READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary l We can be so focussed on work that our minds cannot shut down even when we are physically resting or in a relaxed environment. When we prioritise livelihood over life, we experience burnout, addiction to work which becomes a curse rather than a blessing from God. What is our relationship with rest?
Why Do We Rest?
1) Our Rhythm
2) Our Resistance
Our Rhythm
Rest is our God-given rhythm, commanded and modelled by God in the Creation account (Ex 20:8-11). We struggle to rest because our mind is filled with the idea that we can get so much more done in one day and we erroneously think that working on Sabbath is a right and responsible thing to do.
Last week’s sermon reminds us that God made us in His image to rule, take care and serve creation. We are to honour limits as human beings are part of God’s created order intimately connected with other living creatures. As limited beings, we are called to be God’s representatives, not His replacements. We are not called to be responsible for everything in the world. We put ourselves in the place of God in the workplace when we think we are indispensable. God is the only One who can keep everything in order. Our role is to honour God’s rhythm in Creation. Sabbath rhythm is part of God’s nature.
God never grows tired (Is 40:28) and does not sleep (Ps 121). Gen 2 describes God ceasing work on the seventh day of Creation though He does not tire. We do not rest just because we are tired but because if not, we go against the grain of our createdness and the grain of the Creator. Tiredness does not necessitate our rest, our Creator necessitates our rest.
Our Resistance
Ex 20 commands Sabbath rest in line with God’s rhythm. Sabbath rest is also commanded in Deu 5 with a key difference. Here, Sabbath rest is observed as our God-given resistance to the economy of Pharaoh, characterised by slavery to endless work in pursuit of wealth. God declares Sabbath as a perpetual covenant (Ex 31:16), an everlasting symbol that people live and work for Yahweh only, not Pharaoh. At the time of Deu 5, the people had not lived under Pharaoh’s rule (those who did had passed away except for Joshua, Caleb and Moses) but were still in danger of living under the values of his economy. Today, Pharaoh’s economy still haunts us when we think of how much more we can accomplish if we do not rest. Sabbath trains us to resist man’s insatiable demands, put down work and open our hands to rely on Yahweh’s work, not our own (Matthew Kaemingk and Cory B. Willson). We do not serve taskmasters of our age (who prize production and efficiency above all) because God is ultimately the One we work for.
Do we see Sabbath as inconvenience or blessing? Do we embrace Pharaoh’s axiom that it is never enough? The world says “never say no to more”. The Good News is there is another economy where we look to the One who works and says “it is good, it is finished” and rest.
(Sermon notes by Woo Choi Yin)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. In considering the kind of relationship we have with our work, it is important to ask ourselves, who are we really working for? Why do we work?
a. Am I working because that is where I draw my sense of worth from?
b. Am I working because I have an overwhelming sense of responsibility that everything rests on my shoulders?
2. Our ability to shabbat (to stop) from our work is the litmus test that we work for God, and not the demands of our age. In that sense, it is a discipline rather than simply an act of religious piety.
a. What prevents you from stopping and observing the rhythm God has given his people?
3. Just as God stopped his work and declared, “it is good”, he invites us to do the same. How hard is it for you to say that about your work? What would it take for you to say that?
