18^th March 2015

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 8 March 2015

Lessons - Genesis 1:1,26-2:3; Hebrews 4:1-11; Mark 3:1-6

     'On the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on

     the seventh day from all the work that he had done in creation. So God

     blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, ...' (Genesis 2:2,3)

Try to put aside memories of Sabbath observance: no work, sport, shopping or TV! In Scripture the 'Day of Rest' is not a day of idleness, relaxation or boredom. It is a time both to remember God's power and love in creation (Exodus 20:11) and redemption (Deuteronomy 5:15) and to look forward to the time when our restless hearts and troubled world shall find complete rest in God's good purposes. 

After the exile (c539 BC) Sabbath observance distinguished Jews from their neighbours. At best, it was a day on which God was glorified and the covenant renewed. At worst, it was a day on which countless actions were forbidden.

'Is it lawful,' Jesus asked the Pharisees after healing a man on the Sabbath, 'to do good or harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?' (Mark 3:4) This is the key to understanding the 'Day of Rest'. 

In the first account of creation (1:1-2:3), the seventh day seems to be an afterthought. Everything in 'heaven and the earth' was finished on the sixth day (2:1). What more needs to be said? 

Quite a lot! A careful reading of the text shows that on the seventh day God 'finished the work that he had done and rested'. When God 'rests', the work of creation is 'complete'. This is no idle rest. God's 'work' is to 'bless' and 'sanctify' the seventh day because, on it, the magnificence of creation is celebrated. 

The emphasis on Sabbath observance, though, is not the primary meaning of the 'Day of Rest'. As with the other 'days', we are to think of the seventh day as a 'period of time' in which, unlike the other days, there is no 'evening and morning'. The 'Day of Rest' is continuous!  

What are we to make of this? The 'Day of Rest' is not only about what God once did after creating all things. It is the 'period of time' - historical time - in which we now live (and have always lived) under God's 'blessing'. 

As we have seen, however, in the second creation story (3:1ff), history is marked by conflict arising from our desire to become like God. Instead of being 'at rest' we are 'restless'. 'Our hearts are restless 'til they find their rest in Thee.' (Augustine: Confessions) Instead of experiencing our relationships as 'blessings' of a good creation, we experience brokenness, suffering and death. Instead of freely worshipping God, loving our neighbours and caring for the earth (as we have been created to do), we are troubled by many things. The 'Day of Rest' is not always a time of fulfilment, beauty, enjoyment, love and communion. 

Indeed, the glorious purpose of creation, which is to 'rest' in God's goodness and love, is often hidden from us. Life seems 'cursed'. The 'sanctity of life' is trampled. 'Unrest' is the defining mark of our life-together. 

How, then, are we to understand this 'rest'? Is it an illusion, an unattainable ideal, a realistic hope?  

* The 'Day of Rest' is a sign of hope. Despite the world's 'unrest', all things have been created to 'rest' in the love and goodness of the Creator.

On it, we are invited to see that 'Behold, it was very good'! (1:31) 

* The 'Day of Rest' reminds us that the One who 'rested' on the seventh day is not an idle, uninvolved observer of what then happens on earth. The Creator of all things is also the Redeemer who is at 'work' in the midst of 'unrest' to restore the world to 'wholeness'. 

In Israel's history and Christ's ministry God is 'at work' to unsettle the smug, heal the sick, forgive sinners and bring joy and hope to the downcast and sorrowful. In Scripture the wicked are urged to repent on pain of 'never entering God's rest' (Psalm 95:11; Hebrews 4:1ff). Jesus made those who 'rested' on their own goodness 'restless' and gave 'rest' to those who were weary and burdened' (Matthew 11:28). 

In the Gospel, the magnificence of God's love for the 'restless' is revealed in a most surprising way! Jesus' resurrection took place 'after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning' (Matthew 28:1). This means that he lay 'dead and buried' on the Sabbath! Are we meant to see here that the 'Day of Rest' is best understood from the tomb of the crucified Christ? Are we meant to see in this truly human person, whose whole life 'rested in the love of his Father', the sacrificial love of the Creator? I think so! In the tomb in which the crucified Jesus 'rests' we see the true meaning of God's 'rest' and 'work'. It is a word of hope. 

* Hope is also found in the open-endedness of the 'Day of Rest' (with no evening and morning). It suggests a future when all 'unrest' is at an end.

The writers were not naive! They were fully aware that the world in which they lived was not 'restful' - that much evil was done in the 'good creation'. The terrible effects of humanity's misused freedom are dramatically spelled-out in the second creation story (2:4ff). They knew that the 'Day of Rest', during which God is at work to heal, forgive and renew our 'restless' lives, is now largely hidden from view. Yet, in the midst of great 'unrest' they saw signs of redemption that enabled them to live in hope that the 'Day of Rest' which completed the creation of the world, but is not fully visible now, will be fully realised in 'the world to come'. 

In the Letter to the Hebrews Christian faith is depicted as a pilgrimage toward this 'promised rest'. Like Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, it maps out a straight course to the destination, at the end of which is rest and refreshment in the city of the living God. (paraphrase: HW Montefiore, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p83.) 

The imagery that is used is very concrete. The 'rest' that awaits the Church and those who suffer evil will not be a disembodied, spiritualised existence in a misty heaven, but a joyous celebration of the 'sanctity of life' and 'human dignity' in the good creation. 

When God 'rested' on the seventh day it was to 'bless' the physical, bodily, human world. When Jesus gave 'rest' to the sick and wayward on the Sabbath he did the 'work' of his 'heavenly Father'. When he was entombed on the Sabbath, he showed that the true meaning of God's 'rest' and 'work' is costly love. 

We know, as did our ancient forebears, that between God's blessing of the good creation and the promise of 'the world to come' there is much 'unrest'.

Therefore, on the 'Day of Rest' we are instructed to delight in the world and each other by remembering the magnificence of creation, by looking forward to the unambiguous display of its goodness and by doing 'works' of healing and wholeness in the present. 

As we live out our faith and bring together the past, the future and the present, we must not forget that the resurrection of the crucified-and-entombed Jesus took place on the day after the Sabbath. This ushers in what some theologians (e.g., Epistle of Barnabas) call the 'eighth day of creation': the Lord's Day, the beginning of a 'new day' which marks a 'new creation out of nothing'. 

Therefore, as we worship on the Lord's Day, we also rejoice in the 'Day of Rest'. The Sabbath reminds us that the Risen One is the beloved, loved Son of the Creator whose ministry gave rest to the weary and whose crucified body lay 'dead and buried' as a sign of God's costly love for all. Assured that evil has not triumphed over good, we may 'rest' in the knowledge that, at last, 'unrest' will come to rest. In that hope, we can be confident to 'work' against the many evils that cause great 'unrest' in our day. 

Let us, then, rejoice in the day that the Lord has made and be glad in it!

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Rev Dr Max Champion is Minister in St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia.

Dr Champion is a member of the Council of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.