We have seen this week that Sabbath rest is something given by God at creation, and remains part of his continuing commands to Israel to celebrate their freedom in him.
Over time, however, the Sabbath became much more than what God had simply commanded – as people developed many more regulations defining what entailed work or rest. Surely their intentions were good, to maintain a healthy respect for God’s laws, but these regulations were able to eclipse the purpose and personality behind the law.
We’ll see next week how Jesus dealt with these regulations. This has major implications for Christians…as people have long sought to understand how Sabbath laws apply after Jesus. Should Christians rest on Saturday, Sunday, or simply a day a week? Can certain kinds of jobs be done on the day of rest? Can I cut the grass? Can I shop, even though it means someone else works? These are common questions, but even if we disagree, the basic premise remains – God has a rhythm to life, it’s his rhythm, and it’s meant for us as well.
But how many of us have honestly tried it, instead of simply arguing about it?
Our rhythm is usually not one day of rest every six, but comes in weeks – we work, work, work and then rest hard. This is why so many people get sick on vacation! Or we can work, work, work for decades, then retire and finally rest. There is a window of time after retirement that many men are known to get heart attacks, due to the major shock to their systems and lifestyles. The message in this way of life is that we are slaves to work, and can run away once in a while. Or earn our emancipation at retirement. This isn’t what we were made for.
We’ll see next week that our emancipation from slavery has been bought by someone else – we are not slaves to this world’s economy.
Challenge: Try and take a day of complete rest this week. Not your usual creative work (Tuesday) but either put your feet up, or do other kinds of work/play.
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Our series is on how Jesus resets our goals. We’re basing this on something Jesus taught in his sermon on the mount.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6:25-33 ESV)
Jesus was saying that we can get so busy and consumed by the day to day concerns of life, we lose track of the point. What was the point? We were created for relationship with God, and one another. All humans gave that up by focusing on ourselves instead, and there is evidence in the world’s brokenness. We can see it in broken relationships with ourselves, one another, our natural world, and with God himself. But God offers his love to us all the same. He invites us to live in his kingdom – to be in a relationship with him as our Lord – thanks to what Jesus did on the cross.
Last week, we learned how Jesus and his death on the cross give us the opportunity to reset life. His death and resurrection reset the world, since death was the most visible consequence of our sin and rebellion against God. He made it possible for us to live in Kingdom of God now, and for eternity.
But we have lots to do. Jesus isn’t saying we should quit our jobs, run around naked and hungry. He’s not saying food, shelter, clothes are a bad thing. They are all part of his creation, like us, and he has plans for it all.
He is just saying that we shouldn’t worry about such things. We shouldn’t be consumed by them. We shouldn’t let them distract us from our life’s true purpose of living in relationship with God, and one another. We shouldn’t let worrying about little goals get in the way of life’s big goal.
Question: When does careful planning turn into worry and get in the way of life goals?
Reminder: We are reading the Bible in sync as one community - so check out today's reading here.
Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting tomorrow night, January 22nd. Register for you and a friend today!
