RCF 5th June 2022 - Communion Service - Yasmin Chaffer - Rest

Good morning. So today, being our first Sunday in June, we are

starting a new theme this month called Fundamentals Matter. And the Lord put it

on my heart that I should speak about rest. So, as Nicky's already

said, it is wonderful to celebrate our Queen's platinum jubilee today. Isn't well

over these last few days, isn't it? But what an amazing example she

is in her faith and her service to the nations, the Commonwealth, and

especially this nation. And we're very blessed to have such a long serving godly

monarch. As we think about the jubilee, let's briefly consider where we see

this word in the Old Testament. In Leviticus twenty five, we find the

first reference to the jubilee as part of the law given by the Lord to

the Israelites. Every seven years was a sabbath year, and the jubilee year

occurred after every seven sabbath years. In other words, after every fifty years.

It was a time for the land and the people to rest and reset,

and all those in slavery were free to return to their communities. So

the jubilee year related to the concept of the sabbath. So every seven years

was a Sabbath year, when the land was not to be sown or the

vineyards pruned, and the Israelites were to eat whatever the land yielded. Anyway,

according to Levitka's twenty five to five, the land was to have a

year of rest. Has anyone ever had a year off? Maybe between school

and university? Has seemed to be the only one so blessed in this room.

I sort of did, but it wasn't a true year off. Was

more figuring out what I was going to do next when Plan A didn't work

out. I should add, though, that in following Plana initially by starting

an art foundation course, I met the wonderful lady who led me to the

Lord and has become my spiritual mum. So be encouraged. If plan A

is not working out, God can bring good out of even this. Anyway,

in the Sabbath year, the land was to have a year of rest.

Inspired by Letty's leading of our women's group last month Arise in Shine when

she talked about the jubilee, I do believe that Lord wants me to talk

today about rest. So let's us look briefly back to the origin the Sabbath

and I'm reading from the Message, which is a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible

written in everyday language rather than a literal translation. So I'm reading from Genesis

two verses one to three. Heaven and Earth were finished down to the last

detail. By the seventh day. God had finished his work. On the

seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day.

He made it a holy day because on that day he rested from his work

all the creating God had done. God got all his work done in six

days, and on the seventh he rested. Notice that's how it all started.

Work, work, work, work, work, work, rest,

and that's how God intended for it to continue, including today. God set

us an example for us to follow. In the weekly Bible study on Tuesday,

the session was called Permission to Rest. That's something some of us may

need to think about, giving yourself permission to rest. Anyway, the Lord

gave me this topic about ten days ago, so before I knew what the

Tuesday session was about. In it, Dave made a great point that we

can blur the concept of rest, peace and silence sometimes and they can be

quite different. Not necessarily that there can be. Peace is something we can

have even when we're busy working, and so is silence. But if you

can combine rest, peace and silence even once in a while, it can

be quite therapeutic. Given that God rested from his work on the seventh day,

I'm going to keep this simple and refer to rest as rest from that

which constitutes or your normal work, which can obviously be different for all of

us. I actually got the following from a Hebrew word study of the words

show, from which we get the word sabbath. The English rendering for the

word shabbat as rest can be a little misleading. It's not rest to regain

your strength. It is to cease from your activity or to interrupt your normal

activity to accomplish something. What are you to accomplish on the Sabbath? Bond

with God. That's what the authors concluded, after looking in some detail at

the spelling of the Hebrew word shabbat and the significance of the letters that make

up the word and other related words. Bond with Goda. My main point

today is take a rest. Exodus twenty Versus eight to ten in the New

Living Translation says this, remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

You have six days each work for your ordinary work, but the seventh

day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord, your God.

