Sermonette: Sabbath

Now that we’ve dug into what rest is, why we should rest, and how we start to do that—I want to look at the Sabbath. You may have a lot of ideas associated with the word Sabbath, but we are going to look at what the Bible says about the Sabbath, and how we can incorporate it in our everyday lives. In doing this, I hope to break down and rid us of the false ideas we have toward the subject.

First let’s look at scripture. The Bible talks a lot about the Sabbath—especially in the Old Testament, but Jesus also talks about it in the Gospels. From this, we can infer the Sabbath wasn’t just meant for those in the Old Covenant—meaning before Jesus died on the cross for our sins. But instead it is still meant for us today. As we dive in, I want to focus on two verses, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament, and talk about their significance both at the time, and now, in our lives.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

In this passage, God is telling Moses the Ten Commandments. This is significant, because up until this point, there hadn’t been any clearly laid out instructions on how to live and honor God, other than personal encounters with God. These commandments determined what was right and wrong, and how God expected the Israelites (and now us) to live. Through Moses, God is commanding us to observe and take a Sabbath. These Ten Commandments still apply to us today. Jesus talks about them in the Gospels and instructs us to still follow them. What this means is Sabbath isn’t just a suggestion, but a commandment.

One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:23-28

This verse tells us about an interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees had a tendency to be very legalistic, and throughout most of the Gospels, were trying to find a reason to arrest Jesus. This passage is an example of one of these times. After they try to trip him up, Jesus corrects the Pharisees’ understanding of the Sabbath and tells us how the Sabbath was made for us, not us for the Sabbath. This means the Sabbath was created with the intention to benefit and restore us, not just a rule to follow. God created the Sabbath and commands us to take it because he knows without it we will burn out and exhaust ourselves.

So now that we see the significance, the question remains: what does the Sabbath look like for us today? The Sabbath is not meant to be just a day off where you catch up on the other house work/chores you couldn’t fit into your schedule earlier in the week. It is meant to be a whole day where you center everything you do around encountering God and resting. This means finding the activities which are truly restful for you and protecting your Sabbath from things that are not. Sabbath can and will look different for everyone. My Sabbath changes from week to week, but generally it looks like sleeping in, having a slow morning with the Lord, going outside in some capacity, and spending time with life-giving friends and family. Though the details will change and it's not always perfect, I try to focus my time around activities and people who truly fill me up and leave me feeling rested and ready to go for the next week.

So my challenge for this week is to make space for a Sabbath!

Some practical steps in creating your Sabbath are first pick a day, try to find a whole day that you can commit to resting and encountering God. (P.S. It doesn’t have to be Sunday, I normally take mine on Friday.) If you can’t set aside a whole day, try half a day to start off. Then determine what activities are truly restful— it could be going outside, gardening, reading, drawing, painting, fishing, hunting, etc. You fill in the blank and commit part of your day doing that. The most important part of your Sabbath is whatever you do, encounter God and set your thoughts upon Him. In John Mark Comer’s book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, he says: “So the Sabbath isn’t just a day for rest; it’s also a day for worship. By worship I don’t necessarily mean singing at church (though that’s a great example); I mean whole-life orientation toward God.” Start with spending time with God and dedicating the day to Him. Then give yourself grace to make changes and be flexible. It won’t alway be perfect and sometimes you might try an activity and realize it wasn’t restful at all. From there just move on and try something else next week. Try it for a month or two and see how your life changes. I promise that implementing a Sabbath into your weekly routine will benefit and change your week for the better. When we are truly rested, we are able to see things and process things more clearly. Sabbath is a vital part of learning how to truly rest.