Hey, please turn to your Bibles, or turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter five and verse 12.

Last week, we started a new series called Relationship Killers, and we talked about negative scripts as relationship killers.

Now, many of you know or know the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible.

Jesus visits Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, his very good friends in his hometown.

And when he visits them, of course, we have Martha who's running around trying to get everything busy.

pillow to sit on.

Is it comfortable?

Is the food ready?

And she is running around.

And then...

As Jesus is teaching, Martha is trying to find her sister Mary and she doesn't know where Mary is.

And so she probably looks into the room where Jesus is sitting or talking or preaching and Mary is sitting right in front of Jesus just paying attention and being with Jesus.

Martha is very upset and this causes a little rift in their relationship.

She blames Mary for not coming out to help with all the preparations of Jesus' visit.

Don't we love to be busy?

Don't we like to look busy?

I think we do.

When we meet and greet each other, we ask, how are you?

Well, I'm really busy.

Yeah, me too.

I haven't stopped for 25 hours.

In the words of Archibald, the mayor in Veggie Tales, I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy.

You have no idea what I have to do.

Something like that.

Busy, busy, shockingly busy.

Much, much too busy for you.

There's a gentleman named Kyle Kowalski, and he has seven hypotheses as to why we are so busy today.

He says, number one, business could be a badge of honor at the trendy status symbol or the glorification of busy to show how important we are and whether we have much value and whether we have a certain kind of worth.

is busyness could be job security, an outward sign of productivity and company loyalty.

Number three, business could be formal.

A fear of missing out.

Now I'm kind of getting tired of these little things, formal, FR, for real, or something like that.

My daughter comes home saying, FR, FR, and I'm like, what's FR, for real?

Anyway, business could be formal, fear of missing out.

Spending is shifting from buying things to experiences.

Do it all.

Packing our calendars and social media feeds with highlight reels of life.

Bougie.

Business could be a byproduct of the digital age.

That's number four.

Our 24-7 connected culture is blurring the line between life and work, promoting multitasking and never turning off.

Number five, business could be a time-feeler.

In the age of abundance of choice, we have infinite ways to feel time online and off instead of living idle moments as times to be restored.

There is no white space.

Number six, business could be a necessity, working multiple jobs to make ends meet while caring for children at home.

And number seven, business could be escapism from idleness and slowing down to face the tough questions in life.

Maybe past emotional pain or deep questions like, what is the meaning of life?

Or what is my purpose?

We don't wanna face those questions.

So we get busy to escape.

It is absolutely okay to acknowledge how busy we are in our society.

It is absolutely insane for many of us today.

You can tell how busy we are by looking at how many Americans today take vacation.

Forbes Magazine report says the United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days and paid holidays.

This means that workers can work for months or even years.

without taking a break, lacking the work-life balance that is important for their physical and mental well-being.

More from Forbes says this, nearly a third or 31% of US employees do not have paid time off.

Over 52% of employees report working while on paid time off.

52%, that's really high.

Listen to this one.

Over 765 million vacation days have gone unused by Americans.

Woo!

Busyness is affecting us.

I have observed, this is a doctor called, Dr.

Suzanne Coven, she says, I've observed an epidemic of sorts.

Patient after patient suffering from the same condition.

Fatigue, irritability, insomnia, anxiety, headaches, heartburn.

bowel disturbances, back pain, weight gain.

There are no blood tests or x-ray diagnostics for this condition, and yet it's easy to recognize.

The condition is excessive busyness.

Anne Burnett, director of Women and Gender Studies Program at North Dakota State University says this, in a busy world, couples either don't have time to fight and leave issues unresolved, so they are so stressed that they fight all the time.

When slammed.

Women tend to see their friends less, a huge setback considering social networks are the key to the overall physical and mental health and longevity.

For those who are young adults, those of you in your 20s, do you know why you struggle?

Listen to this.

