Freedom to Rest: Unbound to Pursue Various Passages

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Freedom to Rest: Unbound to Pursue Various Passages"

Bernice Hunt
5 years ago
Views:

1 Freedom to Rest: Unbound to Pursue Various Passages Introduction: When I was a kid, Sunday was a normal abnormality in our week. We would eat hot breakfast together (no cereal, but eggs n things), our whole family would drive to our church that was 5 minutes away, we d spend the morning there in Sunday school and service (where I d often get a great nap in during the sermon some of you know what I m talking about). We d come home to a crock pot meal, or go over to a relatives house, or have friends over, then go to the park together, or down to the local beach. Then we d go back to an evening service (what s that you say?), coming home for cereal, an hour program on television together, and then off to bed. We never went out to eat (which we did not do much of anyway), I was not allowed to play sports (killed me) and neither of my parents had to work. It was a day of family, worship, fellowship, time together, eating together, and naps. Saturday was a work day: mowing lawns, laundry, and errands. My dad had this annoying habit of getting up early and having us boys do work all day. But Sunday we stopped. When I was a kid, some of this was frustrating and boring (I had to put church clothes back on after playing at the park and go to another service!), and not appreciated until much later. It meant I had time with my parents often, mixing quality and quantity time. I never had any question about the priority of corporate worship or commitment to Christ and His church. And we were all clear that life did not revolve around us, that we did not get everything we wanted, and that there were more important things than getting my way. Some of you had similar upbringing, either as a kid or with your kids. Other have absolutely no context or experience of something like this. There was a time in our culture where most things shut down on a Sunday, slowing pace down, allowing margin in life, but we are no longer in that world. Seven days are busy, some broken up by work and others by a church service, but all blend together. We have built a case the last two weeks that we are in the midst of a burnout culture where busyness is constant, pressure bears down, and stress levels rise. We want to continue to look at what the Bible says to address this reality through the lens of rest. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind this morning: Rest is defined as cessation of work, but Biblical rest is more about resting from our works of trusting ourselves and trusting our lives to Christ (Heb. 4:10; Matt. 11:28). Physical rest can come out of this, but when we talk about rest, we are primarily referencing our rest IN Christ, not checking out of work. We want to define Sabbath, since we referenced it for two weeks and it could have been confusing or unclear to some (or all, lets be honest). We want to give principles of rest so that no matter what stage we are in, whatever phase of life, whether a student or parent, working in the home or marketplace, retired or still grinding, we can enter God s rest, joyfully walking through a full life with complete assurance of a sovereign God, a perfect Savior, and a guiding Spirit. A burnout life leads to anxiety, fear, and lends to operating in the flesh rather than the Spirit, relying on ourselves too much, doing things for our own glory, and missing out on joyous rest that is offered in Christ. This morning I hope you are made to be a little uncomfortable, perhaps a bit defensive ( are you saying it s wrong to? ), and create some good conversations in the hope that we examine our lives to make changes where necessary to make sure we are resting in Christ. What is the Sabbath? 1

