Give It A Rest
Exodus 23:10-12
What advice can I give you for the New Year?
I pondered this as I anticipated this morning worship service.
What practical friendly pastor-like advice might I give that would be helpful and apply to pretty much our entire church as we look ahead to a New Year?
What might I say that could really make a difference in the quality of your faith and life and work and ministry this coming year?
I think I have something, but I’ll be painting in broad strokes so if it doesn’t apply to you then you can just pray for the rest of us because I believe it will apply to many here this morning.
This morning I would like to remind you of the importance of SABBATH REST, specifically the importance of taking one Sabbath day rest in seven.
This morning, as we look ahead into the New Year, I want to encourage you to give it a rest.
Please open your Bibles to EXODUS 23:10-12 (page 77)
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and wild animals may eat what they leave; Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household and the alien as well, MAY BE REFRESHED.
Exodus 23:10-12
Now please turn to COLOSSIANS 2:13-17 (page 1166)
When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.’
Colossians 2:13-17
Let’s start with the Colossian’s passage.
Like many other institutions in the Old Testament, the Sabbath found its fulfillment in the person of Christ. That fulfillment is both present (Colossians 2:16-17) and future (Hebrews 3:7-4:11).
However, Christ’s fulfillment of the Sabbath does not render the fourth commandment of the Old Testament’s Ten Commandments UNWISE for Christians to apply today.
Colossians 2:16-17 affirms that the Sabbath is "a shadow of the things that were to come." In the broader context (Colossians 2:6-23), Paul confronted an ascetic attitude (spiritual progress resulted from the harsh treatment of our bodies) prevalent in the first century and argues for freedom from rigid regulations of self-mortification through our union with Christ.
Thus the Sabbath commands of the Old Testament must never be observed with an attitude of asceticism, but with one of freedom in the gospel of Christ.
Now let’s consider the wisdom of the OLD TESTAMENT Sabbath commands. You will notice that I read you Exodus chapter 23 instead of Exodus chapter twenty that lists the Ten Commandments. This is because as a covenantal obligation the fourth command to keep the Sabbath was fulfilled in Christ who has instituted the New Covenant.
Under the Old Testament Mosaic covenant the believer was required to keep the circumcision laws and the Sabbath laws as a COVENANT SIGN that he was trusting and obeying YAHWEH.
Under Jesus’ New Testament covenant we keep the Lord’s Supper and baptism as the covenant sign that we are trusting and obeying the Lord God.
But the abolishment of the Old Covenant does NOT mean that there is no longer any PRACTICAL WISDOM in its commands.
That is why I want you to consider Exodus chapter 23 because it reveals the practical wisdom of SABBATH rest as part of specific Old Testament covenant responsibilities.
So lets read it again through the lens of practical wisdom filtering out the binding nature of what these commands represented for the Old Testament believer.
Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household and the alien as well, MAY BE REFRESHED.
Exodus 23:12
After God created the earth in six creation days he rested.
Interestingly, in ancient Mesopotamian religion, in cultures that surrounded the Hebrews, their gods also rested following their acts of creation. However, they rested because people were created to do the work that the gods were tired of doing.
Rest was not reserved for people. Only the deities enjoyed it.
In the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Old Testament, one finds a different view of people.
Since God rested after his work, he desires people to rest after their work. The biblical view of the Sabbath rest therefore emphasizes God’s love and care for human beings. This recalls Jesus’ teaching that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
Can you see the love of God for us expressed in the creation rhythm of work six days and rest the seventh?
Our Lord is concerned about our physical and emotional wellbeing just as he is concerned for our spiritual wellbeing.
The land and the oxen and the donkey and the slave and indeed we ourselves are created in such a way that we need to rest one day in seven that we MAY BE REFRESHED.
And so my friendly, my non-binding, my non-legalistic, pastor-like advice for you for the New Year is GIVE IT A REST.
Give your life a rest one day in seven so that you may on a WEEKLY BASIS be refreshed.
The story is told of two lumberjacks named CRAZYSWING and BUZZSAW who had the tiring job of clearing a field of trees. The contract called for them to be paid per tree.
CRAZYSWING wanted the day to be profitable, so he grunted and sweated, swinging the axe relentlessly.
BUZZSAW, on the other hand, seemed to be working about half as fast. He even took a rest and sat off to the side for a few minutes.
CRAZYSWING kept chopping away until every muscle and tendon in his body was screaming.
