Eternal Sabbath

For surely your enemies, Lord, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered (Psalm 92:9). Growing up, my family rested on Sundays. As farmers, we needed to ensure our animals were sufficiently cared for. This work rarely took more than an hour in the morning and another in late afternoon. Much of Saturday was set aside for preparation, both on the farm and in the house. Often, by mid-afternoon everything was ready and we slowed down. We didn't go out Saturday nights; we went to bed early. Sundays we rested. But it was the preparation that made it possible. This was a good rhythm. When I started in ministry, like most pastors, Monday was my Sabbath. However, when our children started school, I began to take Saturday's off so that we could do family stuff. I still take Saturdays off. I have discovered that it is good to take a day to clear my head. I'm feel refreshed on Sunday mornings. Saturday is my prep day by not working. This matter of preparation for Sunday has largely disappeared. I think we should recover it. Recently, I came across the phrase, "Sabbath worship is the week's fulfillment and inspiration". It suggests that Sabbath ought not to be an interruption in our lives, but rather the main event, both our source and our goal. Our text is a move in that direction, which comes to fuller expression in the book of Hebrews and is articulated well in the Heidelberg Catechism. It teaches us that one purpose of the Sabbath day is "that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath" (A 103). Our text anticipates this eternal Sabbath when all God's enemies are no more. For many Christians today, Sabbath keeping has become family time and/or not work time. These things are good, but they do not give us Sabbath. Sabbath is moving away from evil, by being justified by the blood of Christ, purified by the Word of God and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What would happen if we saw this as the focus of our lives? What if longing for the eternal Sabbath, in which evil is fully vanquished, was our highest goal? As Hebrews tells us, this kind of living is entered by faith and the obedience that faith evokes in us. The Israelites missed out on this rest because they did not believe God could give it to them. They rebelled against Moses and God, refusing to go into the promised land. Now we are encouraged not to miss out on that rest, but rather to commit our lives to entering it. Can we find the way? Here, the writer of Hebrews introduces Jesus as the greatest high priest. He has gone before us by entering heaven. His nail scarred body sits beside the throne of God. There, Jesus never ceases to intercede for his people. The way is open, we may enter boldly. We are invited to see Sabbath rest not as an interruption to our self-focused lives. Rather, it refocuses us and becomes our fulfillment and inspiration. When we long for the end of evil, especially in our own lives, Sabbath keeping will not be duty but delightful. It will be an anticipation of the eternal Sabbath. What attitudes and practices need to change to embrace this kind of Sabbath rest? As you journey on, receive Jesus' invitation into this rest: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).