Rest

Matt Redstone

OneChurch

The Three R's to Finish Strong • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago • Presented 3 years ago • 33:04

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2021 has been a hard year, and it is weighing on everyone. So how do we finish the year strong, and continue to run our race well?

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Intro

anyone else feeling like there are too many month long themes starting to pop up? I’m not talking about sermon series, those are great. I’m talking about things like Movember. I love Movember, the one month where guys grow gross mustaches, all to raise awareness about men’s health. I think it’s great, but every month has a focus like that, and for some, there are multiples.

Question 1: Besides Movember, what are some other month long focuses you can think of?

if you can’t think of any, no worries. If you’re on social media, there is no shortage of themes that seem to pop up.

For November alone, we have Movember. The PAOC sets aside November to pray for the persecuted church. Again, great cause, love the fact we take time every year to remember our brother’s and sister who are suffering for the gospel

Heavy Month

One thing I’ve noticed this year is the weight some people are carrying right now. All week long, I’ve taken phone call after phone call with people who are tired physically and mentally. I had two nurses interupt an assessment to ask for prayer on behalf of their coworkers. The days are getting shorter, there is less day light, our motivation is dwindling, the batteries are running low. The other factor that makes this November so hard is 2021 has been a hard year. So much division, so much fighting. I think in some ways we are all feeling it.

So what do we tend to do when we feel this way? We put in more hours, which makes us more tired, which makes it harder to focus, which makes us more frustrated, so we put in more hours… and down the proverbial tube we go.

So what do we do differently? Does God have anything to say about this? What does Scripture tell us?

If we believe that the answers to all of life’s questions are found in Scripture, then lets put that to the test. What does Scripture say about work and life that ensures we run our race well?

For the next three Sundays, we are going to look at the 3 R’s to Finish Strong. Three things that I believe God has given us to ensure we have the energy and focus to live all of our days to the fullest.

The first one is probably the most important

Genesis 2:1–3 ESV

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

God Rested?

that seems like an odd thing to read. Did God get tired? Was creating the universe that hard? I don’t know, I’ve never created a universe

Some would say that this is evidence that God set everything in motion and stepped away to let it play out however it played out

Actually, God was setting an example for us. See God made the seventh day holy, set apart not for himself, but for us.

Mark 2:27 ESV

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

We Need to Rest

When God created man in his image and likeness, he created us to work. God never stops working, and that image and likeness within us wants to replicate that. However, we are not God, and our bodies need a break. It is our sinful nature that actually makes us think are impervious to fatigue. Our Heavenly Father knew we needed rest so badly that he set aside a day, called it holy, so that we might actually take this idea of rest seriously.

One day, set aside for us to stop our regular work, stop thinking about it, and allow our bodies and minds to rest

When I say rest, I don’t mean do nothing. I mean find something that is not remotely work related, something that energizes and excites you, and do that. Spend time with family or friends, take up a sport, do something.

God felt it was important enough for you to rest that he actually listed it in the 10 Commandments, you should probably do it.

Question 2: Why do you find it hard to keep a Sabbath day?

I recognize that not every workplace gives it’s employees a regular work week. You may not have a regular 5 day work week, but you do get days off, and you need to make the most of them when you get them

But rest is not limited to one day a week. This next passage shines an interesting light on the life of Jesus that we all need to take note of

Luke 5:12–15 ESV

While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.

Another One of Jesus’ Miracles

So this is pretty typical of Jesus’ miracles as told by the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all make a point of Jesus trying to not draw attention to himself. He heals this man of his leprosy and the man runs off and tells everyone he runs into the miraculous that has happened in his life.

So crowds come, wanting to hear more from Jesus, wanting more people to be healed. The opportunity to take his ministry to the next level, to impact more poeple and see the kingdom of God take root. There is work to be done, so Jesus keeps working, right?

Luke 5:16 ESV

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Jesus what?

Wait what? There are swarms of people coming, and Jesus ran off to a desolate place to pray? Why? Why would Jesus withdraw in this moment of all moments?

Because Jesus recognized that there would always be someone who needs to be healed. He recognized that there would always be someone who needs to hear the truth. He told the disciples that there would always be the poor who needed to be cared for.

Why burn himself out now? Why not pause, withdraw, connect with his Father, and get recharged for another day of reaching more people?

You Can’t Finish Strong if You Don’t Make it to the Finish Line

Resting is not a once a week thing. It is a daily thing, and one of the hardest things to do, especially when the pressure is on, is to step away and come back at it with fresh eyes.

But like Jesus, we need to recognize the fact that there is a time to work, and time to rest. When we realize we only have so much energy, and so much time in a day, we start to prioritize better. We focus on the things that NEED to get done, and let the things that can wait… wait.

I fall in this category. I get distracted by things I want to do, the things that aren’t high pressure, and forget to do the things that NEED to be done, and I use that as an excuse to work in my times of rest.

You are not a machine, and if you don’t rest properly, you will get to point where not only are some things not getting done, but nothing will get done because you can’t do it anymore.

If you don’t think you can afford to take time and rest, I’m telling you that you can’t afford not to.

This especially applies to those of us who love our job. Jesus loved ministry. There’s a story of Jesus meeting a woman at a well. The story actually starts with Jesus being hungry and sending the disciples into town to get some food. By the end of the story, the disciples come back and Jesus isn’t hungry anymore. Why? Because the conversation with the woman fired him up

Jesus loved ministry, Jesus loved people, it fueled his fire, and yet he still stepped away to rest. You need to as well or you will get to a point where the love is gone and the very thing that energized you is now draining you.

Question 3: Do you guard your times of rest well?

I want to close with this story out of scripture. It falls in line with the idea that there is always work to be done. The story follows the feeding of the 5,000. The disciples have had a long day of ministering to this large crowd, feeding over 5,000 people and picking up the leftovers. They are no doubt tired, and the crowd is still there. Matthew records this:

Matthew 14:22 ESV

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

Always Work to be Done

Jesus told the disciples to go, to rest, while he kept going. There will always be things to do, that’s what makes it a good job. But don’t forget that just because you stop, just because you rest, doesn’t mean God stops. You need to trust the God who never rests to keep going, even when you stop.

Let’s Pray