Stop and Rest

A wise person once said, “They’re called the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions.” There’s humor there because that truly captures human nature and our attitude toward God’s commandments. I may agree in principle with God’s rules, until they affect me directly. At that point, if God’s rules are preventing me from getting what I want, well then, they’re negotiable. They’re suggestions. Take them or leave them. That’s what we do.
What bothers us so much about the Ten Commandments? At least part of the answer is that they make us feel bad. We know we don’t do what they say. They make it abundantly clear that we’re not living up to God’s standards. That’s by design. The Law shows us our sins, and that’s never fun or comfortable, and our preference is always going to be fun and comfortable. But here’s the catch. Without the discomfort created by God’s commands, there’s no such thing as meaningful forgiveness. In other words, if you don’t realize at the very core of your being that you are actually by nature sinful and unclean, and are given to doing wrong and not doing what’s right—if you don’t realize that, if you don’t own that, what is there to be saved from? Why would you even need a Savior? Being a Christian means that I don’t deny the discomfort; I don’t run from the discomfort; I let the discomfort drive me to the only solution, which is Jesus.
But here, now, is an interesting twist. The fact that God’s commands make us feel bad does not mean that God’s commands are bad. The truth is, they’re beautiful. The Bible says this over and over again. In Psalm 19, it says “The law of God is perfect, reviving the soul…the commandments of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.” Why does the Bible say that? Because: embedded in the law that makes us feel bad is a way of life that leads to blessing, if we could only do it right. We can’t, not entirely; not consistently. But Jesus can. Jesus did. Because he did it, and made that perfection into a sacrifice for you and me, we can catch glimpses of the beauty of God’s way, and sometimes we can even live in it.
I’d like to zero in on just one of the commandments today, specifically the Third Commandment. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” What kind of a command is that, really? It’s a health issue—a mental, emotional, spiritual health issue. If it only means “stop skipping church,” then there’s no point in preaching it, because you’re already here. Rest assured, it means far more than that. There’s a beautiful invitation in this commandment for those who choose to look.
Let’s break it down. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The first word is the easiest. “Remember” doesn’t just mean to recall information from storage. Even in our own language, much more is implied. For example, “Did you remember my prescription?” means, “Did you pick up my prescription?” Or you could say, “We remember our veterans by raising this flag.” “Remembrance” is thought that leads to action, and at the same time, it is action that keeps thought alive. By the way, this is precisely what Jesus was getting at when he gave bread and wine to his disciples in the Upper Room and said: “Do this in remembrance of me.”
The word Sabbath isn’t quite as obvious. What it really means is to stop. God’s people were supposed to stop for one day each week. This flows out the Genesis account of creation, where God stopped and rested on the seventh day. And what was the point of the Sabbath? For God’s people, it was to remember, once a week, together, what they were doing here on this earth. It was to remember their bond with God. It was to be an oasis from the storm of busyness and distraction. {Do you see?} It wasn’t an extra duty. It was a rest from duty. For what purpose? To get a little R & R? No, the commandment itself answers the question. We should remember the Sabbath day, we should participate in God’s stop day, to keep it holy. To keep it holy. To keep us holy.
And we need something to keep us holy, because we sure can’t do it ourselves. We tend to slide away from holiness without even trying. You may not even think of “holiness” as something you consciously want in your life. About the only time we use the word in everyday conversation, it’s negative. Do you know what I’m thinking of? When we call someone “holier-than-thou,” it’s not a compliment. Holiness has a bad name. How messed up is that?
So here we are, actively participating in God’s stop day that keeps us holy…what is that holy-ness that we need to be kept in? What does it consist of? It consists of the real, true God. “Holy” is what God is. God is completely clean, completely good. Completely well. God is free from anything that causes death. God is totally alive—He is the source of all life and energy. He is life that death could not hold down. This God of life made the “stop day” for you and me.
That’s why, when we come together, and we worship in the way that we do, the words that we speak and the words that we sing and the words that we hear are God’s words, and the Bible says His words are Spirit. His words are life. They contain the energy and power of God! And, when you receive the Bread of Life, God’s life comes into you. Stop. Take and eat. Take and drink. Stop. Jesus tells you again, “Your sins are forgiven. I paid dearly for them.” Stop. Remember who you are: a person who’s been adopted in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever seen a sick, feverish child with night terrors? You have to wake them and get them to stop. You have to bring them out into the real world, away from the dark horror in their head. You wake them, comfort them, and hold them.
Well, listen. God has a world full of children with night terrors. Even his baptized ones lose their way and come down with fevers and nightmares. His Sabbath is to make it stop, to bring you into the real world. Can you hear his words? Can you feel His arms? You are here. So is He. Hear Jesus say to you: “I’m glad you remembered. Don’t be afraid. Stop for a while, my child. Let me hold you.”