2 Design of God Resting (Genesis 2:1-3) Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. The origin of the Sabbath goes back to the creation of the world. Though the word is not in the passage, the foundation for it is there. God created the whole world, including mankind, in six literal days, and He separated and elevated the seventh day by resting. There are 3 main verbs here that show the elevated nature of the day: 1) He Finished His work It was complete, with no more (at the time) to do 2) He Rested from His work Though God never slumbers or sleeps (Ps. 121:3), nor does He faint or grow weary (Isa. 40:28), it meant He was satisfied with creation. It was very good 3) He Blessed the 7 th day He did this by making it holy, meaning set apart Now notice here that this was God resting, not man. There is no mention of Adam and Eve resting, but simply that God Himself ceased from creating more. At this point, Adam and Eve would not have needed physical rest because of their sinlessness, so the concept of rest was all about God. Also notice that we still have a seven day week around the world, historically, because of what God ordained in creation. Sign of the Sabbath for Israel (Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-17) The first time we see the word Sabbath in scripture having to do with man is in Exodus 16. Centuries have passed without a direct application to mankind. After leaving Egypt, God told the people to gather food six days a week, but the seventh was a Sabbath to the Lord (Ex. 16:22-30). In Exodus 20:8-11, God instituted Sabbath as part of the 10 Commandments, regulating rest on the seventh day and the cessation of work by man, woman, child, servant, sojourner, or animal. The nature of this for the nation of Israel was as follows: The sabbath was a joyous holy day, a day of spiritual refreshment and reverent worship. It seems to have been a popular day, an opportunity for man to imitate his Creator, to devote himself to contemplation and the community to worship.the Bible also made provision for a sabbath year. During the seventh year the land was to lie fallow so that the land might rest, the needy might feed on the aftergrowth, and the animals might eat the surplus. God promised an abundant harvest the sixth year to carry through the sabbatical period. In addition, debts were to be cancelled during that year(see Exodus 23:10-11, Lev. 25:1-7, 18-22; Deut. 15:1-11). At the close of seven sabbatical cycles a year of jubilee was instituted. Land what had been sold was to be returned to its former owner underscoring that ultimately God owned the land. 1 In Exodus 31:13,17, God gave the greater purpose of the Sabbath: Above all, you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout the generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you it is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. 1 D. A. Rausch, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Walter Elwell Editor, p

3 Connecting the Sabbath as part of the Law did a few things for Israel: It gave them physical rest and freedom to worship one day a week - This was not designed to be a day of duty alone, but an opportunity to cease from plowing and physical labor and focus on their God, setting aside to focus on Him alone. This was the problem in the NT as the Pharisees had so burdened the Sabbath with regulations that it no longer was joyful rest but slavish duty (more focused on what not to do rather than communing with God) It gave them an opportunity to give gratitude - It was a day connected with Creation, so they could take time to thank God for His provision of the earth It helped them remember that Paradise had been lost - As they would remember back to the Garden reality of worship without sin, labor without pain, and bringing forth food from the ground without weeds, they would remember that they fell short of God's glory and were now living in a different type of dependency on God As with all the Law, it should have caused them to realize they COULD NOT KEEP THE LAW ultimately, driving them to repent - The Law was never a means of salvation, but was a tutor to show people they could not keep the Law perfectly, meaning there had to be something else to save outside of themselves. Because it was given as a sign it pointed to a greater reality - In this case the Sabbath pointed to something coming in the future that would give rest, which is exactly what Jesus offered in His Person and sacrifice. Christ fulfilled, eliminated, and obliterated the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8; Colossians 2:16-17) Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. The Sabbath was a point of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees of His day. It is no coincidence that Jesus purposely healed, ate, and taught on the Sabbath day that brought these discussions to a head (see John 5:1-17; Luke 14:1-6; Mark 2:23-28). In John 5:18, it tells exactly what the issue was: "This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." In Matthew 12:6-8, Jesus explained why He was able to violate the rules they had placed on the Sabbath: "I tell you something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." He was the fulfillment of what the sign of the Sabbath pointed to. He was the way that man can enter God's rest. He was better than the Temple, which was where sacrifices were made and where the priesthood would commune with God, but when Jesus died on the cross the veil of the Temple was rent and the one time perfect sacrifice made. It meant the whole system was changed, from an Old Covenant to a New, rendering the Old one obsolete. Jesus claimed that He as LORD of the Sabbath, meaning He ruled over it, and could do whatever He wanted with it. It pointed to Him, not to itself. In Mark 2:27, He added that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not to be kept as an end in itself but to be seen in light of what it pointed to, that it was a shadow of something greater, and that greater substance was Christ. So for all practical purposes, for us today there is NO Sabbath observance. We do not look to OT 3

