How to get the rest you need

Isaiah 58:13-14 (p. 736)
Hebrews 4:9-11 (p.1186)


Tomorrow is labor day and millions of people will be doing everything they can to avoid working. People will be heading to picnics in droves. The last opportunity to squeeze a bit more recreation out of summer. Where do we get the names for our holidays?

The Jones family are making a weekend of it. They left early Friday afternoon for a final trip to the cape. You don't know the Jones family. So Let me tell you a bit about them. There are five of them altogether. Mr. and Mrs. Jones and their children Justin who is 8, Mirabelle, a precocious 6 year old, and finally Percy, who is 2. That should tell you all you need to know about Percy.

Mr. Jones is an insurance agent. Mrs. Jones is a Librarian. She is also secretary of the PTA and president of the historical society. Mr. Jones is a boyscout troop leader and coaches Justin's soccer team.

And of course, they are very involved in their church. They lead a small group Bible Study. They teach Sunday School. They show up for every church work day. And they bring twice their share of food to every church picnic.

So even under quite normal circumstances the Jones's are busy, but this summer has been especially harried. Mrs. Jones great aunt Mabel has been staying with them for the summer. And although she is a dear and no trouble at all -- still the house sometimes feels a bit cramped. They've also been putting an addition on to their house. A do it yourself job. It's taken up almost all of their spare time.

The result is that they haven't had any real vacation this summer. The one week they had free they spent travelling to New Jersey for a family reunion and that was NOT vacation.

We the end of summer they really feel the need of a break. So the Jones's are at the beach this morning. And it is a perfect day for it. Are you jealous? Mrs. Jones is walking on the beach looking for shells with Justin. Percy is napping. Mr. Jones has just settled down with a Tom Clancy novel.

Mirabelle is building a sandcastle near her father. But something is clearly bothering her.

"What day is today?" she asks her father.
"Sunday. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, just wondering."
After a minute she asks. "Why didn't we go to church today?"
"Well, we're on vacation honey."
"Oh."
"Dad -- aren't we breaking the 4th commandment?"
"The fourth what?"
"The fourth COMMANDMENT."
"Oh, which one is that?"
"Daaad -- don't you know -- it's the one that says 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy'. "
"OOH, that one. When did you learn about the Sabbath?"
"In Sunday School last week."

At this point Mr. Jones starts to pay closer attention. His daughter is in danger of becoming a legalist and this must be nipped in the bud. He makes a mental note to have a talk with that Sunday School teacher.

"No, honey. Of course we're not breaking the commandment. The commandment says to REST on the Sabbath, and that's exactly what we're doing -- At least I'm TRYING to rest. Besides, Jesus said that we were not made for the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made for us -- to meet our needs. And what I NEED right now is some sun and some rest. [paus] What did your Sunday School teacher tell you?"

"He said that the Bible talks about the Sabbath more than about any other commandment, and that the Sabbath is a meant as a special day for worshipping God. "

"[with a chuckle] Well, we don't have to be in a church to worship God, honey. We can worship him ANYWHERE. We can worship him at home. We can worship him right here on the beach."

"Oh. Are you worshipping God, Daddy?"

"No, I am NOT worshipping -- I am RESTING! Didn't your Sunday School teacher say anything about RESTING on the Sabbath."

"No, but he told us a story about a man who died because he didn't keep the Sabbath."

At this point we had better leave Mr. Jones and Mirabelle to work things out since the situation is getting rather testy.

As you can see, Mr. Jones and Mirabelle are a bit confused about the Sabbath. And they are not alone. A great many Christians nowadays have no idea what to do with the fourth commandment. Does it apply to us, or does it not? And if it does apply to us, how? Is Mr. Jones right that it all the sabbath means is that it would be a good idea to spend some time at the beach every once in a while? Or is Mirabelle right that we had better pay more attention to the Sabbath or we might get zapped?

The fact is, Mirabelle and her Sunday school teacher do have a pretty good case for taking the Sabbath seriously. God makes a really big deal of the Sabbath.

