Australia was once called the "Land of the Long Weekend" because we loved our leisure time. Now with average working hours rising, and pressure to keep up with the bigger and bigger mortgages we might well be called the "Land of the Lost Weekend". For Christians it's time we thought again about the wonderful concept of Sabbath and what it means to trust God enough to rest
When the harbour bridge was completed it’s chief engineer Dr. J Bradfield placed three rows of steam locomotives (96 in all) along its span. He did this, not to break the bridge, but to prove that it couldn’t be broken. He wanted the people of Sydney to rest easy in the knowledge that their bridge was safe to use.
In the creation story we find God putting his work to the test by resting on the seventh day. By doing this he was, among other things, showing that his universe was ’very good’ and could be relied upon to operate safely and predictably, allowing him to rest with the people for whom he created it.
This was in stark contrast to the Egyptian view of the cosmos which they believed to be balanced on the edge of a catastrophe, prevented only by slavish obedience to a pantheon of capricious gods who determined its fate. Rest was impossible in a world where the gods might tip the cosmos into chaos by collapsing the sky, flooding the earth, or darkening the sun.
Slavery wasn't just part of an economic system to provide cheap labour for the rich and powerful, it was seen as essential for building and serving temples and idols to support and placate their wicked gods. Such ideas formed the basis of every world religion at that time and for centuries after.
The Exodus was to be the first step in a plan to save mankind from such degrading idolatry. The Israelites were rescued in order to become living evidence of a loving, reliable and powerful God. This explains why the laws of Moses focuses so much on the perils of idolatry and the need to maintain the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was to be the centrepiece of a showcase exhibiting a revolutionary new nation of people who could afford to rest in the knowledge that they were chosen by the one creator God who ruled all things on their behalf.
To rest on the Sabbath was to choose life, to reject rest was to reject life, hence the death penalty for Sabbath breakers (Ex 31:14).
The Sabbath was more than a day off, it was a celebration of God’s people in community and a sign to remind them throughout all generations that he truly was their LORD (Ex 31:14)
To celebrate the Sabbath was to engage in outreach. The day of rest was extended to everyone within their borders, including the alien. Their slaves and servants were to enjoy a day of rest, as an expression of compassion from a people who remembered what it was like to be slaves, and who worshipped a compassionate God. (Ex 5:14).
Sadly by the time of Jesus, the legalists had taken the joy and real meaning out of the Sabbath and turned it into a centrepiece of fear and superstition. Jesus had to remind them that the Sabbath was made for man and as ideal man he was its Lord.
Those in Christ are in ‘rest’ and enjoying on earth the first fruits of what will be an eternal Sabbath. Like the Israelites we have been freed from slavery and darkness. We no longer have to dance to the frenetic tune of the gods of the world—we can rest, in fact we need to rest and celebrate our fellowship in Christ if we are to grow as Christians.
Christians can legitimately abandon the idea of Sabbath, inherent in the church’s meeting on the Lord’s day, if we can honestly say that the things that were to be celebrated by the Israelites are no longer relevant to us today.
If you want people to take seriously your claim to worship the one true God who created the universe, controls history and provides all your needs, you will need to be with God’s people on the Lord’s day and ensure your family and others under your charge do the same. To do otherwise is to return to the gods of the world from which you were rescued.
