Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

So how are you doing with that? How are you doing when it comes to just being still? For most of us, we stink at this, don’t we? We are horrible at being still. We have no Sabbath in our lives at all.

This is the second and the final week of our series simply called Sabbath. My buddy, Wade Allen, preached last week. I listened the podcast, and it messed me up. I was seriously convicted about the lack of a Sabbath in my life. And honestly, it made me feel incredibly unqualified to preach the second message in this series.

So here is what I want to do. I want to confess to you right now that I don’t have this all figured out. There are times when I don’t do this very well. I’m a work in progress. I’m walking through this with you, trying to learn alongside you, and trying to grow in the way I take a Sabbath in my life.

So let me pray for all of us, and then we’ll get into the Word of God together.

So what is this whole Sabbath thing anyway? Maybe you hear that word and you immediately think of some Jewish rabbi or something like that. Maybe you hear that word and the song War Pigs starts playing in your head. From the band Black Sabbath, in case you’re wondering.

None of that is what we’re talking about. Sabbath is a Biblical principle that commands us to rest.

It comes from Exodus 20, the chapter we know as the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment in the list says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Exodus 20:8-10a, NIV)

In Old Testament Israel, the Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week…Saturday. And on that day, God commanded them to stop.

That’s literally what Sabbath means…it is a day of stopping. In Old Testament Israel, that day was Saturday.

Now, if you have to work on Saturdays, does that make you a sinner? After all, aren’t you breaking one of the Ten Commandments?

Hang on a second. Before you make that kind of leap, you’ve got to understand that this was part of the Old Testament law. We aren’t bound by that law anymore. Instead of the law of the old covenant, we live under grace in the new covenant. That means that there are certain laws of the Old Testament that don’t specifically apply to us.

When you look at the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, what you find is that 9 of them are moral laws. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Those are moral laws. They were part of the Old Testament law, but there are also reiterated in the New Testament. They are still binding because they are not just part of the Old Testament code…they are principles that will govern God’s people for all time.

9 of the 10 are moral laws. There is one commandment that is a ceremonial law…the Sabbath commandment. The seventh-day Sabbath is part of worship in the Old Testament that is not binding on us today.

But, and this is a big but (go ahead make your jokes)…ha ha.

The seventh-day Sabbath isn’t binding on us today…BUT…the Sabbath principle still applies. Our Sabbath doesn’t have to be on Saturday, but we still must have Sabbath in our lives. Does that make sense?

You don’t have to go to work tomorrow and tell your boss, “I’m going to hell because you’re making me work on Saturdays.” That’s not the point. It’s no longer about the day of Sabbath. It’s about the principle of Sabbath. It’s about the heart of Sabbath. That’s what we’re going to explore today.

Wade talked about this last week. Rick Warren said there are three kinds of fatigue:

There is physical fatigue, emotional fatigue, and spiritual fatigue.

Now, when we think of a taking a rest, we think of a vacation. We think of kicking back in the recliner, grabbing the remote, and firing up our HDTV.

Maybe you think about this weekend. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, when we honor the men and women who have made incredible sacrifices for our country. But, along with that, it also is a day of rest for a lot of us. A lot of you have the day off tomorrow and you’re going to take full advantage of the opportunity to rest.

There is nothing wrong with that kind of rest. Nothing wrong with days off. Nothing wrong with kicking back and decompressing by just watching a little TV or something like that. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of rest. In fact, you need that kind of rest. But it’s not a Sabbath rest.

It will help your physical fatigue. But it’s going to leave you lacking on the other two. It will do nothing for your emotional and spiritual fatigue. We need to pursue a Sabbath that encompasses a more holistic kind of rest.

We need to do Sabbath Jesus-style. In Luke 5, we read about the time when Jesus’ ministry was really starting to heat up. People were coming to Him from all over the place. It was getting really crazy really quickly.

Here’s what the Bible says about that time in His ministry. “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16, NIV)

This is so significant and it is so applicable to the craziness of our lives today. Think about what Luke is telling us. During the busiest, craziest times of His life, Jesus carved out time for a Sabbath rest.

People were clamoring for His attention. There was always someone who wanted a piece of Him. His agenda checklist was never ending. There was always one more person to see and one more thing to do.

Can you relate? I can. And it’s only getting worse for me. The more our church grows, the more we transition into the kind of church that God is calling us to be, the more my to-do list grows.

You can probably relate to that. Life is never going to get simpler. It grows more complicated everyday. It gets busier everyday. There is always something more to do. There is always another person wanting another piece of your time.

That’s the season that Jesus was in. He was the talk of the town. News about Him was spreading like wildfire. The Bible says that “crowds of people came to him.” Not one or two. Not a meeting here and there. Crowds of people were inundating Him constantly.

And how did Jesus responds to these incredible demands? He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

He went to lonely places, meaning He was off by Himself. He left the crowds and carved out time to be alone. And He did it OFTEN. Not every once in a while. Often.

