Deeper Into Rest

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

[Hold the Sermon Title…]

Introduction

How many of you ever heard some advise that you thought was unattainable in your season of life?

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite Pastors speak and he was describing his morning routine. His morning routine of coffee, prayer, bible reading and journaling sounded epic. And then when they asked him what time all of this was done, I was like, there is NO WAY I can do this right now! You see this guy’s kids are all grown and out of the house. He’s an empty nester. I’m not.

Last week my kids went back to school and can I tell you that every morning it was a struggle? Every morning my kids don’t want to wake up. They don’t want to pull back the blankets. I’m fighting with them to get out of the door on time.

My favorite Pastor, he’s having time with Jesus. You know what I am doing? An exorcism. That’s right, I’m praying the demon of sleep off my boys.

And really, there is some truth to fact that I am in a season of my life where I don’t think I can have mornings like this Pastor. One day, I am too going to have an empty nest and maybe then m mornings will look like that.

But where I have to be careful is to completely dismiss this idea that I can’t have that now. I can have something that looks like that now, but it will be more applicable to my current context.

Now I say all of that because I am going to tug on some things today that I’d hate for you to say, “that can never happen for me,” and you completely dismiss an opportunity to apply these principles to your context.

So let me get to our text today, and then I’m going to hit you with our sermon title.

Scriptural Exegesis

[CONTEXT]

Several months ago I started a series that I called “Hot Mess”. We didn’t get to finish this series, but I am going to come back to it in the future. The context of this series is that here in Corinth, a church that Paul planted, this church became a hot mess. In chapter 3 of this letter to the Corinthians Paul is addressing the divisions in the church. The church began to fan girl over their favorite teacher of the scriptures and they formed their own tribes within the church. As Paul is addressing this silliness we read this verse; “you are the temple of God and God’s spirit dwells in your midst.”

The direct context isn’t to an individual, but to the body of believers in Corinth. You all make up the temple of God and his spirit is here among you. So if you decide to bring divisions here you are actually dividing the body of Christ and He is not going to have that.

[APPLICATION]

I am using this scripture and making the application that on an individual level, becuase we are a part of that temple, and I am going to use the word church now, we have a responsibility to steward our part.

Someone say MY PART.

Someone say MY PART IS ME.

So if we collectively steward our parts of the church, then we are contributing to the health of the church.

As I get better, the church gets better.

As I get healthier, the church gets healthier.

Deeper Into My Health

So next week, we are diving into three areas of health - physical health, emotional health and financial health. And if you are wondering why I spent all of this time teeing up next week’s message it is becuase none of that matters if we don’t get this one thing right. I so strongly feel that there is a principle that we must first get in order to properly frame everything else that I want to talk about next week. This one thing is so important that I couldn’t bundle it with the others, it demanded its own day and it’s own space. So today, I want to spend my time together with you all talking about this one topic; rest.

Deeper Into Rest

Now, I say that word and some of you are excited and ready to lean in, and then there are others of you who are already looking at the clock. But let me challenge you today on this important conversation and let me see if we can get some fresh perspective about rest today.

Rest/ Sabbath

Let’s go talk about the very first mention of rest. Let’s go back to the Book of Genesis and read about the 6th and the 7th day of creation.

Here is Day 6:

Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Here is Day 7:

Genesis 2:1–2 NIV

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

On the 7th day of creation we read that God decided that is was time to rest from his work. He did not rest becuase he was tired, but he rested because he was done. Now this was the 7th day for God, but it was the first day for Adam.

We start from a place of rest.

The Western Culture has put this idea of rest on its head and it is in direct conflict with the word of God. We treat rest as something for the weak. We treat rest as something for the light weights. The American work ethic prided itself on showing up and doing it sick or doing it hurt.

Let me pause here and just say that if there is one thing we need to normalize from this pandemic that we are trying to come out of, is we need to normalize NOT COMING TO WORK SICK. Pre-COVID you didn’t get to call in sick unless you were sick sick. You needed a note from your Doctor to validate that you were too sick to come to work. Think about that. I remember showing up to work with my nose so runny, and coughing, with a mild fever, and there were no work from home options. You showed up! Because that’s what we do. We’re Americans. You show up sick so you can risk getting everyone else sick and everyones collective performance drops and profitability lessens becuase that’s what Americans do!