At the end of the day, CRAZYSWING was terribly sore, but BUZZSAW was smiling and telling jokes. Amazingly, BUZZSAW had cut down more trees!
CRAZYSWING said, "I noticed you sitting while I worked without a break. How’d you outwork me?"
BUZZSAW smiled. "Did you notice I was sharpening my axe while I was sitting?"
My friend, one day of rest per seven will refresh and sharpen you physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Give it a rest. Give your life a Sabbath rest one day in seven so that you may on a WEEKLY BASIS be refreshed.
Imagine the farm field of a righteous Israelite. It is the seventh year, and in obedience to God he lets his barley field have its Sabbath rest.
This morning a warm, gentle rain is watering the field. The land is smooth, not plowed by oxen as in the previous six years. The soil, which has had its nutrients taken out by crops for six years, is now slowly fertilized the natural way.
In a year, because it was given its Sabbath rest, the land will produce bumper crops. It will be restored through Sabbath.
Well we are more fragile than farmland. You and I need more rest that once every six years. One day of Sabbath rest in seven is what the Lord says that we need.
So give it a rest. Give your life a rest one day in seven so that you may on a WEEKLY BASIS be refreshed like farmland is renewed by the Sabbath’s warm, gentle rain and is slowly re-fertilized the natural way and then it produces bumper crops.
If we want to be fruitful in our work we also need to be restored through a WEEKLY Sabbath rest.
Give it a rest. Give your life a Sabbath rest one day in seven so that you may on a WEEKLY BASIS be refreshed.
Hebrew scholar, Dr. Ken Way states that a study of the Hebrew word "Shabbat" reveals a number of important theological truths:
Sabbath reveals God’s love and care for his people. The Sabbath commands were given from God’s heart of love for us.
Sabbath reveals God’s design in creation. People, animals, and land require rest in order to thrive and prosper.
Sabbath reveals that humans are made in God’s image. People are instructed to rest because God himself rested.
Sabbath reveals the human need for LIMITS. People have a tendency to overwork themselves.
Sabbath reveals the human need for self-discipline and structure (good time management and the ability to say ENOUGH).
Sabbath reveals the human tendency to marginalize God by not resting and accepting his CREATION order for our lives.
Sabbath reveals that rest can be an act of worship as we submit our schedule’s to God’s wisdom. As work is dedicated to God’s glory, so should rest.
So give it a rest. Give your life a rest one day in seven so that you may on a WEEKLY BASIS be refreshed and express in a very practical way your trust in God’s wisdom and provisions.
Our disregard for the Sabbath rest can reflect an attitude of mistrust toward God.
What are we saying about God when we live overextended, busy lives and ignore his Sabbath rest?
Maybe our self-esteem is built upon busyness and overwork instead of our relationship with Christ Jesus?
Could our overwork be an indication of a lack of trust in God to provide for our needs?
Give it a rest. Give your life a Sabbath rest one day in seven so that you may on a WEEKLY BASIS be refreshed.
Just before she lost her battle with cancer Erma Bombeck wrote:
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER:
· I would have talked less and listened more.
· I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
· I would have eaten the popcorn in the ’good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
· I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
· I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
· I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
· I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.
· I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love yous".. more "I’m sorrys"...but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back.
Why is it that it takes something like cancer to impress upon us how precious and wonderful life is?
My friend, a weekly Sabbath rest can do this for you and me. As we take the time to slow down, and calm down, and bow down to our Lord’s creation design and wisdom for our lives, the Lord can impress upon our hearts what is really important in life.
He will do this if we slow down and calm down and worship him and listen for his Holy Spirit to speak to us through His inspired word, the Bible.
Slow down, and calm down in Sabbath rest, and bow down in worship so the Lord can impress upon your heart what is really important in your life.
My friend, without a Sabbath rest then one week runs into another week and soon the weeks run into months and soon we find ourselves just existing from one job or chore to another with little perspective, joy and worship.
The bad news is that by nature we think that we can outwork God. "Maybe God took a day off but I certainly don’t need one!" we boast.
But the Good News is that Christ has not only freed us from the Old Testament’s covenant regulations, Jesus can also freed us from our own foolishness and insecurities and enable us to trust in our Heavenly Father’s plan and provisions.
So give it a rest.
This New Year commit yourself to give your yourself what our loving Lord has already given you-- a Sabbath rest-- one day in seven so that on a WEEKLY BASIS Jesus might refresh you.
