A (Brief) Theology of Rest

As we move into July two things will be happening in the life of our church: First, we will be taking an intentional break from all the regular rhythms of ministry (with the exception of Sunday worship), and Pastor Andrew will be taking a much needed one month sabbatical. 

With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to spend some time thinking together about God’s good design for ‘rest’. You may have never thought about it. Or this might sound a lot like justifying laziness. It’s a good question. Is it ever faithful to STOP working, ministering, doing good things? Aren’t there always more needs, more opportunities, more ‘good works prepared in advance for you’ to do? The answer is YES! There will ALWAYS be more to do, and that is precisely why grasping a biblical understanding of REST is so important!

Before we look at what the Bible has to say about this question, I need to begin by admitting that “rest” doesn’t come easily for me. I am now making some headway, but I used to be really, really bad at ‘rest’. I couldn’t stop thinking, working, planning, moving, etc. Emily would tell you that if I wasn’t accomplishing some task, taking steps toward a goal, etc. that I could be downright grumpy and irritable. I even justified my non-stop activity and movement - my ‘busyness’ - as good and righteous. I was just being a ‘good steward’ of my time by packing as much as I possibly could into each day and hour. But, what I couldn’t see was that I had slowly begun to believe the lie that somehow God needed my works. And I needed them too! I had become addicted to work, busyness, & activity. I thought my labor was an act of faith, when actually it was a frantic need to control what God had not given me the ability to control. And the result was (among a host of other issues) sleeplessness. But there is a better way. Listen to how the Psalmist explains it…

Psalm 127:1-2 - Unless the Lord builds the house,  those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city,  the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;  for he gives to his beloved sleep.

In our culture we applaud the one who ‘rises up early and goes late to rest’. But here, their activities aren’t a sign of their faithfulness, but their faithlessness. It is actually their LACK of trust in God that is producing their ceaseless activity. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with the WORK of, ‘house-building’ or ‘city-watching’. These are good and necessary tasks. But frenetic activity that is unable or unwilling to stop and rest displays a lack of faith in God, because it wrongly assumes my efforts/work are the difference between failure and success. But Psalm 127 says otherwise. “Unless the Lord builds the house,  those who build it labor in vain.” In other words, my work/labors have no power to guarantee the result - only God has that power. And the test of whether or not you actually believe this is your ability to engage in ‘rest’. Because biblical “rest” is not simply a break from the good work God has given us to do, but a humble admission of weakness (I’m not in control) and a confident statement of trust (God is in total control). So, ‘rest’ is the gift God gives to his ‘beloved’ when they stop trying to be God!

“But, wait, isn’t work a good thing? And can’t you rest too much?!?” Yes. Definitely! Scripture gives equal warning to the lazy/sluggard who rests when he should be working! “9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Prov. 6:9-11)”. So, both laziness (resting when you should work) and ceaseless labors (working when you should rest) are BOTH driven by the same root issue - faithlessness in God. One doesn't trust God’s sovereign rule - one doesn’t trust God’s sovereign command. Both are sin!

Rest is even woven into the fabric of creation. Genesis begins with the work of God in creation, then it clearly says, “God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” This pattern is then given as a commandment to God’s people, “‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.” Now there is much debate about WHAT this command means under the New Covenant. It’s not my intent to dive into that debate here. But what is clear is that faith-filled REST is what marks God’s people and sets them apart from those around them. “This is a sign between me and you”. Why? Because the people around them can never stop working because they believe their labors are what provides for them. But God’s people know that HE is the one who provides for them.

To take this one step further, you could say that God’s people have always been defined by their rest! Only those who have ceased from trying to ‘work’ their way to please God, can ‘rest’ in Christ’s finished work on their behalf (Rom. 4:5). Only then can we learn the Sabbath lesson of ceasing from our labors because, “I, the Lord, sanctify you.” God’s people can ‘rest’ because God is the one who has done the decisive work of saving and sanctifying us. As the author or Hebrews says,  “9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

So, what does all this mean for us? Rightly understood - “rest” should not be equated with laziness or faithlessness. Nor should it be seen as an end in itself. The believers ‘rest’ from their labors - whether for a day or a longer season (such as the “sabbath year” of rest in Leviticus 25), is for the purpose of demonstrating our need and his sufficiency, so that we would be able to labor longer and more fruitfully so that God would receive more glory!

So, in this season of ‘rest’ for Pastor Andrew and all our many volunteers - pray that the Lord would restore their souls for future fruitful service in this season and continue to, “...build the house…” while they are rest!