One final look at the Sabbath.  There are people in the assembly, the church, the synagogue in need of healing.  Who among us is completely whole and without any brokenness all the time?  Jesus never layered an expectation of perfection upon people who gathered to worship.  They could come just as they are and learn the Simple Truth that a Sabbath blesses the whole man. 

Do you know it when you observe a Sabbath as the healing for your mind, your heart, your spirit, and your body?

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Matthew 12:9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

(All kinds of people show up at institutions of worship for all kinds of reasons.  Some need healing.  Some are there for reputation and appearances, putting on a mask of a cleaned up life made for TV or public consumption.  But doesn’t putting on an act speak of a deeper brokenness and worse, a prideful unwillingness to accept that they too are broken?)

Matthew 12:10b  Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the Pharisees asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 Jesus said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

More than just verbally teaching about the Sabbath, Jesus gave an object lesson that drove a veritable wedge to display that He means what He says about the Sabbath.  Is the Sabbath a day for legal bean counting of personal righteousness … or is it a set-aside from the daily grind to acknowledge God in our midst–a wonderful, benevolent, all powerful, almighty God whose love is so great He cares about the big and little things of our lives?  Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  That’s the Sabbath.  We can humbly lay it all at His feet.

Matthew 12:13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

It’s sad that the Pharisees preferred their legalistic view of Sabbath adherence to a different kind of Sabbath meant for the health and benefit of the whole man: body, soul, and spirit. 

What kind of Sabbath do you need?

For the pastor, theologian, or Bible teacher who reads about Sabbath, our challenge is double: reading Scripture is not only dependence upon God, but it’s work.  We cannot read the Bible as our nighttime reading for relaxation and meditation without it turning our minds back on.

(Barbara, maybe it’s just you…)

OK, maybe it is just me. I’m a walking anomaly, totally unable to compartmentalize my life and my Scripture reading into “Today it’s relaxation on the Sabbath. Tomorrow it’s study and it’ll be work.”

I am encouraged reading that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath.  His teachings about the Sabbath include the grainfield and picking grain to eat, but I love how His example in teaching about the Sabbath is helpful—directly so—for people like me. 

When questioned about lawfulness of the actions of the disciples and the Sabbath, Matthew 12: 3 Jesus answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread– which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?

(Hold on.  Let that sink in.)

The priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent. 

How can that be?

6 I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus quotes Hosea 6: 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Acknowledgment of God is better by relationship than by geography or inaction because Jesus IS God and He is among us. 

One can keep the Sabbath without desecrating it by acknowledging God’s righteousness. When we’re Sabbath working, promoting God’s gospel, and proclaiming our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we’re actually honoring Him as Lord of the Sabbath!

On this Memorial Day weekend, I wish to remind all of us that freedoms in the United States of America were bought and paid for with the blood and lives of fellow Americans.  These heroes made the ultimate sacrifice of love, after all “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).  Even friends generations down the road who might forget … to remember … the sacrifice.

At the risk of inflaming the Internet trolls who have criticized my patriotism and written hate mail, today I remember the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers who have preserved my right, given by God, to be a Christian witness in this country. 

• My right to share the Gospel without fear of being boiled alive in acid or having my head severed. 
• My right as an American woman to dress as I please and to receive an education. 
• My right as an American woman to speak publicly and to inspire both women and men to live the Risen life.  
• My right to freely speak and freely think.  Not every nation welcomes the freedom to peacefully disagree and even protest, or to stand on the street corner soap box and proclaim the Name of Jesus.

On a day and a weekend too many people view as for picnics and barbecues or even as Veteran’s Day the Spring Edition, I choose to remember…and to say “Thank you” to those who are watching from heaven whose ears may never have heard those words while alive,

Thank you for sacrificing your life so I could be free.” 

I love you and I remember.

The Sabbath can be an interesting thing:  how a body can be at rest but a mind anything but restful. 

Can it legitimately be called a Sabbath if your mind is working overtime? 

Don’t ask me.  I am a thinker and a planner.  My mind weighs alternatives and builds cases.  I even do it in my sleep. There’s nothing wrong with planning, but there is something very wrong with a heart and mind that never rest, as a ship always sailing no matter the conditions … and never finding a port … anywhere.  A ship forever at sea is a craft in grave danger of becoming its own worst enemy.  A shipwreck waiting to happen.

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There’s a difference between a marathon runner muscling through the tough stretch to get a second wind and a person unwilling to rest.  I’m constantly aware of the danger when planner refuses to rest or to submit plans to God as a Sabbath.  A person can end up loving the work and loving the creative planning more than loving the Creator.  Loving the ministry more than the Savior.  It’s a common tale, but it doesn’t need to be that way.

Luke 12: 15 Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Ouch.  Odd to think that refusing a Sabbath is much like greed.  It’s not giving God what belongs to Him.  The Sabbath is His.  But the kicker is: He gave it for our benefit.  God reminds us in Proverbs 19: 21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

The Simple Truth is that submitting our plans to God is to honor His Sabbath.  It glorifies Him as the Creator of your body and your intellect.  

