Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/7/16
• Bumper Video: I Love Sundays (Peace)
Good morning and welcome to church! I found some interesting statistic this week that I thought I’d share with you. It turns out 46% of fatal accidents happen in the home, 33% of fatal accidents happen in a vehicle, 2% of fatal accidents happen at work, 19% of fatal accidents happen somewhere else, but less than one tenth of 1% of all fatal accidents happen at church. I thought it might be comforting to know that you’re in safest place you can be here at church. And if that’s not incentive enough attend church, I don’t know what is!
Strangely enough, though, people—like Bobby—will sometimes do anything to avoid going. By the time Bobby arrived, the football game had already started, so his friend asked him, “Why are you so late?” Bobby replied, “I couldn’t decide between going to church and going to the football game. So I tossed a coin.” The friend said, “But that shouldn’t have taken too long.” Bobby admitted, “Well, I had to toss it 35 times.”
At least Bobby tossed the coin. Many people today won’t even do that. It is so easy to hit the snooze button on Sunday morning when the alarm sounds at seven o’clock, roll over and go back to sleep. Maybe you had every intention of going to church, maybe Sunday School, too...even had your clothes laid out, but your sleepy side wins and you satisfy your conscience with the thought, “Next Sunday.”
Then there are those who wonder why anyone would even bother with church? Why get up early on one of your few off-days? Why go through the hassle of dressing up and the getting the kids ready? Why sit through another boring service—singing the same old, worn out hymns and listening to another dry, dusty sermon?
If you’ve ever felt that way, I have good news for you: Sundays were never meant to be that way. At the risk of repeating myself: Sundays are meant to be the best day of your week! And church ought to be the best hour of your Sunday! When we do church right, Sundays will become the most powerful and peaceful day of our week.
And someone who knows all about that is David.
If there is a Bible in your pew or on your smartphone, I want to invite you one more time to open it up to Psalm 122. The first verse of this psalm has been our anchor verse for this series because, in this Psalm, David writes about a time when somebody invited him to attend church with them and this is how David responded:
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1 NIV)
Another translation says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1 NLT). The idea of going to church actually made David happy. He was excited about going to “the house of Lord” and we should be too.
As David continues in Psalm 122, he lays out three reasons why he was glad to go to the house of Lord—first is the praise of God, second is the people of God, and third is the peace of God. These three elements are essential in allowing Sundays to be the best day of your week.
Now, last week and the week before that we talked about the first two elements—the praise of God and the people of God. As we continue reading Psalm 122, David finally touches on that last element—the peace of God. First David describes being invited to the house of the Lord and standing at its door (vs. 1-2). Then he describes all the people gathered there—the families of the Lord (vs. 3-4). Then he tells us what they gathered to do—praise the name of the Lord (vs. 4). Finally, in the closing verses of this psalm, David writes this:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.” (Psalm 122:6-8 NIV)
David talks an awful lot about peace here in these last verses. He prayed for the peace of his family and friends and all those gathered at the House of the Lord that day in Jerusalem. The tribes of the Lord gathered at the house of the Lord for a day of praise and worship, and as they departed, David says to his family and friends, “Peace be with you.” In fact, the Hebrew word shalom (which is translated “peace be with you”) was a common way to say goodbye to friends and family. It was blessing that meant “may the peace of God go with you.”
In the New Testament, Paul expected peace to be a hallmark of church members. He writes, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace” (Colossians 3:15 NLT).
I’m convinced that when we do Sundays God’s way, we’ll experience the peace of God not just on Sunday but all week long. There are two ingredients necessary for experiencing the peace of God—worship and rest. A couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of this series, we watched a music video of the song That’s What I Love About Sundays. In it, Craig Morgan, touches on both of these elements:
That’s what I love about Sundays
Sing along as the choir sways.
Every verse of Amazin’ Grace,
An’ then we shake the Preacher’s hand.
Go home, into your blue jeans;
Have some chicken an’ some baked beans.
Pick a back yard football team,
Not do much of anything:
That’s what I love about Sunday.
We spent the first installment in this series talking worship, but if you want Sundays to be the best day of your week, if you want to experience the peace of God all week long, then we need that second ingredient too—rest.
Ask any physician and they will tell you that rest is essential for physical health. Ask any athlete and they will tell you that rest is essential for healthy physical training. When the body is deprived of sleep, it is unable to rebuild and recharge itself adequately. Rest is needed for physical muscles to repair themselves and prevent injury. Your body requires rest. The same is true for your soul. Sundays give us the opportunity to rest, refuel and recharge our spiritual batteries.