In 2013, the American Psychological Association said that teenagers then were the most stressed population in the country, with kids exhibiting growing signs of anxiety and stress.

Parents aren't just stressing out themselves with jam-packed calendars.

and over-scheduled lives, no.

They are doing the same thing to their kids.

This is according to kudzu.com.

We are such busy people that I believe it is killing our relationships.

Kids, youth, young adults, singles, married people, how do you think this busy life is going to affect relationships?

If everyone is busy, stressed out, busy doing things with no time to just be, If there is no time to just be, it is going to affect our relationship.

There was a nation that was so busy that God rescued them from a busy lifestyle.

And they found rest in Him.

We're going to look at that in Deuteronomy chapter 5.

Right now, we are at this point, Moses is giving the law to the Israelites.

He says this in verse 12, Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy as the Lord your God commanded.

You have six days each week for your ordinary work.

But the seventh day is a Sabbath day full of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.

On that day, no one in your household may do any work.

This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen, your donkeys, other livestock, and any foreigners that live among you.

All your male and female servants must rest as you do.

Remember that you are once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with His strong hand and powerful arm.

That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on Sabbath.

So what was life under the Egyptian oppression?

Now many of you know from last week that Joseph went to Egypt with his family and after a while, of course the family grew and became millions of people, okay?

Now what happened is that there came a new pharaoh or a new dynasty, a take it over Egypt.

Not the same old dynasty, a different dynasty.

And this family had no idea who Joseph was and they were afraid of the success of the Israelites.

So what they decided to do was to make them slaves building a bunch of stuff.

This is what life looked like for the Israelites when they were under this new dynasty.

Here we go.

Are you ready?

Number one, there was no rest.

Work was brutal and very, very busy.

They worked so much they did not have any day off.

Exodus chapter 1 verse 11 says this, So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves, they appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor.

They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Ramesses as supply centers for the king.

Josephus writes regarding the afflictions that the Hebrews suffered while in Egypt, that the Egyptians became very abusive to the Israelites and contrived many ways of afflicting them.

for they enjoined them to cut a great number of channels for the rivers and to build walls for their cities and ramparts that they might restrain the river.

They also set them up to build pyramids and all this wore them out.

They never had a day off.

They were treated as symbols of production and they were doing machines.

They worked seven days a week all year long according to Pete Schizaro.

So in Exodus chapter three, God comes to Moses because he says this, I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.

I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.

Yes, I am aware of their suffering.

So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians.

So number one is what?

No rest.

Life under the Egyptians was, there was no rest.

Number two, loss of identity.

In these ancient times, when you became a slave, you basically lost your worth.

You lost who you were.

You were looked at as a worthless individual or group of people whose job was one thing, get stuff done.

You were less than.

When you are under subjugation of someone else, you lose or you lost your identity.

You were not your own master.

You were told when to rise up, when to go to bed, when to sleep, when to work, and when to see your family.

Living meant performing tasks.

You were not a person, but a machine.

In his book, Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl describes life in the concentration camps in World War II.

The men were herded sometimes by the enemy.

to one place, then another, sometimes driven together, then apart, like a flock of sheep without a thought or will of their own.

A small but dangerous pack washed them from all sides, well-versed in the methods of torture and sadism.

They drove the herd incessantly backwards and forwards with shouts, kicks, blows, and with a sheep thought of two things only, how to evade the dogs, and how to get a little food.

We are in concentration camps of busyness, where a few people enjoy moving you and I around with no regard for the human soul and what it needs.

Rest, family, friendships, and deep connections.

Because we are constantly just doing, and our kids are just doing, and our friends are doing, we've lost who we are, and we're struggling to connect, even the church, where we are supposed to find true connections.

Many of us.

and not in community groups because we are very, very busy.

We cannot stay and enjoy time after service because we're rushing to Costco or Walmart or somewhere because we've got to get things done.

Some of us rush right out of service right after sermon.

We don't even wait for worship, right?

