March 2016, Vol.3 Issu.6
For This Day Welcome to the 4th Quarter There’s a big difference in the feel of the 4th Quarter as opposed to the 3rd. The 3rd quarter is kind of like a poorly written sequel. It’s the same story in the same setting with the same characters, only a few minor adjustments have been made in the events. But you keep reading, hoping against reason that there will be a twist. Maybe there’s one character in particular who, if they got written out of the story, the story would be a bit more readable. Well, fear not, volume three is almost over, and volume four is fast-paced, action-packed, and you’ll put it down with the most amazing sense of resolution. What we all need desperately is rest. We need a short respite to recharge just enough to make it to a greater rest in a few months. Now, there’s something ironic about orienting our vocation and livelihood around when we don’t have to do it. Is that healthy? What I’d like to do this morning is sketch briefly a Biblical theology of rest, then ask a few ques-
tions about what that means for us as Christians in 21st Century America. The Biblical concept of rest centers around the Sabbath. We all know where this comes from. God finishes his work of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 and when the work is over and creation is just how He wants it…when it is “very good”…He rested. The Hebrew word Shabat from which we get the word Sabbath, literally means to stop. It’s the definition of rest that you use in Physics—when an object in motion stops moving, it is said to be “at rest.” In Genesis, creation was very good, God was done, so he stopped. This is the first and the primary Biblical sense of rest. This becomes the basis for the 2nd Sabbath—the one we are all familiar with—that commanded in Exodus 20, in the 10 Commandments. In this Sabbath, the entire nation of Israel is to stop working on the seventh day of the week in honor of God, who rested after six days of creation. Now, understand the context in which Israel receives this command. The Hebrews had been in slavery for 400 years, now they’re in a desert, waiting to hear from the God that freed them from forced labor. In
this context, a day of rest becomes a beacon of hope. The forced labor is over, and we will be led into a land teeming with produce. The book of Deuteronomy, which literally means “second law” expands on the content of the Mosaic Law given on Mt. Sinai. The setting has changed and now Moses stands on Mt Nebo, looking into the Promised Land from outside. Israel is about to acquire land. They are about to transition from being nomads, scrounging for food in the desert, to farmers. In an agricultural context a weekly “day off” takes on a different meaning. For the farmer, a day off during planting or harvest could dramatically reduce your yield. Here, the “rest” has to be forced. Why? Deut. 8:17 gives the reason, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.” In the desert, when food was raining down from heaven every day, this was an easy concept to understand, but put yourself in a context where you work for your food, one might be deluded into thinking that it is “theirs” because “they earned it.” As a reminder of their dependence on God’s provision they are to cease from working for an entire day every week.
think taking a day off is stressful for a farmer, imagine taking an entire year off. You can’t plow, can’t plant, can’t reap, and can’t sell. You get to eat whatever happens to pop up out of the ground, but you have no control over that ground for a whole year. Furthermore, any debts owed between Israelites are forgiven in the Sabbath year. Any slaves who are fellow Israelites are also released in this year. But wait, there’s more, after 7 Sabbath years, there is a year called Jubilee. This is another year of leaving fields fallow, so every fifty years there will be two years in a row of not working the land, but more significantly, all property is returned to its original family boundaries. God wanted to reinforce in the Hebrews’ minds the connection between rest and freedom. The generation who had been slaves in Egypt understood this, now the generations who enjoy landownership will make a similar association whether they are the slaves or the slave masters. This is what is behind Jesus’s statement that “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus healed people on the Sabbath because it was a day of deliverance.
“The lesson of the Sabbath is that humanity does not exist for it, but it exists for humanity.”
