All right, good morning, everybody. My name is Jason Ezreal, I'm the campus pastor here at The Ridge. How many of you that video You don't have to raise your hand. Resonated a little bit with you. I know it did with me.
And a super encouraging, powerful word from Pastor Jeremy and Julianne. And I'm excited to be continuing in our sermon series today, Walking with Jesus, really exploring several passages through the book of Luke. And we are going to be diving into the Sabbath and through the passage in Luke chapter number six. I know that this is vacation season, so some of you may be listening to this or you may be watching it online. And some of you may be heading out on vacation after this.
I don't know about you, but if you've ever had a vacation. Where when you came back from the trip You said the phrase. I need a vacation. Come on. From my vacation.
Maybe you came back more exhausted because you had one of those kind of like. National lampoon, you know, family vacation type experiences, maybe travel delays, maybe people, so you know, kids got sick, or what the Airbnb wasn't what the picture said it was gonna be, and you were like, man, this is not the neighborhood I thought I was gonna be staying in. I don't know what your. situation was, but maybe you came back actually more exhausted than when you left. Others of us And maybe what could be worse than than having You know, running ourselves ragged at a vacation because of unforeseen challenges could have been.
that things went really well. And the weather was good, and I got enough sleep, and all of the travel went as expected. But there was this nagging sense of. Anxiety that you had underneath everything else. Maybe there was this cloud that was following around.
Maybe it kind of showed itself in the fact that you couldn't stop checking your phone. You couldn't stop thinking about work and maybe the deals that you were currently working on and you couldn't you couldn't put down the the the sales or the the the posts that you had to make. Maybe you couldn't silence the voice that says that you're behind and you're not doing enough and you're not cutting it. One of the questions that we're asking today is: why are we still restless even when we stop? You know, our culture has recognized The Generally speaking, we have a rest problem.
Right? I mean, you can't walk into a grocery store and look at the, you know, as you're walking in the checkout stand, and even though we don't read the magazines anymore, they're all there and they're all talking about digital detox, and they're all talking about this new idea about margin coaches and making sure that we have all the latest mindfulness apps. And yet we still live. with a low-grade headache from day to day. We live with hurry and a heart that really never slows down.
And perhaps the rest we need isn't just a break. But the rest we need is actually a person. And if you get one thing. From this today, let it be this: that true rest does not come from a rule. but from a relationship.
We're in week three of a series called Walking with Jesus. Today we're going to see that Jesus doesn't just invite us to stop our work. One day a week, he invites us to stop striving. Not just from our jobs, but from trying to prove ourselves, from trying to justify ourselves, from trying to find our identity in what we do, and trying to carry burdens that we were never meant to carry. The good news is that God has provided A solution For this exact problem.
through the gift of the Sabbath. But Sabbath observance, if we're going to be honest, has been all but lost in our society today. Even in the church. You know, somehow practicing the Sabbath took a downward spiral from being a gift that God gave to his people. to being a strict set of rules to be followed.
to being completely optional, to being What is the Sabbath?
So before we get into our text for today. I'm actually going to spend a little bit of time zooming out. And looking at the broader story of Scripture to reintroduce us to the true meaning of Sabbath. And then we're going to look at two case studies that we find in Luke chapter number 6. And then finally, we'll zoom back out and I'm going to get really, really practical with actually practicing the Sabbath.
So let me start with the definition: What is Sabbath? Sabbath. Is a weekly rhythm of resistance against being defined by what we do. and a restful return. to who we are in Christ.
So Sabbath Doesn't actually begin just in Exodus chapter number 20, where we see the command, the fourth command, and the list of the big ten, but it actually begins kind of at the beginning. You look at the first couple pages of scripture, you see God creating. He created day one through day six, and on day six, he created man. This is fascinating to me. God created man on day six, and then day seven, the Bible says that God rested from all of his work.
