Full Sermon Transcript
WELCOME
Pastor Chris Paavola:
Actually, graduates kind of illustrate what we’re talking about a little bit today with this series “Rest” that we’re in as we talk about the Sabbath solution. Because a graduate has received a diploma from whatever institution it may be, saying you have successfully completed and successfully accomplished everything you needed to, you are officially recognized as sufficient for the next level, whether it’s the workforce or continuing education, whatever it may be.
LEARNING
But on the flip side, if you asked like a 6-year-old what they want to learn, they would tell you they want to learn about ponies and dodgeball and ninjas. This is what they would like to learn about. Because learning requires someone bigger than you, someone smarter than you, who has a perspective greater than you to say, “this is what I want you to learn in the next season” so that you are ready to be engineers, mechanics or nurses or whatever it is that you’re going to be.
This is what is required of you. And that actually kind of highlights for us what we’re going to be talking about today because I mean all of us, I mean Christian faith aside, all of us want to achieve our potential as people. All of us want to grow into who it is that our capability and we want to squeeze the marrow out of life and reach our fullest, maximize potential of who we are. That’s what we want for ourselves. And that’s where it’s interesting then to think about God because well, he’s bigger than we are, smarter than we are and has a perspective greater than our own for what is needed of us. And just like any type of teaching the student is submitting to the leadership and authority of somebody else. That’s where God comes in, there’s things God wants you to learn in order to become who you want to be. I know you don’t want to work on long division, but sometimes there’s things that the teacher understands that you don’t.
And actually the word disciple, you know what the word actually means in Greek student, A student, A student who quite literally follows their teacher wherever their teacher goes and walks and whatever they do, they follow. And that’s what a follower of Jesus is, a disciple, but a disciple that is a student. And if you’re a follower of Jesus you are a student. You might be an apprehensive student, you might be a new student, a freshman, you might be a senior-students, but we’re all disciples and learners. And so the question of, well, what does God want us to learn is an interesting one, right? And scripture answers that a lot. But in particular the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a lesson that our teacher has for us. There is something he wants us to learn by remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. There’s something to learn in this moment together as we honor the Sabbath and observe it with one another.
HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH DAY HOLY
And if you look back at all four weeks of the series that we’ve been in, we’ve covered different topics, right? We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy, rest, stop working, don’t work, just rest and relax. And then we followed it up with two types of remembrance. One, remember, God’s work of creation, God’s in control. You are not, and that’s a good thing so you can rest. He’s got it. And then God’s work of deliverance, remembering that you don’t have any earthly masters, you are not a slave anymore, not to any earthly master, but also you are free from the slavery to sin. It is not your mastery of one Lord, it is Jesus. So remember God’s work of deliverance that he rescued you from the dominion of darkness with his death and resurrection on this day. So that’s the remembrance. And then we talked about last week returning to God’s house that there’s this thing when you come back together, you touch physically, actually literally touch the body of Christ.
When you hug one another in the lobby, when you shake hands, when you take communion, the bread and the wine, you are touching the body of Christ in a way you cannot do anywhere else. And that’s why we return to God’s house weekly because we need that touch, that healing that comes from touch with God. And that’s the four things we’ve covered. But look, all four of them don’t really have to do with learning anything. One of them has to do with, or two of them have to do with what you do rest and return to God’s house. And two of them have to do with re-remembering. Something you’ve already previously learned, being reminded of what you forget, but there’s no learning yet in there. And that’s what we’re going to cover today. O` disciples who are so busy running full throttle, full speed, breakneck, running late to everything you busy people.
HEBREWS
There’s one thing that God wants you to learn today on the Sabbath day, and that’s what we’re going to be talking about. It’s a learning that we see in Hebrews four that we just heard in our reading from Ms. Caitlin as she was reading from this book called Hebrews. And then he continues a little bit more and we’re going to get into what he wants us to learn as the reading continues. But it bears repeating what she already said. We don’t know who wrote this book of Hebrews. It’s a short book on the right side of your bibles and what’s called the New Testament. And we know that this author was one of or close to one of the apostles because this document was widely circulated in the early church. The first century copies, upon copies, upon copies of this thing had been found and circulated all throughout the Mediterranean first.
Second, we don’t know who they wrote it to, like what small group of people meeting in what house and what city. We know that for other books, but we don’t know that for this one. But we do know that this was a Jewish Christian audience, so probably people who were close to Israel because of all of the Jewish references this author makes. They talk about Jewish people, Jewish rituals, Jewish customs, Jewish calendars, and all of these references he’s talking about or he or she, the writer is talking about how Jesus is the greater, say greater.
Response: Greater
Pastor Chris Paavola:
Jesus is the greater version of all of these Jewish prototypes. So, Jesus is the greater say, greater.
