REST: A GIFT FROM GOD

REST: A GIFT FROM GOD Genesis 2:2-3 Exodus 20:8-11 Hebrews 4:9-11 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad, A Passionat Life; Louis Evans, Jr., Hebrews (The Communicator’s Commentary); F.B. Meyer, “In These Wearying Days . . . We Can Rest”; Charles Stanley, Finding Peace June 12, 2005 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Following the first six days of creation, the scripture says: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." [webmasters note Genesis 2:2-3] Does that sound to you like God needed a break? It does to me! The fourth commandment Moses brought down from God at Sinai says: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, no the alien within your gates. For in the six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. [webmasters note Exodus 20:8-11] Exodus 31:17 - …for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested. Repeatedly the Word of God makes it clear in the older covenant that God did not work on the seventh day, and neither should His people. As you study the relevant scriptures you also pick up on another theme. God also emphasizes that Sabbath-keeping is a covenant sign between God and His people, as well as a sign to others that those who kept Sabbath were God’s own people. Have you ever taken a Sabbath rest? I mean a real Sabbath, just like the Jews in keeping with the scriptural tradition? I’m talking about a whole day of workless, non-demanding, minimum effort behavior—a whole day!? Why not? I am going to challenge you with that idea this morning. I am not suggesting that you keep the Sabbath as a legalistic, somber requirement. The idea I am bringing to you is taking a Sabbath rest for all the right reasons (like, it’s good for you, God wants you to, it’s a smart thing to do, and, it will make you more productive overall). I know what you’re thinking: this pastor has lost his mind or else he’s totally out of touch with reality! Why, if I took off an entire 24-hour day, and ceased from my labors at work and at home, it would be a disaster! My business would suffer, my lawn would go to weeds, my kids would drive me crazy, my boss might fire me, and I’d get so far behind I’d never catch up! Not so, says God. In fact, He promises that if you would honor a weekly Sabbath, you would not lose your sanity—you would actually regain your mental and emotional equilibrium once a week. He says you would re-energize yourself so much that you would actually be more productive during the other six days. He promises that if you took this valuable time off, which you need to do, you would experience such a physical and emotional uplift that all the other days of the week would become more enjoyable and more profitable in every way. Here’s a thought—among all the people of the world’s history and geography, the Jews were the only ones who made it their religious commitment to take a full day off work of all kinds every week. There is not a more industrious group of people anywhere or anytime than the Jews. More than any other religious culture, their families have been stronger, their businesses more fiscally sound and their reputation for being successful in business and commerce is unquestioned. And they started with a 14% handicap (one seventh of their work time “wasted”) I am not talking here about any legalistic adherence to the letter of the Old Testament Law, nor certainly being slavishly enmeshed in religious traditions. But I am talking about taking the principles of God’s Word and being serious about what He wants for us. I am trying to be as faithful as I can to the Word of truth, correctly handled. I believe I am also dealing with God’s answer to some of our self-induced misery—things like burnout, chronic fatigue and stress (in this we are picking up on last week’s teaching). Do you think it is remotely possible that such a simple obedience to a clear biblical principle might make us healthier, happier people, more able to serve Him as productive servants and better witnesses? Consider with me some principles about God’s gift and promise of REST for His people. Think about this. Since Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day, and on the seventh day God rested, the first day any human being ever spent with God it was on a day of rest! And notice the rhythm here—we only think of the day of rest as something we need after a week of work. Might we have it backward? God arranged that our grandparents began their week with rest, and were thus energized for the work ahead of them. What a positive, pro-active approach! So we don’t so much rest from our work as we work from our rest! Rest is God’s Order – His Design God’s intent has always been that we are to start from a place of rest—resting in Him. You face pressure to be successful in your job. You’re involved in ministry through the church that you care about deeply. You’re trying to build relationships with neighbors who are unbelievers. You want your own children to grow up and be sincere disciples of Jesus Christ. You’re running from soccer games to piano lessons to church board meetings. This kind of an existence can be absolutely draining—unless you’re living in the Sabbath rhythm. When is the last time you scheduled a day of relaxation for yourself or your family? Maybe the more indicting question is when is the last time you canceled a day of rest and relaxation in favor of a meeting or work task? Or—maybe you filled a day of rest with so many activities that it became anything but restful. There is a rhythm of rest-and-work, rest-and-work, rest-and-work that God established for us. If we live and behave outside that rhythm, we get out of balance, overly tired, less productive and, well, we get mean sometimes. Living in God’s orderly rhythm brings a healthy perspective and approach to our lives. Otherwise, we go and go and go until we can’t go anymore and then we get sick or have a breakdown or a meltdown, and we have to call our friends we promised