Rhythm of Rest
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re starting a new 4 wk series called Rest-FULL, and it’s all about learning to rest, in a restless world. It’s about learning to rest, in a restless world, and right out the gate I want to confess this is a topic I personally struggle with. I struggle with resting, I struggle with slowing down in the chaos of everyday life and most of my weeks are filled with the dreaded words “I’m busy...I’m good, but busy...” If you notice that’s how most people tend to respond when they’re asked how they’re doing. They’re like “I’m good, but busy,” and that includes those of you who are retired. A lot of retired people I know are just as busy now as when they were working. It’s like they can’t stop working to rest! It’s like none of us can stop to rest!...and the lie we keep telling ourselves is it’s just a season. We’re like “I’m busy, but it’s just a season...If I can just get the kids through this academic semester, get them through this sports season, just get myself through college, get this last task done at work, get this last home improvement project done...then I’ll be able to finally rest. It’s all just a season.” But it’s never just a season, because the next seasons always filled with even more projects and tasks that’ll just suffocate you all over again. So season after season the waves of busyness keep crashing down on you, and it’s suffocating you...It’s suffocating you...Most of us if not all of us, are drowning in an endless sea of busyness, but here’s the good news. The God of Christianity knew we would do this to ourselves, so out of love for us He offers us a different rhythm of life, a much greater rhythm of life, than the busy rhythm of life we’ve chosen to accept as the societal norm. It’s a rhythm of life that can give us relief from the suffocating effects of busyness, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. So let’s turn to Exodus 20:1-11 and get into it. The title of today’s message is Rhythm of Rest, and here’s the big idea. You need a weekly rhythm of rest...You need a weekly rhythm of rest, to relieve you from the suffocating effects of busyness.
Context:
Here’s your context. Exodus is a book of the bible that records a time in history when God freed the Jews from Egyptian slavery and established them as a nation. In Exodus chapters 19-20 God is giving Moses and the Jews the 10 Commandments so they’d know how to live as nation. Just like we have certain laws to live by as a nation, God was giving the Jews certain laws to live by as a nation. It’s 10 commandments, 10 laws that God still wants every nation and person to live out today, and one of those laws is a weekly rhythm of rest, so let’s check it out.
The Word:
Exodus 20:1-11 states this, “And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Okay so the 1st commandment is about having “no other gods,” and the 2nd is basically about not “making, bowing down, or serving” idols. An idol is anyone or anything you MAKE into a god, like the text states. It’s anyone or anything you make into a god, you bow down to, you worship, you serve over God. It can be the god of another religion, or a proverbial god like a person, somebody famous you idolize, a boyfriend or girlfriend you sacrifice your beliefs for. It can also be a thing, a proverbial god like money, sex, or your career. Some people make their career their god, and what they sacrifice on the altar is their health, their marriage, their family, going to church, even taking a day off to rest. But in the 1st and 2nd commandments God tells us to not have any other gods besides Him. He tells us to not make, bow down, or serve any other gods besides Him, and it’s in the 4th commandment that He gives us a rhythm of life to help relieve us from our exhausting pursuit of idols, and the suffocating effects of busyness.
Vs. 7, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” There’s the 4th commandment. The 3rd is in vs. 7, it’s don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, but the 4th is to “remember the Sabbath.” The word Sabbath means “to cease working,” it’s a 24 hour period where the Jews would stop working to rest, refocus their life on God, and enjoy the many blessings that come from God. They were to “keep it holy,” to set it apart from all other days of the week. It was a day where all the schools and businesses would close, similar to what happens on Christmas day in America. Historically they celebrated it from Friday night to Saturday night, but after Jesus rose from the dead some of the Jews started worshiping Jesus, started becoming Christians, and started celebrating the Sabbath on a Sunday to honor the day Jesus had risen. It was a massive historical shift for Jewish Christians, and several hundred years ago it actually created issues for us in America, because we started debating over what our days off should be. The Jews wanted Saturday, the Christians wanted Sunday, they couldn’t agree, so we got both. So you can thank Jesus for your 2 day weekends, because if he didn’t rise from the dead you’d only have 1...I’m still hoping for another debate so we can have a 3 day weekend, but it hasn’t happened yet...But the point of the Sabbath isn’t about what day you take off, it’s about you actually taking a day off to rest, refocus your life on God, and enjoy the many blessings He’s given you. God’s like “You’re my child, I love you, I’m concerned about you working yourself to death. You’re harming yourself emotionally and physically, you’re harming your family, you’re harming your relationship with me because you don’t have any time for me. So I command you to take a day off, because you need the rest...You need the rest...” You need a weekly rhythm of rest, to relieve you from the suffocating effects of busyness.