Take, for example, Numbers 15:32-36 (p. 146)

Now this is puzzling. Why would God care so much about someone gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Notice its not Moses or the people -- its God himself. The punishment seems like a major over reaction to the crime. If the sabbath was meant for our good -- to make sure we get enough rest -- doesn't it seem strange that God would order that those who violate it be killed.

Like a coach telling his team -- now I really want you ALL to get a good rest tonight -- its for your own benefit. So just so you know I'm serious, anyone who wakes up in the night will be executed in the morning. Sweet dreams!.
And this isn't an isolated case. Throughout the OT we see the same thing over and over again. God seems to care a great deal about people keeping the sabbath. It is his major litmus test for the spiritual condition of his people.

Look at another example -- Jeremiah 17:22-27 (p. 768)

So if they keep the sabbath God will make them a great nation and bless them. And if they break the sabbath he'll torch Jerusalem. Does this make sense to you? Why would God make such a big deal about one day of rest a week?

That's the first part of the puzzle -- why does God care so much about the Sabbath. But that's not all. There's something even more puzzling. If we look at the New Testament the picture is entirely different. Jesus kept getting in trouble for NOT taking the sabbath seriously enough. And after Jesus we find almost no mention of the Sabbath. Breaking the Sabbath NEVER shows up on any lists of sins. All of the other commandments get mentioned -- murder and adultery and coveting and theft and honoring your parents -- but the Sabbath just disappears completely off the map. Where did it go? How could something that was so important in the OT just disappear in the early Church. These were Jewish Christians -- they knew the ten commandments. How could they something so important?

How do we explain this?

Look at Colossians 2:16-17. (p. 1166). Here we get the the beginning of a solution to both puzzles:
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day. These are a shadow of things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

The Sabbath was never important in and of itself. The reason that the Sabbath was so important in the OT was because of the importance of what it was pointing to. Like just about everything else in the OT law, the Sabbath was significant because it was pointing to Jesus. The Sabbath was a shadow of something to come. The reality is found in Christ. So when a person in the OT spurned the Sabbath, they were not just disobeying a minor rule, they were repudiating God's grace.

And the reason that the early Christians didn't need to pay much attention to the sabbath is because once you have the reality, why do you need the shadow anymore? It was the same as with animal sacrifices. Christians no longer needed to sacrifice because the purpose of the sacrifices was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross. In the same way, the purpose of the sabbath was fulfilled in Christ.

So for Christians Jesus fulfills the Sabbath. In fact we could say that he has become our sabbath. Our Sabbath rest is no longer a special day. Our Sabbath rest is a person.

But what does it mean to rest in a person?

That's easy. Think of a child -- a toddler -- who is getting tired. Now a tired toddler does not normally lie down and go quietly to sleep in his mothers arms. He squirms, he cries, he screams, he tries to escape and run around. That is NOT rest. But there comes a time when he grows so tired that he just collapses in his mother's arms. He gives up the struggle, puts his head down and nestles. That is rest. And it is glorious! He is completely dependent. He has completely surrendered himself and his will.

That is a picture of what it means to rest in Jesus. It means to give up our struggle -- to stop fighting -- to give up our feeble efforts to run our own lives. It means to say to Jesus, I am completely incapable of running my life on my own. You are my ONLY hope. It means to trust in Jesus and stop trusting in myself.

This kind of rest -- giving ourselves up to God -- was the real point of the sabbath from the beginning. Even in the OT the Sabbath was never really about physical rest.

Think about it. The command to completely rest one day a week was given to a band of nomads. It was not an easy thing for a band of nomads to take a day off -- it was not very practical. Where was the next days food going to come from? Where was the next day's firewood going to come from? What if enemies attacked? For one day a week they had to give up their efforts to take care of themselves and say, God, we rest in you. We trust you. You are enough for us. And when they broke the Sabbath what they said, in effect, was "God is not enough for me -- I need to take things into my own hands."

It was a one day a an object lesson about the grace of God. They could not work -- they had simply to trust in God's grace and rest in him for their needs. The Sabbath was a day for giving up their own work so that they could rest in God's work.

Do you see how this points to Jesus? When we come to Jesus we give up our own efforts to work our way to God, and rest in his work for us. We say, "God, I cannot please you on my own -- I rest in your mercy and your grace through Jesus, trusting him alone."

