Trust Equals Rest

All Christians know that since the Garden, our work is all messed up. Everything we are supposed to do has pain and thorns and thistles. Ah! But we think “work is not all there is to life. I will rest from my work.”

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.

Church, question: How is that working out for you? Are you a parent: do you rest a lot? No? A child, maybe a high schooler…rested? College student? Just starting out? It’s not just work that’s hard, is it? Rest is also messed up. Broken. Corrupted. Corroded.

What is rest supposed to look like? This, from :

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

Genesis 1:31–2:3 CSB

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day. So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

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.

Rest. Sabbath rest. That’s the topic.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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 made rest as part of creation.

LET’S PRAY

It’s His reaction to the “very good” finished creation.

It too, is good, since God made it.

We’ve got to look at this passage and remember that the seventh day comes after the sixth day, when we were created. Adam & Eve got to be included in this pattern of rest, meaning rest isn’t just for God, but for us to share in: rest is contentment in our labors, and relational.

The creation note is first sounded in , . God “finished” his work in creation after six days and then “blessed” the seventh day and “declared it holy.”

God put a wonderful pattern of work and rest in place, for us. For each other. It is at the beginning of Scripture, it’s woven throughout the entirety, and it is for all of creation – no matter if you are a Christian or not, your social station, your gender, time of life, or color, God wants you to rest from your labor, be content, and strengthen relationships. Yay!

Fallen Condition Focus (FCF)

It might be surprising to hear God use such human language as "rested", and He continues to use astoundingly human language in

There is, however, a problem. We know it.

16 the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”

We aren’t experiencing that fabulous rest as a pattern in our life.

There is a pattern of rest here. It’s undoubtedly a pattern for us, which is one reason that God uses such human terms for it.

As a culture, we aren’t experiencing any rest.

If you are in high school, how easy is it to let go of school and rest? In college, how much rest do you have from the beginning of the semester until the end?

Following the creation pattern, God asked the Israelites to observe the Sabbath as one of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments ()

Why?

Let’s say you are a stay-at-home mom. Do you get to curl up in bed and read one day a week? Where does a mom of young kids find rest?

Let’s say you are retired. Are you finding that retirement is full of rest?

Law is a taskmaster until we become full heirs ()

It’s training us. As we will see, training is different than the real thing, but training is good.

Even church is not always restful.

How many of you are here, will grab lunch, and then return?

Let's keep looking at the pattern.

Did the law stop with one day out of seven? No!

How many here have gone on vacation and come back tired! Right! Even vacations may not be restful.

There is a Sabbath month

How do we try to resolve this restlessness?

A Sabbath year

There are typically two ways.

It also entailed freeing slaves

Irreligion tries to solve the dilemma of restlessness a couple of different ways

First, irreligion tries to ignore rest. Say it’s not important.

Forgiving debt

It is extended to fields and animals.

Stores used to close on Christmas. Not anymore. Sundays. Not anymore.

And the Jubilee year is a Sabbath of Sabbaths, happening every seventh time there is a seventh year, in .

In 2003 the NYT noted “''After hours'' has become a strictly personal concept, since the 24-hour convenience store, gas station, pharmacy, supermarket, movie theater, diner, factory and bar all allow us to work, shop, dine and be entertained at any time of day or night.” (New York Times, 2003)

Sabbath rest is a big deal.

Worse, our culture rewards restlessness

It's for everyone, not just Israel, since it comes from the creation mandate. God’s instructions are clear, and the pattern is to observe a regular – weekly – break from our labors.

“The work week is even longer {today} for salaried workers (an average of 49 hours), likely because employers don't have to worry about paying them overtime. According to the Gallup poll, half of salaried full-time employees said they work 50 or more hours each week.” (Washington Post, Sept. 2014.)

You get ahead in our culture by working more than the guy or gal next to you. And with email, social media, and the pace of change, there is a real fear of missing out, of not getting ahead if you stop and rest…at all.

There is, however, a problem. We know it.

Well, maybe religion has the answer. Religions have long noticed the creation pattern laid out by God.

We aren’t experiencing rest. Sabbath rest.

What is religion’s response? Rules.

Maye it’s because of the rising work hours

Buddhists have rules.

If you are not retired, the average workweek has gotten long.

“The work week is even longer for salaried workers (an average of 49 hours), likely because employers don't have to worry about paying them overtime. According to the Gallup poll, half of salaried full-time employees said they work 50 or more hours each week.” (Washington Post, Sept. 2014.)

Seventh-Day Adventists have rules.

Most importantly, for us, the best and brightest religious minds of the Jews had rules.

That’s over an extra day each week.

But I don’t think overworking is the problem. I think it’s a symptom.

