I remember as a young Christian hearing an impassioned call from a spiritual leader on a stage that this next generation must be mobilized for God’s mission. While I absolutely agree with that exhortation, what came next puzzled me. The speaker went on to say that our passion for God’s mission must motivate us to get to work each and every day and that since the devil never takes a day off we cannot afford to either. While I tend to run more contemplative in nature, I was inspired by the call. But without realizing it, I began to develop a performance complex that resulted in feeling a sense of guilt for needing to unplug and rest.

This mentality of being busy with ministry and doing things for God has often resulted in many ministers and servants of the Lord feeling tired, depleted, burned out, and ready to quit. But, sadly, this attitude is frequently clothed with a religious zeal seeking to justify the tiredness, such as, “The devil never takes a day off.” But what if that was one of the reasons why the devil is the devil? Or I’ve often heard that “the world (or even the church) is run by tired people, and we can rest when we get to heaven.” But what if the lack of rest is a key reason why the world is in such trouble and the church is full of worldly instead of heavenly-minded people?

I trust I’m not alone.

And there is another way.

Our sovereign Lord and Creator already prescribed a rhythm for His children that is perhaps more counterintuitive and countercultural than ever before, but desperately needs to be recovered.

Returning to a Holy Day

While the word Sabbath is likely familiar within many Christian circles, the actual practice of it has been the subject of much contention and debate. Dating back to the Creation narrative, we know that after God finished His work He set apart the seventh day as a holy day of rest.

Genesis 2:3 recounts: “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested (sabbathed) from all his work that he had done in creation.” As we think about returning to this holy day prescribed by our heavenly Father, it is helpful to think about Sabbath around the four Hebrew translations of the word “Shabbat.”^[1] Each of these words are also to be viewed through the lens of the holiness of God, who set apart this day as a gift and conduit to produce His holiness in and through us.

A Holy “Stop”

The root of the Hebrew word for Sabbath literally means to cease or to stop. The idea is to stop working, stop thinking about working, set aside the to-do list with all our worries and wants. Pastor Rich Villodas describes Sabbath as a literal 24-hour period with no shoulds, have to’s, or oughts that over time leads to a deep rest for our souls.

A Holy “Rest”

The main idea here is that we engage our whole person in rest. We rest physically by withdrawing from physically demanding tasks. We sleep. As a father of three kids under five, sometimes God miraculously gifts me with a nap on these days! We also rest mentally and emotionally. We seek to calm down, relax, and process the week with God and others. We also rest spiritually. We release our souls to our Savior and abide in His steadfast love.

A Holy “Delight”

The Sabbath day is one in which God’s people ought to delight in the various good gifts given to us as His children. We have a holy liberty to “pamper” our souls by enjoying life-giving recreation, eating good food, playing with our kids, or spending time with treasured friends. Think about what sparks wonder, joy, and gratitude and indulge in those things.

A Holy “Worship”

In Sabbathing we recalibrate our attention and affections upon the one who is seated upon the throne of heaven and upon our hearts. We surrender our past week as we anticipate the coming week. However, it is crucial to note that we do not practice Sabbath as a way of rewarding ourselves for a hard week of work and then rebooting for another hard week of work. Instead, we Sabbath to resist the idol of productivity and to check our hearts so we are not worshiping our work, but rather God in our work.

In Sabbathing we recalibrate our attention and affections upon the one who is seated upon the throne of heaven and upon our hearts.

To Sabbath or Not to Sabbath? Three Perspectives

So how are we as followers of Jesus to view the role of Sabbath in our contemporary context? While much discussion could and should ensue regarding this question, I would invite you to consider three perspectives.

Legalism

The role of Sabbath was part and parcel of the life of the Israelites, who were called out and set apart by Yahweh unto a holy purpose. Consider for a moment the place Sabbath takes in the ten commandments in Exodus 20:8. As the fourth commandment,  it occupies the most space of the ten and uniquely begins with the word “Remember.” As the LORD had just rescued them from their four-century tenure of Egyptian captivity, Israel had likely forgotten what it meant to truly rest. Thus the command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy continued to show up throughout the Torah and eventually picked up numerous “add-ons” of strict ways the Jews were expected to observe it. Particularly during the intertestamental period which led up to the birth of Christ, Judaism gave birth to a self-righteous and self-focused system of Sabbath keeping.

In light of this history, the unfortunate reality is that a legalistic and rigid mentality has also crossed over into the church, leaving many even more exhausted seeking to observe the Sabbath correctly and completely missing the point of it.

License

On the other end of the spectrum from legalism is a view that practicing the Sabbath is completely up to the individual Christian. This perspective often comes with an anemic understanding of the Sabbath’s purpose and an apathetic attitude toward our need for genuine rest. Those who hold this view often justify their decision by declaring that keeping the Sabbath is an archaic command under the old covenant. Interestingly, most Christians would still adhere to the other nine commandments and consider them authoritative.

Speaking toward this camp of thought, pastor and author A.J. Swoboda once said that “most Christians do not really believe the ten commandments, they believe nine commandments with one suggestion.” So the question remains, what do we do with the Sabbath command in Scripture?

Love

I believe this third perspective provides a wise path to travel on. For it brings us back to the central reason of God commanding and His people obeying the Sabbath. And it also brings us back to Jesus. In Mark 2:23-28 we are introduced once again to a Jesus who seems to be breaking all the rules about proper Jewish belief and conduct. After being accused by the Pharisees over doing “what is not lawful on the Sabbath,” Jesus responds with a little Bible lesson and concludes by dropping this provocative bomb of truth: “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).

We as 21st century Christians need to hear the first half of Jesus’ authoritative declaration, “The Sabbath was made for man.” In love we need to remember that God designed a day for us to regularly practice stopping, resting, delighting, and worshiping so that we can be refreshed and sanctified in the Lord’s holy presence.

We as 21st century Christians need to hear the first half of Jesus’ authoritative declaration, “The Sabbath was made for man.” In love we need to remember that God designed a day for us to regularly practice stopping, resting, delighting, and worshiping so that we can be refreshed and sanctified in the Lord’s holy presence.

The Jewish leaders at the time, and perhaps those of us who view God’s commands through a legalistic lens, need to hear the second half of Jesus’ truth bomb, “not man for the Sabbath.” In love, Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath was not made to be a rigid container that commands a specific cultural or religious mold.

A Step Toward Revolutionary Rest

We all need to heed the last part of Jesus’ sovereign statement, that as the Son of Man He is “Lord, even of the Sabbath.” As He is our Lord, it is most wise to model our lives after Him. And love is the motive of our obedience. Rather than succumbing to exhausting legalism or selfish license, love provides a liberty to receive the Sabbath command as the gift that it is. And in liberty, we are released to observe this gift with great diversity while maintaining intentionality.

Rather than succumbing to exhausting legalism or selfish license, love provides a liberty to receive the Sabbath command as the gift that it is. And in liberty, we are released to observe this gift with great diversity while maintaining intentionality.

So what would it look like to receive and practice by faith a weekly Sabbath? As my family and I have sought (with much struggle) to observe a weekly 24-hour period with no have to’s, shoulds, or oughts, we have begun to experience the powerful and replenishing rest that the Lord intends to provide through the Sabbath. Even more, we have been discovering that it is about so much more than just a day of the week. Rather, it is revolutionizing the way we relate to the Lord, each other, and the world around us.

Copyright © 2022 Justin Jeppesen. All rights reserved.

^[1] Adapted from John Mark Comer’s chapter on Sabbath in his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.