We miss the weekend services because we have sports and we have schoolwork and so much more.

So when God comes down to rescue the Israelites, he restores two things.

One, their identity.

And two, he restores their rhythms.

This is done through the establishment of Sabbath rest.

This day is vital for the relationship with God and each other.

So number one, God restores their identity.

They were God's children.

He says, I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.

I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.

Yes, I'm aware of their suffering.

So I've come down to rescue them.

And his father confirmed in Exodus 31.

He says this, now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Now as for you, speak the sons of Israel, saying, You must keep my Sabbaths.

This is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you.

Everyone who profanes it must be put to death.

For whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from his people.

For six days work may be done, but the seventh day, there is Sabbath of complete rest.

Holy to the Lord!

Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to celebrate the Sabbath throughout the generations as a permanent holiday.

Covenant it is a sign between me and the sons of Israel forever for in six days The Lord made the heavens and the earth but the seventh day he ceased from labor and was refreshed The command here is in the context of the creation story and also a confirmation that they were God's people.

Sabbath is a sign between me and you forever.

The Sabbath is to be a sign to both, is to be a sign and a time for remembering the distinct relationship between Yahweh and God.

and the people of Israel.

So number one, he restores their identity.

They are God's people.

Number two, he restores their rhythm.

See, God worked, we are to work.

God rested, we are to rest.

Here we go, verse 12.

Keep the Sabbath day, Deuteronomy, keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy as the Lord your God commanded you to.

For six days you shall labor and do all your work.

But the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God.

You shall not do any work that day, or you or your sons or your daughters, your male slave or your female slave, your ox or your donkey, or any of your cattle, or your resident who stays with you, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest well.

You shall remember, listen to this, you are a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out of there by the mighty hand and outstretched arm.

Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to celebrate the Sabbath.

The context here for this one in Deuteronomy is that you take the Sabbath day because you were a slave in Egypt.

But my rhythm and my life is going to be different from you, God says to them.

In both scriptures, the Sabbath is sacred and to the Lord.

It is to be treated as set apart, holy.

The surrounding nations never ceased from work.

And so when the Israelites entered the land, this day was going to set them apart.

Are you with me?

So, There would be so much pressure, so much pressure to be like the nations around them, to work, work, work, work.

But the Sabbath was to set them apart from the other nations.

A few years ago, I was doing research on the Christian roots of worship, and I got to visit a synagogue.

And what I experienced was amazing.

Everything stops for the Jews.

Everything stops, okay?

Work stops.

and they gathered together for worship.

It was one of my favorite worship services ever attended.

It was beautiful, they were singing so loudly, rehearsing psalms and dancing.

The kids were just having a great time in church or in the synagogue, okay.

After service, there was a feast.

We just ate and delighted in each other.

No one was rushing, no one was going anywhere.

They just sat and had a conversation for almost two hours.

It was amazing.

And then there were family gatherings right after that.

They went home and lit candles and prayed.

It was an amazing time that I had.

You could sense the depth of love, warmth, fellowship, and authenticity.

See, busyness, noise, the lack of rest is a relationship killer that steals deep connections that we need in our marriages, families, friendships, and in church.

In the words of Pastor Jeff's favorite country singer, Kenny Chesney, Yeah, he doesn't like country.

There's a song that he sings called Noise.

And the second verse says, it goes like this.

24 hour television, it gets so loud that no one listens.

Sex, money, politicians, talk, talk, talk.

But there, I'm gonna try, this Southern thing is hard for me.

But there really ain't no conversation, ain't nothing left to the imagination.

Trapped in our phones, we can't make it.

Stop, stop this noise.

The bridge goes like this.

Every room, every house, every shade of noise, all the floors, all the walls, they all shake with noise.

We can't sleep, we can't think, we can't escape the noise.

We can't take the noise, so we make noise.

Yeah, we scream, yeah, we shout, yeah, we don't have a voice, and it goes on.