Ok, let me get back to the topic of rest. The reason some of this is going to challenge you is because you’ve put American culture over Kingdom culture and we need to remember that before you are a citizen of the United States you are a Citizen of Heaven. So just because our culture does not value rest does not mean that God, and his word, does not value rest.

Here’s what we know about rest. Not only did God rest to model rest to us, but he included it in the 10 Commandments. What are the 10 Commandments? Let’s review:

Don’t have any other Gods.

Don’t use God’s name in vain.

Keep the sabbath day, which is a day of rest, hello.

Honor your parents.

Don’t kill.

Don’t cheat on your spouse.

Don’t steal.

Don’t lie.

Don’t covet your neighbors wife.

Don’t covet your neighbors stuff.

Now you might say Pastor Josh, that was the Old Testament, and we don’t keep the Old Testament anymore. We are a New Testament church. Ok, so which of the 10 Commandments are you deciding not to keep?

You gonna cheat on your wife because that was in the Old Testament?

You gonna start stealing from your job because that was in the Old Testament?

You gonna start killing people because that was in the Old Testament?

Of course not! You’re not going to do any of those things because morally they are wrong. And so when I look at the 10 Commandments I see moral commands that we should be keeping!

But there is one Command there that is completely broken, and that is the Sabbath. We agree with the other 9, but why not this one?

We don’t know why we should rest and we do not know how to rest.

The Origin of Sabbath

So why do we rest? Let’s look back at when this command was first given. God gave the 10 Commandments to Moses to give to the people of Israel. When did this happen? This happened after they were rescued by God from slavery in Egypt.

“The Ten Commandments were given not as a means of salvation but as a result of salvation.” Rich Villodas

The application here is the commands were not given as a means of salvation, but they were given and were followed by those who had been saved. These commands when followed present a way of life that described what redeemed people look like.

Now, let’s take one more step forward on this. Israel was saved from slavery where they did what all day? They worked.

Not only did slaves work all of the time, but their identity was found in their work.

Does that sound familiar?

What do we do with kids when it comes to their identity? What do you want to be when you grow up? A fireman, a police officer, a Doctor, or maybe a YouTuber?

And what happens is we ascribe a job to what they want to be, and so now their job becomes their identity.

The cycle is the same, but it just looks different.

So, what do you think happened and how do you think the people of Israel received the news that there was going to be day completely dedicated to rest. A people group who did not get to rest, because their identity did not allow for it, was given an entire day to rest from their labor. And this day would serve as an on going reminder to them that now they belonged to God, who had rescued them from Egypt. And because they belonged to God, this day is a reminder that their identity is not their work, but their identity is is who God says they are.

Rest is a reminder of our identity.

You don’t look like everyone else. I’m not supposed to.

You don’t act like everyone else. I’m not supposed to.

I am in this world, but I am not of this world. I have been redeemed. I have a new nature. I don’t live by the customs of this world, I live by the truth of God’s word.

Rest precedes our work, and it is not the reward of it.

Again, we need to get rest back into its biblical perspective and rest comes before our work. The first day of Adam was a day of rest.

The first day of the week is Sunday, and it is a day that should prioritize worship, devotion and fellowship with the body of Christ. It is only after we have given God our first that we are ready to give to the world what is rest.

We see this principle in tithing - we give God the first 10%.

We see this with our rest as well. We rest first, and then we are prepared to do what is asked of us next.

This verse by Paul is better understood in the context of working from rest, and not working for rest.

Colossians 3:23–24 NIV

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Rest reminds me of who I am, I am not my job. And now when I go to do my job, I do it with this understanding that I’m doing it unto the Lord. I’m going to bring my best and trust God with the rest.

Rest is a reminder that our work is incomplete.

So just as we said a minute ago, rest is not a reward for getting the job done, prioritizing rest means that your work will be incomplete. When you have prioritized your rest, you shut everything down when it is your time to rest. You don’t work through your rest. You don’t bring your work home with you. You stop when it is time to rest and you leave your work incomplete.