Leviticus had anticipated this new context, and described yet another Sabbath to be instituted “when you come into the land”—the Sabbath year. On the seventh year, Israel is supposed to take an entire year off. So, if you
Our greatest NT commentary on the Sabbath comes in Hebrews chapters 3&4. The author of Hebrews is commenting on Psalm 95:11 which says “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” He writes in 3:16 and following, “For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilder-
of Hebrews reveals about this rest. First, it is ness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they an invitation into God’s rest, second, it is still would not enter his rest, but to those who were future, and third, it requires work. disobedient? 19 So we see that they were un able to enter because of unbelief.” We remem The sabbath rest is entrance into God’s ber this story. The 12 spies go into the land. rest. To truly rest is to experience God’s rest. 10 were bad 2 were good. The people didn’t There’s a reason that this section is sandwiched trust that the Lord would give them the land, so between two references to Christ as a sympaGod condemns them to 40 years of wandering thetic high priest. Entrance into God’s rest is a in the wilderness. (Just long enough that the result of union with God. This is possible begeneration that lacked faith would all be dead cause the person of Jesus Christ before the nation enters the has united our human nature to land. The point here is that rest is not automatic. God’s “Therefore, while the the divine nature in his very person. He united himself to us so promise is conditioned on promise of entering that we might be united to the Fathe faith of his covenant people. This should give the his rest still stands, ther. So that he might bring us into reader pause—he goes on in let us fear lest any the Holy of holies. The degree to which you are united to God is the 4:1—“Therefore, while the of you should seem degree to which you enter his rest. promise of entering his rest to have failed This leads to the second point. still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have to reach it... This is largely a future reality. failed to reach it. For good For we who have We are not united to God as we news came to us just as to will be, and God is not resting like them, but the message they believed enter he will be. Both of these assertions heard did not benefit them, that rest.” sound more controversial than because they were not unitHebrews 4:1-3 they are. Look, the Bible describes ed by faith with those who the Church as the bride of Christ, listened. For we who have not the wife of Christ. When is the wedding? believed enter that rest.” We are in a similar Revelation 19. Yes, there is an absoluteness situation. God has invited us into His rest, but and a certainty to this union especially given it is received by faith. No Hebrew would want the 1st century Hebrew concept of betrothal, to be identified with the rebellious generation but I’ve been engaged and married, and marthat died in the desert. The author of Hebrews ried is better. Married is union, engaged is just is saying, “Today, if you do not believe in the sorta. Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is exactly what you are.” You haven’t trusted that God can deliver But God is not resting like he will be. In on His promise. You assumed that it depended Genesis 2 God stops because everything is on your own ability and efforts, and therefore perfect. It is very good. In Genesis 3 everything the task seemed impossible. Indeed it would becomes very ungood. And God immediately have been, given your premise. But it doesn’t embarks on another work which Isaiah, Paul, depend on your efforts, only your faith. and John refer to as a “new creation” of a “new Now there are three things that the author
heavens and earth.” The author of Hebrews points out that God’s works were finished from the foundation of the world. As sure as God finished that work, he will finish this one. Once again this creation will be “new,” and God will stop, step back and say “it is very good.” Now, I realize this sounds like a bit of a downer, especially in the 3rd quarter. But I assure you, the worst news I could give you is that God’s rest can be experienced here and now. If this is something that we can have now, then it is limited to some subjective, inward feeling of peace, and we are bound to pretend that we have it, but constantly feel guilty that we don’t. The good news is that it is so much better than anything you have experienced. But we also know that if anyone is in Christ, they experience a taste of that new creation even now. This is Paul’s meaning in 2 Cor 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away.” Paul is alluding to Isaiah 65 which speaks of God making a “new heaven and a new earth,” he says “the former things will pass away.” Elsewhere Paul calls the Church the New Man--the image and likeness of God in this new creation. So the believer does experience some blessings of the future in the present, but if we trade God’s rest for some internal sense of peace, or the new heavens and new earth for a newfound sense of identity and belonging, we are of all men most to be pitied. The author of Hebrews would say you’re like an Israelite that thinks Joshua achieved God’s rest. He says, “If Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.” As you might guess, this leads us to the last point. If this is largely a future reality, then now it’s time to work. As Hebrews says “let us strive that we might enter that rest.” Don’t pin your hopes on the miniature rests we get here and there. They won’t give the sense of resolution they often promise. But that’s not why we work.
Remember the sabbatical year. The Sabbath served different purposes in different contexts. When we are weary, it is a beacon of hope. As summer approaches, we can look forward to a chance to recharge and relax. While in the land, Israel’s Sabbaths provided rest for the soil of the land, but it also provided sustenance for the foreigner or refugee. As teachers and parents, we have been planting and harvesting since August. Summer provides a break for the soil of the student’s heart. Our responsibility to our students is to let them stop “learning” for a time. The principles and ideas instilled throughout the school year can take root amidst the vacations, activities, and even the occasional video game. Summer reading provides just the right amount of nutrients sprinkled throughout the summer months. (Hopefully not dumped all at once in the last week or so.) But our Sabbath also exists for the service of our neighbor. The Biblical concept of work leaves no room for sloth. It is not inactivity, but the assigning of meaning to our labors. We sacrifice our time and resources for the benefit of the helpless. Maybe this means going on a Missions trip, or maybe it means volunteering for local ministries. Maybe it means serving the CDA community. The lesson of the Sabbath is that humanity does not exist for it, but it exists for humanity. Resting doesn’t mean being “done.” Working for the weekend will leave you in a constant cycle of disappointment. However, if we use our time off to serve our brothers, sisters, and fellow man around us, we will truly be living out that “New Man.” Then we will truly be entering God’s rest.