Leisure | Sermons

Alfred, I’m Tired
October 22, 2000	Sermon by DRW	Passage Exodus 20.8-11

In Chuck Swindoll’s book “To Laugh Again,” he writes this anecdote.

“The population of this country is 200 million. 84 million are retired. That leaves 116 million to do the work. There are 75 million in school, which leaves 41 million to do the work. Of this total, there are 22 million employed by the federal government.

“That leaves 19 million to do the work. 4 million are in the armed forces, which leaves 15 million to do the work. Take from that total the 14.8 million who work for state and city governments and that leaves 200,000 to do the work. There are 188,000 people in the hospital at any given time, leaving 12,000 to do the work. Currently, there are 11,998 people in jail. That leaves just two people to do the work – you and me. And you’re just sitting there listening. No wonder I’m stressed” (Swindoll, 1992)!

Now, that’s the perspective of a person who needs a break, wouldn’t you say? Of course, many of us from time to time have that same feeling. Many of us came here this morning stressed-out from the demands of the job, the family, school and a host of other assorted activities. The question is, what can we do about it? How can we break the power of stress and strain in our lives?

Before we begin, let me tell just how pervasive stress is in America.

1. 65 million people suffer with high blood pressure.

2. 1 million people die of heart disease, yearly.

3. Millions of people are afflicted with ulcers and stomach problems.

4. Millions of people have panic/anxiety disorder.

1. This is number one for women

2. This is number two for men (number one is substance abuse)

3. Panic attack is an out-of-the-blue attack

Stress comes from anxiety.

5. 40-50 million people have sleep disorder.

1. The average American under-sleeps an 1 ½ – 2 hours a night.

6. 80 million people suffer with headaches.

7. Millions of people suffer from depression.

This is a picture of stress. Although we will be discussing stress and its consequences, what I want to talk to you this morning about a solution that God has prescribed in the Bible. And let me come right out and say it:

God’s answer to the stress and strain on us is what the Bible calls the Sabbath, which to the best of my understanding means a “regular time of leisure” – a consistent pattern of breaking from the routine of our responsibilities.

I’ll explain that definition in a bit more detail in just a minute, but let me first show you why I say this is God’s answer to the problem. In at least two places in the Bible, God makes some amazing promises concerning the Sabbath principle.

“Happy is the one who refuses to work during my Sabbath days of rest, but honors them.” Isaiah 56:2aTLBM

“… if you call the Sabbath [in this case, a regular day of leisure] a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it … then you will find your joy in the LORD and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land …” Isaiah 58:13―14NIV

God promises that the byproducts of building a Sabbath – a regular time of leisure – into our lives are happiness and joy. Last time I checked, those were at one end of the mental health spectrum and stress was at the other.

But even at that, I have to admit that this idea of a “Sabbath” sounds a little out of place in the twenty-first century. It sounds like something associated with people who still dress in clothes from the 18th century and travel by horse and buggy. Even the word “Sabbath” has an odd ring to it, something that’s reserved for monks. In fact, when they hear the word “Sabbath,” most people think of getting up on Sunday morning, wearing uncomfortable clothes, sitting in a boring church service and walking around with a serious look on your face for the rest of the day. But that’s not what the Sabbath principle is about. The Sabbath is a direct response to the nature of stress.

Stress by nature is the fast pace of modern life. “We are designed for camel travel—but continue to behave like supersonic jets.” This has its price if pushed to the limit. It is also found in the tyranny of time where, as the song goes, “Everyone is in a hurry to get things done, we rush and we rush until life’s no fun.” It is also evident in Emergency living (urgency). Stress response is for emergencies. However, most of us live in a perpetual state of emergency, which is equivalent to great stress. We are so stressed out that our stress hormones go up and never come back

What are the effects of stress?

1. Increase in blood pressure (this causes the second effect). In an emergency this should rise (fight or flight). But it shouldn’t stay up, which is what is happening in today’s society.

2. There is an increase in blood cholesterol (the cardiovascular system is effected)

3. Release of fatty deposits in arteries

4. Narrowing of capillaries

5. Peripheral vaso-constriction

6. Fatigue where the adrenal system becomes exhausted.

7. If you are tired a lot it may be from stress

A Description of Leisure

In fact, all of those impressions are incorrect. None of them represent what God had in mind when He prescribed this stress solution. Very simply, God said ..

“Keep the Sabbath holy [by the way, that word does not mean “religious” – it means “different.” God is saying “make this day different from the other days”]. This is my command. [Here’s how it’s to be different.] Work the other six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; no work shall be done that day by you or by any of your household — your sons, daughters, servants, oxen, donkeys, or cattle; even foreigners living among you must obey this law. Everybody must rest as you do.” Deuteronomy 5:12―14TLB

In this case God is talking about a weekly Sabbath that takes an entire day. But that’s not the only pattern mentioned in the Bible. In other places God tells the people to take off several times every year and – to put it bluntly – party. A Sabbath can be something that happens for part of the day every day. The bottom line is that there needs to be a regular and consistent pattern of leisure in your life.

