App Notes:
Consider this message a prequel…a setup for what will follow. Today I want to show you WHY Sabbath is essential and in the weeks that follow Barry and Tim will guide us in understanding what Sabbath means, how Sabbath works, and how we can begin to practice it.
The idea of the Sabbath is at the heart of one of Grace Church’s core values:
Breathe:
We will not be ground into dust by this life.
We long to be continuously refreshed by Jesus, to pursue what makes us healthy,
and to practice the spiritual disciplines of solitude, silence, and sabbath rest
Fun Fact: I recommend to you the book Stolen focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention - and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
Four reasons why you need sabbath:
Worry
Speed
Lack of sleep
Digital sabotage
Worry.
Matthew 6:25-34
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
I would suggest that this whole section of the sermon on the mount is less about money and more about worry.
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
It’s not money that is bad…it is the anxiety generated by money or fear of not having it!
25 “That is why (because of this…) I tell you not to worry about everyday life—
What is Jesus solution or counter to worry? Settle down…look at these things…
26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
28 “Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.
30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
And he ends with a flourish:
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
I’d say that Jesus optimism was indeed cruel if he had not been constantly reminding them of the method to make it reality.
“Come to me all of you who are worried and overwhelmed and I will give you rest.” Jesus in Matthew 11:28
So, you worried ones, you exhausted and overwhelmed ones, you speed freaks and digital warriors, you multi-taskers and to-do list troopers, you restless and agitated ones and you drunk from no sleep ones.
There is hope. There is Jesus. There is sabbath. There is rest awaiting.