So to rest in Jesus means to rest from our works and to rely completely on his work for us. Rest means abandoning our own efforts to make life work for ourselves. It means giving up at trying to prop up our own crumbling lives to make them look good.

And you know, there are some really wonderful byproducts of resting in Jesus. When we rest from our works, we also get rest from our fears and anxieties. If give up control to God and you really trust him, what is there to worry about. Worry comes from trying to work things out ourselves.

Now let's go back to Mr. Jones and Mirabelle on the beach. Remember, we left them arguing. Mirabelle was worried that God might not strike their family dead for being at the beach on a Sunday, and Mr. Jones thought that being at the beach was EXACTLY what God had in mind for the sabbath. Who was right?

Well, its pretty clear that they're both wrong. Mirabelle is wrong because the Sabbath is no longer a day, but a person. So keeping the sabbath holy does not mean treating one day in a special way -- it means finding our sabbath rest in Jesus every moment of our lives. No one day is in itself more special than any other for a Christian -- EVERY day must be a day of worship and a day of resting in Jesus. Every day becomes a sabbath.

So Mirabelle is wrong. But her father is also wrong. Mr. Jones still thinks of the Sabbath in terms of physical rest. For him, the sabbath is just a day off -- a time to kick back and relax. Mr. Jones has made a very common mistake: He has confused genunine sabbath rest with a very clever counterfeit product called leisure.

Leisure and rest are very easily confused. Here's how to tell the difference: When I call time leisure, what I usually mean is that it is MY time to do with as I please. And nobody had better try to steal it from me. To claim leisure time is to claim control of my own life, to say this part of my life is mine to do with whatever I want. This is my day off -- don't bother me. This is my down-time, don't interrupt it.

But Sabbath rest is just the opposite. The Sabbath of the OT was specifically God's time -- a time in which the people were NOT to do what they wanted, but what God wanted. And the same is true of resting in Jesus. When I claim my sabbath rest in Jesus, I am giving up control of my own life -- putting aside my own efforts -- letting God control ME. The idea of a block of leisure time that is mine to do with as I like is a complete perversion of the idea of the sabbath.

Mr. Jones was taken in by the counterfeit. He feels tired, he feels burned out. He thinks, if only I could have some time to myself, then I could be refreshed. But what he needs is not time to himself -- what he needs is spiritual rest. And spiritual rest comes only from one source: Going to the beach won't get it for you; vacation won't get it for you. Only renewing your trust and dependence on Jesus can really refresh you spiritually. Only Jesus can offer real rest -- all other offers are counterfeit.

[In fact, often our leisure activities become a terrible distraction from the spiritual restoration that we really need. We spend so much time seeking physical rest, that we are dulled to our true need for rest. We confuse our need for spiritual rest with a need for a vacation. And when we feel burned out, we turn to leisure instead of turning to God.]

There's another reason that Mr. Jones is off track when he confuses sabbath rest with going to the beach. The Sabbath rest that Jesus offers is no vacation. Listen to what Jesus says in Matt. 11:28-29:

(966) Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. [sounds OK so far] Take my YOKE upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Jesus offers us rest -- but he also promises us a yoke. Do you know what a yoke means? Service. Hard work. You put a yoke on an oxen when you are putting them to work. Yes, his yoke is easy and his burden is light, but there is still a yoke and a burden. Jesus offers rest for our souls, but he puts our bodies to work.

So if Mr. Jones is expecting to find his Sabbath rest just by relaxing at the beach, he will be very disappointed. There is no rest for those who seek to serve themselves. The only true rest comes from service to Christ. And there is no vacation from the obligation to serve God.

Application --

1. Some of you are feeling tired. Feel like you really need a vacation. And maybe you really do need a vacation. But don't expect a vacation on itself to fill your need for rest. Recognize where the real problem is.
   
   
2. Most of you have the day off tomorrow. Will you make it a day of leisure or a day of rest? Put aside some time to seek God, Ask God to show you some way to serve.
   
   

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for i am gentle and humle in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28-29)