Which of the Ten Commandments do you suppose is most often broken?
You might guess that the 5th commandment to honor your father and mother might be violated most.
The 10th commandment forbidding coveting your neighbor’s wife and possessions might be broken often as well.
I believe the most overlooked and dismissed commandment is the 4th one.
The 4th commandment as found in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (NIV) reads this way:
12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
This commandment constitutes more than thirty percent of all the text of the Ten Commandments. It is also the only one that is accompanied by the “why.”
Here in the Old Testament, God explains that His people are no longer slaves, and later in Romans, Paul will remind us that we are called sons of God adopted into His family.
AJ Swoboda in His book Subversive Sabbath said,
“(The Sabbath) has largely been forgotten by the church, which has uncritically mimicked the rhythms of the industrial and success-obsessed West. The result? Our road-weary, exhausted churches have largely failed to integrate Sabbath into their lives as vital elements of Christian discipleship.
It is not as though we do not love God – we love God deeply. We just do not know how to sit with God anymore… We have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, psychologically overworked, spiritually malnourished people in history.”
As people living in 2022, it is easy to think that this commandment was somehow canceled by Jesus and should be cast aside. Maybe you have seen this commandment as the oddball rule that gets tossed out because you aren’t Jewish.
Jesus never took Sabbath off the list to downsize to only 9 commandments. Jesus explains that He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Here’s what Jesus said when the Pharisees criticized his disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath.
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” - Mark 2:27-28 (NIV84)
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.
- Jesus calls himself the Lord (boss) of the Sabbath. In other words, Jesus has the authority and right to redefine the practice Sabbath.
- Jesus heals people on the Sabbath. He finds great delight in bringing others into the shalom fullness of life. This is in alignment with feeding and watering your animals on the Sabbath (Luke 13:15) and saving your son or an animal that falls into a well (Luke 14:5).
- Jesus explains that Sabbath is not a burden, but it is a blessing. It is not made for us to serve it like it is a god. Sabbath is made to serve and bless humans with rest and reflection on the goodness of God.
Sabbath was Created to be a Blessing for Mankind.
Most people don’t see the idea of a sabbath as a blessing. Instead, they throw out excuses, perhaps something like these following ideas.
“The devil never takes a day off, so why should I?” --John Mark Comer remarks that the devil loses in the end, so why would we pattern our life around his actions?“This is just a Jewish pattern. I have Jesus so I don’t need to rest – you can sleep when you’re dead.” --Sabbath is tied to God’s six days of work in creation, and His choice to cease from His work and delight in what He had made with Adam and Eve. This is a rhythm of the created universe. “If you go against the grain of the universe, you get splinters.” It’s not a Jewish-only concept, no matter what you believe. If you come into alignment with God’s truth and principles you receive the blessings of obedience.
“I can’t afford to take one day off a week without pay!” --One of the main reasons that Sabbath exists is to remind us that God is the one who sustains and provides for us. Sabbath forces us to trust Him to sustain us when we are resting.
“I’m the parent of young kids, I can’t ever get rest.” --Certainly, there are some seasons that are more challenging to experience Sabbath.
Sabbath Planning is Important.
In order to guard the rest you receive from your sabbath, it is important to plan ahead for your sabbath.
No matter what your age, like the Jewish people, you have to prepare for Shabbat by shopping ahead of time and simplifying on a day of rest. It may look like ordering a Papa Murphy’s pizza or inviting another family over so that food prep and watching kids is easier with the kids entertaining each other.
True Sabbath is your Best Day of the Week.
Shabbat is a verb that means “to cease from work.” It is one day out of seven, where you rest, celebrate God’s goodness and get refueled for the next week. Another nuance of the Hebrew word implies “delight in rest.” This is not to be a dull, boring, legalistic experience – true Sabbath is the most richly rewarding day in every week. It is filled with enjoying God’s creation, great food, life-giving relationships, sleep, reading, hiking, and so much more!
Dan Allender writes,
“The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight. The Sabbath, when experienced as God intended, is the best day of our lives. Without question or thought, it is the best day of the week. It is the day we anticipate… and the day we remember…
Sabbath is the holy time where we feast, play, dance, have sex, sing, pray, laugh, tell stories, read, paint, walk and watch creation in its fullness. Few people are willing to enter the Sabbath and sanctify it, to make it holy, because a full day of delight and joy is more than most people can bear in a lifetime, let alone a week.”
Are you more interested in Sabbath now?
What day works best for you to observe Sabbath?
What are your excuses for not doing so?
Last Sunday I preached about the Sabbath for the first time in my life. It’s only been in the past few months that I’ve truly studied this concept more in-depth. I’ve begun to really get serious about Sabbath and it’s changed the other six days a week and allowed me to slow down and enjoy this life so much more!
Join us next week for a bit more on this topic and the posture of obscurity I see in the life of Jesus that we can learn to imitate.
I look forward to seeing you at our Sunday Worship Service in the Dome, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
You can also live stream our 10:00 a.m. service on Facebook and YouTube.
If you missed last week's message Unforced Rhythms of Grace #8 - "The Posture of Sabbath Rest" click here.
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