Response: Greater
Pastor Chris Paavola:
Greater, greater high priest than all the other priests and prophets. Jesus is the greater than all the angels, and Jesus is greater than the Jewish temple. He’s greater than all of these things.
And then we get to chapter four where he’s saying that Jesus and what we have now is this greater version of what’s called the Sabbath. And that’s what verses one through eight really set up. And then we just read in Hebrews chapter four verse nine, there is still a future Sabbath rest for the people of God. So not only do we remember God’s work of deliverance from the hand of Pharaoh and God’s work of deliverance from sin, and not only do we remember God’s work of creation and how he made the heavens and the earth in six days, not only do we remember that today, but we kind of look forward. It’s a backwards look, kind of forwards. Look to a greater Sabbath yet to come. That’s here, but not quite. It’s now, but not yet. It’s the Sabbath rest of entering heaven. So like the people of Israel in Egypt but eventually entered the promised land and they rested.
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
Hebrews 4
That’s us. We work six days and we rest. But that’s a picture of something greater when we enter the kingdom of heaven. And we finally, this is where the phrase comes from, rest in peace forever with God. It’s a greater Sabbath. So when you’re celebrating the Sabbath today, it’s a picture of what’s yet to come. And then anyone who enters that rest of God, verse 10, “anyone who enters that rest of God will rest from their works just as God did from his.” And he’s kind of repeating a message all throughout the New Testament, a message ever since the death and resurrection of Jesus, that this is what God does for us. He made the rest possible. He delivered us. He opened up the wave of heaven for us and we enter into this rest. Now, it is a rest for us accomplished by God.
10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
Hebrews 4
And this is the message of all throughout the New Testament that you are not saved by your works. This is a gift from God. This is his work, not yours. And the message of Christianity is this, what God has done for you. And actually, if you’re just investigating Christianity and just looking into this, this is a really important thing to take note of, a distinguishing factor of this faith that we have of the 4,000 plus religions in the world. They all tell you to do something to get close to God,
Make this pilgrimage, climb this mountain, make this sacrifice and offering. And then you get God’s attention. You get God’s favor, you become more like God. You get a better seat in heaven. You get his attention for whatever kind of earthly blessing you want because you did this thing, but not in our faith. In our faith. This is a God who works for you and you rest, you just receive. He does all the work.
The last words of Buddha were “never stop striving”.
The last words of Jesus were, “it is finished’.
One message exhausts me, one message refreshes me. One message is all about my efforts and one message is all about rest. Religion says, do this for God, but our faith, this relationship with Jesus says, this is what God has done for you. And you’re kind of remembering that today. That’s what the writer of Hebrews wants us to know.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4
And then in verse 11, they kind of wrap it up with this play on words this double-entendre says, “so then let us make every effort to enter into that rest”. This is really important. Don’t miss this. But we see a very simple concept that God wants us to learn on the Sabbath day as you rest. What is it that God wants you to learn? It’s so simple. It’s right there.
THE SABBATH IS A PICTURE OF HEAVEN
But the Sabbath rest is a picture of heaven. Next slide please. The Sabbath rest is a picture of heaven. This is an example of what it looks like, but it is just a picture of it. It’s not the real thing, it’s the whisper of it. It’s a shadow of it. Like a shadow of a flower pales into comparison to the beauty of a flower or the scent of heaven. It’s like the scent of smoked ribs for 12 hours. It’s nice, but man, it does not compare to actually sinking your teeth into that meaty goodness right now. Everyone’s hungry. But it is a picture of it, it’s a scent of it, a whiff of it. What we’re doing right now, it’s what it’s going to look like. And so there you go. That’s what it is we’re supposed to learn. So now we can add to our list. How do you keep the Sabbath day holy?
HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH DAY HOLY
Well, there’s things you do and there’s things you remember right rest. Remember, God’s work of creation today. Remember God’s work of deliverance on this day, return to God’s house and touch his body for his healing on this day. But now we know what it is we’re supposed to learn on this day. And I’ve made it an R because preachers like alliteration reflect on heaven on this day today. As you rest and remember and return reflect on heaven today. Take some time to think about what is yet to come, to think about that this world is not our home. Reflect on that.
HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH DAY HOLY
To use the Apostle Paul’s words and his letter to a group of people in a place called Colossaea.
“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things”.
Colossians 3
Today you set your mind on things above, not Trump’s 34 indictments.