So day seven for God was actually day the full, day one for mankind. While God gave us instructions on day six, and Maybe throughout a period of time, God gave us instructions like, Hey, I want you to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it. I want you to go ahead and manage and oversee it, have dominion over the animals, and I want you to tend to my garden. He gave us all the instructions, and then the full day one, he doesn't put a shovel in our hands. But instead he says, I I want you to spend the day with me.
Rest wasn't a reward for their work. It was the foundation of their life. With the gift of presence, the gift of a relationship, the gift of enjoyment with an abundant and benevolent God. Think about how God established rhythms from the very beginning. From the fact that the ocean has high and low tides, and the fact that we get to go through the seasons.
And the fact that we get to be able to follow the lunar calendar and all that kind of stuff. God created all of those rhythms. But he also created a rhythm. and then one. And that one was supposed to be different.
Then those other six. A 24-hour period to stop. Rest, delight, and worship.
Well, we know what happens shortly after God invites his people into this rest. Sin enters into the scene. And really interrupts the Sabbath rhythm that God created. But then on Mount Sinai, Exodus chapter number 20. Moses is standing in front of the people of God as they have been brought out from Egypt, brought out of slavery, and Moses is standing there holding the two tablets, and he says, Number four, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Keep it different. Keep it separate from all of the other days of the week.
Well We know that the children of Israel struggled to be able to follow God's commands. But then we have them journeying around for 40 years, and then we the next time we see the Sabbath really talked about is Deuteronomy.
So in Deuteronomy, Moses is standing once again in front of the people, the children of Israel. And he is sort of giving them their final instructions before they enter into the promised land.
So Deuteronomy chapter number five. Verse 12 says, Observe the Sabbath. Day by day, sorry, observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you.
Okay, so that sounds exactly like Exodus chapter 20, except he grounds it in something other than just creation. Look what he grounds it in. He says, remember that you were. Slaves in Egypt And that the Lord your God. brought you Out.
Therefore, the The Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath. Day.
So so What we see is, man, we're grounded in the rest portion through creation, but then we're also grounded in resistance. Through the fact that God has brought the children of Israel out of slavery.
So, what he's telling them is this. Stop. acting like slaves. See, slaves never stop. But sons and daughters do.
Over time We know that the children of Israel continued to struggle with this. In fact, what ended up happening is that they went from being like, it's okay to take. A break, it's okay to stop. You gotta remember, 400 years of slavery was kind of embedded into their DNA at this point. That's all they ever knew was the taskmaster telling them time and time again to keep going, never stop.
But here they are, they've been given these instructions like, no, no, no, no. You've got to observe because you're no longer slaves. And then what happens is, and it brings us to our passage today. Is that they swung the pendulum from being a gift from God all the way to being something completely other than what God intended for it to be? Let's look.
Luke chapter number six, beginning in verse number one, says, On a Sabbath. While he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? And Jesus answered them. Have you not read what David did when he was hungry?
He and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any, but the priests to eat. and also gave it to those who were with him. And he said to them, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Verse 6. On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, Come and stand here. And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it? And after looking around at them all, he said to them, said to him, Stretch out your hand.
And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury. and discussed with one another what they might do. To Jesus.
So, we're going to look at these two actually. Side by side, because there's actually a lot of similarities to the fact that Jesus comes onto the scene. Both of these events happen on the Sabbath day. Both of these events include people who have a need. You've got the disciples who have a need, they're hungry.
And then you have a man who is sitting in the crowd as he is reading the scripture on the Sabbath day, and he has a need. His hand was withered. How does Jesus How does Jesus come up to this problem?
Well, We gotta understand. the Pharisees and what they were up to here. The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders who were simply at this time following Jesus around, trying to catch him, doing something. Wrong.
Something that was breaking the law so that they could accuse him and therefore they could stop him. You see, their influence and their control was being actually removed. Jesus was doing this very intentionally because they were leading the sheep of Israel, they were leading the people of God astray. This is a great case study for seeing how they were leading people astray, putting burdens on top of the shoulders of people. when it comes to the law and the sabbath.
So as they're trying to catch him in this, they ask him point blank. What do you think you're doing? Why do you think it's okay for you and the disciples to be walking through the grain fields, to be taking, you know, clipping off the grain and then feeding yourselves with it.
