Why We Still Need the Sabbath

The school year is about to end. Frankly, it could not have come a moment too soon. With all of the busyness of life combined with the dozens of end of the year activities, most families in suburbia have been living in overdrive the past few months. Unfortunately, this frenetic pace of life is more and more becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Thanks to all the modern conveniences of life and the myriad of opportunities before us, we know longer simply live life, we engage in what futurist David Zach calls it “Hyperliving—skimming along the surface of life.” With all of the hyperliving, with the resultant hyper-meeting, and hyperdriving, I am about ready for hypernapping.

In this world of busyness, God not only has given us permission to slow down, He has commanded it. Like the toddler who resists his mother’s command to nap, we, too often find this command of God confining and restraining. After all, God is restricting our freedom. He is telling us that we cannot do something. Yet, in truth, it is a gift. This gift is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. It reads,

12Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded
you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your
donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your
manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15Remember that you were slaves
in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to
observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

Just as God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God has delivered us from slavery to sin. Every Sunday when we gather together, we are reminded that we are no longer slaves. It is like a weekly anniversary celebration. We celebrate the anniversary of Christ’s resurrection every Sunday when we get together.

This weekly celebration gives us a proper perspective on all of life. In the 24/7 world, we live at such a rapid pace that we forget what life is all about. We run so fast that we forget why we are running to begin with.

A number of years ago, I decided to make Tricia a cake for her birthday. Tricia said, “No, Mark. You don’t have to do that.” But I insisted. The cake was beautiful coming out of the oven, but as I took it out of the pan, it fell apart. I was totally frustrated. So, I dumped it into the sink, and started over.

Tricia is now saying, “Mark, please. You don’t have to bake me a cake.” Still, I insisted, “Honey, I love you. I want to bake you a cake. You deserve it.”

The second cake came out of the oven. The same thing happened. I am now so frustrated that I take the cake pan and throw it across the room.

Tricia is now saying, “Mark, I don’t want a cake.” My response was, “I don’t care if you want a cake or not. I am going to conquer this thing.”

I don’t remember if I ever succeeded. However, it was clear that in the process, I forgot why I was baking the cake. I was supposed to be making it to honor my wife. Yet, in the process, I dishonored her.

The same is true with life. We are supposed to be living to honor God. Yet, some times, we get so wrapped up in the details of life, that we forget our purpose. We forget why we are doing what we are doing and we get off course. The Sabbath celebration is when we take a deep breath and reorient ourselves to the purpose of life.

I can think of few things suburban Christians need to recover more than the Sabbath. It isn’t just one of the Ten Suggestions, but the Ten Commandments. Though it may seem restrictive and confining at first, you will soon discover that it is one of the great gifts God gives to His people.

Here are some suggestions for how you can incorporate the Sabbath into your life:

• Worship – It is not a true Sabbath unless you gather with God’s people for worship. Remember, it is the Lord's Day, not family day.

• Determine not to do any work

• Boycott children’s sporting events - One of the major contributors to busyness in suburbia is children’s activities. If Sunday is treated as an ordinary day, it will be impossible for it to be a day of rest.

• Plan and Prepare - Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the time available. Put the Sabbath in your Palm Pilot or Dayrunner and do not double book that time. Begin preparations on Saturday

• Feast with others

• Enjoy leisure activities - Take a stroll, a leisurely bike ride, a Sunday drive, read a good book, play games with your children
  

Bringing Sabbath rest into your life will not be easy. Like developing any good habit, it will take time and effort. Yet, God promises that it will be richly rewarding.

For more on why and how we should keep the Sabbath, you can listen to my message at http://www.reformedsermons.org/mp3-16/Bates_Deut5_12to15.mp3. It is old and the sound quality is not great.

Or, if you are really brave, you can watch it on video. I gave this talk at Man in the Mirror and they have it on both audio and video. I watched about 30 seconds of it and then had to turn it off. http://www.maninthemirror.org/biblestudy/series/2004.htm