Cultivating Sabbath Rest

A few years ago, I had the chance to spend a few days in Israel on a biblical education tour. As we arrived at our hotel after a day of sightseeing, our guide reminded us that the Sabbath had just begun at sundown. His one point of advice: avoid the Sabbath elevator. Of the three elevators at the hotel, one was designated the Sabbath elevator. The difference was simple: the regular elevators operated normally by pressing the floor you want to go to; the Sabbath elevator stopped on every floor going up and every floor going down. If you wound up on the Sabbath elevator, you would be riding it for a while.

As Christians, we are not bound by the Mosaic laws to not do work on the Sabbath (yes, even pushing a button for your hotel floor is considered work by some in the Jewish faith), but what is the role of the Sabbath for followers of Jesus? Is the Sabbath a particular day? Do we engage in particular practices on the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath more of an individual concept? Is the practice of the Sabbath even relevant for today?

The Old Testament concept of the Sabbath revolves around the purpose of rest. Originating in God’s rest from creation (Genesis 2:2-3), Sabbath rest extended throughout the Old Testament to rest from work, rest for the people, rest for the livestock, and even rest for the land. It was a holy, covenanted, slowing down to experience a sacred time of fellowship with God.¹

While the practice of the Sabbath became stricter and more legalistic, Jesus restored the Sabbath to its original intent. The Sabbath was not intended to be a bunch of rules to avoid work; instead, it was made for God’s people to find rest and wholeness (Mark 2:27-3:5). Jesus did not just throw the practice of Sabbath rest away. He returned it to its Genesis intentions of God’s people resting and communing with their Lord.

Is Sabbath an individual decision or a corporate practice within the church body? I would argue that both are true. When I was leading in a church, Sundays were my busiest days and certainly were not restful. I loved the corporate worship each Sunday and the fellowship with other believers, but at the end of the day, my batteries were nearly depleted. While Sunday was a time of worship, I would intentionally set aside another day of the week as a Sabbath. Without making that individual decision, I would have burned out very quickly.

Yet there is still importance in practising Sabbath together as a church community. I certainly understand that some may be unable to attend church on a Sunday because they cannot ask off from work or because of a physical limitation, but how often do people ignore practising the Sabbath because they are just too busy? John Mark Comer writes, “…an overbusy, hurried life of speed is the new normal in the Western world, and it’s toxic. …hurry is a threat not only to our emotional health but to our spiritual lives as well.”² As Christians, we need to be discerning in making commitments, allowing time for Sabbath rest, including rest within the community of believers. We cannot trek along this salvation journey without the support of fellow believers and the means of grace in our lives, so we need to make wise decisions as mature believers about how we will engage with the body of Christ and find rest in a hurried world.