Okay, the the the law says don't work. This doesn't necessarily feel like work. What's going on? What's going on is that the scribes and the Pharisees for a couple hundred years have been putting together a helpful book for the children of God, or what they believed was a helpful book for the children of God to understand and interpret the law. It's called the Mishnah.
The Mishnah, for this one command. included thirty-nine other commands that they were to adhere to. Let me give you some ideas of what those were.
So the Mishnah stated you were not to work on the Sabbath. That's the law. But then it said, here's what work looks like. Looks like. Tying a knot.
Shall not tie knots.
So you're wearing flip-flops. Or you're wearing crocs today. No knot tying. No untying any knots. No carrying things to your neighbor's house.
This is my personal favorite. No writing two letters. Too much work. on the forearms and then This is the only one that's actually better than the last one. You can't erase, so if you write two letters, you can't erase one.
So that you could write another one making it A third letter. It's like Today at our national parks, We're grateful for the fact that they don't let you just walk up to the ledge because you might fall over and die.
So they have created a fence 15 to 20 feet behind the edge to prevent you from get going across the line. The Mishnah was intended to do the same thing. We want to create a fence. That's going to help people not actually go over the line and disobey God. Here's the problem.
God's laws were to bless his people. Man's laws were made to restrict his people. A subtle difference In the fact that they were elevating their own man-made regulations to the same level that God had commanded His law. And this is not wise. Pharisees weren't protecting the law here, they were protecting their power here.
Some of you may have been a little bit like myself, and maybe you grew up in a. denomination or a movement that could probably be labeled as legalistic. I grew up in one such denomination myself. And uh while they didn't have a Mishnah and by the way, let me just state this before I I uh say what I was about to say. I I am very grateful, eternally grateful, for several things that have to do with my upbringing.
Um That sounded like I was talking about my parents, but I'm really talking about my church that I went to.
So, the church that I went to. The two things are this. One, I'm grateful for the high view of Scripture, the authority that's placed on the Word of God. I learned that from a very young age. We memorized tons of Scripture growing up.
It was a very, very good thing. The second thing I'm grateful for is the importance that they placed on evangelism and the urgency to reach the lost. Very grateful for those things. But then there were some other things. Like elevating man's laws to the same place of God's laws that were very harmful.
And remain to be harmful to this day. And in fact, we've got to be careful that we're not guilty of doing this.
Some of those things were They sound a little silly now, but good night. You you were breaking God's law if you went to the movie theater. Because you may walk into a movie theater and see a poster for a movie that may cause you to sin.
So a lot of mites there. You might do this and then so it's a fence that's Back from the fence. You know, one of our pastors in sermon planning said his mom uh would not allow him to mix his sodas at the soda machine. Because one day he may end up getting the idea of mixing his own cocktails. And uh he said she wasn't wrong.
So uh just See, legalism twists Obedience into a performance. It's the elevation of man's laws to the same place of God's laws. Legalism makes the goal. The law, or makes the law the goal, and it misses the heart. of the lawgiver.
God's laws were meant to bless his people. Man's laws. were meant to restrict them. And let me be clear about this. The scribes and the Pharisees were practicing something.
But it wasn't the Sabbath. as God had commanded it to be. They've been masquerading around as God's agents, but really, make no mistake about this, they were all about control. And they were losing their influence and they were losing their control. And that's really what Jesus confronts next.
He asked him a question.
Okay, he doesn't answer their question, but instead he poses a new question. He says, Well, didn't you read? Have you not read your Bibles? You know how David, he went into the temple and he took of the consecrated bread, which was only for the priests. He ate it, and he gave it to those who were with him.
In the second story, Jesus asked him, like, wait a second, let me ask you a quick question. About the the theology of the Sabbath. Is the Sabbath about giving life? or destroying life. And in both situations, what Jesus is doing is at least this.