things to and apologize because we’re not going to be able to get to it, and we feel bad about that . . . We end up getting our rest, alright—in a hospital bed or therapist’s office. How much better it is to start from a place of rest, giving God what He asks of us first—a day of quiet and relaxation during which we have the opportunity to reflect on His grace and His will for our lives. That’s a good place to start making your plans and setting your priorities—in the quiet place with Him. While your mind isn’t racing in a thousand directions and your heart rate is slow and steady, meditate on the Lord, His Word and His goodness toward you. Let Him fill and refresh you. Then start making your week’s plans, filled with His Spirit and focused on His will. By the way, a warning here, you might discover from the perspective of that kind of wisdom, that some things that are in your schedule need to go. God is orderly and He created with a system of order in mind. That’s why the planets don’t crash into each other, why one season follows the other just as He promised and why we worship Him for His faithfulness. He calls us to order and balance as well. A key component to that order is rest. Rest is God’s order/design. Rest is God’s Command When God spoke from Sinai, and carved the tablets of stone with His finger, He didn’t call them the ten suggestions. They were commandments. In other words, to help train and keep His people in the center of His good will for them, He said there are some things that are non-negotiables. Incidentally, you have noticed, haven’t you, that Sabbath-breaking ranks right up there with murder, adultery and stealing? Why was God so strong in His demand that His people rest? It’s His loving nature—He always gives wise instruction that is designed to save us from the consequences of sin and stupidity. Look down the list of the “big ten” there in Exodus 20. Every one of those sins He commands us to avoid would lead us to ruin and pain and misery. And every one of the positive commands leads us to a place of protection from harm and openness to receiving His blessings. God has your best interests at heart. The Hebrew word, shabbath, means to rest from labor. Labor was not to be looked on as a bad thing. This commandment was first mentioned while Adam and Eve were still in Paradise! He commanded rest because He knew we needed it. There are grave consequences to not having enough rest. Rest is necessary for us, therefore God commanded that we get it. Because it is commanded there is a sense in which it should not be left to chance. That is, it won’t work to simply say “I’ll just work hard, and then when I fall over from exhaustion I’ll rest.” No, that doesn’t work. Not even your boss thinks that way. Everyone knows you need rest or you can’t be as effective and productive. And such rest needs to be planned. You can’t just get some rest just when you have nothing else to do. Eating is like rest. We need nourishment as well as rest. But we don’t typically go without eating for two or three days, then when we have time, gorge ourselves. No, we gorge ourselves three times a day. I’ve noticed that we are great meal planners. We’ll be sitting at breakfast and nine times out of ten the subject of lunch will come up or even dinner—what are we having? Who’s going to make it? Do we need to go by the store? We just naturally plan this rhythmic cycle of meals because we know our bodies need food. Here’s what God wants—he wants us to plan our rest time proactively, too. To intentionally and proactively plan for restorative rest, one day out of seven. Time to refresh the body with relaxation and to refresh the spirit with worship and meditation. That’s what Sabbath was for. God even commanded that the land be given rest. Even farmland was to be given a Sabbath rest. Every seventh year, no planting or plowing. For centuries the Jews had that command directing their agrarian brothers. Only in more recent times have scientists come to agree that giving land restorative rest is a good idea. These days our government is actually compensating farmers to not work a portion of their acreage. This is mostly for reasons of storage and trade balances, but most farmers will agree that it’s good for the soil to lay fallow for a year. They also like getting paid for not working it, too! Rest is God’s Gift Rest is not only God’s order and design, it is also His command to insure that we would benefit from it. Thirdly, we need to understand that rest is God’s gift to us. When we lay hold of the rest God wants to give us, we are healthier and we are happier. Another part of the gift of rest is deliverance. If we will agree to take this gift of Sabbath rest from God, He will protect us from the greed and materialism that have such a hold on us. When I decide to take God at His word, and obediently find time for rest, I am saying no to a lot of things—like “proving” myself to my supervisors at work that I am willing to work longer and harder than the next guy for the good of the company. That may cost me a promotion. If I say yes to healthy rest I may well be saying no to overtime or extra profits as an entrepreneur. When I agree to find that rest that God wants me to have I probably will be saying no to some people. I may be disappointing a boss or a friend or someone else who is counting on me to come through for them. But if you are serious about receiving this valuable gift from God, even though it costs you, God will more than make it up to you. Some people think that without them the whole world would fall apart. They need to get a dose of reality and see they are not as important as they think they are. Philip Melancthon, the great Reformation theologian, once said to his friend Martin Luther, “This day you and I will discuss the governance of the universe.” What Luther said in response was unexpected: “This day you and I will go fishing and leave the governance of the universe to God.” Here’s advice from one man: “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment…Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.” These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher. The real “gift” of rest is that when we obey Him, He saves us from ourselves and our ruinous tendency toward overwork, stress and just not knowing when to relax. The rest that God calls us to is an important time-out from the pressure of seeing things so seriously—things that aren’t so important, after all. It’s a gift because it will deliver us from the narcissism and egocentrism we so easily fall prey to. And finally, rest is a gift that makes us better. Taking balanced rest doesn’t rob us of our effectiveness in the important things we need to do, it actually gives us the needed break and sends us back to the work refreshed and with a better perspective. When we obey God’s plan and take the Sabbath rest He provides for us and commands of us, we receive a wonderful gift, indeed. The real question is, Can we trust God to get everything done if we actually take a break? There are two answers. The first answer is “No,” not if we are talking about getting everything done that we want to do without regard for what He wants done. Our list is usually a sick one. The second answer is “Yes”. God will always be trustworthy. When He says “Take a break!” He is not about to let us down. He always honors those who obey Him—especially when that obedience is counter-intuitive. Allen Golding, a retired missionary now living in La Mirada, CA, wrote a short piece on this theme. “When we were missionaries in the Philippines, we vacationed in Baguio City in the mountains of Northern Luzon. While there, we visited the St. Louis Silver School, where silversmiths are trained. We admired their exquisite workmanship in the workshop and gift shop, and took home a souvenir—a pure silver money clip embellished with a distinctive design. I carried that clip for the next 24 years. One day it finally broke as I slipped a few bills into it. I then took the two pieces of the money clip back to the silver school in Baguio. One workman, about my age, asked if he could help me. I explained my predicament and laid the pieces in his outstretched hand. After examining the pieces for a minute or so, he looked up at me and said, "I designed this clip. I was the only one to make this design. I made all of these that were ever made." I asked, "Can you fix it?" He said, "I designed it. I made it. Of course I can fix it!" Conclusion But there is another type of rest that is discussed in the Bible. Actually it is the more important kind of rest revealed in the New Testament, and the Sabbath-rest points to it and foreshadows it. Hebrews 4 refers to the “rest” that uniquely belongs to those who have been reconciled to God through faith in Jesus. Let’s read from chapter 4, verses 9-11. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. This larger idea of the rest of God has to do with whether or not I am in fellowship with God through His Son Jesus Christ, and whether I am remaining in Him through faith. There is a peace and contentment that come to those who give their lives to Christ. Steve Brown tells the story of one woman he interviewed who told him she knew she was a Christian now by looking at her bed. When he asked her why, she said, "Before, when I got out of my bed, it was all rumpled because I had tossed and turned all night. Now when I get out of the bed, it's as smooth as silk." That’s part of what it means to lay hold of the “rest” of God. There are three things you must do if you want to lay hold of this rest. 1. Accept the finished work of Christ. Your sins, and the sins of the whole world were atoned for in the awesome death of Jesus on the cross. The very moment Jesus died in our behalf, every confessed sin in human history was forgiven. Why? Because this was the very Son of God, the sinless one, who voluntarily gave His life to save you from the hell you deserve because of your sin. When someone declares faith in Christ, he becomes an instant heir of God’s rest. And there is no other way to reach that rest but through faith in the Son of God. You can’t provide for yourself—your sinfulness disqualifies you. No other sinner can do it for you. That leaves Jesus only. Your best efforts are worth nothing. That’s why it says, anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his… (verse 10) The rest of God is available to anyone who will quit struggling to prove his own righteousness and will simply and humbly admit his need of a Savior. Christ will come into your life and with Him He will bring that rest. 2. Trust God’s provision. You are done with the hand-wringing anxieties of life when you entrust yourself to God’s care. His forgiveness and healing come over you and if you will trust Him you will experience His rest, even in the middle of life’s storms. He promises to care for you if you cast all your cares on Him. Sometimes that’s as simple as a prayer, “God, I cannot do this. I give it all to you and entrust myself to you to do what is best for me.” That’s rest. It’s the kind of rest the people of God will experience, uninterrupted, forever in heaven. 3. Live in God’s leading. Hebrews 4:3 says, We who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said… Living in that rest means listening and leaning in to hear God’s will for your life. The people of rest continue to learn the truths of God’s Word and learn day by day what pleases their Savior. And they obey what they learn. Chapters 3-6 of Hebrews are all about that kind of obedience, warning us in this day about those who did not obey under the older covenant and did not enter the rest that we are privileged to enter through Christ. Obedience is still the working out of real faith. Since Christ’s death on the cross, we need not obey the long list of the commandments any longer. Now the key act of obedience is only this—to trust and follow Jesus Christ. Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)     [Back to Top]