Is it too much to rest from the planning one day a week to check in with the Creator and avoid shipwrecking your faith or sailing headlong into the storm? No, and it’s not too late to thank Him for the work He alone can do and to always plan with God in mind.

How is it possible that something so simple as waiting and resting can become so complicated?  Is it just me, or a Type-A American phenomenon?  Or maybe it’s human nature to complicate something as easy as rest?  Jesus sets things simple and straight.

He’s Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2: 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

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The Pharisees couldn’t stand it that manmade rules were being shunted off to the side as Jesus asserted His authority. 

Before I come down too hard on the Pharisees, do I do this too? 

• How many times on a Sunday do I ask myself whether it’s right, proper, or biblical to shop at a garden center, grocery store, or even go to a restaurant or a gas station? 
• After all, doesn’t my patronage violate someone else’s Sabbath adherence? 
• What about people who celebrate the Sabbath on a Saturday? 
• Am I just justifying my desire to shop by asserting that not everyone is Christian or observes the same day? 
• When I was employed at a garden center, I asked for Sunday morning to be able to worship but after church, there I was, working my tail off the rest of the Sabbath, yes?  
• What about when I was a pastor?  Didn’t I work then?  Sure I did, just like other pastors, I was working on Sunday. 

A Sabbath can still be a resting time even if not a prescribed day on a calendar.

For practical purposes, the Blue Laws (prohibiting business on Sundays) may have disappeared from many locales for everything except alcohol and cars, but they are alive and well in my heart.  And I’m not the only one.  Some stores deliberately close on Sundays to prevent that very problem:  Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, and many other small businesses. 

With the secularizing of America, Blue Laws are a thing of the past.   As I struggle to rest—even on a Sunday—I remind myself of this Simple Truth:  He is Lord of the Sabbath.

All this thinking about drifting and stillness and considering it with the requirement to have a Sabbath made me process my thoughts via analogy.  I’m in a sailboat.  My sail is up but the wind is so light, it’s almost imperceptible. 

“Becalmed” is the term sailors use for this. Don’t you love that?  Becalmed. 

Be Calmed.

Blogger, businessman, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers Michael Hyatt describes this situation:  “Maybe there’s no wind on the water, or it’s blocked by land. Whatever the reason, our sails are slack and our boat just drifts along.”

(Aaiieeee!  Don’t say that.  I don’t want to drift!!!) 

Hyatt continues “I don’t know of any way to entirely avoid slow periods like this, but I do know the one thing we should avoid when we get discouraged waiting for the wind. Don’t take down your sails.”

Waiting on the wind is an act of trust. 

Ah, this is why I rest.  Because I need to trust God all the time not just when I write and work.  I need to trust God with my resting.

In Sea Shanties, Scurvy, and a Sailboat Regatta Without Wind, Captain Craig Forrest says, “When there’s almost no wind, everything that we do on the boat makes a difference.”  

A sailboat without wind is at the mercy of the currents. 

(I cannot control the currents.)

It occurred to me that I have three tools to keep me from drifting far away: a rudder, a compass, and of course, a paddle.  Of these three, the compass belongs to God alone…who incidentally also controls the wind and the currents.  I can know where I am in relation to Him by which direction I’m going.  I cannot change the compass which is grounded in forces beyond my control.  The compass does not steer the sailboat anyway.  That job belongs to the rudder.  The rudder’s ability to change my direction works in conjunction with whatever wind exists to guide the sailboat.  So long as God controls the currents and Jesus guides using the rudder, no matter how light the wind, I’m not drifting away.  Because He’s also the compass.  I can trust Him to guide me to Himself.  And the wind of the Holy Spirit works with the Father and the Son.

Mark 4:39 “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

I sit silently and remind myself that God gives this kind of rest when I’ve completed a task that took a lot out of me, when I’ve done all I can and the results are up to Him, or when I’m being prepared for a big task ahead.  I can wait on the wind.  I should trust Him. 

Why?  Because there’s always that paddle—downright dangerous when unguided.  It’s the paddle allowing me to take matters into my own hands.  I can give up on resting and instead work hard at paddling for power when I don’t trust the wind to show up.  I paddle for control of the direction I want to go when I want to ignore the compass or try to override the rudder. 

What about you?  Are you as familiar with the compass and the rudder as you are with the paddle?  Do you know what it is like to be waiting on the wind?

The pastor at the church I attend on holiday stated emphatically that no one ever drifts toward God, but we can find ourselves having drifted far away from Him.  Doesn’t the letter to the Hebrews warn us time and again against drifting away? (Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 3:7-19, Hebrews 5:2-6:6, Hebrews 10:19-31.)

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Hebrews 2:1)

It’s not just listening, or even listening carefully.  It’s also believing.

But there’s another warning from Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

And in James 2, isn’t there an admonition to add to our faith, deeds borne of love for God and compassion for our fellow man?

James 2:16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that– and shudder … 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

How many of us resist resting, instead running forever exhausted on the hamster wheel of hearing, believing, and doing?