He's at least putting his authority to interpret the law at the same place that they are at least putting David's authority to interpret the law. Secondly, what Jesus is doing is. Helping them understand, like, hey, God is far more concerned. with the spirit of his law Then the letter of your law. And then Jesus drops the mic and he says.
The Son of Man Is Lord of the Sabbath?
Okay, when we read Lord, we say boss. Jesus was the boss. Jesus is the boss. He I made the Sabbath. I get to define What the boundary lines are.
He is stating his authority, staking his claim all at once. And all of this is an important reminder for us. Only God can define our theology. This works in both directions. Here in this story, we see a group of scribes and Pharisees, religious leaders, who they were adding.
To the law of God. But what about people who take away from the Word of God? Both of them our sin. In fact, Jesus would confront both problems. You cannot add, nor can you take away.
Only God can define our theology. You see, Jesus didn't come to erase the law, but to fulfill it. He didn't come to abolish the Sabbath. He came to embody the Sabbath.
So often our experiences Maybe your upbringing or your past. Have been laid over the top of God's word, so therefore we interpret God's word through the lens of our experience. For instance, maybe you've. Maybe you've seen people really use the gifts of the Spirit. in an abusive way or in a dangerous way.
So you say, instead of like, hey, let's go with what the Bible says, you go, hey, we don't want anything to do with it. You swing the pendulum to the complete other side. The Apostle Paul still writes to earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit. Maybe you grew up and where evangelism was such a kind of a forceful thing. And I'm not trying to.
Necessity, well, I am throwing stones.
Sorry, I am going to throw stones here for just a second, but when I grew up, If you say the Lord's Prayer, ask Jesus into your heart, you get candy and you get on the bus. That was kind of the scenario.
So let me just say this. In light of that, I cannot swing the pendulum and say, well, I don't do evangelism. No, because the Apostle Paul still writes, Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. How many times are we afraid to ask for God's abundance? Maybe because we have seen how people can dangerously turn into a prosperity-type gospel.
And they believe that if they do good works, or if they, you know, God wants to give you a BMW, all that kind of stuff.
So instead, we'll say, well, I don't want to ask for anything. Because I don't want to Fall into that trap. And I think what we have to understand is that God's still. invites us To ask for big bold things from him. The Apostle Paul wrote, God is able to bless you abundantly.
The psalmist invites us To ask God to bless us so that the ends of the earth will fear Him. Meaning, man, as God blesses you, you can be generous to get the gospel to the ends of the earth.
So, a misuse of Scripture doesn't excuse disobedience to the scripture. Only God can define. Our theology. The last thing that we see in this story is that Jesus encourages something that brought about really the true essence of the Sabbath. You know, the disciples were hungry.
They ate. They were filled. The man with the withered hand. You gotta just envision it for a moment. They're in the middle of a worship service and Jesus looks down, has compassion on this person.
Calls the person up, heals the person. And what do the scribes and Pharisees do? They get ticked off. They're looking for a reason. What are we going to do now?
to be able to to catch this guy. Since he just broke the law, since he just healed, he worked on the Sabbath. Day.
All of the joy and all of the wonder and all of the flourishing and wholeness was completely missed. By the religious leaders. The Pharisees wanted so badly to catch Jesus doing something wrong that they couldn't even see the beauty of what Jesus was in the middle of doing. They missed the point of Sabbath. Both instances illustrate that Sabbath was meant to be.
for the purpose of human flourishing and they missed it. What's so disappointing about this is that really they could have. had an awesome moment of worship.
Someone being healed during a worship service. All of this because they couldn't relinquish control. They didn't want to acknowledge the lordship and the authority. of Jesus, which is exactly what Sabbath is intended to be. A day for and celebrating the fact that God is God.
And we are not.
So here's our application today. Yeah. Very simple. Rest. in the Lord of the Sabbath.
Rest in him.
So, what does it look like to respond to this? I'm going to talk to two different groups in here. If you're a follower of Jesus, I'm going to talk to you first. And then, those who don't consider themselves to be a follower of Jesus, I'll talk to you in just a moment. The question that we asked in the beginning is: why are we still restless?
