God’s Gift of Rest
CCCAG June 18th, 2017
Scripture- Exodus 20:8-11
There was an evangelical pastor who tells a story of a time that he took his family to Israel. They landed in Tel Aviv around 7pm on a Friday night, and got to their hotel about 8:30. After they checked in, they walked down to the elevators to find a line of orthodox Jewish people waiting in line- a very long line outside of one elevator with Hebrew writing over the top, while the other elevator had zero people standing in front of it. The pastor asked someone in line if the other elevator was broken, and one of the men said no. The pastor then asked why everyone was standing in this line when there were two elevators available. The main pointed at the sign in Hebrew and said this is the Shabbat elevator, and Shabbat started over an hour ago with the sun setting. (Shabbat is Hebrew for Sabbath). The man went onto explain that the Shabbat elevator stops on every one of the 32 floors of this hotel, and then stops at every floor one the way back down, so no one had to break Shabbat by pushing a button on the elevator, as that would constitute work.
The pastor said, “So the other elevator is working fine then?” The man said, “Yes, but it doesn’t stop on every floor so we can’t take it”.
The pastor turned to his family and said, “Okay everyone, we are taking the Jesus elevator!” As the pastor and his family got on the elevator, several Jewish people from the other line pilled in behind them, each one asking the pastor to push a button for them to stop at their floor.
I guess they figured these Christians are doomed anyway, we might as well use them to get out of the long line and get to our rooms a little faster.
This story is an example of how a wise and loving gift from God can be misinterpreted and misapplied to a degree that really puts a burden on people that God never intended.
In addition to the elevators, consider what other Shabbat rules would guide those orthodox Jews hotel stay-
All of those people who rode the elevator with the pastor would have to call room service in order for them to have light in their room, because flipping the light switch on would also be considered work.
Who did room service at the Jewish hotels? Gentiles!
To obey Shabbat, the staff at the hotel would have to go around Friday afternoon and untwist the light bulb in the refrigerator so that if they opened the door to get something, it would not turn on a light, as activating a switch that causes electricity flowing through the lightbulb and making visible light would constitute work.
Most of us have never had to experience things like that, but you can see things like this even in America at the Milwaukee Jewish Home- which is an assisted living and nursing home for Jewish people, or certain precincts in Chicago depending on the devoutness of the person in question.
But what does Shabbat, or the Sabbath Day mean to us as Christians. Since our roots are in Judaism, do all of those restrictions matter to us today? Some Christian denominations like The 7th Day Adventists and messianic Jewish people still follow many of the Sabbath Day regulations. But, Most of us do not.
But obviously it’s very important to God as HE spoke it to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai and included it in the 10 Commandments. Violating Shabbat rules was a capital crime before Jesus came. In fact, part of the Pharisee’s problems with Jesus was Him supposedly violating the Sabbath rules and that led the religious leadership of Jerusalem to plot against Him and eventually pressure Pilate to put Him to death.
So lets begin today by looking at the commandment as written, explore the ancient applications, history, and meaning behind it, and then look at how we are to view and apply it to our lives today-
Exodus 20:8-11 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in 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.
Prayer- that we may honor God’s gift to us
The commandment itself point us where to understand the basics of Shabbat or Sabbath, and to do that we have to go back to the beginning
I. Theology and history
In Genesis 1&2, the bible details the creation of life by God. These two chapters take us through the creation of the stars and galaxy’s, then to the animal kingdom here on earth and finishes with the creation of humanity- the part of creation made in God’s image.
There are a few details there that really set up our understanding of Shabbat, and even much of the bible’s general theology, and they are found in Genesis 1:31 into chapter 2.
Genesis 1:31-2:3
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning (huge point)—the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
A few keys to the bible’s understanding of how we measure time-
A biblical day, and it’s still seen this way by modern Jews, is from evening to evening, not morning to morning as the western world sees it. Although modern Israel follows the same clock we do- that days end at 2359, and begin at 2400, from a religious perspective their day ends at Sundown- from the time they can see the three brightest stars in the sky, until the next evening when the same thing happens.
That’s a biblical day.
That’s important to us as Christians because it explains how Jesus was in the ground three days and three nights, as described several places in the NT. If you use Western society’s way of explaining or marking different days, that doesn’t work. However, if you use the bible’s way of marking time, it works perfectly.
So if we put it on a biblical calendar, God started creation on Sunday, and ceased by Sundown Friday night. God then declares the 7th day to be Sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday to be Holy. Holy means set apart for God’s purpose.