God, in his wisdom, wanted his people and eventually all mankind, to

incorporate rest into their lifestyle into their week. In Exors twenty three ten to

eleven is the instruction to rest the land during the seventh year. The New

Living Translation says, let it be renewed and lie uncultivated, and in Leviticus

twenty five twenty to twenty two, the Lord promised to provide. It required

more on Israel's part so that they wouldn't run out of food while they were

resting from their usual agricultural work. More planning, more preparing, and more

faith. And so it will for us. It'll require more planning, more

preparing, and more faith if we find it difficult to truly have a sabbath,

truly take a day off. It's so important that we take the time

to find out from the Lord what we need to do differently for us to

be able to take a day off once a week, as the Lord clearly

intended and actually instructed us to do. In the ten Commandments, it's the

fourth commandment. If we all took the concept of rest more seriously, if

we gave it the same priority that we give to the other commandments, I

wonder how much less stress people would experience. What would your week look like

if you had a sabbath, a day off once a week. What would

the impact be on you, your work, your family life, your health,

your sleep. It's obvious that for those with, for example, young

children or dependents, you don't leave them to fend for themselves for a day.

That's not what this is about, but like it is reveryone, really

it's about figuring out with the Lord what a sabbath looks like for you.

If even the thought of taking a whole day off is overwhelming for you,

given all your commitments, I would suggest that you start by talking to the

Lord about what it means for you to have an hour off once a week.

That might seem silly to some, but I can think of one person,

just off the top of my head, for whom I can well imagine

that might have seemed impossible at one stage. I never had the conversation with

her, but I had an idea of how little sleep she was having because

of how much she was juggling. It's far better that you figure out with

the Lord what it means for you to have an hour off a week,

then to drop the idea of the sabbath completely because you can't imagine how you

could afford a whole day off. For example, you can manage an hour

maybe two, but you'd never get, say, half a day off.

Then must strongly suggest that you speak to the Lord about what you can do

differently, to stretch to that this is not meant to be a burden,

but it's God's design that we should rest one day a week because we need

it. It's worth mentioning two key verses here in Mark two twenty seven to

twenty eight, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees who have picked him up on

the fact that he was allowing his disciples to pluck ears of grain in a

field on the Sabbath, even though it was just to eat. They believe

that this was breaking God's law about having a day of rest because it constituted

work in their eyes. The Pharisees believed, as I understand it, that

if anyone took the grain from the stalk, they were guilty reaping, in

other words, working. If they work the grain in their hands to separate

the whep from the chap, they were guilty of threshing, et cetera.

It's never a bright idea to pick Jesus, as Jesus up on anything,

He's always going to be right. After reminding them of what David did that

was unlawful when he and those with him were hungry, Jesus said, and

I'm reading in the Passion translation Mark two twenty seven to twenty eighth, the

Sabbath was made for the sake of people, and not people for the Sabbath.

For this reason, the son of Man exercises lordship over the Sabbath.

In saying this, Jesus was proclaiming that he is the authority even over the

rules and regulations that govern the Sabbath day, and that he was greater than

the law, because he was God in flesh and the author of those laws.

In Matthew eleven twenty eight to twenty nine, it says in the NIV,

come to me, all you who are weary and burden, and I

will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest

for your souls. This is an invitation to all who are weary and burdened.

If that's you, please take this invitation personally. Jesus says, come

to me and I will give you rest. Learn from me, and you

will find rest for your soul. That's a promise. Our part is to

come to Jesus and learn from him, which we can do by reading God's

word the Bible, practicing what we learn about God's ways in it, spending

time with the Lord, praying and listening, and learning to live more and

more attuned to His Holy Spirit living within us. The message version of Matthew

twenty eight to twenty nine reads like this, Come to me, get away

with me, and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take

a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I

do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy

or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn to

live freely and lightly. I've got to read that again. Come to me,

get away with me, and you'll recover your life. I'll show you

how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me.

Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't

lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me, and

you'll learn to live freely and lightly. I think it's important to take all

these things into consideration that are highlighted in these two scriptures Mark two twenty seven

to twenty eight and Matthew eleven twenty eight to twenty nine. So that's the

importance of the sabbath, the fact and the truth that Jesus is the lord

of the sabbath. This isn't a legalistic requirement, and that Jesus says to

us, come to me and I will give you rest. We can bring

all of this to Jesus and ask him what should the sabbath look like for

me. It may be that you change just one thing initially. He may

give you different answers in different seasons of your life, et cetera. The

main thing is to ask and keep checking in. I'm very aware that you

can have time off from your regular work. You can rest in that sense,

but not experience rest due for example, to lack of peace because of

worry. I don't believe that I should be talking particularly about this today,

except simply to remind us of what Philippians for six to seven says about this,

and again I'm reading from the message translation. Don't fret or worry.

Instead of worrying, pray, Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,

letting God know your concerns before you know it. A sense of God's

wholeness, everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. It's

wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Rest

from worry and striving really helps to bring peace to our innermost beings. Maybe

you do have a day off every week, and if so well done,

keep it up. Maybe a different challenge for you would be to consider how

you use it. Even if you use it well, it's still worth talking

to the Lord about whether there's something you could or should do differently as a

one off, occasionally or maybe regularly. Rest, as we know, doesn't

necessarily mean literally doing nothing. I remember one preacher here hearing one preacher talking

about following your north star, being guided by what feeds your essential self.

In other words, doing that which absorbs you so much because you enjoy it

so much that you lose track of time. That brings such rest to your

soul, your mind, your will, and your emotions. The ladies in

Horizon Shine heard this recently, but I'm going to repeat it for me.

I love being by the sea. I have a special memory from the end

of my year in Italy when I was at Uni that I know I've shared

here before as well, but it's relevant. I was in Genoa in northwest

Italy, by the coast. I was on a beach and it was lovely

and warm, and I went to lie down in the sea. I could

feel the warmth of the sun and my faith face, the coolness of the

water on my body, and I could hear the sand gently shifting underneath me.

I opened my eyes and I could see the hills behind Genoa. It

was such a sensory experience and it was absolute bliss, And even now the

memory of it, I can't talk about it without smiling. When you feed

your essential self, it really recharges and refreshes you, which is so important.

But I realized you can't always do something like that, especially in my

case living in a landlocked town. So it's important to find things that are

readily accessible to you that have a similar effect, even if not as profoundly.

Reading has a similar effect for me. Obviously, it depends on the

book, but particularly at the moment the book I'm currently rereading for either the

third or fourth time, which is on exploration in the Antarctic. In the

early twentieth century, when I was a child, my mom took me to

have my hearing tested because at times when I was reading, I just didn't

hear her calling me. Simon's had a similar experience, although I like to

reassure him that I hang on to his every word. My point is to

highlight the importance of making time to feed your essential self, particularly when considering

how we rest. In taking time to think about how we rest, it's

important to recognize that our priority always needs to be our focus on the Lord.

Isaiah forty verse thirty one in the Amplified says this, but those who

wait for the Lord, who expect, look for, and hope in Him,

will gain you strength and renew their power. They will lift up their

wings and rise up close to God, like eagles rising towards the sun.

They will run and not become weary. They will walk and not grow tired.

I don't know if you think of waiting for the Lord when you think

about resting in him. It can be easy for us to get frustrated waiting

for him, waiting, for example, for an answer to prayer. But

when we wait, as the word intends, the effect is like true rest.

We gain you strength and renew our power. We get close to God.

