C150 10/5/58
© Project Winsome Publishers, 2000

"YOUR SANITY AND GOD'S SABBATH"
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Ex. 20:8-11

Some of you may remember when Sunday was a day of "don'ts" and "can'ts." I remember vividly how, as a little boy, I used to hate Sundays. Not because it meant going to church three times, twice in the morning and once at night, as a matter of fact, Sunday school, morning worship and evening service was a welcome relief to an otherwise mundane and monotonous day. Even though I couldn't understand what the preacher was saying, at least something was happening! The rest of the day consisted of "Don't do this." "You can't do that." "Please be good and quiet!"

To read the funnies on Sunday was inexcusable. To go outdoors and play was unthinkable. In fact, there was nothing an energetic boy could do except sit around and listen to a bunch of "old fogies" (or so they seem to me at the time) talk about things which utterly bored him. So I hated Sunday with a purple passion. I could hardly wait for it to be over.

Perhaps our home was a bit extreme, and I certainly don't blame my parents for that. As sincerely and earnestly as they knew how, they were endeavoring to teach me Christian standards and ideals. As I look back, I am extremely grateful for them and the sense of values by which they lived. But, I must admit the unyielding strictness with which they observed the Sabbath caused me to grow up hating Sundays.

All of this was a throwback to Hebrew legalism and New England puritanism. In the beginning of Israel's history the observance of the Sabbath was associated with joy. It was a day of helpful worship and happy home life. But, with the development of the Scribal system, the Sabbath became associated with enumerable taboos, and the joy with which it was once surrounded was lost in a desperate attempt to observe the minutiae of the Law.

For instance, a man who had a toothache could not rinse his teeth with vinegar and spit it out again, because that was considered an act of healing which, in turn, was considered work. However, if he rinsed his mouth out with vinegar and swallowed it, that was alright because he was merely taking food.

It was something like the young priest who went to his superior and asked if it would be permissible for him to smoke while engaging in his daily religious reading. Permission was denied. The next day he saw one of his fellow priests wandering through the monastery reading his prayer book and smoking. The young priest went over and asked how this was possible when only the day before he had been denied permission to smoke while reading. His friend answered, "Oh, you see, the difference is that you asked if you could smoke while you were reading. I asked if I could read while I was smoking!"

Well, the list of Sabbath pronouncements was just about that arbitrary and absurd. As a result, what God intended to be boon and blessing became an unbearable bore and burden.

The same thing happened in Puritan England. One can only admire the moral and spiritual backbone of those hardy people. They were true to their convictions. But my, what a sad and somber thing Sunday became under their influence. The whole day was spent in public or private worship. Sermons ran three or four hours long. If someone began to dose off during one of those long flights of purple oratory, a deacon equipped with a long pole would reach out and give him a ringing wrap on the noggin'!

History books record that, because a man was seen kissing his wife on Sunday, he was placed in the stocks and held up to public ridicule. I haven't seen a picture of his wife, so I don't know whether they punished him because he was engaged in pleasure or in work!

Because of these negative extremes, the nation of America has reacted to the point of putting herself in serious danger. What God intended to become a holy day has, for millions of Americans, become a holiday. For many, Sunday is the most hectic day of the week. It's the day when our highways are clogged with traffic, when more wrecks occur, and more people are injured or killed than at any other time.

It is the day when some stores and companies do their greatest business. When a promoter can count on the largest crowd at a ball game or athletic event. When folks are often busier than a one armed paper hanger with the itch. Instead of a day of rest, Sunday has become a day of restlessness as millions of Americans "sacrifice Sunday on the alter of the twin gods -- profit and pleasure."

It seems to me that somewhere between the flagrant secularism of the present day and the ridiculous legalism of times past, lies that happy ground which Jesus would have us try. I am convinced that, if we try, we can make Sunday what God intended it to be. A day of joy and fulfillment. A day to which every member of the family looks with eagerness and expectation. A day in which we really experience happiness -- here and now.