To that flurry of activity in faith, God reminds us of a Simple Truth He gave us to believe in:  Hebrews 4: 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

We don’t want to drift.  We don’t want to be Running Forever Exhausted or getting burned out by everything on the docket.  We want to be anchored.  We need to dock it.

Hebrews 4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following [the wilderness wanderers from Egypt’s] example of disobedience.

A Sabbath-rest is necessary to separate the “GOD-things” from the GOOD things.

Back to the subject of drifting versus stillness:  I don’t want to drift, that’s for sure!  I’m not sure that drifting is my bigger problem.  My problem is that I fear drifting so much that I am addicted to busyness (which in turn becomes my operating definition of success: how much I accomplish for the Kingdom). 

Rest is harder work than working sometimes.

I say I desire stillness before the Lord.  But the truth is, it scares me silly.  For every Christian who has ever experienced true stillness, it can bring about the same kind of discomfort that silence does.  Maybe that was Martha’s problem too.  It was far easier to work hard than do the hard, hard work of rest.

Luke 10: 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I’d probably be quicker to blame Martha for busyness saying, “Come’on.  Jesus is there!  Can’t you at least sit and listen to Him???” except that Jesus is there!  Time to give Him your very best. 

It can be discomforting to set aside your very best in service to the King (what you want to do for Him) …and instead do the hard, hard work of rest, to listen to Him, and learn from Him.

It must have been difficult to hear Jesus say that what Mary had chosen to do (rest and listen) was better than your offering Him your best as an unbridled act of lavish graciousness.  I’m sure the tone of Jesus’ voice was not a condemning one, but the wise voice of One who understood what would profit Martha more.  He needed her to focus on seeing that He was setting the example by sacrificing His BEING served in order to serve those He loved (Mark 10:45). 

It was a valuable lesson shown demonstrably in Martha’s home before visible to all on the Cross, a useful lesson for understanding His fullest ministry.  And for now, it was far more important to learn what He was doing which would provide the backdrop for what He would commission all His disciples to do (go to work hard for Christ) after His death.  Rest, Martha.  Listen … and learn.  The work will still be there tomorrow.

The Simple Truth is that “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  Even the hard, hard work of rest.

What is the difference between stillness and drifting?

I was thinking about that when the pastor at the church I visit when I’m on holiday was preaching about making one’s life “drift-proof.”  He spoke of reliable anchors of the family of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the powerful written Word of God.  Mentally, I checked, “Got that, got that, got that” and wondered quietly as my mind drifted,

Why do I not like how this feels?  Shouldn’t being anchored give only a sense of security and rest?  Why does it seem like I’m just not making any progress?  Why do I end up feeling restless, itching to get going?” 

Have you ever felt that way?  Nothing seems to be happening.  You remind yourself that you’re supposed to be resting, but then you’re pondering the fine line between being anchored and simply being stuck.

You’re anchored because even sailboats have an anchor in order for the crew to rest.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m grateful for the time away from intensity.  After Lent each year, I intentionally rest.  It’s particularly important when Lent follows Advent so quickly.  I need to be filled again which I have learned only comes through rest.  This time has been a desperately needed Sabbath yet a very hard rest because it feels like being stuck.  It’s been a long rest because God is making up for my not resting well, a quality Sabbath, by increasing the duration required. 

My mind was called back from my drifting thoughts to the pastor’s sermon and what an anchor does.

Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

The Anchor of Hope enters that inner sanctuary where Jesus performed His priestly work until…what did our high priest Jesus do? 

Hebrews 8:1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.”

He sat down. 

The work was done and now He’s resting with an active rest.

Then it hit me:  I’m supposed to feel “stuck” because keeping one firm and secure is what an anchor does.  My hope in Christ and in His finished work enters the sanctuary while I’m physically resting and acknowledging this Simple Truth:  An Anchored Soul Does Not Drift.

Rule Number 1: Don’t test Jesus.  You’ll look like a dope, get an answer you don’t want, and it’ll be something you can’t achieve apart from Him. 

Expert is … as expert does … as one expert finds out when he decides to test Jesus.

Luke 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

(You can almost see the elementary school hands waving madly in the air and hear young voices saying “Oh, oh, oh!  Call on me, Teacher!”) 

27 He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

(Teacher’s pet.)

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself,

(Don’t go there….)

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

(Uh-oh, buddy.  See what you’ve done? You’ve just unleashed a parable.  But it’s a good one.)

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

(Pop quiz)

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Expert is … as expert does.

What do you have to do to inherit eternal life?  Jesus says to love God and rise to the higher standard and definition of neighbor: instead of selfish apathy towards others or judging them and walking on by, have mercy on them.

Yet how many of us walk on by our hurting or vulnerable neighbors because we’re too busy, don’t really care, don’t want to get involved, don’t want to stand out by standing up for the truth, or be judged for it?  The expert in the law testing Jesus couldn’t bring himself to choke out the words “the Samaritan.”  So, he said “the one who had mercy.”  The truth is the Samaritan had mercy in his heart and action in his hands. 

Good intentions might make us feel better but they are not a substitute for truth or action.  Who in your life could use an advocate, a champion of mercy and truth? 

Love your neighbor as yourself.  It’s a simple truth of Scripture.