From the Very Start
You Need Some Rest!
We are in a Genesis series – An ancient text that speaks with amazing present-day relevance!
- Marriage - Struggles in Marriage - Spiritual Jealousy
- Selfishness - Trusting God when it really doesn’t make sense
- Obeying God when everything inside of you refuses
- Facing My Past - Encountering God in the least expected places
Let’s open our Bibles to where we left off last week. We read the closing verses of Genesis chapter 1. Pick up with me in chapter two.
“On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation.” Genesis 2: 2-3
- Note this was the seventh day. I’ve read a lot of confusion about when the Sabbath was and is. In Genesis 2, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the creation week. In the Jewish practice it was day 7. In our calendar, the seventh day is Saturday.
- Also, God rested this day – that is, ceased activity. We’re not talking about sleep here, we’re talking about an abstaining from work – a ceasing – a rest. Think of music. When you see a rest in the musical score, you cease playing or singing for a certain amount of time. The song, the piece goes on, you just still yourself for a second.
Can you quote for me the fourth commandment? Let’s see, I should know the commandments. There’s “No other God’s before Me,” “No graven images,” “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain…” Is number four “Don’t kill,” “don’t covet,” or no sneaking candy into the movies?
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work.” Ex. 20: 8-9
From the same Biblical text that demands no murder, no stealing, no affairs… we’re told to take a Sabbath. We sure want to recapture those ten commandments, yet we manage to forget about this one, don’t we?
Seventh day rest is the crown of creation, the fulfillment of God’s creative activity and the model for human life in this abundant world. Sabbath, the untroubled leisure of a sovereign ruler secure in power, is the royal birthright of every human being created in God’s image.
I’ve read and heard many people confuse Sabbath rest and the call to family worship. They’re not one and the same. Sabbath is God’s work, not dictating my worship routine, but work ethic. Sunday is not a commanded day of Sabbath. We don’t have our church-wide worship service on Sunday to honor the Sabbath, we do it honor of Christ’s resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week.
And somehow as industrious 21st century Americans we’ve managed to confuse rest and laziness or rest and playfulness. We’ve always got to be doing something. We evaluate every activity by how much we ‘got done.’ So we hear the word Sabbath and assume its an outdated principle just interfering or demeaning a healthy work ethic.
Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Sabbath doesn’t depreciate the value of work or undermine the call to a true work ethic. In fact, Sabbath does the exact opposite.
Sabbath is how God brings health to my work habits.
“The Sabbath was made to benefit people… And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!” Mark 2: 27-28
Sabbath is for our benefit. God knows our tendency is going to be to over-commit ourselves, overextend our capabilities, outreach our strength and to go way too far. Before long we put ourselves into a lifestyle or pattern of work that leaves always working, never resting. We end up physically tired, emotionally exhausted and spiritually fatigued.
And that is not a good condition is it? How differently do treat your family when you’re worn out? How well do you treat your employees when you’re exhausted? How easily do you given to temptation when you’re beat? If you’re burning the candle at both ends, you’re not nearly as bright as you think you.
Is it just me, or are we a busy people? For all of our new inventions, all our time-saving tools and toys, for all our shortcuts and overnight deliveries and quick fix solutions and microwave ovens and fast food restaurants we are always in a hurry and almost always running out of time!
We live in a 24/7 culture. We wear cell phones to stay accessible 24/7, we do business over the Internet so we can shop, and organize our lives and make decisions 24/7. We hit the drive-thru window at Wendy’s at midnight and then go to Supermarket at three in the morning.
We push ourselves literally to ragged edge squeezing in every bit of work and effort possible. Somehow, we think by driving ourselves constantly we will wring more out life.
Yet, we’re discovering quite the opposite to be true, aren’t we?
Listen to this quotation from Jeremy Rifkin’s work, Time Wars: “The modern age has been characterized by a Promethean spirit, a restless energy that preys on speed records and shortcuts… Despite our alleged efficiency, we seem to have less time for ourselves and others.”
To coin a phrase I read earlier this month, we are hurry-sick. We live in a hurry sick world running at the speed of digital light. Christian Author and Post-Modern Leader Leonard Sweet writes: “The pace and pressures of a twenty-first century lifestyle has brought us head-on to another all-too-solid wall. Many of us have already slammed into it. The “speed-of-light” pace of postmodern living is exhilarating but exhausting. Just as a plane moving through the air builds up pressure in front of it as its speed increases, so our bodies and souls, the faster our lives speed up and zip by, feel the crush of growing pressure and risk the approach of a deadly, life-shattering, wall-slamming event. Warp speed can warp the soul.”
A great quote I question I heard not too long ago asks, “How thin can I spread myself before I’m no longer there?”
Sabbath reveals God’s love and care for his people.
Sabbath reveals God’s design in creation.
Sabbath reveals that humans are made in God’s image.