And what did He do when he withdrew often to these lonely places? He prayed. And there is the key to a real Sabbath rest.

The key is not to just do nothing. There is actually something we do very intentionally when we take a Sabbath rest…we reconnect with our Heavenly Father.

In his book called Too Busy Not To Pray, Bill Hybels said, “The archenemy of spiritual authenticity is busyness.” Not business. Busyness. The archenemy of spiritual authenticity is busyness.

In other words, you can’t find God on the run. A living, vibrant, growing relationship with Jesus isn’t found on the interstate, at the drive-thru, or in the express lane. It is found in Sabbath.

There’s an incredible piece of Scripture in 1 Kings 19. The prophet, Elijah, was in a very hard and dangerous season in his life. Listen to what God showed him.

Starting in verse 11: “The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13, NIV)

God told Elijah that He was going to appear and speak to Him. A terrifying wind blew through, but God wasn’t in the wind. A huge earthquake erupted, but God wasn’t in the earthquake. A massive fire followed, but God wasn’t in the fire. Then came a gentle whisper. Elijah covered his face, because he knew this gentle whisper was the very presence of God. And that’s when God said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” That’s when the conversation between God and Elijah began.

It wasn’t in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. It was in the gentle whisper. Do you want to hear the voice of God? You’ve got to get this.

God wasn’t in any of the obvious places. He wasn’t in any of the things that would immediately grab your attention. It’s hard to ignore wind, earthquakes, and fire. But that’s not where God was. He was not found in any of the things that would easily grab your attention.

It’s hard to ignore important meetings and critical emails. It’s hard to ignore hectic schedules and rush hour traffic. It’s hard to ignore all the noise that fills our lives…but that’s not where God is. He isn’t in the obvious and He isn’t in the immediate. He’s in the gentle whisper. And most of us never slow down enough to hear it.

Wade asked a critical question last week. Are you busier than Jesus? The Bible says that, in His busiest times, Jesus often left the crowds, got off by Himself, and prayed. You know that that means? That means that someone went unhealed. That means that someone didn’t get to hear Jesus preach. That means that some ministry didn’t get done.

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine Jesus making a choice NOT to heal someone? Can you imagine Jesus voluntarily giving up an opportunity to preach to someone? He did.

Listen, it’s never going to stop. It’s never, ever going to stop. There will always be someone or something wanting a piece of you. And the more you give, the more they will line up to take. You have to intentionally decide to not do some things.

Most of us have to-do lists. Jim Collins wrote that what we actually need is a stop-doing list. We need to sit down, look at everything that we’re doing, and prayerfully decide what to cut.

That probably means cutting some good things. Jesus intentionally chose to NOT do good things. He chose to walk away from ministry opportunities for His Sabbath rest.

Do you think you’re better than Jesus? Sometimes I do. Now, I actually don’t think that I’m better than Jesus in my mind and heart…but my actions tend to tell a different story. If you look at my actions, there are times when I live like I actually do think I’m better than Jesus. I live like I can go without a Sabbath rest. I live like the this church can’t make it without me. I live like the success of this church is completely based on what I do.

That is ridiculous. That is laughable. That is sinful. I’ve had to learn some hard lessons. This church belongs to Jesus, not me. The success of our church will come from Jesus, not from me. And, if I want to truly be like Jesus, I’ve got to say no to some things.

I’ve said no to people in our church, and I will continue to do that. And let me tell you something…I’ve taken some heat for that. I’ve actually had people tell me that a pastor should never say no to the people in His church.

Jesus did. That’s all I’m saying. Jesus did. Jesus said no. Jesus said no to people so He could have a Sabbath rest. And I’m not better than Jesus. And neither are you.

And actually, there’s something incredibly liberating about that, isn’t there? There is something so freeing when you realize that it all doesn’t depend on you. There is something liberating about being able to say “no” to certain things and certain people so you can say “yes” to God.

Jesus said in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV)

Are you tired? Weary? Burdened? Jesus said, “Come to me.” But then, look at what else He says. Not just, “Come to me.” Jesus said, “Learn from me. If you learn from me, then you will find rest for your souls.”

It’s not just about coming to faith in Jesus. It’s about learning from Him. It’s about emulating Him, doing what He did. And what did Jesus do? He took a Sabbath rest often.

Listen…there is a huge difference between a disciplined life and a busy life. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re disciplined. Actually, it probably means just the opposite.

Busyness says yes to everything. Discipline says “no” to the good so it can say “yes” to the great. If you are always doing the good, you will never have time for the great.

I would say that Jesus did great things, wouldn’t you? That’s because He was the master of discipline. He was the master of saying “no” to the good so He could say “yes” to the great. And His invitation is for us to learn from Him so we can do the same thing.

There is a big difference between a disciplined life and a busy life. On the flip side of the coin, there is also a huge difference between Sabbath and laziness.

Or, to use a good old-fashioned King James word, there is a difference between Sabbath and sloth.

