Rhythms of Rest

Welcome

Welcome to Celebration Church. We are so glad that you are here. Thank you for worshipping with us today. If there is anything we can do for you and your family, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We are a family and we are with you. If you are joining us online, welcome. We are so glad that you are here. If you are in the area, we would love to invite you to join us for our in person gatherings where we have a safe, clean and socially distanced environment for you and your family.

Seasonal Reference:

We are in a sacred time commonly referred to as “lent”. Lent is the period of preparation prior to Easter, 40 weekdays (6 week, not including Sundays) Originally a time of fasting for baptismal candidates, it became a time of general penance and abstinence, with increased emphasis on reflection and spiritual renewal. Please pray with us as we are believing God for people to come to faith and get baptized. Consider something you can give up. Read the Gospels during this time.

Series Recap

Our pursuit determines our experience. Pursue means to seek to attain or accomplish. Synonyms include chase down. Go after. Fully engage. Seek. The heart of who we are and what we do is connected to our pursuit. Our mission statement is we are God’s Family, Pursuing God’s Kingdom. What that means is we are not called to passively sit back and wait to experience what God has for us. We have to pursue it. Our pursuit determines our experience.

Matthew 6:33 CSB

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Matthew 7:7 CSB

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

1 Timothy 6:11 CSB

11 But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

We must pursue righteousness and doing things God’s way. God has established rhythms and patterns for us to experience His best in our lives. We don’t have to work for it, but you have to position yourself to receive it. Grace doesn’t negate discipline. Our pursuit determines our experience. We’ve talked about pursuing purpose through serving, pursuing relationships, and today we want to keep the conversation.

Scriptures

Genesis 2:1–3 CSB

1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 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. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Matthew 11:28–30 CSB

28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus makes an incredibly powerful statement, “learn from me”…study me. Model me. Be like me. Jesus is humble, kind, gracious, but Jesus was also a man that understood the importance of rest. He lived and modeled a life of rest. I believe one of the most overlooked thing in our culture is the importance of rest. In a world where productivity and multitasking is a celebrated skillset, rest can seem lazy, wasteful, unproductive. However, God has a different view on the matter. I want to spend a few moments today about reclaiming an ancient gift that God has given us, rest. I have entitled today’s message, Rhythms of Rest.

Prayer

Lord we thank you for your goodness; your grace. The kindness you extend to us. Your church, community, your Word, which is a lamp unto our feet to guide us to your ways. Give us open eyes, ears, hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Illustration

I was raised around a very hard working family. My grandfather moved from Virginia to Delaware to start a business and was successful. My biological father was a successful business man, he worked hard. Then he left my mother when I was 4 but I saw my mother work really hard to provide for my brother and I. My step father, who raised me, came into my life when I was about 8 and he gave me a first hand look of what it meant to work hard, have dreams and ambition and grit. The benefit of hard work. We would take family vacations to celebrate as a reward for working hard.

After graduating high school, my oldest son was born. I didn’t have any clue of what I would do, but I knew I needed to work very hard to provide. I had 3 jobs, no days off. It was a way of life. As I pursued my short-lived rap career, I would make music, work, go to school all at the same time…the grind was a way of life, for Maegan too.

I would use phrases like, a closed mouth doesn’t get fed; no rest for the weary. Success doesn’t come easy. All of these statements are true. Our ability to work hard is a sign of stewardship. Our work and how we do it, is a symbol of discipline. As I began to dedicate my life to full time ministry, I very much kept the same focus and mentality. Hustle, grind, get after it. It was celebrated, however, I began to notice a rhythm. On Friday’s our staff would do our best to disconnect. A day of rest. Sabbath. I never fully understood it or embraced it.

Then something interesting happened. I moved to dc and I was truly ready to get after it. I had plans to change everything and within a month of living in a new city and a new role, I break my ankle. It was horrific. I planned to hit the ground running but all I did was hit the ground. The next several months I was on a journey. I had to slow down. I had to utterly depend on my wife. I worked remotely. Oddly, it turns out it was one of the most refreshing seasons of my life. My marriage grew stronger. My family grew stronger. I had more overall peace then I had ever had. I didn’t understand it.

Transition

1 day I was reading, arguably my favorite passage of scripture

Psalm 23:1–6 CSB

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

My biggest takeaway, God wants to bring us to a place where we can experience wholeness, but if we don’t rest, we won’t receive it. What if our obsession with being everywhere, having access to everything causes everything to have access to us and rob us of true rest. We can become so consumed with being busy. Here’s the thing…God never called us to busy, he called us to be fruitful and in order to be fruitful, there must be moments of rest. Spring is when things begin to take root and grow, summer requires intentional watering, fall is meant for preparation and winter is when things go dormant. The seeds are planted but there is a moment when there is no activity so that when the season of growth comes, the land can handle the harvest. We plant, we water, but God adds the increase. Rest is a vital component for health and growth. God didn’t call us to be busy, He calls us to be fruitful and in order to be fruitful, we must rest.

Definition

Rest is a restorative break from labor and worldly striving. It is to cease from activity. It means to pausing and giving space to God to fill. In the beginning God created. Without form or void means without order or structure or purpose. God established order in a sequence of events. It starts with God said and ends with the day count. The first 3 days God established order and the following 6 God brought the entities that would fill the space.

