Give Me A Break
Luke 6:1-11

One of the biggest obstacles that we face in seeking to make Contact is our unwillingness to embrace “Sabbath Rest”.

Luke 6:1-11
On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 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 with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Sabbath is valid today.

“There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern. Nothing”― Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Sabbath was meant to be restorative not punitive.

The Sabbath is a necessary

God did not rest because he was tired. He rested because he was satisfied.

The Sabbath is a gift

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - John 19:30

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. - Mark 2:27

The Sabbath is a testimony

“I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I’m still standin’, I’m gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren’t just another bum from the neighborhood.” Rocky Balboa

I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. - Harold M. Abrahams (Chariots of Fire)

“The Sabbath is the day on which we learn the art of surpassing civilization.” ― Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tips for keeping the Sabbath in 21st Century America

Inner disciplines of the Sabbath

o Sabbath rest is for liberation (Deuteronomy 15:15)

o Sabbath rest builds trust

Outer disciplines of the Sabbath

o Set aside more Sabbath time.

o Balance your Sabbath time.

o Be accountable with your Sabbath time.

o Inject Sabbath time into your work.

o Make goals that account for Sabbath rest.

o Keep an element of corporate Sabbath.