Catch Your Breath 4th Commandment, Week 7

Catch Your Breath 4th Commandment, Week 7 TITLE SEQUENCE Would you agree that the pace of life is hectic? We talk of the peak or rush hour. We are always telling our children to: hurry up, get a move on. How often have you heard yourself, or others say: If only I had the time There s never enough time I don t know where the time goes But how do you find the time? I m hard pressed for time I ll try to find time Is that the time already? My, how time flies Could you fit in time? I m short of time Mustn t waste time, must we? I just ran out of time. I don t even get time to think We have a range of other expressions as well: I haven t got a moment to spare There are never enough hours in the day We always seem to be on the go There s always so much to do I never seem to stop We re flat out at the moment I ve just got to rush The week s simply flown Back to the treadmill No rest for the wicked And the revealing invitation: You must come around some time TORTOISES We think that the busier we are, the more important our life is. If your body could talk, what would it say to you? Perhaps it is talking in the language of protest. When we refuse to co-operate with God s principles for their proper maintenance, then our bodies complain, sometimes dramatically, even fatally. The trouble with SUCCESS is that the formula is the same one for a nervous breakdown. 1

VERSE 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. Exodus 20 v8 Like all of God s Commandments, the Sabbath was designed not to be a burden, but a blessing. God has arranged time to unfold in seven-day cycles. RUSHING SEQUENCE The emphasis of the 4 th Commandment is that our work is done in 6 days. However, the work ethic of some people does little justice to the built-in human need for a balanced life. In Japan, Karoshi or death from overwork is the second largest killer of working males and accounts for 10% of Japan s death rate. The pace of many people s lives is killing them. Many people are burned out. We can burn the candle at both ends and then discover, that we are not that bright after all. People are constantly complaining about how tired they feel. We even feel tired when we wake up in the morning. If we do not come apart and rest, we ll just come apart. The word Sabbath means, Cease. So all the Sabbath means is that it s the Rest Day. Jesus said: The Sabbath was made to benefit people. Mark 2 v27 because rest benefits us all. TITLE What day is the Sabbath? The Sabbath in the Old Testament it was the 7th day of the week, which is our Saturday. The early Christians were forced to move their corporate worship to the evening after the Sabbath and the morning of the first day of the week. This had significance as Jesus rose again on the first day of the week. In the third century, Christianity began to have an influence on the government of the day. Eventually through the Emperor Constantine in AD 321, its constitution changed and required one day off in seven to enable people to rest and worship. The practice of resting on the first day of the week was established and Sunday worship became the norm for Christians. The day was different to the OT, but the principle of a Sabbath rest was the same. In fact Sunday as the Rest Day is still accepted in our society even though people may not be religious. Of course, many people cannot avoid working on Sunday those in the Emergency Services for example, and many people are these days obliged to work Sundays in many professions. They need to to earn money and live. What about Ministers? We work Sundays too! Are we all breaking the fourth Commandment by working on a Sunday? No, the principle is to work 6 days and keep the 7th as a day of rest. In almost all employment there is provision for at least one day day off a week in fact, in our country most people have two a Saturday and a Sunday! There is of course, great value when we meet together for worship on the same day as a practicality, but when that isn t possible, the principle is that at least one day in 7 should be a day off a day of rest from our normal week. Sabbath is about rest, not about a specific day. In our society, for our convenience, Sunday has ended up as an almost universal day of rest, accepted by Christians and non-christians alike. The day is there in all our weeks for rest so use it every opportunity you can! People often ask me should I do this on a Sunday? Is this forbidden on a Sunday? I can remember when I was a boy, there were certain things that people never did on a Sunday. And almost to the point that Sunday for most Christians was a most un-enjoyable and often very busy day church three times, not being allowed to play out, having to visit grandparents or aunts and uncles. Not shopping because they were all closed anyway. And those people who went down the beach on a summer Sunday afternoon, having worn shorts and sandals to church in the morning scandal! But is that what the principle of the Rest Day is all about? The story is told of a strict Christian family who even took the swing out of their budgie s cage on a Sunday so it wouldn t enjoy itself. All that stupid nonsense misses the point of the 4 th Commandment which is rest. Jesus said: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore we re not about honouring a day for its own sake or because God needs it, because He doesn t. He s designated a Rest Day for our benefit, not His. Sabbath is about doing the things God intended for us a human beings having a day a week when we rest up. It s not the day of the week the Rest Day is on that matters, it s our having one because it s for our benefit: physically, emotionally and spiritually. 2

