Sunday thoughts: rest and worship

 

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

It's been a busy week.  My work has struggled to contain itself into its allotted time and as such I have not been able to take much downtime.  Life with small children means that the old pattern of working all hours during the week and then totally relaxing at the weekend is also out.   As a result, I've found myself being stressy and snappy as well as tired - the whole thing has not glorified God.

We were not made to work all hours.  God designed us to sleep, and he designed the sabbath.  Such things were not a result of the fall; God did not give us the Sabbath in order to be able to rest from the toil that came about in Genesis 3, but instituted it in Genesis 2:  By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:2-3).

Likewise, day and night were there from the start:  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Genesis 1:4-5).

But when humanity rebelled against God, the perfect order of the world was broken (Christians call this 'the fall').  Needing to sleep each night and take time out to rest are not results of the fall.  The results of the fall are the fact that work is over burdensome (see Genesis 3:17-19): due to a broken natural world and due to greed - either our own or that of others.

But is the Sabbath for rest or worship?  It is a holy day - holy meaning set apart.  We know that rest is involved - if we were in any doubt on reading Genesis 2 (where it simply states that God rested), we learn later on when God sets out laws for his people that they are to do no work on the Sabbath - they were not to collect manna (food from heaven that God provided for them in the wilderness), but collect enough for two days the day before, and God commanded as part of the Ten Commandments that no work was to be done on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11).  By the time Jesus came and walked the earth 800 years later, the religious leaders had exerted their control over people by imposing a lot of burdensome laws on the people, including what they could and couldn't do on the Sabbath.   Jesus rebuked them, even calling them a 'brood of vipers'! He said: “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 humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-29).

But why should a day that is holy be a day of rest?  Because resting - laying aside our business and all the things that must be done, is worship!

The first big way in which resting is worship is because it requires trust in God.  When I was doing my A levels (age 17-18), I was convicted for the first time to follow God's pattern of the Sabbath.  I decided I would not study on a Sunday.  My parents didn't believe I would be able to do it - I was doing more subjects than the average and to them and many around me, it just didn't seem feasible.  In 2017, Christmas Eve was a Sunday, and Christian-owned toy shop the Entertainer decided that they would stay closed as they usually do on Sundays, possibly missing out on millions of pounds of profit.   But deciding to take time off takes trust!  Just as the Israelites had to trust God's provision by not harvesting Manna on the Sabbath, so, sometimes, do we have to trust him.

And something that strikes me about the verses about sleep that one often finds in the Psalms is that they often speak of God's protection.  For example: In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).  Those of us in secure and safe housing don't tend to think to pray for protection whilst we sleep, but when we sleep we are vulnerable.  God made us to need sleep, so that we can sleep safe in his arms.

However, the Sabbath, and rest in general, is not just for resting our bodies, but for making time to be with God.  We can be reminded of Mary and Martha - whilst Martha was busy doing all the things that had to be done, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42).  Sitting at the feet of Jesus can mean many things - prayer, reading/listening to his word, reflecting on the glory of his creation, or spending time enjoying the company and support of our Christian sisters and brothers.  Ultimately, however, it is any time where we stop doing and simply enjoy him.

There is much to be done in the world, and God's teaching in the Bible does charge us to do that work - showing hospitality to strangers, helping the sick, poor and people in need of shelter.  Many have rushed to help those affected by the war in Ukraine and, considerations of the most effective way to help aside, we should do these things.

But at the end of the day, our faith is not a religion based on us - on the things we can do and improving ourselves.  It is about saying that Jesus is king, and not us.  And part of that is trusting that he will bring salvation and restoration when his kingdom comes in full.  And restoration is not about us being restored to super-strength (I think our 'resurrection bodies' in heaven will still not be able to function without sleep and rest - there will be no need for them to), but to a relationship with our creator God, and by extension, his people.

And our faith in God is a relationship - we call him father and he calls us his children.  In a family unit one or more adult may go out and work in order to earn money to provide for the family, and there are also other unpaid tasks that need to be done - housework, shopping, etc.  All these things can be done in love, but there is still no relationship if the family do not take time to spend with each other.

While work will not save us, neither will the Sabbath.  It comes under the general heading of the law, given to Moses by God, which cannot grant salvation.  No amount of simply 'not working on a Sunday' will change our hearts.  But Sabbath living can be a way to live out a living faith, because it is saying: Lord, I cannot do life in my own strength.  You are more important and more fulfilling than all the things I could possibly achieve.  And you are present in this world and can be enjoyed.  And that is declaring that Jesus is King.