4 regulations and transfer them to modern day. Jesus fulfilled and gave us something new. But what was that new? What is special about The Lord s Day (if anything)? A New Focus of Remembrance (Matt. 28:1; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) Sabbath would be observed from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday, with Saturday evening being a celebration of the end of the rest. This would have been the "7th" day, the last day of the week, commemorating God's finished work of creation. In Jewish Law, there was not a big emphasis on the "1st" day, or our Sunday. But in the New Testament, we find a definitive shift of action from the 7th to the 1st, from remembering creation to celebrating redemption. Jesus rose on the "first day of the week" (Matthew 28:1), meaning the resurrection took place on a Sunday. The early church, though gathering each day (Acts 2:46) specifically gathered on the "1st day" of the week (Acts 20:7), setting aside money for ministry on that day (1 Cor. 16:2). In Acts 20, the church gathered to break bread together (every church gathering needs food), and Paul preached until midnight, meaning they met all day. He preached so long that a young man named Eutychus fell asleep, fell from the third story, and died. Paul healed him, and then kept on preaching (and you thought I preached long.). This became a day of worship, fellowship, teaching, giving, and breaking bread together, all pointing to and commemorating the resurrection of Jesus, which dramatically changed everything. A New Devotion (Isa 1:13, 16-18; Matt. 15:7-9; Rom. 14:5-6) This all answers a question we should ask: why gather today? In Revelation 1:10, John referred to a time of his writing as being on the Lord's Day, which was a different word than "The Day of the Lord", and most commentators believe he is referring to the same "1st day of the week". Sunday has become the historic gathering of God's church in the name of Jesus remembering His resurrection, and it is happening all over the world as we speak. Has Sunday replaced the Sabbath? What does it mean that today is the Lords Day? There is no new command to keep the Lord's Day holy in the New Testament! Each of the other 10 commandments find a reaffirmation or reiteration in the New, except for the Sabbath. That means we approach the Lord's Day with a foundational and fundamental difference. If Israel violated the Sabbath in Exodus 31, they would die. That is NOT going to happen to us. We do not live in light of a command to keep the Lord's day, but a commend. God did not want Israel simply to keep the Sabbath, He wanted their heart - Isaiah 1:13 - "Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations----i cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly" God is not looking for us keeping a tradition learned by rote, with our hearts being far away (Matt. 15:7-9), as if He is impressed with our work. He wants our heart, devotion, worship, and communion with Him. That means we are not bound by rules, but freed up to make much of Christ in worship. How should we think about rest in light of this? We are challenged to think Biblically, which means we are not looking to apply OT law to NT realities, but seeing principles and implications to our context. Again, I would stress that if we learned to live in light of these, our busyness, stress, and burnout would all be kept in check. What are principles of rest? Rest recognizes the substance of rest is Christ 4

5 The Sabbath was a shadow, a sign pointing to Christ. We know that only in Christ can we find REAL rest, rest from our striving against God, peace with Him, purpose in life, and hope for the future. We know that one day our rest will be matched with worship, as we serve Christ all day without need of a seven day rhythm (since there is no sun, there won't be days as we know them). But the shadow also provides shade, and enjoying the shadow allows us to remember the substance. We engage in rest today, a cessation of normal activity, in order to commune with, focus on, and rest in our Savior. Rest recognizes the rhythm of creation There was a distinct rhythm in the created order: six days of work and one day of rest. This recognizes that God rested from His work intentionally, and then intentionally called His people to do the same. This carries two distinctive principles: we are compelled to work six days, not just thinking five and two. That may not mean that we work our paid job six days, but we endeavor to work hard for six days, and the seventh becomes a day to do something different, to cease from the normal, to spend time differently. Rest responds in both Freedom and Faith A few weeks ago we looked at Deuteronomy 5 and how celebrating the Sabbath for Israel was a declaration of freedom from slavery. When we choose to rest in Christ, to celebrate our freedom in Him, we declare that we are not bound to the culture around us, who run hard but have no idea what for. The hope they have is that they can make enough money to secure a future in this world, living out days hoping that stress and worry can leave, but realizing those are always closely attached. We also exercise faith by stopping from engaging in more. We live in a time where there is always more to do. There are more people to talk to, more clients to call, more money to make, more activities to be involved in. Resting in faith means we exercise contentment and remembering that there is more satisfaction in Christ than in anything else. I come back to this continual thought. The #1 reason we do not engage in the church, or read, or think, or meditate, or pray, or serve with mercy is that we do not have time. We don't have time to communicate with our spouse, or talk to our kids about eternal things, or take a nap. This does NOT come without a cost, but the dividends are worth it. Rest recognizes God wants our heart we want a greater treasure God ultimately wants our heart, not just our box checking tendencies. God wants all of us, and we want to desire Christ with all of ours. He calls us to express this NOT in rigid ways, but freely. In other words, we do not describe a restful day as what we DON'T GET TO DO, but rather what we get to treasure. This is admittedly difficult for us. We all despise the word legalism (I think we despise most "isms"), but often we haven't though through Biblical implications to come to a conviction, so we are left to looking to someone else to tell us what to do. Freedom in rest means that we may all engage a bit differently. Some may be active all week and rest is actually ceasing from activity to read or nap. Others may be more sedentary and rest is engaging in God's creation by hiking. What God does not want is anything token. I talked with a friend last week who reminded me that they used to think about gathering with God's church as something that was right, but something they just ought to do. Sometimes gathering here is anything but restful because there is no greater purpose in our practice. This is simply a stopover to the beach or our more treasured destination, and instead of treasuring Christ with God's people, we give a token drive-by. Loving, serving, fellowshipping with, helping, and worshipping with can all be restful activities, reminding us that life is not about us, that Christ has freed us from the Law, our sin, and hopelessness. Relationship with God requires time, thought, and commitment. Last week was my mom's birthday. That means that she loves it when her kids call her. My dad and sister texted me to make sure I 5