1. A DAY TO REST OUR BODY. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your servants and livestock. God says NO WORK. A day of physical non-productivity. Resting from the things we do during the week, to create a day of distinction. Proverb: The bow that is always bent will finally cease to shoot at all. One doctor said: The periods of rest I prescribe for my patients are often Sabbaths in arrears. God modelled the Sabbath for us too. For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, but he rested on the seventh day and was refreshed. Exodus 31 v17 It s a basic principle that starts as children. Have you noticed how children hate to go to sleep? But we know that unless they get their proper rest, they aren t going to be fit to live with the next day. If you haven t been taking your days off then you probably aren t fit to live with. A rich businessman was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting beside his boat. Why aren t you out there fishing? he asked. Because I ve caught enough fish for today, said the fisherman. Why don t you catch more than you need? the businessman asked. What would I do with them? You could earn more money and buy a better boat, so that you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish and make more money. Soon you d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me. Then the fisherman asked, Then what would I do? You could sit down and enjoy life, said the businessman. The fisherman looked placidly out to sea, and said, What do you think I m doing now? So it s a day to rest our body. What else? 2. A DAY TO RE-CHARGE OUR EMOTIONS. Tired, tense and troubled? Maybe you feel like these phrases let s complete them. COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES: I am ready to throw in the (towel). I am at the end of my (tether). I am just a bundle of (nerves). I am falling (apart). I am at my wit s (end). I feel like resigning from the human (race). How do we re-charge our emotions? Here s a few suggestions as to how we use our rest day. Actually most people already know how valuable these are but it so easy to push them aside. Quietness: There is so much noise pollution. He leads me beside quiet waters; He restores my Soul. Psalm 23 v2. Someone said: the Sabbath, is a time when we step back to enjoy nature, rather than figuring out, how to change it. It is only as we cease our restless doing, that we will discover what is to be done. So make time for quiet in your life because there s a day purpose-built for it already! Family and Friends are the Original Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The most important things in life aren t things - but people. Let s spend time with our family and friends. It is not enough to grab a few minutes here or there. If I am too busy for my family and friends, I will always be too busy for them. With the comings and goings in our family, we often try to find one time in a week when we re likely to all be around guaranteed and that s usually Sunday lunchtime. Enjoy Leisure The word leisure is derived from the Latin word licere which means permission. The main reason so many people do not have enough leisure is that they are not giving themselves permission to take the time to enjoy it. Leisure is one of the best stress relievers, and it is strange that people resist it so much. God is just as pleased when we play, as when we work, when each is done to make possible the greater effectiveness of the other. And the day is already provided for us to use. So the Rest Day is a day to rest our body and its a day to re-charge our emotions. What else? 3

