Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. - Gen 2:1-3
Are there any boundaries between our work and rest? And what should work and rest look like? Our rhythm of work and rest actually reveals something about who our God is and what we think about him. It’s been said that “Without Christ, we will work even while we are resting. And with Christ, we will rest even while we are working.” This passage is foundational for recasting work and rest in light of our great God so that we can be truly refreshed and filled with joy as his people.
This past Sunday, we attempted to trace out the unfolding theme of the Sabbath and the implications it has for our lives as Christians. The main point of the message was that we should rest from work one day each week in order to gather with the people of God to celebrate our Creator and Redeemer.
But, what does it look like to actually apply this to our lives?
CEASING, RESTING, EMBRACING, FEASTING
If you’ve been struggling with what this could look like, then the following may serve you. In her helpful book, “Keeping the Sabbath Wholly,” Marva Dawn has outlined four categories to aid us in practically applying this Sabbath rest as Christians.
Ceasing
The rest of Genesis 2 is not rest from fatigue. Rather, this rest describes ceasing in order to enjoy accomplishment and celebrate completion. In the hymn “Come Away From Rush and Hurry” we see these lyrics:
Come away from rush and hurry
to the stillness of God’s peace;
From our vain ambition’s worry,
come to Christ and find release.
Come away from noise and clamor,
life’s demands and frenzied pace.
The first step to true rest is simply ceasing.
Dawn writes:
“A great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us - not by becoming passive and lazy, but in the freedom of giving up our feeble attempts to be God in our own lives.”
So, what do we cease from? How do we make sure we’re not being Pharisees who burden the Sabbath down with unintended rule-keeping and enjoy the refreshment intended by Christ - the Lord of the Sabbath. After all, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28). Dawn helpfully articulates several ways we can practically cease to make room for true rest.
Cease work - To cease work means to quit laboring at anything that is work. Activity that is enjoyable and freeing and not undertaken for the purpose of accomplishment qualifies as rest.
Cease productivity and accomplishment - Trying to accomplish a lot is one of the ways we seek to satisfy the deepest longing of our existence. But true rest is found in Christ’s accomplishments for us, rather than our own. Ceasing from this pursuit reminds us that we are precious in God’s sight, not because of what we produce, but because we are loved.
Cease anxiety, worry, and tension - Sabbath keeping reminds us that we don’t have the power to fix the world, so we choose to rest in the One who does have all power. This is not running away from problems, but an opportunity to receive grace to face our problems.
Cease trying to be God - Our ceasing acknowledges that we are creatures dependent on the Creator.
Resting
Martin Luther once wrote:
“The spiritual rest which God especially intends in this commandment [to keep the Sabbath holy] is that we not only cease from our labor and trade but much more - that we let God alone work in us and that in all our powers do we do nothing of our own.”
Unlike God the Creator, our rest does include a dimension of fatigue. But this is not merely physical. As creatures, we need to be rejuvenated and refreshed in a number of ways. Here are some ways we can rest on the Sabbath:
Spiritual rest - True rest is anchored in peace. But not just any peace - like the tranquility of a mountain stream or an Eastern emptying meditation. Particularly peace with God!
Physical rest - This is another declaration of our dependence on the Lord. We are able to stop and enjoy physical recovery so that we are more energized for the work in the six days ahead as we serve the Lord.
Embracing
Sabbath keeping is not only about taking away, but also about embracing. One of the main reasons for being deliberate in this work-rest cycle each week is to recover more firmly the different set of values we embrace because we are God’s people.
Here are some ways we can embrace these values:
Embrace the value of Christian community - We choose to spend time, especially in the weekly gathering of the church, with the company of others committed to God, remembering our identity as his people together, and celebrating our unity in his grace. Both in the gathering of the church and in smaller clusters of relationships, we have the opportunity to deepen our bonds through sharing time with other believers.
Embrace time instead of space - By observing a Sabbath rest, we embrace a focus on relationships in time rather than using time to acquire or accomplish things. We are not out to conquer, we rest in the one who has conquered death on our behalf.
Feasting
True rest is found in not only ceasing our work, but also in seeing and celebrating God. In light of this, we should indulge in the things that delight our hearts in our great God.
In the words of Marva Dawn:
“Observing the Sabbath includes not only the freedom from, and repentance for, work and worry (ceasing), the renewing of our whole being in grace-based faith (resting), and the intentionality of our choosing and valuing (embracing), but also the fun and festivity of a weekly eschatalogical [future hope] party…Our weekly celebrations help us to be more aware that God is eternally present, but the fact that our short-lived Sabbath celebrations are but a foretaste of the eternal feast that we will someday enjoy in God’s presence.”
Here are a few ways to feast on the Sabbath:
Feast on music - Eph 5:19 says “...addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…” We are encouraged to make music to the Lord and for the encouragement of other believers. The style is not the most important aspect. What matters is how the Holy Spirit uses the music to marinate our minds with the sweetness of the gospel.
Feast on beauty - Observing the Sabbath gives us the opportunity to celebrate God’s creative and redemptive accomplishments on our behalf. Knowing God is the perfect Creator, we spend the day delighting in the beauties of his creation and thereby growing in our love for the Master designer and Craftsmen. Enjoying art or a well-crafted book or natural beauty are but a handful of ways we can use to delight in the God who created it all!
Feast with food - Historically, Sabbath feasting on the day of rest was intended to contrast the meager meals on the days of work. A weekly feast on the Lord’s Day pointed to the celebration of the gospel with God’s people while looking forward to full redemption. Feasting with food and the people of God can indicate our distinction as those who have been rescued from death to life - tidings of “great joy.”
Feast with affection - Spending time with other believers allows us to display affection in a number of ways. We can serve one another, pray for one another, play with one another, eat with one another, and outdo one another by giving honor. Taking time to be “others-focused” is a unique contrast to our culture’s insistence on running for personal gain.
Conclusion
In the song ‘Come Away From Rush and Hurry,” we see this wonderful line:
In the pastures of God’s goodness
We lie down to rest our soul.
From the waters of his mercy
We drink deeply, are made whole.
At the table of his presence
all his saints are richly fed.
With the oil of his anointing
into service we are led.
This captures the rest intended by God. Rather than falling into the ditches of self-interest characterized by both frenzy and sloth, God’s rest is an invitation to his created and redeemed people to cease from working in order to celebrate the Lord together.
In the words of Marva Dawn:
When the Sabbath is finally fulfilled, our divisions and weaknesses will cease forever. We will rest eternally in God’s grace and love. We will embrace his kingdom and sovereignty ultimately and perfectly. We will feast unceasingly in his presence.