In this case, God’s purpose is rest.
Rest is a holy principle and reflection of our Father God’s heart. Having a God that commands you to rest is unique among world religions. All other religions and their practices revolve around doing things to gain favor with whatever you are worshipping. But our God orders us to regularly rest.
Now lets look at who God is giving this principle to-
You can’t interpret or understand the 10 commandments apart from the time or situation they were given. God is giving the 10 Commandments to newly released slaves.
They didn’t get days off, sick days, vacation days, comp days, mental health days, or stress days. You worked, or you were punished or killed.
7 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 52 weeks a year, for your whole adult life until you die, probably working. It was this way for 400 years for the Israelite people.
That’s what makes the 4th Commandment so unique is that it shows the difference between the Egyptian gods and Yahweh God. It shows Israel the loving Father heart of God- A God who gives them a commandment to “Take a full day off once a week- Do no work, rest, recharge, worship me.”
Can you see how revolutionary this had to be for them? How different it made them from everyone else surrounding them?
Observant Jews have kept this law pretty strictly since it was given. In fact, the reason we have a two day weekend is because of the Jews who immigrated here. After WWI and WWII, many Jews fled Europe to the United States, and many formed business’ which grew rapidly, and they had to hire Gentile labor. The Gentiles were mostly Christian and wanted Sunday’s off for Church, while the Jews wanted Saturday off, so the compromise eventually was that both days are now considered by our American Culture and it’s employers to be non-work days, or overtime days if they have to be worked.
I know the unions want to claim the weekend as their invention, but actually it came as a compromise between the Jewish people and the Christian people.
God’s way was for us to work 6 days a week and have only one day off. So thank a Jew next time for giving us the weekend.
So that’s a bit of the history and theology behind the Sabbath Day. Let’s look at what it means for us as Christians living in a modern world.
II. What it means for us today
If there has been any time we need to understand and practice the sabbath, it’s in today’s world.
We are bombarded with everything that fights against the idea of rest.
Most of us were raised to work hard, and when you are done working, go back and do some more work. Days off are for lazy people. You need at least a full time job, a part time job, and a home business of some type to make you successful.
My grandfather taught me that- last week you remember I told you all of the things he was involved with, and many of them were all at the same time. 3-4 different jobs, 3 clubs, and he created and sold fishing tackle out of the garage- his stuff was great for attracting musky’s. I know the secret to making them so I can hook you up…no pun intended.
I knew a woman at a past job- full time nurse in a hospital, part time nurse in a jail, full time farmer on the family farm. She and her husband had 5 children- all five children were involved in multiple sports, activities, and still had to help on the farm. She was probably the busiest person I had ever met.
And, one of the most tired, depressed, and stressed out people I knew. She smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, and was on 3 different antianxiety medications, 2 mood stabilizers, and a sleeping pill.
I know this because I had to transport her for her 3rd cardiac cath. She was 42 years old.
Our world today needs to return to the idea of rest.
For many of us, the idea of rest sounds to us like sin doesn’t it?
Do you know taking a day off a week is actually honoring God?
Do you know that taking a day to sleep in is actually worship? My daughter Cassie will love that idea.
Do you know that God has prescribed rest as part of our lives?
Not a rule to follow as much as a blessing that is given.
Jesus and the disciples were walking through a grain field and picking the heads of and eating them as they walked. They weren’t stealing- This was allowed under the law that the edges of a farmers field was open to the public to use and pick the crops for their own consumption so they didn’t go hungry while traveling.
However, they were walking and doing this on the sabbath, which violated the Pharisee’s regulations regarding what could and couldn’t be done during holy days. The Pharisee’s had 39 additional categories with additional rules regarding the Sabbath day, and walking and picking grain violated at least 4 of them.
So they notified Jesus that He and His disciples were sinning.
Jesus’ reply gives us our modern understanding of the Sabbath
Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
That’s the NIV, but love how the New Living Translation says this-
Then Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.
Let me unpack what Jesus was saying-
God created humanity to work. Back in Genesis- God creates Adam and Eve, brings them, introduces them to each other, and immediately places them in a garden to work it. That was God’s plan in the beginning.
It’s also God’s plan for the end. God’s plan is God’s plan and it is unchanging.
For all of you who envision heaven has a cloud, a harp, and a very long nap are going to be very surprised when you get there.
In the end, Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven. That word place has been misunderstood to be a huge house with angelic servants. Place in the Greek primarily means position- a job.
