We have talked a lot about the need for rest…the main way we see that spoken of in the Bible is Sabbath rest – one day in seven, one year in seven.

In Judaism, this was very structured and supported by cultural and societal norms.  Jesus’ approach seemed to be to peel away the layers of societal and cultural norms, all the rules that had been developed over the years, and simply return to the God-given command to rest on the seventh day.

This was his usual routine – where humans focus on actions, in hopes that it will change hearts, Jesus wants to focus in on the heart.  Jesus wants to mold hearts to want to know and follow him, and where that then transforms their actions.

This makes taking Sabbath rest both easier and harder.

It’s harder, because just blindly following rules isn’t all that hard, especially when everyone else in society follows them as well.

It’s easier because of the freedom we explored last week…freedom from slavery to rules, replaced by a new kind of obedience, to a person rather than a code.  Jesus gives rest from enforced rest – he gives true rest.

We can see it in how Jesus handled the crushing demands of his own work: Mark 6:30-32 ESV

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.”

He took rest when he needed it, we have several examples of unstructured rest that he took “regularly”.  When I found I’d been sitting too long at an office job, I used to go for a walk around the block from my office.  I called it my sanity walk.  Or at other times, I would just get up and do something different.  Working from home, I might empty the dishwasher, then get back to my computer refreshed from the change of pace.

We also see Jesus taking weekly rest.  “He went to synagogue to worship on the seventh day.  When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.”

It was Jesus’ “custom” to take weekly Sabbath rest according to the rules of his father in heaven, and not according to the rules of the Pharisees.

We also see Jesus living with an annual rhythm.  He celebrated the annual feasts – we see him attending Passover in Jerusalem, for example. As he travelled to and from various religious festivals, there are ebbs and flows in his energy and work – the big moments in his ministry regularly coincide with major festivals.  Sometimes he is in small towns, sometimes in the city.  There were intense times and places and low times and places in his culture…and his ministry needed both.

The Bible also commands a year of rest after six years of work – not to lay around, but let the land lie fallow and improve, and let slaves and debts go free.  There was also a command that every 50 years, a complete reset and leveling of the playing field should occur.  Unfortunately there is no evidence they ever listened to and observed these.

Let’s not let the same thing happen to us!

Question: What rest can you plan for today?  This week?  This year?  Now dream a little bit – what could a “reset” year look like this decade?  What about for the whole of your life?

Ryan Sim - March 4, 2014

Tuesday - Study It - Reset Family

Hi! Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I'm Ryan, your host for the Daily Challenge. Today's Tuesday; it's the day we explore in the Bible the topic that we introduced yesterday. We're in a series called, "Reset" right now, looking at how deciding to follow Jesus resets some really important areas of our lives. We've looked at several and this week we're looking at how it resets our view of family. So what is family for, if following Jesus comes first in someone’s life? Does this mean not loving family at all? No way. Here’s how Pastor Tim Keller put it: “If we have made idols of work and family, we do not want to stop loving our work and family. Rather, we want to love Christ so much more that we are not enslaved by our attachments.” One Christian author, Stanley Hauwerwas said: For Christians do not place their hope in their children, but rather their children are a sign of their hope . . . that God has not abandoned this world.” We can see this in how the Bible set out the requirements for an overseer – a pastor or bishop. They were written by a church leader named Paul, addressed to his protégé, Timothy. The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? (1 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV) You can see where leadership is supposed to be practiced: at home first, then in the Christian community. This isn’t saying every leader needs to be married – Paul himself was not. But if a leader is, they need to be leading at a Christian home already. The most important line is, “if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?” A family is a miniature church of sorts. Martin Luther said centuries ago ago: “A house is actually a school and a church, and the head of the household is a pastor in his house.” Family is a place to learn essential skills for Christian living, learn to follow Jesus. This is one reason among many that Redeemer Church, the church being developed through Redeem the Commute, baptizes children. We are celebrating that they are starting school, not graduating. A Christian family commits to teaching the basics of following Jesus when their child is baptized. Family becomes a training ground for the kingdom of God. How does that look in pracitce? Look at one example from ancient Israel that surely informed early Christians as well: Deuteronomy 6: 4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Their faith was meant to be everywhere in family life, so children encountered it daily. Question: How do this? What skills do you think are essential for Christians, and learned in the family?

Related Topics: Children, Family, Reset | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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