Even when we stop. You know, perhaps we are Much more like the Pharisees in some things than we. We want to believe. We kind of have bought into the illusion of control. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but I have wondered the very things that keep me up at night.
are often the very things I have no control over. I've got four teenagers.
Well, actually, one of them is no longer a teenager. He's twenty. And at this point in in our parenting We're getting close. We're sort of in a coaching phase. Pretty soon we'll move into the they'll become adults.
We'll be more in a consulting phase. Most of the training and discipline and all that stuff. It's kind of in the rearview mirror for us. And now we get to Wait. We're praying, God.
Help them to make wise choices. Help them to remember the things that they've been taught. But if I'm sitting up worrying About whether or not they're going to obey God and follow God, guess what? I have no control over that. On Mahidas.
Only he can draw the heart, only he can change the heart. But yet the very things That we have no control over are the things that we struggle the most to release. I don't know if you're in here today and maybe you are somewhat addicted to productivity. You're addicted to achievement. You're addicted to success.
None of those things are sinful. In and of themselves. But when we start to find our identity in what we do, instead of whose we are We need the Lord of the Sabbath. Maybe you're exhausted not necessarily because of overworking, but because you're carrying more than you were intended to carry. I know that there are lots of people in here today who you're caring for your aging parents.
Maybe at the same time as you're caring for your young children. Maybe some of us in here today are bearing the weight of our own sin. We're bearing the weight of maybe it's not been brought to light yet. Maybe we're bearing the weight of somebody else in our life's sin. Maybe you're trying to prove something.
That Jesus already settled. Maybe you're trying to finish something that Jesus already finished. You know, just like Adam and Eve. started out with rest and then worked from their rest so We need to stop working for rest and begin. living from Rest.
So, how do we do it? I want to get ultra practical with you for just a moment. How you might be sitting there going like I gotta be honest with you, man. laying on the couch all day. Any day of the week sounds like a terrible thing and I just don't think I'm going to do it.
Well, that's good, 'cause I'm not talking about that. We're talking about something completely different than that. In fact, this is much more about intentionally pursuing God in... relationship than it is Just about doing nothing. Let me give you four categories that could help us maybe.
Think about what a Sabbath could look like for you. First, it begins with the word Sabbath, which is just interpreted. Stop. Stop just like God stopped from his work After he You know, day six. On day seven, he stopped.
We stop. A lot of times people use the the paid and unpaid work. Here's the thing: are we able to close our laptop and say, I've worked a full Week of work. I've done a good job. I've given myself, I have hustled.
I have done exactly what I should do, could do.
Now it's time for me to say, all right. My hands are off. God You're in control, anyways. As I go to sleep, You're still working. Are you able to stop?
So stop is one second. Rest. There's a reason why the Sabbath started in the evening. And it went all the way into the next day. That was because it was a great sign to be able to simply.
When you stop, to simply unwind and then go Too bad. Get a full night of sleep. And just rest. you know, what are the most spiritual things that that you can do on the on the Sabbath? It's rest.
It's take a dap. And I know, I know how hard it can be for some people to sit down, you know, to lay down for 20 minutes or whatever. There's no legalism here, it's just Are you going to find some time? to be able to turn it off. And just rest.
But then We we delight. And there's a lot of room for ambiguity here. What one person enjoys, another person may absolutely hate, and that's totally fine. But do something that you and those who are going to be Sabbathing with you find life-giving. and not necessarily life draining.
Somebody asked me about this after the first service. They were like... And I'm not really... I'm not necessarily like and I was like, Look, My wife and I We had two long discussions just like Heart-to-heart talks with our kids. We went on a two-hour walk, or sorry, a two-mile walk.
uh at the beginning of the day and then we went for a three mile run at the end of the day. We made lunch together. I mean, our Sabbath was not just us trying to stay in bed for 20. That wasn't the point. But delight, are there things that you enjoy?
doing Out maybe it's taking a hike. Maybe it's actually Maybe it's hitting the golf course. I don't know what it may be for you, but you need to find something that you delight in. And then lastly, Worship. And this can look a hundred different ways.
