The Sabbath Was Made For Us
The Stoics say, “Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest.” And that is not true. Others say, “Go out of yourselves; seek happiness in amusement.” And this is not true. Illness comes. Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is in God, both without us and within us. —Blaise Pascal, Pensees, no. 465.
I’ve come to day 40 in my over-a-month long pursuit of trying to embrace my humanness, with Kelly Kapic as guide, in You Were Never Meant to Do It All: A 40-Day Devotional on the Goodness of Being Human. It is fitting that the last day would be a reflection on the Messiah and the Sabbath. For what could be a better reminder of our humanity than the need — whether we’ve admitted this or not — that we need rest? The need for one-day-in-seven rest.
Yes, you read that right, one whole day of your week in rest — it’s something we regularly practice in our family, even as we do it imperfectly. Because, you know, we’re humans, and Americans, and the idea of resting from Friday at supper time until bedtime on Saturday has a great deal going against it.
But what Sabbath has going for it is our Father has given this gift to us. Commands it, actually. And Jesus — the most true human to ever have walked the planet — practiced it. And the Holy Spirit is ours to help us live in the rest the Father desires for us.
I’m going to include Kapic’s devotional below on this remarkable gift from God. Would you please prayerfully consider setting aside fifteen minutes of your life to read and ponder it?
I think you’ll be glad you did.
Some people are convinced that Christianity is mostly about checking off items on a to-do list. One of the most attractive things about our faith, though, has always been its revelation that we don't have to do certain things. The Sabbath—a countercultural and radical notion in the Bible, especially when compared to the ancient world—illustrates this very point. One day a week, you don't have to work. Jews were considered lazy because of it. While those in power could rest when they wanted, slaves and peasants were often unprotected from demands for endless labor, a terrible burden still on the materially poor of our day, who have multiple jobs to make ends meet or are trapped in literal forms of slavery.
If anyone could legitimately ask for unceasing industry, it would be the Creator of heaven and earth. Yet since the beginning, Yahweh has declared that he and his people would reject that notion. From its foundation in the opening creation narrative (Gen. 2:1-3) to its inclusion in the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:8-11), the call to rest from regular labor has been a defining characteristic of the creator God and his worshipers. Strong and weak, rich and poor, female and male—all are to be free at least one day in seven, free for unhindered worship, refreshment, and renewal.
Amid the endless demands of life and labor, one day a week has been treated differently, reminding Israel and the church that God, not creatures, upholds the world and calls it good. We were designed not only to work but also to rest, just as God rested after six days of creative work. Yahweh looked back at his creation in delight and satisfaction, declaring the seventh day holy, different, and dedicated to him.
The Sabbath was instituted not to make God's people feel guilty but to make us feel known and loved. It was meant to reorient us and help us experience God and his world. As Jesus later explained,
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
Contradicting our temptation to think that God's love for us depends on our productivity, one day a week, Yahweh says, "Stop; look up; look around; lift your heart; delight and rest." Without this rhythm, we easily stick to our labor and make it our lord; we start to worship the creation rather than the Creator. This is why we must rest, not because God needs us but because we need him.
When we ignore our need to rest, we ignore our limits, and we end up ignoring God himself.
Many who have grown up in legalistic settings, where adherence to the Sabbath is demanded in a crushing and solemn way, experience no joy or delight in this day. But when I encounter Christians who have never really been introduced to the biblical promise of a day of rest, this sounds like one of the most radical and liberating ideas they have ever heard. They just cannot believe it could be possible. "You don't have to work for a whole day?" Such a day sounds genuinely luxurious to them. The God of Scripture is very different from the gods of this age, who regularly reduce us to economic output and endless productivity.
Biblically, though, the Sabbath points beyond mere physical rest to full shalom with God, our neighbors, and the rest of creation. We are given this divinely secured rest, however, only in the Messiah.
The author of Hebrews encourages us not to harden our hearts but to turn again in trust to God (Heb. 3:7-19). To enter into God's rest is to abide in the Messiah, to be found in him. The four biographies of Jesus show us that the Creator is also the Redeemer. Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, has done the work of new—and thus renewed—creation. Accordingly, after his life and death, the Messiah rose from the grave and ascended into the heavens. And in his rising we encounter not only the beginning of a new creation but also a fresh invitation to rest. The work of redemption is now completed in the Messiah, so that "it is finished" (John 19:30). Nothing else needs to be done: your sins are taken away, and you are a new creation.
Our rest is not located and secured simply in creation, but in redemption and the promises yet to be fulfilled. We enter into God's rest, the rest of the same God who entered our world and did what we could not do (Heb. 4:9-11). As John Murray concludes,
"The Sabbath is not only a memorial of creation completed and redemption accomplished; it is also the promise of a glorious prospect, the foretaste of the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God."
Beloved, you and I are secure in the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit. May this security allow us to celebrate our limits as part of God's good work. May this security drive us back to our God, to one another, and even to our right dependence on the rest of creation. May this security encourage our work, liberate our rest, and free us to love and serve others. God has made us to be limited creatures, able to participate freely in his work, confident in his presence, and grateful for his promises and provision.
Let us appreciate the goodness of our finitude as we rest in the love and provision of our infinitely good God. May it be so.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Have you seen or participated in debates about the Sabbath? Understanding this day not as a legalistic requirement but as an invitation by our good Creator, how might engaging in the weekly practice of rest change your life?
Do you feel guilty or lazy when you devote a whole day to corporate worship, shared meals, and physical rest and refreshment? If so, why do you think that is? If not, what helps you maintain your perspective?
Recall Jesus's words in Mark 2:27: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." What does this verse mean in its context?
The idea of not doing homework can sound crazy to high school and college students. Not studying on Sunday might even make them feel guilty; when asked, many admit they suspect that God is disappointed with them—or at least their parents are! But what if the moral shortcoming isn't that they take a day off from their regular work? What if their shortcoming is that they imagine they can and should work constantly? What if we believed that what's offensive to God isn't that we stop working before dinner or don't do regular work on Sunday—but that we think we should always be working? Or maybe God is less offended and just raises an eyebrow at our naivete. Consider discussing these matters with other Christians, avoiding anger or getting defensive while also seeking an honest discussion.
Our Sabbath rest is ultimately in the Messiah. How might you cultivate a rest in the Messiah’s finished work on the cross and in his ongoing heavenly ministry on your behalf? How might such a perspective change the ways you speak and act?