And it's just an amazing song about how loud things can get in our lives.

and we just are trying so hard to be heard in all the noise.

If we never slow down to connect with ourselves, to know who we are, to delight in the things that we love, how can our relationships thrive?

We slow down to connect with God, to connect with ourselves and others during the Sabbath.

Sabbath is a length of time, typically 24 hours set aside for rest in God.

It doesn't matter what day it is.

It could be also 12 or 16 or 24 hours.

It's just a time set aside to rest in God.

See, my family has done Sabbath differently during different seasons.

Sometimes we would light the candle on a Friday night, put all the phones away till 12 p.m.

Saturday the next day, have a meal, no rush at all, and enjoy a conversation.

Or we focused on resting and reading aloud, passing family games together, being actively present with each other in a fun, relaxing environment.

Sometimes focusing on having specific...

meaningful conversations or watching shows and movies that add value to our lives only and then discuss them together.

Going to a beach or a hike.

Places that can take us to God's creation is another way we've done that, so that we can have God-centered conversations.

In order to truly experience being God's children, in order to know ourselves, in order to connect deeper in our relationships, Sabbath rest is absolutely important.

It sets us apart from the world systems of work, work, work, and sets us under God's rhythm of rest.

and work.

Mahabodhan says this, the practice emancipates and enriches us so that the kingdom reigns through us before others.

on behalf of others, sometimes in spite of others, and always with others.

I'll read that again.

The practice of Sabbath emancipates and enriches us so that the kingdom reigns through us before others, on behalf of others, sometimes in spite of others, and always with others.

What is she saying?

Without Sabbath, there's almost no freedom to connect with others the way God intended us to.

So what do we learn?

What do we do to improve our relationships through Sabbath rest?

We have misconceptions about what practicing Sabbath looks like, right?

We think it's walking around all somber with nothing to do, you know, all sad, laying around, doing nothing.

No, Sabbath is God's gift to us.

meant to be enjoyed.

Pete Schizzer and Mabadan can help us look at this this way.

Number one, what do you do on Sabbath?

One, it's a period set aside to stop.

Just stop.

In the word Sabbath is the inbuilt meaning to stop.

We stop all kinds of work unless the work is restful.

We stop projects, term papers, answering emails, returning phone messages, cleaning the house.

On Sabbath, Pete Schisler says, you embrace your limits.

You are a human being.

I remember.

You remember, sorry, you remember that the world, on Sabbath day, you remember that the world will turn and continue going on without you.

And you can put everything in God's hands and sing that lovely song that says, He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the whole world in his hands.

Right?

The problem is that many of us think that if we stop, the world is gonna collapse.

The world would end because you have stopped.

Everything will come tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty.

The real issue is that you don't trust God to run the world.

If you trust God to run the world, you will focus on connecting with people.

So we need to stop the chronic pain, the chronic need to work in our own way.

Put the computer, the phone away, give your kids 12 to 24 hours of no TV, no iPhone.

Your children, guess what?

Will default to talking to you.

Give yourself some hours away from the screen.

You know, Friday is my day off and I try my best to answer any work emails or texts unless it's an emergency.

No news for me on Friday and no social media.

It becomes a little more serious during the evening.

So number one, stop.

or seize.

Number two is rest.

Okay?

What does rest look like for you?

Engage in activities that take your mind away from work.

Like a good, lovely nap.

Maybe it's a hike, a slow walk.

Rest for me looks like this.

I love to laugh.

Maybe a Mr.

Bean movie or something like that that makes me laugh.

If I can enjoy a good, wholesome, funny comedy, will be restful.

So rest from work, from physical exhaustion, from hardness, from multitasking and worry and decision making, technology, and maybe even talking.

Because some of us just keep talking all the time, right?

What happens when you rest?

You're able to engage in relationships because you are fully present.

Your mind can fully participate in going deeper with those people who are in your marriage, your siblings, your...

your sports, whatever it is, your relationships will definitely get deeper.

So number one is what?

