The Way Of Jesus – Sabbath
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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. – Genesis 2:1-3
1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. – Hebrews 4:1-11
The Culture Of Busyness
Overwhelmed
- Pressures of work
- Busy social calendars
- Financial worries
Sabbath
What is it?
The term “Sabbath” comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat,” which means “rest” or “cessation.” –
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. – Genesis 2:2
The Sabbath is a 24-hour time period set aside and observed as a day of rest and worship, a time for spiritual renewal, communal worship, and a break from the regular routines of work.
In our era of chronic exhaustion, unhealthy emotional and spiritual stagnation few things are more necessary than the recovery of this ancient practice.
The Sabbath day is like no other.
In the Genesis account we read that God “blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Unique, Special or Uncommon)”.
- A day of uncommon goodness – Shalom
- It is holy (Set apart)
- The Sabbath makes us blessed
- The Sabbath is a gift
- The Sabbath is for quiet and solitude
- The Sabbath is a time to nurture relationships
- The Sabbath is resistance
- The Sabbath reminds us that the Lord is our shepherd. Someone else is caring for us
- The Sabbath is a day to delight in God
- The Sabbath is not a denial of pain, but a determination to move through pain into joy
- The Sabbath means we can rest because we are no longer slaves
- The Sabbath is for God
What to do on the Sabbath
1.
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” – Psalm 46:10
- Pause, Cease
- Reflect
- Meditate on God’s word/Contemplative time
- Inhale and Exhale
- Refreshing time
2. (Psalm 92 – Sabbath Day Prayer)
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to the Most High.
2 It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,
your faithfulness in the evening,
3 accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp,
and the melody of a lyre.
4 You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what you have done.
5 O Lord, what great works you do!
And how deep are your thoughts.
6 Only a simpleton would not know,
and only a fool would not understand this:
7 Though the wicked sprout like weeds
and evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, O Lord, will be exalted forever.
9 Your enemies, Lord, will surely perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox.
You have anointed me with the finest oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the defeat of my wicked opponents.
12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees
and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.
They flourish in the courts of our God.
14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
they will remain vital and green.
15 They will declare, “The Lord is just!
He is my rock!
There is no evil in him!
– Psalm 92
- Be encouraged to spend your Sabbath connected to God through worship
- A day to orient and reorient all we are back to God
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” – Romans 12:1
3.
13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath
and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honour the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
14 Then the Lord will be your delight.
I will give you great honour
and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Isaiah 58:13-14
- A day to delight in the goodness of our life in the world
- Choose one or two of your favourite activities to curate Joy
4.
- Set a time to rest, develop a beginning and ending ritual,
- Pick one to three Sabbath activities to begin your practice (Ways we can replenish our inward resting in Christ and His work alone for our salvation)
- Prayer
- Solitude
- Journalling
- Reading
- Reflecting
Deep in the human soul, a spirit of restlessness runs like an underground river: often unseen, often unrecognized, often denied, yet rumbling beneath so much of what we say, dream, and do.
We easily mistake the bone-deep gnaw for something more superficial. We need a few days off, we think — or a better work-life balance, or a new job or apartment, or more recognition from our peers, or more understanding from our spouse. The advertising industry taps into the ache and offers a thousand ways to dam the restless flow: new experiences, new places, new things. Sometimes we buy it.
These are whispers, snatches, songs in the wind: echoes of the thing we want, but not the thing itself. They may bring a measure of rest to mind or body (for a time), but they can no more dam the river than a stick can stop the Niagara. We long for something deeper.
We want a rest that lasts beyond certain times (nights, weekends) and extends beyond certain places (bed, vacation spots). We want a rest that leads us like a pillar of fire and follows us like the goodness and mercy of God. We want a rest that wells up from within like living water. We want an unending Sabbath of the soul.
– Scott Hubbard – Desiring God
A Selah Moment
Are you exhausted all the time? Waking up to your alarm clock, day after day? Always in a hurry, late for the next thing, impatient with life? Do you feel haggard? Rarely your best self? Drowning under the tide of options and opportunities? Constantly trying to catch up to the ideal life that is always just out of reach? Come to me. Slow your whole life down.
Let me show you how to shoulder the weight of life with ease, even joy. Other people offer escape aplenty; I offer something more real, true rest. Soul-level rest. Copy the details of my life, pattern the rhythm of your life after mine, and slowly but surely, I will teach you how to live with more ease and gratitude and joy than ever thought possible.
Matthew 11:28-30 (Paraphrase by John Mark Comer)
Rest in God
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His” – Hebrews 4:9
Liberty from Restlessness
- Rest from sleeplessness – Psalm 127:2
- Rest from our struggles – Exodus 33:14
- Rest from the pain and failures of the past – John 19:30
- Rest from resisting the will of God – Acts 26:14
*The Lord of the Sabbath (The Lord of Rest) – Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5
May the God of rest fill you with his peace and presence as you rest in him