week, but certainly not this week. You just don’t understand. If I don’t do this then…

Then… Then what?

Really then what? I mean seriously what will happen if I, or you, don’t get that done?

Here’s a really hard truth for me to swallow… I’m not as important as I think I am. I have this thought that if I don’t accomplish this, whatever “this” is, then the world will just stop spinning. But that’s not true. Listen the world will keep spinning and things will continue on after I am gone. And when I rest, when I take a day off, a week off, whatever. It reminds me of my place. God’s in control, not me.

My wife was right… I needed a day off. I hadn’t taken a day off in over a month. I was getting to a place were I thought that if I didn’t do these 100 things then I would fail, this church would stop running, and that’s not true. Because I’m not in control. God is. And I needed a day of rest to recharge me and to remind me that the burden is on God not on me.

Before we do anything else we have to run to Jesus. He’s the ultimate provider. He knows what you are going through. Go to him… If you are exhausted, burned out, maybe you can’t run. But crawl to him.

In Jesus says this… “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God’s plan for you is not for you to be overwhelmed, stressed, or burned out. That’s not what he wants for you. He has such a better plan for you… He wants better for you.

Notice in this passage Jesus doesn’t say he there’s no burden. In other words you still have responsibilities to do. But if those responsibilities are overwhelming you then you aren’t trusting God. You are trying to do it on your own. Give it to God.

Here’s what this looks like… Having an honest conversation with God telling him what you are feeling. If you are tired, stressed, feel like you cannot make it through one more day, whatever, take that to him. Get alone with God and pour your heart out to him. Not just once, but regularly.

Ask God for peace and for strength. Ask him for help.

Here’s the reality of most of us… There’s just no way we can rest unless we say no to something… And if you really want to rest then you are going to have do something really really hard. Say no to something important.

Most of us have our lives filled with important things… They are all good things. But our relationship with God and with our families are more important. So if you want to actually rest you are going to have to say no to something. You are going to have to say no to something important for something that is more important.

When you say yes to something you are saying no to a 1000 other things. If you say yes to taking on another work project, an other hobby, an other meeting, an other work trip, whatever… You are saying no to your family, to attending a life group, to spending time with God…. When you say yes to something else you are saying to no to other things.

Make sure you are saying yes to the most important things your life first. And if you are not resting regularly you need to take a look at your life and evaluate what you need to say no too.

I have this battle regularly and it kills me. But I have too do it. It can seem like an impossible decision. But sometimes i just don’t have enough time in the week to get all my work done and be there for my family and recharge. So I have to say no a few projects, I have to ask for help, I have to say you know what this might not be my best work. But I need to go home and be with my family tonight. I have to resist working on my day off so that I can recharge, even if that means something will go undone. Because my rest is more important.

A few weeks ago when my wife told me to take a day off, at first I thought yeah right. But after a few days I realized she was right. So I took a day off. And listen to do so, I had to say no to important things that I needed to get done. I had to leave parts of my responsibilities undone. Because I needed rest more… I needed to be reminded that God is in control and in a very real way trust for him to provide both for me and for the responsibilities that I was leaving undone. That’s what it means to rest.

What do you need to say no too? It’s not easy, but it’s one of the most important things you can do.

What fills you up? What makes you full of energy again? Whatever that is do that. Maybe it’s a hike, sitting on the beach, dinner with friends, building something in the garage, early morning coffee with your spouse, reading a book… Find something that recharges you and do that regularly.

Many of us feel selfish for taking this “me time”. But we need that. Jesus needed it and so do we. And really it’s the opposite of selfish. Think about it this way. Would you rather give your employer, family, neighbors, friends, people depending on you, a tired exhausted you? Or would you rather give them a rest, energized, and ready to go you?

If you want to give them the latter you need to rest. You need to recharge. Resting isn’t selfish… It’s caring for yourself so that you can give more to others. That’s why Jesus rested. He rested so that he had more to give.

You are of little use to others when you are exhausted… In fact you probably do more harm then good. Rest so that you can be a better husband, wife, son/daughter, employee, boss, friend, and follower of Jesus. You need it.