Sabbath reveals the human need for LIMITS.
Sabbath reveals the human need for self-discipline and structure
Sabbath reveals the human tendency to marginalize
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.
“Other people have analysts. I have Utah.” – Robert Redford.
Sabbath is a way of getting your bearings back, getting perspective again and getting – and staying healthy.
Let me show you three of the ways Sabbath Rest helps us get healthy:
First, Sabbath Rests Me Physically
“God gives rest to his loved ones.” Psalm 127: 1-2
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures”
Psalm 23:2, NKJV
One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.
- Sabbath is God’s way of refueling us.
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment...Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen." These are the words of Leonardo da Vinci, and no idler he; he excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, anatomist, military genius, and philosopher.
- Physically – w/o rest your mental functions, your physical capabilities suffer!
Secondly, Sabbath Recharges My Emotions
Each of us have only a limited amount of energy and emotional strength. Our emotions get strained and stretched by this speed-of-light pace we live by. Sabbath recharges us emotionally to give us a more healthy way to respond and to live.
So, when you Sabbath, to recharge your emotions…
* Include Time for Quietness
“He leads me beside the still waters” Ps. 23:2, NKJ
“Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.’” Mark 6:31
* Include Time for Family
“Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:9 (NIV)
“Children are a gift from the LORD” Psalm 127:3
There’s no such thing as quality time without quantity of time.
“The most disturbing result of hurrysickness is that I start to see those around me as obstacles that slow me down. Playing catch in the yard, leisurely walks with my wife, and unstructured evenings at home are viewed as interruptions. Yet scripture instructs me to invest the time required to cultivate rich relationships. (Col 3: 12-17; 1 Pet 1:22)”
“A hurry-sick world accepts shallow relationships as the necessary price of achieving our individual ambitions.”
Sabbath Refocuses My Spirit
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for he is our God.” Psalm 95:1 - Have you ever noticed, you really can’t bow down, or kneel, while you’re running around or while you’re on the move?
There’s no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by ’rests,’ and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune...not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the ’rests.’ They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we sadly say to ourselves, ’There is no music in a rest,’ let us not forget that there is the making of music in it.
Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are "clothed with power" (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas.
“Let’s admit it. We’re not too busy, too important, too needed, or too gifted to take a nap. We’re too scared. We cannot close our eyes because we cannot bear to relinquish the little bit of control we have convinced ourselves we hold. We are terrified that in an unguarded moment we will lose all the reins of power we have so tightly grasped.” - Leonard Sweet, “Aqua Church” p154
Sabbath Rest reminds me of who is really in control of my life.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly." – Mt. 11:28-30 [Msg]
“Jesus was accused of being a Sabbath-breaker, but the truth was the opposite: Jesus was a master Sabbath-keeper. In Jesus we have a perfect example of how to insert instant Sabbaticals into the midst of crushing, chaotic schedules. Jesus always knew when it was time to declare a sabbatical – whether for a moment, an hour, a day or a string of days.”
Sabbath rest is a practice of returning to a work ethic modeled for us and expected us by God Himself. Where and when can you practice Sabbath in your life? Where will you surrender to God and let him “make you lie down by green pastures?” When will silence the noise of life and make time for quietness?
“And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?” Mark 8:36
God’s Will, God’s Instruction and God’s Example are clear: You Need Some Rest!
If this is hard for you to understand, or sounds really unlikely to happen in your life, that’s understandable. We’ve been raise to be workaholic, self-reliant, never ceasing busybodies. But God’s life is a different one. Living under the Kingship of God calls us to a more balanced, healthier pace – one that recognizes the need and implements the practices of rest.
Here are four suggestions to get you started:
Set a rest stop into your daily race. Put on your daytimer, on your weekly calendar, an appointment for rest. Then meet with that appointment. Maybe this is a day of rest. Perhaps it’s a couple of hours. It needs to be long enough that you notice it – that you actually cease activity, not just pause for a couple of minutes.
Silence the competition: Hush the duties, the agendas, the plans, the demands of your life. This is not a time to remember all the projects you’ve yet to start on, nor the time to do a different kind of busyness. Running all over Tulsa to get some errands or projects taken care of is not Sabbath. Hosting a party for 12 is not Sabbath – If you’re working you’re not ceasing.
Start Small. Start with commitments you can keep and maintain. If being still for 12 hours would just kill you, start with 2. This will not be easy – especially if you’re just sure Sabbath rest is an over-religious excuse for laziness. Truth be told, perhaps the reason you don’t rest, is you don’t like the idea of letting go of control, or being alone with yourself for too long.
Seek out a restful inspiration. This could be a candle, some soft music, art work, a Psalm, a prayer journal, the pattern of spackle on your ceiling. Use the silence to recognize that God is present with you, that you are following his example and pattern for your life, and dedicate this time to being healthy for His cause and for those He loves and has given to you.