There are many reasons put forward for keeping the fourth commandment, not the least of these is the fact that your mental, physical, and spiritual health are inextricably bound to your obedience to this law of God. "Your Sanity and God's Sabbath" are inseparable.

The fourth commandment did not create the need for regular rest and worship. That need was already there. It arose out of the mental, physical, and spiritual makeup of man. God merely recognized the need and established the fourth commandment as a means of satisfying it. As Jesus himself said,
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."

Like all of God's laws, this fourth commandment was given as a boon, not a burden. As a help, not a hindrance. In fact, when you see it clearly, you recognize that the Sabbath (which literally means a period of rest) is one of the best gifts God has ever given you. Look how the faithful keeping of --

The Sabbath Refreshes Your Tired Body.
There is a rhythm about life, and you need to recognize it and keep in step with it if you are going to be at your best. There is a time for work and there is a time for rest. This commandment gives emphasis to both. It says, "Remember the Sabbath (a period of rest) and keep it holy." But it goes on to say, "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work." The commandment to engage in daily labor has the same divine authority as the commandment to keep a regular period of rest.

It is the will of God that people should work. Life is not, like someone's definition of a college education, "One long loaf on the old man's dough!" Life is real and life is earnest. It is not a carefree, irresponsible frolic. It includes work. Good, hard, muscle-tuning, mind-exhausting work. There is no room in the economy of God for a maudlin dallier or lazy idler. And, this fourth commandment is a divine mandate to give ourselves to work.

But God knows the human body can only take so much work and then, like a battery, it must be recharged. A run-down person is a unproductive person. We now know that it is actually possible for a person to do more work in six or even five days of disciplined labor, than it is in a continuous seven-day work week.
De Witt Talmadge use to say,
"Our bodies are seven-day clocks and they need to be wound up. If they are not wound up they will run down into the grave. No man can continuously break the Sabbath and keep his physical and mental health."
There is a rhythm to work and rest which cannot be ignored if you are to satisfy your deepest needs and realize your greatest potentials.

Gerald Kennedy, the Methodist bishop, tells of two parties who were making their way across the plains during the California gold rush. One was led by a Christian and the other by a non-Christian. One group stopped each Lord's day for rest and worship. The other party, greedy for gold, rushed anxiously onward. They drove everyday in their eagerness to get to California. The amazing thing is that the party which took time out to observe the Sabbath were the first to reach California. There is a rhythm to work and rest which cannot be ignored.

Do you remember the story of Elijah? After his great experience of routing the prophets Baal in a test of fire, you will remember that the next day he sat under a Juniper tree, discouraged, despondent, defeated, asking the Lord to take away his life. His trouble wasn't spiritual. It was physical. He was exhausted. His nervous energy was spent. He was warn to a frazzle. The day before he had put everything he had -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually -- into demonstrating to the Hebrew people that God alone was God. Now the reaction had set in. He was tired, and because he was tired, the whole world looked sour.

It may help to remember that more often than not your periods of discouragement and despondency are physical. More often than not, when you think you've lost your faith, all you've really lost is a little sleep!

Well, as poor, old, broken-down, defeated Elijah sat under the Juniper tree asking the Lord to take away his life, a ministering angel came with food for his stomach and rest for his soul. After Elijah ate a good meal and had a good night's sleep, the Bible says he arose "and went on in strength." There is a rhythm to work and rest which cannot be ignored.

Someone has said,
"Almost the greatest question of our time is the one of finding wells of refreshment for our vitality."
If that'is true, and I believe it is, you would do well to quit trying to improve upon God's law and align yourself with it, instead of struggling against it. You would be wise to start keeping the fourth commandment. By regularly setting aside one day in seven for rest and worship, that day will help refresh you tired mind and body. Then consider how a faithful keeping of --

The Sabbath Reorders Your Tortured Sense of Values.
I think "tortured" is a good word to use here, for according to Mr.. Webster to torture is,
"To subject to undue strain; to wrench or twist; to distort.