Conclusion

Today we are going to be looking at a timeless practice that I think might be one of the most needed in our culture. One that can help us more than an other. It’s a practice we all know about, but most of us fail to actually do. And that is rest…

There are some of you in this room that are burned out right now. Others of you are on your way. Some of you maybe just need to be reminded of the importance of taking a day off. Wherever you fall on that skill I want to challenge you this week to take a day off. Not just a day off, but an actually day of rest. A day were you spend time with God, spend time with your family, and do something that recharges you.

And I’ll be honest I don’t really want to talk about this. Not because I think it’s bad or boring or anything. But because I fail to actually live this out in my life, regularly. When I first starting thinking about writing this sermon a month or so back my first thought was I don’t have time for this! I don’t time to rest, never mind write a message on rest. I’m not good at taking a break. But it’s the thing I desperately need.

I’m guessing you can relate too… We are a culture that doesn’t like to slow down.

I can tell you the relief that comes on the other side of rest is incredible.

Keep your hands down for these… But does anyone just feel like they’re always behind? Anybody struggle to sleep even though you are exhausted? Anyone feel like your juggling a thousand things and you are just one mistake away from it all crashing down? Anybody feel like you are letting others down? Anyone have anxiety? How about this… Anyone ever get angry and blow up at someone for seemingly no reason?

Talk about a time when you needed rest

Those are all signs of burn out… And my guess is everyone in here has experienced these, or is experiencing these.

Talk about a time when you were burned out

Now I don’t want to let myself go back to that place. Here’s the hard truth. It’s nobody responsibility to make me rest except me. I can play the blame game on why I’m running on empty and why it’s everyone but mine’s fault. But the truth is when I am burned out, it’s my fault because I failed to take a day off. It’s my fault because I didn’t run to Jesus, it’s my fault because I didn’t say no, and it’s my fault because I didn’t do anything to charge me.

I was relying on things to help me cope. Rather then dealing with the root of the problem… And if I continued down that path long enough, those bad habits I was creating would have become addictions. Maybe that story seems a little bit too real for some of you..

Here’s what’s important to understand. It’s what I can see now that I couldn’t see than. At the time I had a thousand excuses why I was in the situation I was in. It was their fault, it was the job, I just didn’t have a choice… If only this went away I could rest, once this project is done. Once this happens THEN I will take some time off.

I think is fitting… Look at these descriptive words David uses…

Once I was removed from the situation I realized the reason I was in the spot I was in was not because God gave me something I couldn’t handle. I was in that spot because I refused to rest, I refused to trust God, I kept trying to do everything on my own.I share this story not for you to say wow look at bad he had it.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

I share that story because I know some of you that’s not something you have to imagine… That’s your life, that’s the story you are living. You are there. And I want you to know there’s a better way. God has given us a better way for life.

Some of you aren't there yet. But you are well on your way. You might not realize it yet, but that’s the path you are on. And listen if you don’t rest it will only lead to burn out. There’s no other option. We are built to rest. And you need that.

Look at the imagery of rest in this chapter… He’s your shepherd, in other words he cares for you. You lack nothing. Makes you lie down in green pastures. Peaceful and restful. Leads you by quiet waters. He refreshes your soul. He guides in the correct way… Why does he do it? For his name sake.

We need rest. It’s built into creation. We are designed to rest. God model this for us after he created the earth.

Anybody need that this evening?

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

God didn’t NEED to rest. He’s God, he wasn’t tired. He was showing us the importance of taking a break. It’s part of who we are. He was modeling what he built into creation.

This is what God wants for you. He wants you to rest. God never intended for you to carry the weight, the burden that we often put on our own shoulders. God wants more for you than to be stressed, worn out, exhausted…

And when we ignore rest. We are in danger of burning out. And here’s the thing with burn out… It never only effects you. It effects everyone around you. Sure you can hide it for awhile. But eventually it will creep into all your relationships. You will lash out your spouse. Stop paying attention to your kids. Your productivity will fall at work. We aren’t built to not rest.

This is maybe the most ignored spiritual discipline in our culture. We don’t value rest. Of the develop countries in the world we work by far the most hours.