3. A DAY TO BE RENEWED SPIRITUALLY. Many people in Britain are spiritually bankrupt. They have so little time for God. Their lives are so full and yet so very empty. They are like George Foreman. They have their lives, their successes, their comforts what else do they need? And God would prefer that we didn t break down like George Foreman did before we connect with Him. This is where as a Christian, I differ from people with no faith. They know the importance of rest days and would even fight for the right of having a Sunday. But God gave us a rest day so that we could take time to connect with Him. It s an opportunity to spend time with God. Just as we spend quality time with our families, our Father God wants us to spend quality time with Him personally and as His family. Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46 v10 Worship renews our spirit as sleep renews the body. The Rest Day is about making the time for being in the presence of the Holy God and letting God shape our lives. Stop working and let God work in you. Does God have an opportunity to minister to you? When do you give Him time to do so? Sunday s the perfect time because here it is. Most of us have the day off and there are plenty of opportunities to connect with God as members of His family. Rest Day is a day to tune in to God, a day to get our spiritual focus, a day to enjoy God. Do we take every opportunity given to connect with God, particularly to worship with our fellow believers. If we have our Sabbath rest, or Sunday rest or whatever, have we been leaving God out? We ve rested but we ve not been bothered to give God time on that day. We had that opportunity to go and worship but we were too busy, or were too tired, or had family coming, or had to get some shopping done, or it was raining, or it was cold outside, or we just couldn t be bothered. We ve had R & R but it s been physical and emotional rest without spiritual rest might still leave all the emotional and spiritual problems there it s no rest at all. Leave God out, or put Him last at your peril and your rest as a person won t be complete. So we focus not only on our Physical needs, our Emotional needs, our Spiritual needs. FINDING REST IN GOD While we like the idea and the appeal of the Sabbath, most Christians resist the reality of actually observing it. But, ignoring the Sabbath carries a heavy physical and psychological, emotional and spiritual price tag, and one that increases along with the modern pace of life. But ignoring the spiritual significance to us of Sabbath the Rest Day - means that rest is incomplete and God wants to change us so that we get the proper rest that Sabbath brings that resting in Him. Our rest is ultimately found in Jesus Christ. Jesus said: Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon 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. Many of you need to rest in Jesus before you can appreciate a Sabbath rest. Augustine: our hearts are restless, until they find their rest in you - Jesus Christ We need to learn to live by priorities not pressures. And our priority should be to find rest in Jesus. If you are a Christian you already have that rest, you ve just got to make sure that you remain in it by taking the rest that God has provided for us and not leave Him out of the Rest Day. If we don t know God in that way and have never trusted Jesus then how we find rest in God? We don t. God finds us, just like he found George Foreman. For most people it isn t so dramatic. George was a boxer so he probably responded well to getting it right between the eyes! We connect when we understand that God is giving us an invitation. And that invitation is before us each day we live if we are prepared to recognise that it s there. INVITATION I m sure you appreciate Invitations, when you get an invitation to a very special occasion; you get a card, and at the bottom of the card you find the letters RSVP. What do those letters stand for? Illustration 8 RSVP There was a professor with his wife from overseas, working at a University for a semester. While they were here they received a wedding invitation. At the bottom of the card RSVP. Now they didn t have that code back in their country. Now the professor tried to crack the code. He says YES! His wife says VHAT? The letters R S V P Remember Some Vedding Present! [Pause] Now, the professor thought it was a demand, but actually it was an offer. You and I, we know what those letters stand for, they re French Répondez s'il vous plait, which basically means, are you going to come? Yes or No?! Most people put a date, if you don t reply by that 4

date you can t go! Now you and I are all being given an invitation today, its got RSVP 24 th October. Will it have October 25th? Don t know What do you mean you don t know? I don t know! Why don t you know? Because we don t know if we ll be here tomorrow. That s why it s so important to reply to the invitation while you re still alive. Because when you re not alive it s a little bit late. Some people have got the idea, wait till the 11 th Hour; I ll accept that invitation. But what if you died at half past ten?! You ve blown it, you ve lost it! That s why it s important to reply to the invitation when you get it. And that time is now. And what is that invitation. GOD S INVITATION TO YOU God is inviting you to become part of His family, to know Him personally. God Himself has dealt with all the issues that have kept us from Him. Jesus died so that God could deal with all the sin and issues in our lives and offer us forgiveness, a living daily relationship with Him and an eternal hope. Particularly in this world, God wants to bring us rest and balance in our lives: to deal with issues that burden us, that trouble us, that sometimes feel as they are going to crush us. It doesn t mean that we won t get problems, because we will, but it does mean that in God we can find the rest we need to deal with them and the power to change things. So we have an invitation, but it is one with an RSVP we have to make a response. WHAT S MY RESONSE? If you haven t accepted the invitation and you would like forgiveness from the past, new life today and a hope for the future. Then you ve got to go via Kings Cross. There s no other route. You ve got to go via the Cross of the King. If you go via Kings Cross you can have forgiveness from the past, new life for today and a hope for the future. RESPONSE Have you received God s invitation? Are you breaking this Commandment? Are you a workaholic? Has your workaholism damaged your family life? Are you ready to throw in the towel? Are you at the end of your tether? Are you a bundle of nerves? Are you falling apart? Are you at your wit s end? Do you feel like resigning from the human race? What is the condition of your body and mind? What is the condition of your soul? Are you spiritually bankrupt? PRAYER Lord, this command ought to be one of the easiest to obey. Yet so often I find it the most difficult. You told us to rest because we desperately need to. Lord forgive me for my worrying and striving, as though everything somehow depended on me. I look to you now, as the One who restores my soul. I look to you as the One who said: Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. That s what I want to do today. I accept you as my shepherd, cleanse and heal me. Fill me with the presence and peace of your Holy Spirit. And help me to live according to your Commandments, for my benefit and for the benefit of others. Amen. 5