The problem is—in our frenzied culture there are just too many things to get done, too many demands, too many responsibilities, too many bills, and too much urgency. Nobody can afford to waste time resting in today’s results-oriented culture.
Unfortunately, this hectic pace is causing damage to our quality of life. We run faster and work harder, but only fall farther behind. Our lives have become too full and too out of balance. There’s no margin. We need a day to rest and recharge.
Way back at the beginning of time, the Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth. After it was all done—after he created life, the universe and everything—the Bible says: “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 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” (Genesis 2:2–3 NIV).
Now let me ask you something. Do you think God rested because He was tired? Of course, not! God doesn’t get tired! He has limitless energy at his disposal. The reason God rested on the seventh day was because He knew that we would need a day of rest every week and He wanted us to see how important that was, so He set the example for us. In fact, God’s example became the basis for the fourth commandment: “Remember to keep the Sabbath holy. Work and get everything done during six days each week, but the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work” (Exodus 20:8-10 NCV).
This was a new concept to the Israelites. Prior to this, they were slaves in Egypt. They were accustomed to hard labor, day in and day out. God actually had to train them how to rest. As the Israelites journeyed through the wilderness, God sent them food (manna) every morning. And he told them to collect just enough for one day at a time, except the sixth day. On the sixth day they collected twice as much so that the next day could be a day of worship and rest.
As Christians we’re no longer slavishly bound by the civil or ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, but we still need a day of rest just as much as they did.
Study the history of Christianity and I think you’ll see that whenever people have taken the time to set aside a day for rest and refocus with God, their lives have gone better. They’ve felt better about themselves, enjoyed their families more, and experienced the smile of God. Once upon a time in our country, everything stopped on Sundays. People went to church and worshipped God, then ate together, hung out together, rested and relaxed together in the afternoon. Sunday wasn’t an extra day to get things done, or a bonus day to put our kids in high-impact activities so they could get ahead. Sunday was a day of rest and worship. I think people had a greater sense of peace in those days, don’t you?
If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking, “That sounds great, but…” The world we live in is non-stop. We’ve got projects at work, priorities at home, and a plethora of extracurricular activities. Many of us think that we can get ahead faster if we are productive seven days a week. But that’s not how God made us!
Can anyone tell me what the most prosperous fast-food restaurant in the world is? It’s not McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, or Taco Bell. The answer is: Chick-fil-A. No one makes as much money per location as Chick-fil-A. And what’s unique about Chick-fil-A? What sets them apart? Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. Do you know why that is? According to their website: Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. He has often shared that his decision was as much practical as spiritual. He believes that all franchised Chick-fil-A Operators and their Restaurant employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That's why all Chick-fil-A Restaurants are closed on Sundays. It's part of our recipe for success. It seems to work pretty well for them, doesn’t it? They make more money in six days a week than McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, and Taco Bell do in seven.
That tells me that good Sundays make better Mondays (and Tuesdays and Wednesdays, for that matter)! When Sunday is a day of rest and worship, your whole week goes better. In fact, your whole life goes better. Here are some statistics I think you’ll find interesting. Secular sociologists have studied the benefits of church attendance. Follow this for a minute. What they’ve found is that those who attend church regularly…
1. Live seven and a half years longer than those who don’t. (And yet some people say they don’t have time for church.)
2. Are 56 percent more likely to have an optimistic life outlook than those who don’t. (That’s true, isn’t it?)
3. Are 27 percent less likely to be depressed.
4. Are 35 percent less likely to get divorced.
5. Have higher average levels of commitment to partners, higher levels of marital satisfaction, less thinking and talking about divorce, and lower levels of negative interaction.
6. Achieve higher grades, practice better time management, and experience a better sex life.
The studies are pretty clear: life goes better for those who go to church regularly. I think David knew that, don’t you?
Conclusion:
So why do I love Sundays and why should you? I love Sundays because I love the praise of God. I love Sundays because I love the people of God. I love Sundays because I love the peace of God. When we combine all these elements, Sundays will be the best day of your week—just the way God intended. Whether this is your first time visiting the Grove or you’ve been a member so long there’s pew worn in the shape of your bottom, I hope you can say along with David, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let’s go to the house of the Lord!”
Invitation:
Just like last week, I want to encourage those of you who already love Sundays to share with message with someone who needs it. You can post it to your Facebook page or e-mail the link a friend or family member. But also, maybe you are new to The Grove or maybe you’ve been hanging out here for a while just testing the waters; I want to invite you to make Blooming Grove your church home. Together we can praise the name of God, connect with the people of God and experience the peace of God. In so doing, we’ll make Sundays the best day of the week.
In the meantime, let’s stand and sing together!