For some of us, our problem really is busyness. Our pace is frantic. Our schedule is crazy. And it’s killing our walk with Jesus.

But some of us are on the other end of the spectrum. Our problem isn’t busyness. Our problem is our bottoms. The problem is the fact that we never get off of them.

Have you ever seen a sloth? My family has a membership to the zoo here in Cincinnati. Our boys love it. So do we. One of Ryan’s favorite animals to see at the zoo is the sloth.

The sloth at our zoo is named Mo. Don’t ask me why I remember that...I just do. This is a picture of Mo. Mo isn’t in a cage or anything. He just has free range on these trees that you can walk right up to. It’s pretty cool.

Now, we go to the zoo a lot. Since we have a membership, we don’t pay for admission or parking or anything like that. So it’s something we can do all the time.

In all our many visits to the zoo, do you know how many times we’ve seen Mo awake? Once. One time. One time Mo was up and active. He was slowly climbing all over his tree. He looked like this…one time. You want to know what Mo has done every other time we’ve been to the zoo?

This. Except for one visit, every time we go to the zoo, Mo has just been a ball of fur sleeping in his nest.

Kind of gives you a good idea why the King James Bible uses the word sloth to describe laziness. And that word sloth describes a lot of people to this day.

I went to college with a dude who was trying to find a job as a preacher. He applied at one church, interviewed with them, did the whole deal. And then he was totally shocked when they didn’t hire him.

Afterward, I was talking to him about it in the dorm one night. He couldn’t figure out why they didn’t hire him, but I figured it out very quickly. They asked him in the interview to list some of his biggest weaknesses. He said (I’m not kidding here), “Well, I have a hard time getting to church on time. It’s hard for me to get out of bed on Sundays.” And he couldn’t believe that he wasn’t hired!

There’s a huge difference between Sabbath and sloth or laziness. Let’s be honest…the problem for some of us that is that we’re too busy. The problem for others of us is that we’re just a bum.

But here’s the deal…while these things are the exact opposite, the ultimate result is the same. Busy or bum are both sinful. If you are overly busy or overly lazy, the end result is that you are living in sin and you will never realize the relationship that God wants to have with you. The answer for both is Sabbath rest. Sabbath rest to slow some of us down. Sabbath rest to force others of us off our rear and onto our knees.

So let’s talk about exactly what this looks like. Here’s the thing…if you are depending on this one hour at church on Sundays to sustain you spiritually for the rest of your week, prepare to be disappointed.

Listen…we’re good. Our band is good. The preaching you hear is good. We’re good…but we’re not that good.

As good as things are here every Sunday, they’re not good enough to be the only spiritual food you eat all week. If this is all you get, then you are a spiritual wasteland. An absolute desert. You are experiencing extreme spiritual fatigue because you have no Sabbath in your life.

This one hour a week is not enough. That’s why in our vision of Connecting, Growing, and Serving, we want you to get involved in a small group. We want to get you involved in serving and ministry.

But even that isn’t going to be enough. If you aren’t living out the Sabbath principle, then these will just become extra things to do. They will actually have the exact opposite effect that we want them to have.

A Sabbath is something that the church can’t give you. We can help you. And we do here at Amelia. In case you haven’t noticed, our church calendar isn’t exactly full of events and programs. And that is absolutely on purpose. We could do more stuff. We could be busier. But busyness doesn’t mean effectiveness. We are pursuing a very simple, streamlined model for ministry because we want to follow Jesus’ example and make time for Sabbath.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

Some of us have a really dull axe. We’re chopping and chopping and chopping, but we’re not getting anywhere. A dull axe requires more work. It creates more fatigue. And it yields less results.

If you never sharpen your axe, the law of diminishing returns is going to kick in. You will do more and more and more, but yet the results will be less and less and less.

The answer is Sabbath. The answer is a day of stopping. The answer is intentionally carving out time for you to be in the Word. To pray. To take a walk through the woods and listen for God’s voice. To take a cracker and juice, find a quiet spot, and have communion by yourself.

That’s how you sharpen your axe. It doesn’t mean that we don’t serve. It doesn’t mean that we don’t volunteer at church and serve in our community. It doesn’t mean that we don’t do ministry. It just means that we take the time to sharpen our axe first. If you do, you’ll be amazed at how much better you are at serving. You’ll be amazed at how much more effective your ministry will be if you come at it with a sharp axe.

The Bible says in Psalm 46, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:10-11, NIV)

God tells us to be still and know that He is God. And then He tells us that, “Look…I’m God. I will be exacted in the whole earth. I am the Lord Almighty. I am with you. I am your fortress.”

You can stop trying to be God, because the position is already filled…and it is filled quite well. You can rest because God has already got it.

God’s got it. Say that out loud with me. God’s got it. Say it again. God’s got it.

Whatever the “it” is in your life, God’s got it. You don’t have to do it for Him. You don’t have to try to be Him. You can rest. God’s got it.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: busyness, laziness, Luke 5, rest, Sabbath