Here is the reason why - while you are resting God is still working. As a matter of fact, sometimes he doesn’t get started until you have stopped.

Psalm 127:2 NET

It is vain for you to rise early, come home late, and work so hard for your food. Yes, he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep.

When I’m sleeping, God is not.

I believe that when I am resting he’s opening doors I can’t open, he’s turning things around for me, he’s doing the things that the Doctors said couldn’t be done, he’s doing the things that the realtor said couldn’t be done. He’s doing the things that the bank said couldn’t be done. He’s doing the things that are completely impossible to this world, but they are completely possible to Him!

Come on, how many of you believe that God does the impossible? We do our part, and then we get out of the way and we let God do his part.

Rest brings us into his presence.

I am going to use this final point of why we rest as a segue into how we rest. When we rest, we are focusing on presence, which is to be present to God, present to others, present to God’s creation and present to ourselves.

To borrow one more quote from Pastor Rich, “Sabbath is not just rest from making things. It’s rest from the need to make something of ourselves.”

Let me say it this way; it’s when we put the book down on how to be a better Mom and we go play with our kids and become that better Mom.

Does that make sense?

Here’s another analogy; have you ever seen someone at a concert or at a picturesque place and hold up their phone the whole time? I’m not talking about taking a picture, or grabbing a small clip. I’m talking about the entire time they are somewhere, they are on their device.

They arrive at the Grand Canyon, and instead of actually seeing and taking it all in, their phones are out the whole time recording everything and showing their social world their life.

It’s the parent who rather than sit and read to their kids is posting videos of reading to their kids, but the moment the picture is done, so are they.

Why are we constantly trying to make something of ourselves? Again, it goes back to us finding our identity not in him, but in our work. Rest and Sabbath breaks that cycle.

So our rest should bring us deeper into the presence of God, but being more present to our families, our friends, creation and to ourselves.

[TRANSITION]

I want to end on some very practical notes here that can give you some direction on how you can go deeper into rest.

Keep the Sabbath

Now, full disclosure, I am not here. I want to get here. But as a family we have not figured out this way of doing it, but there has been a return by many to keep the Sabbath. Those who do have described the experience this way.

At sundown on a Friday, cell phones are put away for 24 hours. A family might then have a family meal that was previously prepared before the Sabbath began, and they have a family meal followed by being together as a family. No phones, no more working, no more striving. It’s being present together as a family. The next day is a day dedicated to togetherness and restful activities that do not produce work. It’s not a day for chores. It’s not a day to get ahead or even to catch up. It’s a day to rest.

When the sunsets, you finish the Sabbath as you started your Sabbath, together.

Intentional Rest

You can also devote intentional times in your day for rest, and even schedule in times for complete presence.

For example, your mornings, and your quiet times are a place for presence unto God.

Working parents, don’t bring your work home with you. When you come home from work, your phone gets turned off from 5-9 pm and you are present with your spouse and with your children. You are “resting” from your labor, and you are being present to your family.

On weekends, you don’t check your work emails. If you cannot enter into a complete Sabbath, start to take on rhythms of Sabbath by placing guardrails up so that you are resting from your work.

Unhurry Your Life

We all need more margin in our lives. What does that mean? Don’t fill every minute of your day with stuff. You need margin in your day.

Again, very practical, but don’t put meeting after meeting in your calendar. Leave white space in your day for you to take some moments and process what just happened in one meeting before you run off into the next one.

If you need to go somewhere, leave early. Margin says, “I know it takes me 20 minutes go get there, so I am leaving 30 minutes early.” That unhurries your life and gets you to a manageable pace of life. So when you get on the road and you find out there’s been an accident, you are OK because you left with margin.

Margin will reduce your anxiety and you’ll get to enjoy the moment. You can actually stop and smell the roses when you are living unhurried.

Conclusion

Sabbath, Rest, an Unhurried Life… what are you getting at Pastor Josh? I want to push back against these three fatigues:

Fatigue of body

Fatigue of mind

Fatigue of soul

These fatigues can be fatal.

Most important, God doesn’t work in the hurried pace. You need to slow down your pace so that you create space for God to transform you by his grace.

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