During creation God consistently said it was good but with man He said it was very good because humanity is the apex of God’s creation. God blessed man to be fruitful, to image Him and bring order and wholeness to His creation.

On the seventh day, God rested. This means He filled the entirety of His creation. It was all a temple to Him. When we rest, it gives God space to breathe on our work.

Rest is a Gift

Rest is truly a gift from God, but all gifts require us to steward them. I read a story about a family that hit the lottery. It was enough money to radically change their legacy. However, it had the opposite affect. Family bickering over money divided them and left them more broken then they were prior to winning the lottery. It got complicated. I think we have complicated the most simple yet powerful gifts that God has given us. Rest was given to us by God to allow us to not live in a constant state of output or busyness, but we have complicated it. We argue about its importance. We struggle to stand still. We resist it and therefore miss out on the benefits from it. God didn’t call us to be busy, He calls us to be fruitful and in order to be fruitful, we must rest.

Points

What if there are things we have been striving for that can only be accomplished if we actually rest? Maybe instead of striving for what’s next, we need to pursue rest.

Rest Gives Us Perspective

Matthew 1:20–24 CSB

20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her

Joseph had such dreams for his future and marriage until he finds out his fiance is pregnant. He decides, I’m not going to go through with it. However, before he took the necessary steps, he rested! While resting, God sends him a message and gives him clarity. Our impulses are always dialed up. Ready to spring into action. However, rest allows us to hear from God instead of our feelings. Rest always us to walk by faith and not by facts. Rest gives us the ability to see things through God’s lens. Before you react, rest! Before you make any sizable decision, rest. Before you make a big purchase, rest. Rest is the remedy for impulsiveness.

Rest is also the way we ensure our ambition doesn’t outpace God. We can be so driven, that we stop being led. Paul explains that he is content in every season. (Phil 4:11-13) When you have the proper content, you can be content. When I am on a road trip, I hate looking at signs because I just want to get there. However, Maegan celebrates every milestone because she has a different perspective. Rest gives us perspective of progress.

Rest Helps Us Recover

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.

Jesus lived a life of constant output. There were constantly people pulling on Him. Though He was God, He was also man. He ate, He had emotions, He rested. Jesus tells us to learn from Him. Look to Him. Jesus modeled a life of profound discipline but that discipline included rest to recover from extensive output.

One of the biggest crisis of today is the frequency that we see burnout. Burnout is when you are physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally exhausted. When we are exhausted, we are vulnerable. It has been said we are the most vulnerable when we are alone, hungry, bored, or tired. Vulnerability leads to compromise. I have seen leaders fall because they were compromised due to a lack of rest. Whenever someone is ill or injured, we tell them to rest. It can boost their immune system and restore the body, soul and mind. When going to the gym, rest aids in recovery. The lack of rest makes us vulnerable. Vulnerability leads to bad decisions.

1 Kings 19:1–5 CSB

1 Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!” 3 Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, 4 but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, “Get up and eat.”

Elijah was ready to give up, but he rested, was restored and completed his mission. Rest brings recovery to your output.

Proverbs 11:25 CSB

25 A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water.

We want our cups to overflow but how can it if we don’t rest and sit still long enough to receive what God wants to pour out? Rest helps us to recover.

Rest Honors God

Exodus 20:8–11 CSB

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

After creating everything, God invites man to rule, reign and rest in His presence. There isn’t another day until the fall of man. Once the fall happens, the cycle begins and now man is under a system of work and labor that seem to never end. However, God still designated a day for His creation to honor Him. It’s called Sabbath. It is a day where we disconnect from the pressure of the world and rest in God’s presence. As slaves, the work never ended, but God still still wanted to His creation to pause and honor Him. When God provided the commandments, He included Sabbath. Sabbath is one of 7 festivals that honors God. Every 7th year, God wanted slaves set free and restored to their land. Every 7x7 years, Jubilee, all debts are forgiven and there is total restoration. Jesus launches His public ministry on a Sabbath, which was the year of Jubilee. Jesus participated in the Sabbath. Sabbath means rest. When we rest, it is how we pause to acknowledge God as our source and provider.

Sabbath is how we intentionally and consistently put God on our calendar and invite Him in our homes to be the guest of honor with our family. Sabbath ensures our ambitions don’t outpace obedience. As a family, on Friday, we have dinner, pray together and spend time.

Closing

Maegan and I had our children very young. We worked really hard and provided for our family. We never really created a consistent rhythm of vacations. We just came back from Cancun…it was amazing. To just rest, guilt free. While there, we went to a silent party. Everyone has on headphones and are listening to music on different frequencies. It is hilarious to see people dancing at different paces, depending on the frequency they were listening to. We have been looking at the world and moving to its frequency. However, God has a rhythm for His people to move by. God is telling us to slow down and move to the rhythm of rest.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 CSB

11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.

God didn’t call us to be busy, He calls us to be fruitful and in order to be fruitful, we must rest.

Altar

Jesus tells us to come to Him and He will give us rest for our souls. Maybe you have been striving, doing things in your own strength. Today is a day for you to experience a touch from God.

Perhaps your next step is to take your seat at His table.