Living in Sabbath Rest

by Karin Sasser


December is often one of the busiest times of the year, particularly for ministry leaders. Not only is there Christmas programming for the church and student ministries, but in our personal lives, there are gifts to be bought, parties to be attended, decorations to be put out, and food to be made. What is meant to be a season of quiet reflection on the birth of our Savior is often a time of busyness, stress, and possibly even chaos. How can we reclaim the purpose and joy of celebrating Jesus’ birth in the midst of 21st-century American culture?

 

A good first step may be a reminder of why God extends to us an invitation to rest. God modeled rest for us in Genesis. After creating the earth and everything in it, He rested – not because He was exhausted like we often find ourselves, but because all was complete, full, and very good. In Old Testament and Old Covenant times, God commanded us to rest. The fourth of the ten commandments in Exodus tells us to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. One way the people were instructed to keep it holy was to rest.

 

Consider this description of Sabbath: “Sabbath is a time set apart to experience rest as we deliberately stop working and trust in God’s provision. The invitation to sabbath is to take a deep breath as we cease striving and place our worries and cares at the feet of Jesus. As we pull away from the pressure to hustle, perform, and achieve, we make room for God to satisfy us as our loving Father, our Faithful Provider, and our Prince of Peace.”

 

Unlike in Old Testament, we now live under the New Covenant. Jesus has fulfilled the law, so we are no longer commanded to keep the Sabbath. Instead, God extends it as an invitation. Why does He invite us to do so? He knows it is of immeasurable value to slow down, stop, and meditate on a few truths. To begin with, it gives us the opportunity to acknowledge we are not in control. For some of us, this may cause an anxiety attack. In reality, it should be quite freeing. As church workers, we often feel a huge weight of responsibility for the salvation and discipleship of those to whom we minister. It is true that God uses us as ministry leaders and followers of Christ to do his work, shine his light, and draw others into a relationship with Him, but ultimately it is God doing the work through us. Jesus tells us in John 15 that we must abide in Him because apart from Him, we cannot bear any fruit. When we are so busy that we do not have time, or make time, to rest and be still in God’s presence, our work will lack power and effectiveness. When we slow down and make time to be with God, we are reminded that it’s not about us and what we are doing but about God and what He wants to do through us. This can be incredibly freeing as we release control back into the Father’s hands where it belongs.

 

When we are still before the Lord, when we quietly meditate on a scripture, when we allow the words of a worship song to wash over us, when we present our requests to God, it helps us reorient our lives to ones that are centered on Him and not ourselves. It allows Him to become greater and us to become less but in such a way that we are actually more satisfied and experience more peace. When we stop and enjoy sabbath rest, we are reminded of our purpose, as stated in the Westminster Shorter Catechism – “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

 

So back to the original question: How can we reclaim the purpose and joy of celebrating Jesus’ birth in the midst of 21st-century American culture? We accept the invitation of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” We take to heart our need to abide in Christ, and we make finding time for rest and sabbath a priority daily. We intentionally sit at the feet of Jesus and acknowledge that He is Lord and that it is only through His power and His will that we can accomplish the tasks before us. And, as we rest in Him, we remember we are not defined by our works but by who He has declared us to be – holy, righteous, forgiven, and of immeasurable worth solely because we are created in His image and loved by Him.