Again vs. 8 states, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor...” Notice God says “Six day you shall labor,” meaning we’re to work hard for 6 days, but on the 7th day we’re to Sabbath, we’re to cease from working, we’re to rest. God’s giving us a weekly rhythm of life to follow, and what’s interesting is during the French Revolution the French created laws to prevent Sunday from being a day of rest. But eventually they had to reinstate it because the health of the nation started to collapse. It’s because people needed a weekly rhythm of rest like God designed it to be. What the French did is similar to what Pharaoh was doing to the Jews in Egypt when he wouldn’t give them a day off from their brick laying slavery. In fact God connects the Sabbath to His liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slavery in Deuteronomy ch. 5. Deuteronomy 5:15 states, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
Pharaoh wouldn’t give them a break from their labor, but God was gracious to free them from that slavery and give them a day of rest. It was historically unique for cultures back then, and I’d even argue it’s unique for us today, because we live in a culture where we’ve allowed profit margins to be a whip that cracks on the backs of employees. I mean some of you wish you had an employer that’d say “I command you to take a day off, I forbid you to work on your day off!” But instead you have an employer like Pharaoh who’s constantly pushing you to work long hours at the detriment of your soul. Some of you might even be your own Pharaoh! You’re constantly pushing yourself to work more to keep up with your consumerism idols. You’re a slave...If you’re too busy to take a day off, then it means you’re a slave...You’re a slave to your employer, to consumerism, or to cultural, parental, self-imposed expectations of success. But God’s gifted you with the Sabbath, with a day off, and that Sabbath day is your declaration of freedom. It’s your declaration that you’re not a slave to your employer, to consumerism, to expectations of success, or to our societal, busy, rhythm of life. You need a weekly rhythm of rest...You need a weekly rhythm of rest, to relieve you from the suffocating effects of busyness.
Again vs. 9, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” The Sabbath is a gift for everybody to enjoy, including “the sojourner,” the foreigner, those who aren’t Christians. It’s called common grace, which is grace God pours out on everyone, including non-Christians. God loves His creation so He pours out common grace on His creation, and the Sabbath is an example of this. He wants everyone, including non-Christians to enjoy a weekly rhythm of rest, to have relief from the suffocating effects of busyness.
Vs. 11, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Notice the text says even God rested on the 7th day, which is interesting because God’s infinite and doesn’t need rest like us. But He chose to rest on the 7th day to set an example for the very rhythm we’re to live. God’s our Father, we’re His children, and we’re to follow our Father’s example by living out His work and rest rhythm of life. If we violate His work and rest rhythm of life, it’ll lead us to the suffocating effects of busyness, and so how do we live this rhythm of life out? How do we live this rhythm of life out, in a society where our mantra’s become “I’m busy,” in a society that’s enslaved us to a busy rhythm of life? I’ll give you 5 things, 5 practical things to help you live out a Sabbath rhythm of life, a work and rest rhythm of life, and here’s the 1st.
#1 Schedule A Weekly Day Of Rest = You need to schedule a weekly day of rest, not monthly, but weekly. Most of us tend to work towards resting on vacation, but God commands us to have a weekly day of rest. It’s not a request, it’s a command out of Fatherly wisdom and love so you don’t keep suffocating yourself in busyness. You need a weekly rhythm of rest, you need to schedule it and protect it, because if you don’t, it won’t happen. It won’t happen because there’s always gonna be another season that’ll violently invade your days off. So you need to schedule it and protect it. For me and my family it’s Friday, what’ll be your weekly day of rest?
#2 Turn Your Phone Off = Turn your phone off, unplug from the constant pings, texts, notifications that are sucking the life out of your days off, and causing you to miss out on the life that’s happening around you. When you unplug it allows you to be fully present with those you love so you can enjoy your time with them. It’s hard for a lot of us to do this, because we’re addicted to our phones. I mean try it this week, try turning your phone off for a day and see if it doesn’t woo you, allure you to turn it back on. Some of you are gonna get antsy over not being able to tell Facebook you’re Sabbathing. It’s because you’re addicted to technology. But your social media, texts, emails, it’ll all be there tomorrow, so check those things on your work days. But turn your phone off and unplug on your rest day, so you don’t miss out on life around you.
