By and large, Americans don’t value rest and relaxation. On the contrary, we’ve made a virtue of unceasing labor; we brag about how busy we are, as if the hectic pace of our lives is proof that we’re important and significant. We feel guilty when we’re not working, and we’re suspicious of anyone else who removes their nose from the grindstone for too long. Take vacations, for example. In Europe , the standard is five or six weeks of time off per year. Sound good? In France, the whole country basically shuts down for the month of August, and everyone heads to the beach or the mountains. And while the number of public holidays in the U.S. is seven; in Europe it’s ten or eleven.
The only industrialized country in the world that takes less time off from work than we do is Japan. In fact, the situation there is probably worse; although they supposedly get two weeks of paid vacation a year, most don’t take even that. The Japanese work so hard that one of the most pressing health issues in Japan is "karoshi," or "death by overwork".
Why this discrepancy? Is it that the Europeans are lazy and unmotivated, while the Americans and Japanese are diligent and hardworking? Are we simply more virtuous than those slackers across the Atlantic? It would be tempting to take that view. But I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s more a cultural difference than a matter of character. The Europeans simply have a different attitude as to the proper balance between work and leisure. Someone has said that while Europeans work to live, Americans live to work. Now, I’ll admit this is a gross overgeneralization, but Americans tend to be fairly materialistic, measuring success in terms of wealth and possessions. And you do have to work long and hard to accumulate all that stuff. While Europeans tend to view things more holistically, stressing the importance of intangible wealth – things like culture, and beauty, and having the time to enjoy life. The result of all this is that America has the strongest economy in the world, one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, the most advanced medical and health system in the world – and along with it, one of the highest rates of stress-related illness in the world.
I say all this, not to praise Europe at America’s expense – because I do believe that America is the greatest country in the world – but just to show that the way we approach work and leisure is not the only way, and perhaps not the best way. Frankly, I want to shake up some of your assumptions and prepare you for a reassessment. Because, believe it or not, God is very interested in the topic of rest. To Him, rest is not just wasted time, time when we could be doing something useful and productive. No. Rest, properly understood, has value and worth and purpose. In fact, it’s essential to our physical and spiritual well-being. My purpose this morning is to help you examine the balance of work and rest in your life, and not only the quantity, but the quality of your rest, to see if it’s what you need; what you were designed for. And more importantly, whether the balance of work and rest that you are experiencing in your life is pleasing to God.
First, I’d like to establish that God himself rests. Anything that God does is by definition a good thing. No one would accuse God of being lazy or unproductive. Yet the Bible tells us clearly that both God the Father and God the Son took time for rest. In Genesis, the story of creation tells us that,
"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And 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
Why does the Bible tell us this? Because the balance of work and rest that we see in God’s creative activity is intended to be a model for us. Whether or not you believe that we should literally set aside the seventh day of every week as a formal day of rest, it certainly shows that we should follow a regular pattern of ceasing from our labors. It tells us that a lifestyle of uninterrupted labor, day after day, is not good for us, nor pleasing to the Lord. In other words, if God chose to rest, then we should as well. We should follow His example.
In the same way, we see that Jesus also rested. He often withdrew from people in order to spend time alone with God. As Luke tells us,
". . . [T]he news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." – Luke 5:15-16
Similarly, Mark writes that:
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: ’Everyone is looking for you!’" – Mark 1:35-36
One of the striking things about these passages is the fact that Jesus withdrew from the crowds just when he was most in demand. There were thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people waiting for Jesus to heal them, to teach them, to bless them. They were primed. They were ready. The opportunity was great. The need was great. And yet, Jesus was nowhere to be found. Why? Wasn’t that irresponsible, to take a day off when there were so many people needing his help? Wasn’t that a bit self-indulgent? No. Not in the least. Jesus understood that the need was endless. But in order to accomplish the purpose for which God had sent Him, he had to remain spiritually strong. And that required regular times of prayer and meditation, regular times of rest and recuperation.
We see the same pattern in Jesus’ relationship with the disciples. Again in Mark, we read this:
"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ’Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place." – Mark 6:30-32
Jesus did not demand, nor desire, that his followers labor to the point of exhaustion and burn-out. He knew that they needed periods of rest in order to remain strong, just as we do.
Why is rest so important? For several reasons. One of the most important functions of rest is to allow us to listen to God. Often, we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life that we become deaf to the still, small voice of God. We become so busy doing things for Christ that we forget to simply be with Christ. We get tunnel vision, becoming so fixated on completing our list of assigned tasks that we have no time for anything else but work. But somehow, the list of tasks never gets any shorter. For every one we finish, two more rise up to take their place. We’re on a treadmill, running toward a finish line that never gets any closer. And in the meantime, lacking that quiet, unhurried fellowship with the Lord, our perspectives can become warped; our attitudes poisoned. We begin to run on autopilot. Instead of being guided by the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves being controlled by emotion; by habit and circumstance. And as Martha found out, that’s no way for a Christian to live:
"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ’Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’
’Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ’you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’’ – Luke 10:38-40
Time away from our labors helps us to regain our perspective and realign our priorities. It helps us to remember what’s most important. It reminds us that the things of God are eternal, while the things of this life are temporary. Certainly that’s now painfully obvious to the former employees of Arthur Andersen, many of whom invested years of late nights and long weekends to build their careers, only to find them shattered in a matter of weeks. Yes, there are "many things" we can be doing, many things that are worthwhile and even important. But there is really only one thing that is essential, and that is spending time with Christ.