Stop.

Number two is rest.

Number three, delight.

What is delighting?

It is getting or receiving joy and pleasure from something.

It is slowing down to enjoy the pleasures of life because we are always rushing around from school to soccer practice, to football practice, to track, to dance, to all this.

And we're yelling at one kid and rushing to work with no time to really taste our food and driving so fast we don't even notice the big beautiful tree that's down the street from you.

On this day, you take your time.

You eat your food, savoring it.

Mm, it's lovely food.

You know, if you're a young person, a young man of 14, don't just push the food down like Cookie Monster.

No, slow down.

Enjoy the taste, okay?

We're not, as you buckle your kids in, don't yell at them, hey, you buckled, are you buckled?

No, just smile, look back and say, hey, son, are you buckled?

Right, go to the beach, watch the sunset or sunrise with your favorite people.

Quality time, undisturbed, uninterrupted, no phones in hand, no TV in the background.

This time can be a time that your child can clearly see that there is nothing more important to mom or dad than the simple act of being with them.

On Sabbath, God invites us to delight in people.

So if you're married, you know, you can, that's a day to, you know, yeah, you know what I mean?

So I try as much as I can on Friday or my day off, not to hurry, unless I have to, I try not to take the freeway.

I try to notice things around me that I may have missed, new shops, flowers, trees.

On that day, I also delight in really washing my wife's car.

It gives me great joy when Tanya drives away in a clean car because it helps her start her week less stressed.

Now.

Washing your car may not be the thing for you.

It may not bring you delight.

That's okay.

Going to the beach may not be your thing.

Running may not be your thing.

That's okay.

What is it for you that helps you rest?

The whole idea of delight comes from Genesis 1 31.

And God saw all he had made and behold, it was good.

And there was evening and there was morning and the sixth day.

God delighted, he was overjoyed all he had done so he's slowed down to enjoy it.

Okay, so slow down and delight in your relationships.

Number four, contemplate.

The final and probably the most important aspect of Sabbath is contemplation of God.

Sabbath is set apart for God according to Exodus chapter 31 verse 15.

In Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 14 says this, but the seventh day is Sabbath of the Lord your God.

So we spend time immersed in God's unfolding devotion to us.

We set aside to be in his presence, feasting in his word, praying, maybe some silence and some solitude.

The more we feast on God's presence, not rushed, but being still, the more we become what God wants us to be.

Not doing, being.

If we all spent more time contemplating on God, in loving union with Him, our relationships would be fuller and they would be thriving.

Jesus said that we are not made for Sabbath, but that Sabbath was made for us.

So we are made for God.

Supposed to find pleasure on Sabbath day, it helps us connect with God, with ourselves, and with others.

I'll repeat this quote from Mother Dawn.

The practice of Sabbath emancipates and enriches us so that the kingdom of God reigns through us before others, on behalf of others, sometimes in spite of others, and always with others.

Do you want to be a better wife?

Do you want to be a better husband, a better brother, a better sister, a better coworker, cousin, grandpa or grandma?

When was the last time you slowed down?

When was the last time you stopped, you rested, delighted and contemplated?

When was the last time you just stopped doing and started being?

So the challenge, the challenge that I have for you, maybe the next week or two, is to take an eight to 24 hours Sabbath rest.

If you have family, include them in the Sabbath rest.

Make it fun.

Connect with God, yourself, and be intentional about your relationships.

Let's be different from what the world has for us because we are no longer enslaved to that system of the world.

And let's see how different our relationships will be.

See, God rescued us from being slaves to sin and to idols like business through the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

So I challenge you this next week or two.

Take some Sabbath rest and see what God can do for you and how he can rebuild your relationships.

God, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for the gift of Sabbath.

We thank you so much for the way that you have given us rhythm so that we can enjoy you and enjoy each other.

God, we pray that as a church, as your people, we will delight in this amazing gift that you've given us.

In your name we pray and everybody said, amen.