Ecclesiastes 5: 10 – 6: 7, 1 Timothy 6: 6-10, 17-21 July 14, 1985, Sermon no. 43, Ebenezer Pres. Church by Jefferis Kent Peterson

A Theology of Rest

It seems that wherever I have gone these past few weeks, I have been talking to people about the need for a day of rest.  Our Protestant work ethic has made  us feel guilty if we take even so much as one day off.   But in the O. T., the people were commanded to take a day of rest so they could forget about the cares of the world and turn their hearts to God.  Just as it was for the saints  of Israel,  we need to take a day  off and trust our lives to God.  By taking off one day a week, we are  saying in effect, “I thank you, O Lord, for providing for my needs, and I trust you to continue to watch over me.   And I am taking this day to put aside my worries and my cares.”    

But many of us  have not learned to be free from  worldly pressures.  And our lack of trust in God is demonstrated in every area of our lives; especially in our work.    Instead of enjoying our work and then being able to put it aside at the end of the day; we bring it home at night.  Our fear of failure and our need to succeed begins to take over our life.   We become workaholics: we cannot take a day off; we haven’t had a vacation in  three years; and yet we feel guilty if we take a minute off from  business.   We cannot sleep at night because of worries about profits and losses.  It is especially bad if we  own  the business:  We do not trust the people under us;  we are so afraid that the person left in charge will not do it right, that we  find any excuse to come back to the shop on our day off just to check up.  And usually we  say something like  “I was just passing by, and I remembered I needed something.”  

Our wives and  children never see us, or if they do, it is to help out with the business;  our whole lives are tied up with making money and with the fear and  insecurity of losing it–we fear if we are not working every minute, the business will fall apart.   And although we are usually making a fairly decent living, we always feel that to be really secure and successful ,  we need to be making more.    Sound familiar?    Many people do not own their possessions, rather their possessions own them.  And for fear of losing  our material goods, we are full of worries and cares.    If you are anxious about the necessities of life  and these fears cause you to lose sleep; it means you have not trusted this area of your life to God. 

Leigh and I have faced this problem many times, especially when I was in seminary;  and the money would run short with unexpected bills, usually medical bills, and we would wonder from where the money would come.  And Leigh would usually trouble me with worry and make me miserable for a few days, and her worries would start to get to me.  Finally, I would say–“Look, I don’t have an answer,  we are just going to have to turn it over to the Lord and trust him with it; especially since there is not a thing I can do about it.”  And together we would pray and give our worries to the Lord.  And usually, within a week,  somehow, from somewhere we would receive more than enough to cover the debt.  It was a kind of miracle; an ordinary miracle, but a miracle of providence all the same, because we both saw God providing for us in it.  God keeps asking us to trust;  to trust him daily for everything.  “Trust me,”  he says, “and I will take care of you.”

The Bible says we are in a life and death struggle with the world and that our attitude towards money is the battlefield:  who will we trust?  God? or our own efforts?  Who will we serve?    And who will be our master?  money or God?   The world tells us  “be sensible:  you cannot trust God for your needs; you must take care of yourself.  Store up riches on earth and let God worry about heaven.  Do not give to the poor, you might not have enough for yourself.  Besides, they don’t deserve it anyway.  You worked for yours; if they want food, let them work for it. ”   We are in a life or death struggle; and the struggle is over whether we will trust our lives to God or not.   By commanding us to take a day off from our labors,  God is laying claim to first place in our lives.    God is trying to establish in us a proper order to life.  And he says, if we place him first, then  the rest of our life will be in  balance. Then we shall have a proper attitude towards money and work, rest and family; and we shall be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor and not live in fear.   But if we place people or money or work first, then everything else will be out of order!  Our lives will be filled with anxiety and worry, and we will not be able to relax and to enjoy the life he has given us.  Therefore, this battle  over who has first place in our lives is a very important one.  And daily we fight this battle. 

In ancient Greece, there was a philosopher named Socrates who understood the wisdom of trusting God.    Socrates said  “in order for us to be happy, our lives must be in balance.  In order to play a beautiful song, a guitar has to be tuned up; the strings must be in harmony with each other.  They can be neither too tight nor too loose.  If the strings are out of tune, they  will not make  music; only noise.  As in music, all of life  is a matter of balance and proportion.  If your life is in balance, then you make music with your life; if not, then all you get are sour notes.”  

