This weekend, Ann preached on the practice of stopping, so we could enjoy the Sabbath. Then in our announcements we asked people to come out to a painting party after church this week to help color the walls of the facility. If you were paying attention at all, you might think we are going mad! To paint or not to paint? That might be your question!-) Below is an attempt to help clarify the synergy of the two words spoken on Sunday:
The big idea in scripture is that the Sabbath is a day to glorify God. Ann spoke to this concern well on Sunday. The work we rest from is our own, not God's work. The Sabbath is the ideal time to take on God's work.
In John 5, Jesus healed an invalid at the pool of Bethesda. He was questioned by the Jews for this work because it occurred on the Sabbath. However, John lauds Jesus' work on the Sabbath for bringing a rest to the invalid in a way he never experienced before. For 38 years he had been an invalid, which just happened to coincide with Israel's length of stay in the desert before entering the promised land. In the 38th year in the desert, the last person of Israel's unbelieving generation died (Deut. 2:14). The promised land was also called "Israel's Rest." Jesus worked on the Sabbath to bring the invalid into his rest, just like God worked to bring the Israelites into their rest.
The point of the Sabbath is not to refrain from all work. It is to rest by doing God's work. Jesus said in Matt. 11:30, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” When we enter into God's work, it is rest for us. We stop tending to our own needs, and look to God. We stop pretending that we supply our own provisions, and take note of the one who is providing for us. We stop being busy with our own work, and get in on God's work. This is the theme of correction that runs through the whole Bible when it comes to us misunderstanding the Sabbath. It isn't a time to sit on the couch and do nothing. It is a time to worship, to give our attention to God, and to get in on his work of freeing others with his grace. What seems to be clear in Scripture is that anything that gets in the way of us concentrating on God's activity in our lives needs to cease.
So, as we come to a point in our lives where we need all hands on deck to work on the facility, I don't see this as our work. I see this as worship. We are working toward furthering God's mission. The building is a part of our becoming a missional church. Not the whole, but a part. We need a place to locate. We need a community to care for. We need to intersect with people who are in need of God's grace in order to give them their rest.
The leadership council has discerned it is God who has called us to the old liquor store. The fact of the matter is that it is not our building. It is not our space. It is God's space into which he is calling us to be his witnesses. I believe this with all my heart. The building is a sacred space in which to interact with the secular. As we follow God's calling, we will find our rest.
With that said, this Sunday we are providing you with a different opportunity to worship. To build something that will serve someone else. Are you and I going to use the building - yes! But, the building's purpose is not for us. It isn't to make us more comfortable. It isn't so we can stop setting up and tearing down for Sundays. The building is for others. It is a tool that will help us pay attention to God and get in on his work in our community. It is so that we can host others and have a place to launch ministry into the community at South Park. I see this work as holy and all about worship, so that we and others might find rest in God.
Bottom line, you are free not to attend. There will be no judgment on my end if you choose not to participate. People are at different places, and I respect that. However, if you choose to join us, I would ask that you would come ready to worship. As you paint, would you pray for the people who are going to be in the rooms? As you work next to someone else, would you take the time to ask them what God is doing in their lives? As you take a break outside, would you pray for the people and businesses at South Park? In short, would you use this time as an opportunity to worship - to pay attention to what God is doing in us and in others?
So, the Sabbath and painting can coexist if it is done out of the heart to worship. If you are similarly convicted, please pick up your paint brush and join me on Sunday.
Scott Vermillion
Lead Pastor for Aspen Grove Community Church
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