BaptistWay Bible Series for June 20: Saying yes to Sabbath rest

The Sabbath commandment (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

Last week, we looked at work.  It is valuable, necessary and commanded by God.

Now, we look at rest. Not a general rest when we are tired, but a commanded rest—the Sabbath. The Deuteronomy passage calls on us to “observe” the Sabbath—to rest and to require rest even for slaves and animals. The Exodus version of the fourth commandment calls on us to “remember” the Sabbath, demonstrating the dual nature of the commandment, for we also are to use the Sabbath as a time of worship and remembrance.

Of all the Ten Commandments, this is perhaps the least heeded, even by those in the church. Certainly society, with its 24/7 mentality and the omission of all but the rarest of the old “blue laws” has  no apparent use for the idea. In the church, we seem to work harder on our worship day than any other; and in case the legalist wants to point out that Saturday is actually our Sabbath, there can be no doubt that the seventh day of our week is full of many, many activities other than rest and worship.

Is there a place for this commandment today?  

The need for rest (Psalm 127:1-2)

Our own efforts will not avail us of what we need. The builders must know that, unless the Lord is in their working, they work in vain. We can get up early and work hard, but our own efforts are not enough. Commanded rest, then, comes part and parcel with our recognition of our utter dependence upon God, both individually and as a society.

We cannot look at the sentiments of last week’s lesson and determine rest is wrong. Clearly, in its place, it is vital.

Still, recognizing God’s power is required and that rest is necessary leaves us short of answering our original question—is there a place for the fourth commandment today?

Jesus sees the need for rest for his disciples (Mark 6:30-32)

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” “Jesus’ time on earth is short.” “Go ye therefore and teach and baptize and make disciples.”

It would be easy to read the story of the life of Jesus and conclude there was no time to rest. It is important, then, that the Gospel writers do not let us do that. Mark takes the time to point out that Jesus leads them to a deserted place to rest. This rest is short-lived, for Jesus sees the following crowd and is moved with compassion; still, the call for the apostles to come away from the work—if only for a moment—encourages us that our Leader sees the need for rest.

So, what of the fourth commandment today? Is it a legalistic call to return to a previous generation’s ideals? Is it a pharisaical list of rules? Is it nothing more than a goal, a wistful attempt to slow down our lives?

Some ideas from the Scriptures are clear:

1.     Rest, like work, is a natural part of our lives. It is to be embraced.

2.    God requires times of our undivided attention. We need to “observe” times of regular respite from our daily work and “remember” to have routine worship and interaction with God.

3.    Our work is subordinate to our trust in God. Since our labors are vain without the Lord’s involvement, taking some time away from work to focus on God is essential to understanding our place in God’s creation.

A literal, legalistic reading of the fourth commandment may not be required, but an understanding of the necessity of regular worship and focusing on “things above” certainly is. This commandment is not so much a demand that activity stop as it is a reminder of the constant place of God in our life.  

God is there on the first day of our weeks, at the end of our work, before we start our projects and after we lay down our tools. Sabbath is an idea for today.