 In the same way,   to be happy with food, you  need to know your limit.  A person who knows what he needs to fill his body will be satisfied  with just enough.  But a person who is gluttonous, is someone who is never satisfied with what he has, but always wants more!  A person who is lustful, is one who is not satisfied with his partner, but always craves a new experience.  A person who is greedy, is one who is never satisfied with what he has, but always wants more money so that he can be happy!  The problem is these people  never reach that place of happiness they seek.  It always is just ahead.  And their lusts become their prison; a prison of unsatisfied desires.

It is crazy isn’t it!  For a person may have a house and a car and enough food on the table to remain healthy, and even enough money for some luxury items or spending money, but yet he craves more and more and is never happy with what he has.  He spends his  entire life putting off his  happiness till some time in the future, but he is never happy in the present!  He never know what happiness is because he is  always dissatisfied: he doesn’t have enough.  Even when he is very rich, or moderately wealthy, so that he does not lack any toys,  he is not content, but he always wants more.  Instead of being able to enjoy the fruits of his labors, he never takes pleasure in them,  for he buys one thing, but then his mind is on to something else that he does not yet own.  So he needs more money. And the cycle continues. And he is consumed by greed and by his lust for things.  “I have seen an evil under the sun, and it lies heavily upon men: God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them . . .”   The insatiable appetite for more is lust, and it is a sin.   And it does not produce happiness, though you gain a whole world full of things; for that emptiness and craving will not go away, except that you be filled by God and his presence.

But the person who is happy is the one, who though he may not have much, is content with what he has.  He has the necessities of life, and maybe not much more, but God gives him the ability to enjoy what he has and does not fill his heart with the endless craving for more.  He knows the just measure.  He likes the taste of food, but he eats only till he is full and  does not overindulge.  He is temperate in his drinking.  He is satisfied with the possessions God has given him.  Why?  Because he has learned that happiness does not exist in things but in love;  and that true happiness is something inside, not outside.  Not in what you own, but in who you are.    And this happiness has everything to do with your relationship to God.     It means taking time off from the cares of this life to worship him and to enjoy his presence; to seek his love and affection.  That is where true happiness and contentment resides.    If you let God have first claim on your life, then you will gain a proper attitude toward your wealth and it will be your servant, instead of you serving it.  You will take satisfaction in your wife and not always be looking elsewhere for affection and understanding.  And you will be able to enjoy life and the possessions he has given you.  And instead of always worrying about the future; the present itself will be filled with a vital richness that will fill you with joy. 

  Really, what sense does it make to work, work, work, work, if you can never enjoy the things God has given you?   If you can not be happy in life, what is the point of all that work?  You exhaust yourself, and for what?  For bad nerves, a bad heart, and an early grave?  Is this what you want for your life?  Is this what you are working for?  If you are not happy in your labors, then your life is out of balance.  God does not yet have first place in your lives.  The bible says, that one thing that can stand in the way of our happiness  is that we get caught up in wanting more than we need:  “if we have food and shelter, with these we shall be content. [How many of us are like that?!]  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.”

The rich man is full of worries and cares that what he has may be taken from him.  So he buys security alarms and much insurance.  But who can protect against the tornado?  All your riches and material goods can vanish tomorrow.  But the one who trusts his life and his possessions to the Lord is happy.  Why?  Because he knows the Lord has promised to provide for all his needs.  And the life he has, no one can take away from him.   We are meant to enjoy the life he has given us.  We are meant to celebrate it, to appreciate it, and to give thanks to him for his goodness towards us.  And for the necessities of life, we are  to trust him every minute of our lives; so that instead of worry, thankfulness will consume us.  And then we shall be able to enjoy life instead of always worrying about tomorrow.  

If you want to begin to know this freedom and enjoyment he has promised us,  lay aside your labors and take time to seek him out.  Seek him daily in prayer and study, and take one day off a week to worship and enjoy his presence.  Take a vacation with your family.  Take a day a week to go fishing, or play golf, or to do something which helps you to enjoy life and to put your worries behind you.  But above all, find the proper balance by giving  God first place in your life, and let him teach you to enjoy all that he has given you.

Amen.

Jefferis Peterson from the ScholarsCorner.com