What were these rules? Mainly they centered around enforced physical rest, a physical ceasing of activity, attempting to make our spirit rest by forcing our bodies to rest.

For example, the number of steps you could take outside your home on a day of rest were counted. And if you could not return home with the number of steps you had left…you just lay down right where you were.

How many here have gone on vacation and come back tired! Right! Even vacations are tiring. The physical is only part of the problem.

Because…that would please God how? Does this strengthen our relationship with Him? Does this help me enter a relationship with my neighbors…in what way?

Because we think that rest is getting over being tired. That to rest we just have to stop.

We are making rules for rest instead of being content in our work, and strengthening relationship with the one who made rest. It’s like we are saying “we don’t trust you.”

Judith Shulavitz says “The eclipse of the Sabbath is just one small part of the larger erosion of social time, with its former generally agreed-upon rhythms of labor and repose. ''After hours'' has become a strictly personal concept, since the 24-hour convenience store, gas station, pharmacy, supermarket, movie theater, diner, factory and bar all allow us to work, shop, dine and be entertained at any time of day or night.” (New York Times, 2003)

Why is there a relentless hustle to life? This, by the way, is not a western issue. Has anyone ever been to the Far East? Hong Kong? Malaysia? What about Bangladesh or Mumbai? It's all over. May be bad here, but it's everywhere.

Why? Why is it so hard to rest?

Let’s look at for our answer.

Either we don’t see a need to rest…well, maybe just a vague sense of guilt that life is so busy, but rest just does not fit on the schedule.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Maybe we don’t rest because we’re indispensable. After all, this fallen world needs us! There are people to feed and help and much work to do, and God did not send us to sit still! You can rest when you are dead!

Or, tragically, you can’t rest. Even when you try, you are fidgety. Rest seems to be a four-letter word. It is not pleasant, but a burden to bear. Rest hurts.

We sinned, knew it, and engaged in a fruitless activity. No longer still, no longer at peace, we were restless.

Sin causes restlessness.

Let’s face it. We are rest-less.

I don’t mean each sin makes us restless. I mean that restlessness is a fundamental result of sin.

Where does this come from? Why do none of the rules seem to make a dent in this problem? We either ignore rest and report the highest levels of stress of any society. Or we recognize the desperate need for it and make rules in an attempt to counter it.

Let’s go find out why. Let’s go back to Genesis. This time, chapter 3.

That’s a big deal if it is true.

So, here we are, in the Garden, working and resting and in the presence of God daily. Eve, tempted by Satan, removes her trust from God and places it on her own knowledge. Adam does the same, and then this happens:

That means each of us – all of whom sin – will be restless.

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ()

Let’s make sure we are all on the same page. Define terms. First: what is sin?

Sin: In Reason for God, Keller says sin is seeking to establish self by making something else more central to your significance, purpose, and happiness than your relationship to God. (p. 162)

What? This is really bizarre. They sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. Fig leaves.

To simplify - maybe oversimplify - sin is seeking to establish self over God.

To understand why they did this it really helps to know a big word from old English, from the times of the people who made ships to burn their dead.

And therin lies an unsolvable dilemma. the unsolvable dilemma

This big word comes from the act of God and Man being reconciled by God covering man’s sin. The word is “Making God and man as one”, or as the Anglos and Saxons said, “at-one-ment.” We just say “atonement.”

Adam & Eve knew, immediately, instinctively, that they screwed up their relationship with God and with one another. So they tried to make an at-one-ment, a covering, for their sin. Literally covering themselves with fig leaves.

God is infinite. We are finite. We can never establish what is finite over what is infinte. Infinity is the biggest number you can think of…plus one.

But it is fruitless, restless activity for us to try to atone for our sin.

So no matter what you do to cover for your sin, it will never be enough.

Don't take my word for it, let's look back at . They make loinclothes, out of fig leaves. Have you ever worn clothes made out of leaves? How long will the leaves last, removed from their source (there is a message in there somewhere.) Compare that verse to just a little later, when God Himself makes them clothes out of leather. Leaves wither, leather lasts. What we do would have to be done over and over and over. Restless.

So, restlessness begins with sin. It is a symptom of sin. It’s the visible reaction to the invisible heart problem.

Note, though, that that knowledge of sin started in their heads. And it is still there. This “eternal murmur of self-reproach” (Shulevitz) is always happening.

That’s a big deal.

That means as long as we are sinning we will always have to contend with restlessness.

That means each of us – all of whom sin – will be restless.

reminds us that in this world we will never be without sin

And therin lies an unsolvable dilemma. the unsolvable dilemma

So we will constantly be in a battle with restlessness.