6 remembered, and I told them I was already planning on it (because Erin had already reminded me earlier). My mom does not want me to say, "Mom, I'm calling you today out of duty. I'm your son, your my mom, so I'm under obligation because of cultural expectations have this conversation." As much as she wants to talk, she does not want to be an obligation or duty. And yet it takes time, saying "no" to something else, and desire to honor and love to pursue her. She wants my full attention, my interest, my engagement. This grows the relationship and treasures the person. Rest recognizes the opportunity on the Lord s Day So here is the hard, glorious reality as we seek to match the spiritual rest we have in Christ with the practice of rest in a normal rhythm. We recognize that its the Lord's Day. He has given each day to enjoy, so one day is not better than the other. However, just as He gives us money to steward and calls us to give back a portion, not because He needs it, but because we exercise freedom of faith in giving it, so does our willingness to do something different a day a week. A day of worship, a day where we do something different, to gain perspective for the week. to treasure Christ in way we may not get to during the other six. We do this freely, not out of regulation or rule, but out of desire and necessity. We seek to honor Christ because we are convinced that He is our greatest treasure, knowing that there are so many other things vying for that place in our lives. In thinking about this topic, I was reminded of one of the greatest sprinters and Olympians named Eric Liddel. He was set to represent the United Kingdom in the 1924 Olympics, when the qualifying heats for his top event was scheduled on a Sunday. People pointed out (rightfully) that God would not judge him for running on a Sunday, and even though it seems that his theology was a bit off, he determined in his mind that he was not going to defile his convictions, so he lost the gold medal. Instead, he ran in the 400 meters, a race that was not his specialty, and he ended up winning gold in a seemingly miraculous way. That is not the end of the story. Eric ended up becoming a missionary in China and during an imprisonment in a camp, gave his life for a pregnant mother, sacrificing his life for hers. He lived his life with conviction, that when he ran track, he ran for God, feeling His pleasure as he ran. His life was not about self-glory, attainment, or getting more, but honoring the God that created it all. Even as I look back at the way I was raised I'm not sure our practice was not out of a thought that it made us righteous, but I do know it created a high view of rest. Do we have convictions drawn out of Scripture in practicing rest? Are we willing to think about ways to rest, even one day in seven? Are we willing to make a day that we gather together an important day, not a stop-through? Are we willing to be uncompromising in these things? Next Week: A Self Diagnosis of Rest 6

Finishing Well: Sabbath!

Finishing Well: Sabbath! Finishing Well: Sabbath It is so good to be back at Faith. We had a great time away, but we were really ready to come back. We feel like our sabbatical was just right in terms of length of time and in