Lift Up Your Eyes

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Introduction

Last year I shared a message called, Selah, and talked briefly about the importance of rest

It was a message that I will continue to implement each year

Here’s why:

Rest is modeled for Christians in the character of God and in the life of Jesus

As Christians and non-Christians we struggle with taking care of ourselves in the arena of rest

Psalm 121:1–8 ESV

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

TIS’ THE SEASON:

We are ALL WEARY RIGHT NOW!

Our souls are weary

Our bodies are weary

Our minds are weary

And it’s bout to be Thanksgiving, Hunting Season, and Christmas!

Illustration:

Jar = Life

Balls = cares

We are weary…longing for relief, rest, refreshment!

Water = The Spirit

PLAN:

Today we’re going to talk about the spiritual discipline of taking a weekly Sabbath as a Practicing New Testament Believer.

Next Week we’re going to talk about the spiritual discipline of making Selah a normative part of everyday life

The follow week [Nov. 22nd] we will place these into practice as a church together.

Today, let’s talk about Sabbath:

When we talk about Sabbath, we are talking about a day where work stops and things rest.

Note: I’m not interested in debating the nuances of which days people make their Sabbath. I know that some of us work on Sundays, and it creates a problem with making that day a day where work ceases.

Nevertheless, nowhere in scripture does the character of God or the life of Jesus suggest that creation is built to handle life without a Sabbath rest.

Likewise, nowhere in scripture does the character of God or the life of Jesus suggest that creation is built to be lazy or idle.

History:

The First Sabbath Rest

When you read the story of creation, we find God creating life [heavens, earth, creatures, humans,…] in 6 days.

The bible tells us in Genesis 2 that on the 7th day, God rested [shabbat]] This is where we get the word Sabbath.

Shabbat =Sabbat means to cease, stop, come to an end. This doesn’t imply that God was weary or absent of strength.

God creates all of life and then He creates the Sabbath. But He also blesses it and makes it holy.

Genesis 2:1–3 ESV

1 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.

Blesses = Hbr. bae-rock. = This is translated to speak words of invoking divine favor, fill with strength, to kneel, full, adorned....

God ceases from activity, blesses the day and makes it holy.

It’s God the Creator that institutes the day of rest, fills it with strength and praise, and makes it holy.

Unfortunately, sin makes the Sabbath harder to observe…because it introduces the burden of work.

God continues this Sabbath, and implements it into the Jewish commandments:

““Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8–11, ESV)

This practice of the Sabbath carries in the Jewish culture to this very day [nightfall Friday to nightfall Saturday]

In it’s simplest form, the Sabbath was a day that burdens where not to be carried…work was not to be done.

But how do we see Jesus interact with the Sabbath?

Unfortunately, by the time Jesus comes to earth, the Sabbath has been mishandled in so many ways, that it became work to keep the Sabbath!

There were so many amendments that had been made to how one should keep the Sabbath!

God gives His people the Torah [Law of Moses] that had 613 Commandments [this includes the 10 Commandments]

The Pharisees, zealous Jews who meticulously followed a long list of rules, would make their interpretations about what it meant to follow these commandments [keep the Sabbath]

This was called the Mishnah. Has been added to for generations…Rabbis and Priests giving their interpretation on how to keep the Law of God.

Example with Sabbath:

The Mishnah gives 39 categories that defines what “work” means and then each has a sub-category.

Examples:

how many steps one can take, how many letters one can write, erasing letters, turning off lights, lowering a flame, starting a fire, swatting a fly or mosquito, sewing, washing clothes, boiling water, ....etc

Jesus is not getting in trouble for violating the Sabbath, but rather for violating the Mishnah [the rules and sub-rules the Pharisees have place on top of the Sabbath].

To the defense of the Pharisees, some suggest that they added these rules to the Sabbath to keep people from inadvertently breaking one of God’s laws [punishable by death]. —but this became a burden to carry [which was the opposite of what God wanted]

What do we see Jesus doing on the Sabbath?

There are two things I want us to observe Jesus doing on the Sabbath

In the Synagogue

Doing Good

In Luke 6:6-11 we see Jesus in the synagogue teaching…and there is a man there who has a withered right hand. Jesus heals the man [on the Sabbath] despite breaking the Pharisees laws [Read]

“On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” (Luke 6:6–11, ESV)

In Luke 13:10-17 we see Jesus in the synagogue teaching…and there is a woman who had had a disabling spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could stand up straight. Jesus heals her [on the Sabbath] and the ruler of the synagogue is angry and Jesus calls them hypocrites. [Read]

“Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.” (Luke 13:10–17, ESV)

In Mark 2:27 Jesus tells the angry Pharisees that, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

In other words, the Sabbath was a gift from God to refresh man, not an opportunity to be burdened with regulations to try and keep it!

So what does the Sabbath have to do with New Testament Protestant Christians?

The NT Church sets the pace for the Sabbath in Acts 2:42-47

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42–47, ESV)

Instead of the 7th day [Jewish Saturday], the NT believers gather on the first day [Sunday…the day Jesus rose from the dead]

The believers set the first day of their week for rest and gathering and doing good.

Gather as the people of God

Gather to worship

Gather to learn

Gather to serve

All through scripture we see the church taking a day to gather, worship, serve, pray, and learn.

This grows our relationship with God

This gives us a break from working

This refreshes us by being able to serve and do good to others

This helps us prepare for the week ahead

This give us an opportunity to place God first in our lives and make Him central!

Where does that leave us?

Psalm 42:1–2 ESV

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Why does the deer pant for flowing streams?

Creation needs water to survive and flourish…creation [since the fall] is under the curse of toil.

Likewise our soul needs God to survive and flourish spiritually

But if we are too busy to stop by the stream, we will never be refreshed.

If we allow our lives to be dictated by our work…we will never experience a life lived out of rest.

If we do not take a Sabbath [cease from burdens] and make it holy [set aside to worship, learn, pray, serve] we will find ourselves in a spiritual wasteland looking for streams of living waters!

Every Sunday there is an opportunity [2] to stop and allow yourself to be refreshed

Our Struggles:

Our Sundays have been taken up by all the things we couldn’t get done or didn’t have the chance to do during the week.

This is just another reminder that either we often don’t manage our time during the week as we need to OR we are way over extended in other areas of our life.

Our schedules over-run us.

Either way, we are in an unhealthy and unsustainable rhythm we were not designed to handle.

We have an inaccurate view of the Sabbath

It’s can be an inconvenience rather than a time of invocation

We’re missing some opportunity rather than resting, worshipping, praying, and allowing God to refresh our thirsty souls.

We view it as work [get up, get the kids ready,

ElementChurch works hard to not over schedule volunteers, activities, or put un-due requirements for coming to a gathering [clothing, time, etc.]

Challenge:

Look at Sunday [Sabbath] as the fuel for the work ahead

If your Sabbath directly influenced your production how would you prioritize it?

How long can you go without being refreshed by the Spirit?

If the Church is a family that loves and serves each other, how might you be more apart of that family?

The Gospel:

Psalm 121:1–2 ESV

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

There’s an invitation Jesus gives us....to come to him, cast down your burdens, and rest

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

If your soul is thirsty....lift up your eyes to the hills!

Call upon the Lord today....allow Him to be your rest!

Illustration:

Jar = Life

Balls = cares

We are weary…longing for relief, rest, refreshment!

Water = The Spirit of the Lord drowns out the cares of the world!