Second, rest is important to remind us of who we are, to reaffirm our humanity as men and women made in the image of God. We are not merely the sum of what we accomplish. We are not merely a means of production, cogs in a machine. A man is not a horse, to be valued according to how well he pulls a wagon or a plow; he is not a tool, to be valued only for the tasks he can perform. Yes, our work has value, but it’s not our work that gives us value. Our value is inherent within us; it comes from the fact that God made us and gave his Son for us. A workaholic is someone who is addicted to work, not because he enjoys it, but because it’s the only thing that gives him any sense of worth. But that’s a pathology, a sickness. It’s not true. We have great worth, regardless of how much or how little we accomplish. We have value because God is our Father, and because in Christ we are his children.
I seldom quote poetry in my sermons, but I have to make an exception in this case, because it is so appropriate. The 17th century author John Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, became blind at the age of 44. And he wrote the following poem as a reflection on that fact.
When I consider how my light is spent
E’re half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my maker, and present
My true account, least he returning chide.
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask.
But Patience, to prevent that murmur, soon replies,
God doth not need either man’s work or his own gifts.
Who best bear his mild yoak, they serve him best.
His state Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Milton’s "rest," caused by his blindness, was not of his own choosing. But as he correctly understood, his blindness did not reduce his value to God one iota. Did it diminish his ability to serve God as a writer and a poet? Probably. But it didn’t matter. God doesn’t need our work. He doesn’t need our gifts; in fact, all that we can offer to him is what we have already received from him in the first place.
My point is this: not only do we have worth when we are working; but we have equal worth when we are simply enjoying God’s good gifts – reading the Scriptures, listening to music, fishing, walking in the woods, playing with our children, having coffee with our spouse, admiring a painting, or eating a hot croissant with jam and butter. And we need regular times of rest to help us remember that.
Third, rest keeps us humble. It helps us maintain perspective on our place in the grand scheme of things. A period of withdrawal from our usual responsibilities – without cell phone, or conference calls, or beeper, or even email – can demonstrate powerfully that we are not as indispensable as we had imagined. As Charles DeGaulle once said, "the graveyards are full of indispensable men." Somehow, even in our absence, the important tasks still get done and the company manages to stay in business; somehow, the earth continues to revolve on its axis and the sun continues to rise and set. And this is a good thing. This is healthy. Because when we become too grandiose in thinking of ourselves as essential, then we become either arrogant and prideful, or stressed out and depressed. Either way, we’re taking a load upon ourselves that only God is equipped to bear. As Peter tells us,
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." – 1 Peter 5:6-7
Taking a break helps us to put the weight of ultimate responsibility back where it belongs, on God’s shoulders, rather than ours. And if things do fall apart when we’re away, then we need to restructure our work so that others are not so dependent upon us to get their work done.
Fourth and finally, a time of resting from our labors reminds us that it is God who provides what we need, and not we ourselves. Yes, we usually have to work to obtain food, and clothing, and shelter. But ultimately, everything we have comes from God as a gift. Even the ability to earn a living comes from Him. As Paul writes, in 1 Corinthians 4:7, "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" Remember what Christ taught us:
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? . . .
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" – Matthew 6:26-30
Again, the focus here is on the fact that it is God who provides for our needs. Stopping our work for a time reminds us of that fact. It is also an act of faith. My father-in-law is a farmer, and as a matter of personal conviction he never works on Sunday. That can require a lot of commitment when you need to get the beans planted, and it’s been raining for two weeks solid, and the first day the fields are dry enough to get the tractors in the field is a Sunday. But his confidence has always been in the Lord to provide for his needs. And so he is content to cease from his labor one day a week, regardless of the circumstances.
This last reason for rest, reminding us that we are wholly dependent upon God, is important, because it ties in directly with the fact that salvation is a gift from God, that salvation is by faith alone, and not by works. When we trust in Christ, we are resting from our efforts to make ourselves acceptable to God by our own effort. We are ceasing from our vain attempts at self-righteousness. We are coming to God with empty hands, confessing that our only hope is to receive Christ’s righteousness as ours, because our own righteousness will never be sufficient. As the Psalmist writes:
"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." – Psalm 62:1-2
And in Isaiah, we read that:
This is what the Sovereign Lord , the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength" – Isaiah 30:15
And the author of Hebrews brings us full circle, linking salvation back to creation:
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." – Hebrews 4:9-10
This is why the consequences for breaking the Sabbath in ancient Israel were so severe. The Sabbath-rest of the Old Covenant was intended to be a picture, a foreshadowing, of the spiritual rest we now have in Christ. And so work was absolutely prohibited on the seventh day of every week, upon pain of death. Why the seemingly extreme punishment for someone who just wanted to be a little more productive? Because it was essential to stress the fact that salvation is entirely by grace, that there is nothing whatsoever of our works involved. It cannot be earned, it can only be received as a gift by those who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And when we observe a day of rest, we are acknowledging that basic fact, that everything we have – our salvation, our forgiveness of sins, and eternal life – all of those things come to us from God as a gift. Listen to the words of Christ:
"Then they asked him, ’What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ’The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’" – John 6:28-29
That’s all. Just believe. That’s the only so-called "work" we have to do, or indeed can do, to be saved.
In conclusion, let me ask you – do you value times of rest? Do you plan for them, and schedule them, and protect them? Do you plan for regular times alone with the Lord? Parents, do you ensure that your children have times of rest, times when there are no demands on them from school work or sports? Do you plan time away with your family, time when you can be together without distractions from work and school? And most importantly, are you resting in Christ? Have you given up all attempts to earn God’s love and acceptance, and have you come to trust in Christ alone for salvation?
Source of statistics on European vacations: Chicago Tribune, August 7, 2000, "Europe’s Vacation Season Only a Dream For Americans," Ray Moseley, author.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