It’s not just a mansion on a hill for eternal retirement- it’s a specific job that will help Him reign and rule over the universe.
Humanity is created to work. In fact, most of us find our identify and sense of self-worth through the jobs we do, and how well we do them.
God knows that, and HE also knows that satan will attempt to take that God-Given desire for work, and supercharge it to the point that it kills us spiritually and physically.
That’s why He commands us to rest
The Sabbath was given not to impose a requirement that we have to follow and check off of a spiritual to-do list to earn God’s favor.
It’s a gift of a father that is looking out for His kids, because He loves them.
Let’s now apply it to our lives today in the 21st Century-
III. Application
A. 1st thing- Recognize the Wisdom of God
Remember the nurse I mention on her 3rd cardiac cath at the age of 42? That can be you and I if we don’t understand our need for sabbath.
Many modern companies are even taking up this idea for their senior executives- instead of allowing them to burn out and quit, they offer something called a sabbatical- a ceasing from their duties for several weeks or even a few months to recharge and refuel.
This idea actually began here in the bible- in fact, our district superintendent was told to take a sabbatical this year.
My last pastor told me to take a sabbatical when I was on the edge of burnout working two jobs and trying to do ministry. He gave me 10 weeks off from all ministry duties- show up for church and that’s it.
What this idea of shows us is that there is wisdom in planning for rest. Rest isn’t something that comes naturally to most of us unless it’s put on a calendar in ink, not pencil. In fact, rest and sabbath should be the first thing you put on your calendar, not the last thing you try and squeeze in. I’m slowly but surely trying to work that into my calendar.
Most of us probably feel a bit guilty taking a whole day off, but for you who are stressed out, worn down, and on the razors edge of burnout- this is for you- plan and then actually take your rest.
Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
So if you are on that ragged edge of burnout and exhaustion, try God’s way.
Plan to rest.
We need to steward our time. In the church we talk a lot about the stewardship of money and talents, but we don’t talk a lot about our stewardship of time.
You can earn more money, you can develop a talent, but you can’t get more time. That is why stewarding our time is so important, and why rest needs to be a top priority when we make our plans and calendars.
The second application is to
B. Rest from all worldly stimulation.
That means we have to-
Turn off our TV’s, unless it’s something restful and spiritual
Turn off the news
Turn off the computers
And most importantly for us today- put away the smart phones or at least disable it’s data feed for a day.
When I was studying for this message I found several scholarly articles that really surprised me-
Modern medicine is adding “SmartPhone Addiction” to it’s list of addictive mental illness in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel that psychiatrist’s use to properly diagnose mental illness.
I read several of the abstracts from the research papers and the researchers are saying that they see smart phone addiction becoming the number one addiction in the world. Research has confirmed in multiple studies that using smart phones to text or use social media trigger the same brain chemical, dopamine that gambling, pornography, smoking, drinking, drug use to produce addiction in our brains.
I’ll be honest- when I first read this I thought it was a bunch of hogwash. But then I started to think about it and look around-
I walked back from getting something from the cafeteria the other day and look at the people working in the ER- all who weren’t in patient’s rooms were on their phones. I looked in the patient’s rooms- patient’s and family, all on their smart phones. In fact, when I triage many patient’s, I have to wait for them to get off of their phones to answer the questions I’m asking them.
One of our number 1 requests from patients is either the Wifi password or a charger for their phones.
You go to a mall- people walking looking at their phones. Go to Dollar General or Gordy’s- people walking the aisles with a phone in their hand waiting for the next message.
Drive past people on the highway, looking at their phones.
Couples in restaurants out together for a date night- looking at their phones….
And I’m guilty of it myself.
This is a problem in our society isn’t it?
That’s why I wanted to bring the need for sabbath right down to where we live today- you need sabbath from these things also. IF there is anything other than God that you feel you can’t live without, that’s an idol and probably an addiction that you need to either put aside, or have regular sabbaths from before it becomes addiction.
Finally, our ability to take sabbaths shows that we
C. Trust in God
In an earlier message, we said that the 10 Commandment form a protective fence around God’s yard that keeps His children from falling off the cliffs and into harm and darkness.
The plank in that fence that represents honoring the Sabbath shows who and what we place our trust in.
Finally, we need to remember the most important thing that the bible teaches us about the Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,e just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
That Rest is not just found in honoring one day out of seven, but found in the person of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 11:28“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.”
Some of you need that rest that God is offering through Christ Jesus.
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