He wants you to be full of life, energized, and able to trust him throughout whatever comes your way. That’s what God wants for you. That in the midst of chaos you can find peace. That in middle of a busy week you can find rest. That you can be reminder that God is bearing the weight so that you don’t have too. God’s in control and we don’t have to worry.

There are 134 countries that set a max amount of hours workers can work, but not the US. Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.

If this is what you want take a day off. Spend a day doing what energizes you. Say no to work or whatever and spend sometime with your family. But most importantly when you take that day make sure you take some time and run to God first. Tell him your worries. If you are exhausted and have no words left. Turn over to and just read and sit there. Don’t forget when you rest to take some time and let God recharge you.

Check this out… America is the ONLY industrialized country that has no mandatory annual leave. In other words we don’t really value rest.

To top off our vacation time… The US averages 13 days off. Almost every other developed country (expect Canada and Japan) has 20, up to as many have 30 days. To make matters worse the average American worker will only take 50-60% of their days off. (Create these into a slide)

God wants you to rest.. And he will lead you there. But you have to follow. He won’t force it. So you are going to have to say no to something. Probably something important. You are going to have to make that space. Until you say no, you won’t find rest and you will struggle to trust God. But when you finally give in. You will find that God is a good God. Who wants what’s best for you.

Maybe you are thinking this is good, hard work is a good thing. But just because we are putting more hours in, doesn’t equal anything good. One study found that Since 1950 Americans productivity had fallen 400%… So we are working more, taking less vacation and sick time, and we are doing substantially less work.

So when are you going to rest next? When can you regularly find that rest? What or who do you have to say no too? ??Find that time this week… Rest. Recharge. Trust God to provide. You will find more peace, joy, and happiness. And you will be able to love those around you much better.

Listen… I’m not tying to make any political statement over this… It’s WAY above my pay grade to decide what the laws of this country should be. But these stats do illuminate exactly how important rest is to us and how little we actually take it.

And I think we can plainly see the signs of it everywhere, including our personal lives.

In just a minute you are going to have the opportunity to take communion… Because of what Jesus did on the cross 2000 years ago is what allows us to find rest today. As the elements are passed take a few minutes and reflect on the work Jesus has done for you. Find rest and peace in that moment. Right here in this room hold the juice and the bread and find a mini moment of rest.

God knows this, so it’s no surprise that the Bible talks a lot about rest.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics In the Beginning: The Sabbath’s Origin

With these words in Exod 20:8–11, we encounter the fourth commandment, the Sabbath commandment: that we are to set apart one day in seven, the Lord’s day—a day in which we rest, patterning our behavior after the creative work and rest of God.

With these words in , we encounter the fourth commandment, the Sabbath commandment: that we are to set apart one day in seven, the Lord’s day—a day in which we rest, patterning our behavior after the creative work and rest of God.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

We see, of course, the Sabbath first instituted there in the work of creation, as we read in , “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.”

ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics In the Beginning: The Sabbath’s Origin

We see, of course, the Sabbath first instituted there in the work of creation, as we read in Gen 2, “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.”

To keep it holy: God commanded Israel—and all humanity—to make sure that there was sacred time in their life, separated time of rest.

Example of unholiness: , Rabbis taught that man carry something in his right or left hand but could carry something with the back of his hand, his foot, his elbow, his elbow, or in his ear, his hair, or in the hem of his shirt, or in his shoe or sandal.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

propound this teaching and this commandment, this paradigm of one in seven, as a creational ordinance, an ordinance that’s then picked up and restated in the fourth commandment.

ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics In the Beginning: The Sabbath’s Origin

Genesis 2:1–3 propound this teaching and this commandment, this paradigm of one in seven, as a creational ordinance, an ordinance that’s then picked up and restated in the fourth commandment.

ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics The Cost and the Beauty of Obedience

It’s worth noting how remarkably costly the Sabbath command can be. This is not being stated in a modern urban culture, but in an agricultural and ancient culture. A people who do not have modern conveniences and who, in so many ways, work the fields and live in dicey economic circumstances are being told to take their hands off the economic wheel, to entrust themselves to God one day in seven. We ought to note how absurd the Sabbath command is, either if there’s not an Almighty God or if that Almighty God is not kindly disposed and personally committed to provide for us. The Sabbath would be a remarkable act of stupidity if there weren’t a God.

