When We Ignore The "signs" Series

GIVE ME A SIGN: God says here that the Sabbath was intended as a sign.

- Ezekiel 20:10-12.

- These verses tell us that God brought Israel out of Egypt. He gave them the Mosaic Law as a path toward life and peace. And one of the signs He gave them was the Sabbath.

- What exactly does it mean that the Sabbath was a “sign” for them?

- I think the starting point to understanding this is to ask a simple question: why was the Sabbath given?

- The answer to that is two-fold:

a. It was given as a day of worship.

- The Sabbath was a day for the Israelites to worship the Lord. This is crucial, of course. We need to give God the praise and honor that He is worthy of.

- It’s not that He needs an ego boost. But there are a couple reasons this is important. First, we need a regular reminder that He is Lord, lest we wander off into living for lesser gods. Second, He wants us to live for what is ultimately the most meaningful and significant reason and that’s Him. Living, for instance, for money pales in comparison to living for the King of Kings. It would be unloving of Him to encourage us to live for what is less meaningful.

b. It was given as a day of rest.

- The Israelites were to work six days but take the Sabbath off as a day of rest.

- We talk often about the ridiculous and meticulous laws the Pharisees invented regarding what was and was not permissible to do on the Sabbath. Sometimes in laughing over the minutiae of their regulations, we miss a larger point, which is that the Jews were to be resting on that day each week.

- So those are the twin reasons why the Sabbath was instituted, but in what sense are those signs?

- Well, both are. Allow me to explain.

- First, the day of worship was a sign in the sense that everyone watching Israel worship each week would know, “Hey, this is who their God is.”

- The act of worship was a sign of who they believed in.

- Second, the day of rest was also a sign, although the reason is less obvious.

- Life is difficult and making enough to live on is often a great challenge. Because of that, many people work endlessly to keep their head above water.

- Obeying the Sabbath was in a practical sense an act of faith. It was essentially saying, “I’m not going to work one-seventh of the time I could work. I’m doing that even though it’s a lot of hours I’m leaving unused. In doing that, I’m making it clear that I am trusting that God is going to provide what is needed to make it. So this is an act of trust in God that He will be my Provider.

- There is a sense in which we do a similar thing today in tithing. I am saying, “I believe God can do more with the 90% than I can with the 100%. I am doing this as an act of faith that God will sustain me.”

IGNORING THE SIGNS: The American church does not prioritize the Sabbath today.

- In what sense is that true?

- I think it’s true concerning both of the reasons we shared a moment ago about the point of the Sabbath.

a. A day of worship.

- One reason for the Sabbath is as an opportunity to worship. Worshiping our God, one would think, would be a high priority.

- But what actually happens? We slide easily from a deeply meaningful phrase (“worship the Lord”) to one that’s easier to slide past (“going to church”).

- “Going to church” for many believers becomes something you do when there’s nothing else going on.

- Tired? Skip it.

- Kid might join a travel league that will require missing many Sundays? No problem.

- Friend wants to go to brunch? I’ll go next week.

- When you look at the stats on church attendance, there is an unmistakable and unarguable trend: it’s not a priority. The frequency of weekly church attendance has continued to decline. And I’m not talking about people who admit church doesn’t matter that much to them. No, I’m talking about people who claim to be strong believers.

- Let me be clear: I’m not saying that you should never miss.

- Sometimes you’re really sick and coming to church would be irresponsible.

- It’s nice to have a vacation and go to another state.

- I’m not saying it’s a sin to ever miss church.

- Rather, what I’m arguing is that you would think for a Christian that a regular weekly time of worshiping their King would be a priority. I need to and want to be there! Instead, though, it’s a secondary (at best) thing.