#3 Do Things That’ll Recharge You, Not Drain You = Do things that’ll recharge you, not drain you. For example, some of you might get recharged by enjoying the creational works of God. It’s things like going to the beach, the mountains, hiking, camping, or glamping for those who hate camping. You can glamp your little heart out if it’s what you love to do. If you notice the text referenced Genesis 1-2 where God created the heavens and the earth, and in Genesis 1-2 we learn that God often paused to enjoy the beauty of His creation saying “It’s good.” Sabbath is your time to do the same, to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and say “It’s good.” But some of you aren’t outdoors people, you’re more contemplative and get recharged by things like solitude, reading the bible or a book, doing things that make a lot of extroverts squirm. Reading a book can recharge an introvert, but drain an extrovert. Being around people can recharge an extrovert, but drain an introvert. The point is, do things that’ll recharge you not drain you on your rest day.
#4 Do Something Fun = Do something fun, do something that’ll make some memories. Jesus was fun and made lots of memories. People loved hanging out with Jesus and often invited him to go to weddings, feasts, and parties. When we get to heaven we’ll get to hang out with Jesus and be like “Man today was a great day! It was a lot of fun getting to hang out with Jesus.” Having some fun on your Sabbath day is a future glimpse of the fun we’ll get to have with Jesus in eternity. Some of you are all about fun, and you need to get to work. But some of you are all about work, and you need to have some fun like Jesus. Sabbath is your day for fun. Personally I like to plan something fun with my family like play a game, have a dart war, watch a movie, go to the beach, go to a theme park, enjoy some BBQ with friends and family, and leave the dirty dishes in the sink so we don’t kill the mood with dishwashing on our Sabbath. Sometimes we do big things, sometimes it’s little things, but we’re always trying to do fun things on our Sabbath, because God wants His children to work, but He also wants us to rest, laugh, and have some fun.
#5 = Remember To Praise God = We need to remember to praise God on our Sabbath, because He’s the one who’s given us the Sabbath. Author and scholar Eugene Peterson calls it “a bastard Sabbath” if we don’t remember to praise God on our Sabbath. It’s because God’s the one who created the Sabbath, He’s the one who’s given us our day off, so we need to remember to thank and praise Him for it. Doing so helps us to keep the Sabbath “holy” as the text states, and it also helps us to fully rest from the draining worries of life, as we let go of control, and remember to trust that God’s still in control, even as we rest. You’ll never be able to fully enjoy your days off as they’re intended to be enjoyed, unless you enjoy them with God, and learn to leave your worries in His hands trusting He’s still in control, even as you rest.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. You need a weekly rhythm of rest...You need a weekly rhythm of rest, to relieve you from the suffocating effects of busyness...Most of us, if not all of us, are drowning in an endless sea of busyness, but God offers us a much greater rhythm of life than the busy rhythm of life we’ve accepted as a societal norm. He designed our days and our bodies to function according to this work and rest rhythm of life. The sun rises and sets, just like our bodies rise to work and set to sleep, and if you don’t follow that rhythm of life, if you don’t take a break, eventually you’ll just break...You’ll break...You’ll get depressed, burnt out, stressed out, have ulcers, a heart attack, and possibly hospitalization which won’t be a happy Sabbath. A happy Sabbath is “Yeah it’s my day off. I get to go to the beach, eat some BBQ, play some corn hole with friends and family. Thank you Jesus for my day off!” An unhappy Sabbath is riding in a red truck with flashing lights and a siren. A happy, fun, enjoyable, restful Sabbath is what God wants for us, but if we choose to follow our societies busy rhythm of life over God’s, it’ll eventually lead to an unhappy one. So the question isn’t will you Sabbath, it’s will your Sabbath be a happy, or an unhappy one?..Will your Sabbath be a happy, or an unhappy one?..
Communion:
Everybody needs a weekly rhythm of rest, just like everybody needs eternal salvation through Jesus. The Sabbath is a gift of temporal joy, but Jesus offers the gift of eternal joy through his death on the cross. Just like God told us to remember the Sabbath, Jesus told us to remember what he did for us whenever we take Communion. He told us to remember that he died for our sins so that we could have not just temporal Sabbath joy, but have eternal salvation joy in heaven with him. So at this time let’s go ahead and have those serving Communion start passing the plates, and as the plates are being passed take a piece of bread and a cup, hold it in your hands, and use this time to ask Jesus to forgive you of any sins you’ve committed, including not following his Sabbath rhythm of life. Then ask him to fill your weary soul with rest and joy...
On the night Jesus was betrayed he was hanging with his friends, he took some bread, gave thanks for it, broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” When supper ended he took the cup, blessed it, gave thanks for it, and said “This cup is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink of it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” City Awakening let’s eat, let’s drink, let’s remember the Sabbath, and let’s worship Jesus for giving our weary souls the gift of temporal Sabbath joy, and the gift of eternal salvation joy.