The meaning of the Hebrew word used here for weight includes patiently. Waiting

is not passive or about just passing time. When you're truly expecting, looking

for, and hoping in the Lord, it not only lifts you up but

brings you closer to God at the same time, and there is true peace

and rest in his presence, you'll re energize. I'm sure that we could

all do with that, although sometimes more than others, those who wait for

the Lord will lift up their wings and rise up close to God, like

eagles rising towards the sun. When eagles soar, they hold their wings outward

and rarely flap, saving them considerable energy. Instead of flapping, they rely

on rising air currents to gain altitude. Think about how much energy we can

save when we don't flap. I obviously don't mean literally, but when we

don't get agitated or panicky. There are two types of rising air currents which

provides most lift for soaring eagles. The first, which is relevant here,

is called thermal uplift updrafts from when the energy from the Sun heats the air

at the Earth at the Earth's surface and causes it to rise. Eagles circle

within these columns of rising air to gain great altitude and then glide out of

the thermals to move across the landscape. In other words, eagles position themselves

to use what God has provided to rise up relatively effortlessly. God designed them

to use what He provided, and they position themselves to do so. What

does it mean for us to position ourselves to use what God has provided to

mount up closer to Him and experience the rest in His presence that He designed

for us to live and thinking, for example of the promise in Exodus thirty

three fourteen, my presence will go with you, and I will give you

rest. God has provided us with his word, hasn't he the living word

in Jesus, the written word the Bible, as well as His Holy Spirit,

to counsel and help us when we wait for God. When we expect

look for and hope in Him. By spending time with him, worshiping and

reading his word, and learning to live by it and live by God's promises.

In it, we position ourselves to use what God has provided to get

closer to Him. We can experience profound rests in His presence. We will

gain new strength and renew our power. The Word of God says, so

when we set ourselves to expect, look for, and hoping God, we

will find the rest that our souls seek. Psalm sixty two and first one

says in the NIV, truly my soul finds rest in God. Interestingly,

this is translated in the New King James version as truly my soul silently waits

for God. So the concept of rest is translated as waiting silently, I

don't know how much of that we do, and speaking to myself as well.

By the way, the Christian Standard Bible simply says, I am at

rest in God alone. God said to me once, when you truly trust

that your future is in My hands, you'll relax and rest in the presence

in the present. The sense I got was about living more fully in the

present. It does mean that the present is always a picnic, But it's

about living more aware of the Great I Am and his love and grace and

provision for us today. As many of you will have heard before, He's

not the great I will I will anymore than he is the Great I was.

When you truly trust that your future is in our perfect, loving,

heavenly Father's hands, when you live more fully in the present, you're less

likely to miss the opportunities that today presents or what God He's saying to you

today. I believe that the degree of rest that we learn to live in

relates to the degree to which we learn to live surrendered to the Lord.

I appreciate sometimes that's harder than others, and I'm not making light of that,

But I believe the degree of rest that we learn to live in relates

to the degree to which we learn to live surrendered to the Lord, surrender

to the truth of his word. I believe that the Lord wants me to

finish by reading Psalm twenty three over ye, I'll read from different versions mixed

together. I suggest that you close your eyes and receive the Word of Life,

God's word, and let it minister to you. The Lord is my

shepherd to feed to guide and to shield me. I shall not want.

I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads

me beside quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul, my life.

He leads me along the right paths, the paths of righteousness, for his

Name's sake. Even though I walk through the sunless valley of the shadow of

death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. I will

not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod to protect

and your staff to guide. They comfort me. You prepare a table for

me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil.

My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me

all the days of my life, and I shall dwell forever throughout all my

days in the house and in the presence of the Lord. Let's pray,

Father, God, thank you that in Jesus, we have the perfect shepherd

to feed, guide and shield us. Please teach us to rest as you

intended, help us to follow you and your ways, and allow you to

refresh and restore our souls. We thank you and praise you that we don't

need to fear evil we can choose not to be afraid because you, the

creator of heaven and earth, the one who chose us in Jesus, the

one for whom and in whom nothing is impossible. You, our perfect heavenly

Father, are with us. You protect, guide and comfort us. You

provide for us, regardless of whether our enemies are present. Father God,

we thank you and praise you with all our hearts that we can depend on

your goodness, mercy, and unfailing love following us all the days of our

lives. Thank you so much that we will live forever in your presence because

of Jesus. We pray all this in Jesus Precious all Powerful name, and

thank ye. Amen, Thank you,