Paul gets at this, of course, when he speaks of Jesus’ willingness to undergo death. His willingness to suffer in that way would make all of us among every human the most foolish, Paul tells the Corinthians in , were there not a resurrection, life after death. So it is with the Sabbath. If God doesn’t provide, if God doesn’t care, if God doesn’t guard, if God doesn’t commit Himself to His people and to their good, then the Sabbath renders us among all people the most foolish and pitiable.

But that’s precisely the beauty of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a weekly rhythm whereby one day in seven we demonstrate our trust in God. It’s as if God said, Having too much to do isn’t an excuse from taking the rest you need—I created the universe and found time to rest from My work. We take our hands off the wheel. We look away from ourselves, our strength, our activity, our ability to provide by meeting deadlines, by getting jobs done, by bringing in resources through our work, and we entrust ourselves to God.

ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics The Cost and the Beauty of Obedience

But that’s precisely the beauty of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a weekly rhythm whereby one day in seven we demonstrate our trust in God. We take our hands off the wheel. We look away from ourselves, our strength, our activity, our ability to provide by meeting deadlines, by getting jobs done, by bringing in resources through our work, and we entrust ourselves to God.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik. We take our hands off the wheel. We look away from ourselves, our strength, our activity, our ability to provide by meeting deadlines, by getting jobs done, by bringing in resources through our work, and we entrust ourselves to God.

Allen, R. M. (2016). ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

The idea isn’t, of course, that by focusing on God one day in seven, you can focus on yourself and your own abilities the other six days of the week. The Sabbath is meant to be formative. It’s paradigmatic. You specially turn yourself over to God one day in seven so that you begin to imagine the entirety of your week—all 168 hours—as lived unto the same God to whom you devote those special 24 hours. The Sabbath, then, is formative by being singularly exceptional. It has extensive effect by first having unique shape. We entrust ourselves to God in this remarkably countercultural way, and in so doing we find ourselves shaped more and more to entrust ourselves in increasingly difficult and extensive situations.

(Kaiser) The most important purpose of the Sabbath was to serve as a preview picture of the rest we have in Jesus.

Like everything in the Bible, we understand this with the perspective of the whole Bible, not this single passage. With this understanding, we see that there is a real sense in which Jesus fulfilled the purpose and plan of the Sabbath for us and in us ()—He is our rest, when we remember His finished work we remember the Sabbath, we remember the rest.

Therefore, the whole of Scripture makes it clear that under the New Covenant, no one is under obligation to observe a Sabbath day ( and ). tells us that Christians are not bound to observe days and months and seasons and years. The rest we enter into as Christians is something to experience every day, not just one day a week—the rest of knowing we don’t have to work to save ourselves, but our salvation is accomplished in Jesus ().

The Sabbath commanded here and observed by Israel was a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ (). In the New Covenant the idea isn’t that there is no Sabbath, but that every day is a day of Sabbath rest in the finished work of God. Since the shadow of the Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus, we are free to keep any particular day—or no day—as a Sabbath after the custom of ancient Israel.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik

Allen, R. M. (2016). ET101 Law and Gospel: The Basis of Christian Ethics. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Yet we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest—God has built us so that we need one. We need rest. It’s built into creation. We are designed to rest. God model this for us after he created the earth. God didn’t NEED to rest. He’s God, he wasn’t tired. He was showing us the importance of taking a break. It’s part of who we are. He was modeli

Exodus 5. The Fourth Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day (8–11)

Yet we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest—God has built us so that we need one. Like a car that needs regular maintenance, we need regular rest—or we will not wear well. Some people are like high mileage cars that haven’t been maintained well, and it shows.

Guzik, D. (2013). Exodus (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

Sabbath and Rest

First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Second Commandment: “You shall not make yourself an idol.”

Third Commandment: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”

We are commanded to work

It allows rest

It builds trust in God

Run to God

Say no to something

Find what recharges you

The Sabbath shapes our trust in God