No matter what you do to cover for your sin, it will never be enough. Sin is the itch, and restlessness is that constant urge to scratch it.

This is terrible!

Don't take my word for it, let's look back at . They make loincloths, out of fig leaves. Have you ever worn clothes made out of leaves? How long will the leaves last, removed from their source of life? Compare that verse to just a little later, when God Himself makes them clothes out of leather.

Sin causes restlessness. We have to constantly be on guard against restlessness.

Leaves wither, leather lasts.

What we do to cover for our sin would have to be done over and over and over. Restless.

Which means that we have to work to rest, and working to rest is not truly resting!!!!!!

That means as long as we are sinning we will always have to contend with restlessness. We will constantly be in a state of restlessness.

This was the trap for the Pharisees

They were trying to mandate against our very restless nature…by never resting in their battle against restlessness.

This is terrible!

This is a logical and emotional and spiritual trainwreck

Sin causes restlessness. And in a desperate attempt to push away the restlessness, we work at our rest! Do you hear the irony? We are a people who are working even in our resting.

This was the trap for the Pharisees, and for Christians of all ages.

It’s like trying to fight fire with gasoline.

The Pharisee’s rules may seem silly, but In Little House on the Prairie, Laura’s family would return home from church, eat, and then…sit. In a chair. For the rest of the day. No talking, laughing, playing…nothing. Does Laura in a chair bring her into greater contentment with her work and relationship with her heavenly father and her family?

No wonder Jesus said: “You idiots!” No, not really, he said “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” He was pointing to the principle behind the pattern.

In the time of the pilgrims, children were punished for playing with a ball on Christmas day. Does this encourage the child to develop a relationship with a loving Father in heaven? Or drive a wedge into that relationship?

It’s been a trap for Christians too. Puritans used to interpret this as “don’t move.” Later, the fight over Postal service was a Sunday fight, if barbarism would happen if we had mail delivery on Sunday. (Sulovitz) We don’t, and barbarism still wormed in.

The way out of the trap

We never rest in our battle against restlessness!

We make rules – dictating approved & disapproved rest day activities – when all along the point of rest is our relationships – with each other, and with our Creator.

What’s the trap? The trap is that due to our sin nature, we are restless. God ordained the Sabbath, and the entire pattern of work and rest.

The only way out of this trap is the one taken by Jesus.

Remember it, do it, make it holy.

Jesus was always able to work and rest. He knew when he needed to go be alone with His father, or to call on His name. he knew when he needed to work, and when he needed to feast with His disciples and delight in one-another’s company.

There is a great pattern here, it is important.

Jesus lived the perfect pattern of work and rest.

But there is an almost ceaseless amount of work we need to do to rest! As the great theologian Admiral Ackbar said: "It’s a trap!"

There is a way out of the trap

But that is not why He came. Jesus came to earth to do one thing: to make a final at-one-ment, a once-and-for-all covering for every sin that we’ve done, or ever will do, restoring our broken relationship with our creator, our Father.

Jesus lived a perfect life, defined as a life at perfect peace with God the Father, and deserved nothing but to be in the eternal relationship with the Father. Instead, he willingly hung on the cross…experiencing our sin. His cries on the cross “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me” were not those of a man at peace. Bearing our sin, He was removed from perfect relationship with the Father, and given our sin. He became restless in His spirit, a symptom of our sins, sins that killed Him.

Jesus talked about it. Moreover, he lived it. What is it?

But! Since that was His work, He was able to say “it is finished.” And rest. He died on a Friday, which means that He rested on the day of rest. Not an accident. Not a coincidence!

The Sabbath laws could be suspended:

Let's restate: For our sake, God made the Prince of Peace restless in our place, so we might have true rest through Him. He took our restlessness on the cross so we can be restored back to the Father. That relationship provides us with rest through the Holy Spirit, no matter the circumstances.

23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

How? You don't suspend "Thou shalt not committ adultery"!

What this whole topic opens to our spirit to is the tremendous trust this allows us to have in the Godhead. Not in ignoring our need to rest, not in any rule attempting to do what a relationship does.

Provisional law – a temporary law

Let’s sum all of this up.

If temporary, temporary until what?

Our broken relationship with God causes restlessness.

Jesus rescues us not through example but through His perfect relationship with God. In this perfect relationship was perfect trust. No matter the wind and waves, he could rest.

Until it's fulfillment.

Trust = rest.

Not at rest? Trust in Christ and find rest, because trust equals rest

Jesus told them “I am the Lord of the Sabbath”

So Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, which means it is already fulfilled?...or not yet fulfilled? Can we rest yet?

If you call yourself a believer but have never grasped that you can find rest in the overwhelming love of God the Father, come.