For some, this may be journaling prayer of gratitude. Others, it may be gathering with other people to pray and to read scripture or to sing or take a hike together, whatever it may look like for you. It's very. Be open with it. Be flexible with it.
So where do we start? Here's four really quick things. Number one, pick a day. It doesn't have to be a Saturday, doesn't have to be a Sunday, it could be any day of the week, just pick a day. Number two, make a plan.
How are you going to stop? How are you going to rest? How are you going to delight? How are you going to worship God? And then number three.
Be gracious. Be flexible. Um it's not about the execution of it, it's about the intentionality of the relationship. And then number four, do it in community. Don't just do it in isolation.
And get together with some good friends or maybe with your community group. Have an awesome dinner Friday night. And just spend a little bit of time together and rejoicing. Talk about what was awesome that week, and highs and lows, and what God did in your life, any of those things. But do it in community.
together. You won't really find in scripture people sabbathing by themselves. You'll find them doing it. Together in their community.
So that's the encouragement. For those of us who are following Jesus, for those of you who are not following Jesus, I think my first question to you would be this. Why not? Why not? Jesus invites you no matter What you've done, no matter where you've been, no matter the mistakes you've made, or the thoughts that you've thought, or the things that you've believed.
He invites you. To enjoy him. To rest in him. Here's his literal invitation. Come to me.
All of you who labor. And you're heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart.
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy. my burden. It's lying. You know, there's no doubt in my mind.
that there are people here today. Maybe you kind of resonate with some of the people in the story who have had.
Some leadership in your life, maybe religious leadership in your life. disappoint you. or do something that was that was Maybe they elevated their laws to God's law. And maybe because of that, you've been like, man, I really don't want anything to do with. Jesus.
Let me gently challenge you with this. Please don't. confuse what someone does in Jesus' name With Jesus. That's why we're doing this whole series is so that we can walk And watch. Jesus.
Man, as we walk through these passages in Luke... I hope that you'll come back. That you that you'll just say, hey, I I I may have misunderstood. Everything I thought about God. I may have misunderstood everything I thought about Jesus.
I thought he was all about the rules and I realized Jesus is about the relationship.
Some of you are not just necessarily tired. physically, but maybe you're at that soul tired place. You're burnt out on trying to be good enough, trying to do enough, trying to fix yourself and earn your way to God. And I have two things to say to you. Bad news and then good news.
The bad news is that you cannot do it. You cannot fix yourself. You're not just tired. The Bible tells us that we're spiritually dead. No pulse.
unable to attain The righteousness of God. Without Jesus. You see We're all born with a heart defect. That cannot be, we can't fix. We need a heart transplant.
And Jesus lived the life that you couldn't live? And he died to death, and he rose. And when he said this, it is finished. He meant it. Guys, think about this for just a second.
Jesus. Completed his work on the cross, and he said those words: It is finished. And then he rested in the tomb on the Sabbath. He fully obeyed. That Sabbath day.
Just like God rested after creation. Jesus rested after redemption. It's like the cosmic Sabbath. The work of rescuing is finished. And his resurrection the next day.
That's the start of the new creation. Sabbath wasn't just symbolic, it was pointing to Jesus the whole time. time.
So if you're not following Jesus today. You don't need to try harder. You need to come to him. And admit your sin. Believe that he died and that he rose for you.
And then confess him. as lord. And find rest for the very first time. Spray. Jesus, we love you.
We thank you so much for your love for us. We thank you. That you lived the life that we could never live, you died the death that we deserve, and that. You rose. We thank you that you invite us into a deep and abiding relationship with yourself.
That you give us the gift of Sabbath to intentionally pursue. you on one day. God, I pray. For anyone in here today who doesn't know you. that they would be drawn even today.
I pray for Those who are are seeking to to find Justification for this life, and they're seeking to find validation in. this life by doing God, I pray that you would bring healing to them. That they would be able to see the joy. and the gift that the Sabbath can bring through Jesus. And it's in His name we pray.
Amen. Mm-hmm.