Okay, I could speak in vague general terms, but I wanted to put some teeth on that. Okay, today, set your mind on things above, not your 401k today, just today. Set your mind on things above, not who you’re going to date, not on that annoying person at work, not on your arthritis or your failing health or that family drama today. Don’t let it steal. Don’t let it infringe today. Set your mind on things above, not in the things of this world. Meditate on it, ruminate on it. Reflect on heaven. And this does not mean that all day long, all you’re supposed to think about are clouds, harps and St. Peter at the pearly gates. It’s better than that. And by the way, none of those things are biblical today. You’re reflecting on things above the reality of it, the realness of it, and how it’s not this wispy, translucent place with bright lights. It’s a real place, maybe even more real than this place. And there’s an actual way you can do this today.
THREE STEPS
So here are three steps that you can take. Okay? Three actual literal steps that you can take today to reflect on things in heaven. Okay? So here we go.
STEP 1 – REST
Step one, three steps to reflecting on heaven today. So as you learn, right as you remember the Sabbath thing and keep it holy. Three things to do today as you reflect one rest on the Sabbath, that’s step one. So get in your mind, what is the rest you’re going to do today? Okay, get it in minds. You’re halfway there, okay? This resting that you’re about to do after you leave here, okay? This resting you’re about to do, or if it’s not happening today because life is crazy or something. This ideal, if you could choose any rest at all, 90% of you all wanted to take a nap. So for most of you, this is a nap, okay? But just get this idea in your mind of what does this rest, this perfect rest look like? Okay? Step one.
STEP 2 – ASK, “HOW IS THIS A PICTURE OF HEAVEN?”
And then step two, ask, how is this a picture of heaven?
This food is so good and this family time we’re having is so wonderful as we’re all sitting around the table. But how much better will it be? A feast, a king’s feast in heaven. Really? I’d like to taste it in heaven or sitting in the hammock today and having this sunlight hit my face. This is nice, but how much more enjoyable will it be to be in the light of God’s presence in heaven forever? So that phrase, how much more say how much more? How much more. It’s interesting that Jesus several times uses that phrase to refer to heavenly things. Like we actually heard it last week where he said, how much more valuable are people than sheep? But he does it elsewhere. He talks about, there’s an example where he is talking about prayer and he says, “if you know you are evil, if you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask?”
Or this one time he talks about, “if God can clothe the flowers of the field, how much more will he take care of you?” It’s this phrase, how much more? And here’s the thing about this learning, my friends, you can’t read this in a book. Sorry. You can’t hear a sermon and figure this out. This is a learning. You can only get by doing it. It’s like this is like a shy forest animal. It’s like you’ve got to sit down and let it come to you. It’s a shy learning that it’s a revelation that only comes by doing it. Sleep is not that way. Sleep is a tyrant. If you try to avoid sleep, it will hunt you down and throw you down until you succumb. And you can Celsius, Red Bull, monster, five hour energy drink your way out of it as much as you want. You can set your alarms, but it will eventually have its way and force you, even if you has to make you sick, sleep will win and it will force you to sleep not so with rest, not so with the Sabbath. You can avoid this. You could push this off and wonder why your vacations feel so exhausting and why your relationships feel hollow and your pastimes feel so thread bear.
It’s only by doing it that this understanding and revelation slowly creeps in and comes over you. It’s that word recreation we talked about last week. Recreation really means re-creation. It’s this thing that only comes if you actually do it. And then we get to step three.
STEP 3 – Repeat
So step one, rest in the Sabbath. Step two, ask, how is this a picture of heaven? And then step three, you repeat. There’s the three steps to learning what it is God wants you to learn. And when you do these things, this revelation comes over you and you’re like, oh, that’s how this is a picture of heaven. That’s how this is a picture of heaven.
God, how is my rest on the Sabbath a picture of heaven?
And so actually that’s kind of your assignment for today. You can actually pray this as a prayer today as you’re walking barefoot in your kitchen, as you’re drinking a glass of wine and listening to Sinatra.
As you’re taking a nap, ask yourself, how is this a picture of heaven? And you can even pray, dear God, how is this a picture of heaven? And let the Holy Spirit just sit and let him bring his inspiration, his revelation, and his learning to you o disciple of what this is and what this looks like. Now in this series, honestly, it is been my hope for you today, obviously, but throughout this series, but it’s my hope for you going forward, that we are a people who take seriously God’s command to rest and remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
PRAYER
Lemme pray for you. Heavenly Father, I pray for all of the people in this room who are about to go rest, whatever that looks like. Would you show them God, teach them as your students what is this rest and what it is they’re learning in this rest about heaven. And let the reality of heaven come over them a little bit more day by day and what their appetite for everything that is to come. So God, help us to be not only hearers of the word, but doers of the Word. And we thank you God for the death and resurrection of your Son that makes all of this rest possible. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen. And we pray now the prayer. Jesus taught us to pray as we enter into his rest saying, our Father, who art in heaven, Hollywood, be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