We are talking about the fundamental issue we have, right now. Let's go back to & 2

Perhaps you are not at rest because something you are participating in has put distance between you and your Father…who loves you. This is what sin does, it separates you from the love of your father. Come, lay that sin at the altar. Confess, repent, and be restored. Know what it is to rest.

Perhaps you are not at rest because you believe that your efforts are essential for God’s kingdom to prevail. Trust will be a radical step: trusting him with your messy home. In your rush to get out the door for church. In your angry boss. In bad financial straits. In your illness. In your prodigal child. In your difficult marriage. In your difficult parents.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…Thus the heavens and the earth were finished…and he rested.

It is good, it is finished, rest.

In your personal heartache do you totally and completely trust God? Here is the test. Your head may say yes…but is your spirit able to rest? If not, remember trust equals rest.

Keller says, “We define rest as getting over being tired. God defines rest as being utterly satisfied with what we have done.”

Lastly, you may not fit in one of those categories, but you find yourself weary and burdened with the pace of this life nonetheless. This world will do that to us all. The only solution is being restored to relationship with the Father who made us in His image and likeness. The only way back to the Father is through Jesus, which is why he told us “…no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Immediately after saying those word he gave an invitation we all need to hear: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Let us sing, and as we sing, come and lay your sins, your sorrows, your significance at the altar, and trust the One who made you, sent His son for you, gives His Spirit to you…to rest.

Back to the problem. We, due to our sin nature, are restless. But Jesus promises us rest. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and says so boldly: come unto me, all of you who are burdened, who are restless, and I will give you rest.

HOW?

To stop the restlessness we have to break the pattern and make things good again. We need not only new patterns (Sabbath laws)

We need to be a new person

And that’s why Jesus can give us a new promise, a promise that He and He alone will give us rest.

2 Cor says For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Let's restate: For our sake, God made the Lord of rest restless in our place, so we might have true rest.

We need to be a new person. And we are one.

Jesus lived a perfect life, a life that was ‘very good’, and while he willingly hung on the cross, he was experiencing our sin. His cries were not those of a man at peace. He was restless in His spirit.

After that, Jesus said “it is finished”

And then, rested. On the Sabbath. Not an accident. Not a coincidence! He made what was broken good again, he finished the work, and utterly satisfied with what He had done, rested. On the Sabbath.

The promise of rest

This, then, is where we can finally find rest. In the beginning, before sin Adam had rest because of the finished work of God. At the cross Jesus, the second Adam, took that which makes us restless (our sin) and gave us his peace, his rest. The Holy Spirit begins moving in our life and restoring us back to the image and likeness of God, back to the time where we were at peace with our creator.

Here is the conclusion. THE PATTERN OF WORK AND REST...RESTS ON GOD'S WORK.

Not ours. This is where we, as Christians, get in trouble. This is where is where the enemy works on us. We do have a new identity, but we have to be reminded of it again and again. This is why Jesus says "Father" 189 times in Scripture. Why was written. We must be reminded of our identity again and again as the enemy accuses us and tires to convince us we're still...us.

Since sin causes restlessness, it needs to be a concious, continuous effort to remember who we are in Christ. Co-heirs and sons. So let us then turn to:

THE PATTERN OF WORK AND REST...RESTS ON GOD'S WORK. How do we remember God's work?

The Sabbath is ”meant to communicate the insight that interrupting the ceaseless round of striving requires a surprisingly strenuous act of will, one that has to be bolstered by habit as well as by social sanction.” (Shulavitz, again. Very good insight, and but only for the right audience.)

Inner Sabbath must come first (This comes from Tim Keller.)

Sabbath is an act of re-identification of God's work. In creation, and in us.– which god are we serving in our spirit? Needs are not psychological, they are spiritual.

Sabbath is an act of trust (, ) We don’t ever meet our needs. God does, and we must trust he can do more with one day than we can with seven.

Outer Sabbath without the inward is useful for training but not fruit. Do these for training, but never neglect the inner Sabbath pursuit.

Intentionally take more Sabbath time

Balance it between activity and inactivity, fun activities and leisure times.

Never neglect time for contemplation of God: worship!

Be accountable for your Sabbath time. There will be seasons of busyness in life, but have someone who can tell you to stop.

Think and talk through creating Sabbath with your Father in prayer, and with your family, and with each other.­­

The sabbath was intended to be a blessing, not a burden. Above everything else, it was a weekly sign that the Lord loved his people and wanted to draw them into an ever closer relationship with himself. Those who valued that relationship enjoyed the sabbath, calling it “a delight” and “honorable” (, ). 2

May we become those people by embracing this identity.

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1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), . 2 Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1876.