You are indeed most rare if that is not happening to your values. Six days out of every week you struggle to satisfy the material needs and desires of your heart. It's very easy for you to believe that, because so much of your time is spent on material things, the spiritual part of life is really unimportant. But again, as Jesus said,
"Man does not live by bread alone."

In this great text God wants to remind you --
You are more than in a body, you are an immortal soul.
Some things are just not worth the price you have to pay.
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
Abundant living does not consist of getting up in the morning to go to work
to earn some money to buy some bread to get some strength to go to work again.
Your faith in Christ should add an eternal dimension to your life and you should
adjust your values accordingly.

An old miner once explained to a visitor,
"I let my mules spend one day a week outside the mine
to keep them from going blind."
If you don't follow a similar practice, if you don't take time away from the daily grind of life, it's almost a certainty that, in time, you will go morally and spiritually blind. That's why God gave you one day in seven for rest, worship, and reflection. He wanted to make it possible for you to subject your work-a-day-world to careful scrutiny, so you would know what things are really worthwhile and what things are not.
The philosopher, Santayana says,
"A fanatic is one who, having lost sight of his aim, redoubles his effort."
I don't think there is much danger of your becoming a religious fanatic, but there may be a real danger in your becoming a secular fanatic. And, having lost sight of your aim, having forgotten the real purpose of your labor, having become engaged in a purposeless pursuit of stuff, you may double and redouble your efforts without finding any real satisfaction to your soul's desire.

You need one day in seven to regularly re-evaluate your aims and reorder your tortured sense of values. If you fail to do that, if you think that you can improve on God's plan by ignoring the fourth commandment, you may become what Carlyle called,
"A pair of spectacles behind which there are no eyes."
Finally, may I suggest that a faithful keeping of --

The Sabbath Will Revitalize Your Troubled Spirit.
I don't suppose humanity has ever been subjected to as much strain and stress as it faces today. These are unquestionably troubled times. It seems sometimes as if everywhere we turn we are confronted with a new challenge, and the drain upon our emotional and spiritual energy is immense. And you cannot long survive the pressure of this demanding society unless you pause regularly to replenish your spiritual store.

Over in Africa the natives have an interesting concept of man. They look upon him as a dualism comprised of two separate and independent entities, body and soul. They believe that when a man goes to sleep his soul goes out of him and wanders about and that his dreams for instance, are the experiences his soul has while it is vacationing from his body. Because of this dualistic view of man, the natives who serve as guides for various expeditions into the jungles will only travel so far. Then, they insist upon sitting down and waiting as they put it,
"For our souls to catch up to our bodies."

Well, you may not go along with that dualistic view of man which results in a kind of physiological schizophrenia, but certainly you would be wise to pause one day in seven to
"Let your soul catch up to you body."

I'm not talking about being religious on Sunday and irreligious on Monday through Saturday. To live an effective and abundant life your intercourse with God must be more than a some-times thing. But, you must begin somewhere, and you can begin by setting aside one day for the definite cultivation of your soul. One day for the specific revitalizing of your Spirit. One day for an undisturbed encounter with God, so that, ultimately, every day will be a day in which you are conscience of his presence and power. But, before that final goal can be reached, you must begin somewhere. Why not start by setting aside one day as a sabbath.

Someone has told the story of an English gentleman who was inspecting a house which was for sale. The owner took him throughout the ground floor and then, finally, came to the upstairs window. "On Sunday you can see Durham Cathedral from here," the owner said. "Oh," commented the man, "how is that?" The owner replied, "Because on Sunday the factories are shut down and there is no smoke from the chimneys to obstruct the view."

How desperately we all need one day on which we shut down the factory of our secular pursuit so the smoke of everyday life can clear away from our lives and looking up, we can see God.
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

God grant that this morning you will plant within your heart a small, shy flower of obedience. That you will faithfully cultivate each Sunday so -
Your tired body may be refreshed.
Your tortured sense of values may be reordered.
Your troubled Spirit may be redeemed.
And from that seedling, watered one day a week, may there grow a "covering," an influence which spills over into every day until, finally, you keep the Sabbath all week long and with it, enjoy a blessed experience of happiness -- here and now.