by Dale Reeves
Story Pastor
If youâve watched any episodes of The Chosen series, no doubt youâve heard the characters say to one another, âShabbat Shalom.â What does this mean? Literally, it means âSabbath Peace,â and is a greeting thatâs used only on Sabbath (the period of time between Friday sundown through Saturday sundown). Messianic Jewish rabbi Jason Sobel says, âShabbat is about Shalom. . . . We need Shalom in our homes and in our nation maybe now more than ever.â To dig into the meaning of Shabbat (Sabbath) and how to bring about blessing, peace, and forgiveness to others, click here.
Sabbath isnât meant to be just a day off work. Itâs a command and a gift from God, designed to refresh our bodies and our souls. Itâs not a bonusâif we have time for itâwhich as I have observed, seems to be the modus operandi of many Christians I know. Resting on the Sabbath is a declaration that God is in control, not us. We are saying, âI trust God to provide, even when I stop working.â Itâs a way of saying ânoâ to hustle and âyesâ to faith. When we decide to observe a Sabbath, we are choosing to abide in him, not strive to get everything done on our âto doâ list.
In his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, pastor and author John Mark Comer says, âThe Hebrew word Shabbat means âto stop.â But it can also be translated âto delight.â It has this dual idea of stopping and also of joying in God and our lives in his world. The Sabbath is an entire day set aside to follow Godâs example, to stop and delight. . . . The Sabbath is how we fill our souls back up with life.â
The Longest Commandment
Comer points out that when God delivered his Ten Commandments to Moses and the children of Israel, one command was way longer than all the rest. He says, âIf you were to configure the Ten Commandments as a pie chart, this one would take up over 30 percent of the pie.â Which command was it? âRemember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.â Donât believe me? Look it up!
âRemember 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holyâ (Exodus 20:8-11, NIV).
This past Sunday at Christâs Church, our senior pastor Brad Wilson shared that God created Sabbath as a part of Godâs perfect order for the world (see Genesis 2:2, 3), yet in our modern world too many of us are in a hurry and feel we donât have time to take one full day of rest as God commands us. Thereâs too much for us to accomplish, and so, we donât accept Godâs invitation to rest in him as we should. To see Bradâs teaching from last Sunday, click here.
Taking this one day to rest every week is a way of acknowledging that our worth doesnât come from our productivity, but from our identity as children of God. And being closed on Sunday has certainly not hurt the businesses of Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A. Hobby Lobby founder, David Green, remarked, âFor decades, we have closed our stores on Sundays, and at 8:00 pm, the rest of the week, to help employees balance their work and personal lives, and have time for rest, family, and worship.â Chick-fil-Aâs founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant so that âhe and his employees could set aside one day to rest, enjoy time with their families or worship if they chooseââa practice they still uphold today.
Rest, Recover, and Reenergize
My good friend Dr. David Olshine chairs the youth ministries department at Columbia International University, in Columbia, South Carolina. A sought-after speaker to thousands of youth, leaders, and parents every year, David has authored more than a dozen books, most recently, The Mystery of Silence, which I highly recommend. David grew up in a Jewish home, where he says, âI knew Sabbath, some of the commandments, I knew Hebrewâbut I didnât know Yâshua. Growing up, we were told not to believe in Jesus.â David became a follower of Jesus his senior year in high school and cemented his faith his freshman year while attending Ohio University. I asked him the other day,
âWhat differences have you seen between the way that Jewish people observe the Sabbath and how the followers of Jesus observe it?â
He responded, âI see Sabbath as a command from God and as a principle for followers of Jesus today, just like the Ten Commandments, though we shouldnât be legalistic about it. In my experience, orthodox and conservative Jews tend to follow Sabbath legalistically, reformed Jews do not follow it as stringently.â
As a Christian, David feels like Jesus followers should find a day of rest that works for their schedule. Since I have office hours MondayâThursday, and Sunday is essentially a âwork dayâ for me at Christâs Church, my Sabbath every week is Friday. My wife and I guard that day as best we can. I may sleep in that day, not get out of my pajamas for a few hours, read a bit, maybe do a jigsaw puzzle, then take an afternoon nap. If we are traveling, I love to get outside in nature and breathe fresh air, take a hike, stroll on a beach, or watch animals at play. Some choose to do a social media fast once a week. Sabbath would be a good day to do that. David told me that one of his spiritual mentors said to him, âThe people who are in most danger of not âSabbathingâ are those who are in the ministry.â Then he asked David to promise that he would take a weekly Sabbath.
David and his family still celebrate some of the Jewish traditions he grew up with. He said, âJesus is our Pesach, or Passover lamb, so we celebrate Passover every spring from a Christian perspective. We also celebrate Hanukkah (Festival of lights), along with Christmas, since Jesus is the light of the world!â If you want to check out Davidâs latest book, you can see it here.
When I asked David why Christians should keep the Sabbath, he concluded with these poignant words:
âThe purpose of work is production, the purpose of Sabbath is recovery. Work makes us tired, Sabbath reenergizes us. Itâs all about unwinding and decompressing.â
Whenâs the last time you said, âGimme a breakâ? God already has. Itâs called Sabbath. Do it. It will revolutionize your life.