Thursday, June 26, 2008
Work, Rest, Play
Adrian Warnock posted one of his sermons a while back on Sabbath rest. Largely an argument against both the legalistic interpretation of God's command to rest, AND the tendency to work too hard, Adrian hits on a key point:
In the last year, my wife and I have developed a routine of long walks - at least 4 and better 5 days a week. I find it has become almost necessary to my life. When circumstances rob me of the walks, I become irritable, grumpy, depressed. They provide a necessary break from the routine.
But in Adrian's analysis of the commandment to the Sabbath and how "the New Testament applies this commandment to us" (I could argue with that phrase, but I will leave it be) He says this:
In the passage, Christ does indeed conclude that Sabbath rest is not about inaction, but about doing good, but not for OUR sake, rather for His sake. The discipline of the Sabbath is not for our rest, that is necessary, but for another time. The discipline of the Sabbath is for us to concentrate our attentions, thoughts, and prayers on the Almighty.
Adrian does make the point that we find our rest in Christ, with this I agree, and we do so by focusing on Him, exclusively. That is what the Sabbath is about. "Doing good" on the Sabbath may be in compliance with the commandment or it may not, depending not on the action itself, but whether the action glorifies God, or something else.
My rest comes not in sitting still, but in my walks, not in inaction, but in action. And interestingly, the mental rest of the walks makes for much better quality of the rest in inaction, namely sleep. Rest, it seems comes in both active and inactive forms.
And so it is when we rest in Christ, the key to resting in Christ is not action or inaction - but Christ! The Sabbath is set aside not to do less, but to make sure ALL YOU DO, OR DO NOT DO is done to glorify Christ. It is not about us, it is about Him.
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Every day is a Sabbath day for the Christian—separated to God, for worship, and to rest from our labors.This is an extraordinary point - from it Adrian tries to develop that we need both a weekly (Sabbath observation) and daily (devotionals?) rhythm between work, rest and play. This is all stuff I agree with, very seriously.
In the last year, my wife and I have developed a routine of long walks - at least 4 and better 5 days a week. I find it has become almost necessary to my life. When circumstances rob me of the walks, I become irritable, grumpy, depressed. They provide a necessary break from the routine.
But in Adrian's analysis of the commandment to the Sabbath and how "the New Testament applies this commandment to us" (I could argue with that phrase, but I will leave it be) He says this:
Jesus seems to argue that the Sabbath is for man, i.e. for his benefit. It is not to become an oppressive law. He also says it is fine to “do good” on the Sabbath.Adrian bases his conclusion on Mark 2:23-3:6. On this I must beg to differ.
In the passage, Christ does indeed conclude that Sabbath rest is not about inaction, but about doing good, but not for OUR sake, rather for His sake. The discipline of the Sabbath is not for our rest, that is necessary, but for another time. The discipline of the Sabbath is for us to concentrate our attentions, thoughts, and prayers on the Almighty.
Adrian does make the point that we find our rest in Christ, with this I agree, and we do so by focusing on Him, exclusively. That is what the Sabbath is about. "Doing good" on the Sabbath may be in compliance with the commandment or it may not, depending not on the action itself, but whether the action glorifies God, or something else.
My rest comes not in sitting still, but in my walks, not in inaction, but in action. And interestingly, the mental rest of the walks makes for much better quality of the rest in inaction, namely sleep. Rest, it seems comes in both active and inactive forms.
And so it is when we rest in Christ, the key to resting in Christ is not action or inaction - but Christ! The Sabbath is set aside not to do less, but to make sure ALL YOU DO, OR DO NOT DO is done to glorify Christ. It is not about us, it is about Him.
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