Well, what is leisure? How do you define it? Leland Ryken in his book, Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective, gives a great three-point definition of leisure (Ryken, 1989) He says …

1. Leisure is time devoted to activities that are freely chosen.

The first question you have to ask yourself whenever you approach any activity and wonder whether it’s leisure is, am I freely choosing to do this or am I serving someone else’s agenda?

Let’s take golf. Is golf leisure activity? If you’ve got a golf game scheduled for this Tuesday afternoon with one of your strategic clients and you’re taking him or her out to play golf in the hopes that it will make your professional relationship more profitable, it’s not pure leisure because it’s not freely chosen. It’s a “have to,” a responsibility.

On the other hand, if you’ve got a free day coming up and you don’t have any pressure or responsibility and you play a round of golf because you want to, that could be leisure. Of course, that depends on how well your golf game fits part two of the definition.

2. Leisure is time devoted to activities that are pleasurable and satisfying.

If you get angry and frustrated when you play golf, it’s not leisure, because leisure is supposed to put a smile on your face. Leisure is something that you get excited about doing. That’ll be different things to different people.

3. Finally, Ryken says, leisure is time devoted to activities that relax and refresh.

For it to be true leisure, it needs to recalibrate us. It needs to send us back to work with our batteries physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally, spiritually recharged.

Lots of activities fit into this definition, don’t they?

You know what else should be included in leisure? Attending church! You should go because you freely choose to – not because you have to; it should be pleasurable – even when we address the heavy issues as we do from time to time; and it should be relaxing and refreshing.

Why Leisure Is Necessary (Dethmer, 1990)

So far we’ve defined leisure and seen that God tells us to do it on a regular basis. But why? Why is it so important that we do it? Jim Dethmer, who was a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, says …

1. Leisure is necessary because we tend to forget that we are more than what we do.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the pressure of getting a job done that we begin to think of ourselves as being merely workers — high-paid plow horses. When we make time for leisure, when we get away from the to-do list that perspective is restored.

2. Leisure is necessary because we are created in the image of God and even He “leisured.”

On the seventh day, having finished his task, God ceased from this work he had been doing, and God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he ceased this work of creation. Genesis 2:2―3TLB

If I understand this verse, leisure is one of the most spiritual things we can do, because God did it. But in addition to that, because we are created in the image of God, we are designed to experience rest and refreshment and leisure. The Sabbath principle is part of what it means to be fully human. It’s part of our makeup to require that downtime.

Types of Sabbaths (Rieland, 1996)

So, let’s talk specifics – how do you integrate this idea into your life on a regular basis? Another pastor remarked that there were four areas of life where the Sabbath principle could a make real difference. He said, “there is a Sabbath of the body, a Sabbath of the mind, a Sabbath of the soul and a Sabbath of the heart.” I want to talk about them and the frequency at which I think they should occur.

3. Sabbath of the body – sleep and proper exercise on a regular basis. Sleep is a daily issue, exercise several times a week.

I want to spend a few minutes talking about sleep at this point in the message.

We need to pay attention to sleep habits. Let me ask you a question. Why did God create sleep? He created sleep to restore the immune system, because it gives tranquility to the brain so it is rested and refreshed, and it provides for growth in young children. According to some experts in sleep, a minimum of 9 hours of sleep to be maximumly effective. This is God’s provision as a valley to help us deal with success and the mountains that we travel through during the day. If we don’t get enough sleep we will begin to see more “accidents” happening because of us, our work at school and our job diminishes, etc.

How can you improve the quality and quantity of your sleep? Darken your environment. A few hours before (1-2 hours) going to bed begin to dim the lights. The invention of electricity has effectively shut down melatonin production (used for sleep). If the area is darkened, the brain produces melatonin and sleep occurs.

You should try going to bed at the same time everyday. Our body clock will go away if we don’t regulate our sleep. Bright lights will basically stop your body’s clock.

You can reduce the noise levels around you. Wear earplugs if necessary.

There is something that we often neglect and that is trying to makeup sleep. If you can’t get enough sleep during the night, you have up to a week to make-up that sleep. That is why most teenagers sleep in on Saturdays.

As for the exercising, people who sit at a desk job the whole day need to exercise; those who have a physical job or sport, need to rest.

4. Sabbath of the mind – “visionary thinking.”

It’s when you mentally step back from the details and contemplate the big picture.

A few years ago in the Final Four of college basketball, Mike Krzyzewski, the coach of Duke University, called a time-out at a critical point in the game. The pressure was intense. He gathers the players around him and he says, “Hey, guys. Take in the moment. You’ll never have another one like it'” (Dethmer). That’s a Sabbath of the mind.

In our lives, this is where we find a quiet place with a pad of paper, maybe some books, and think and write stuff down – “what am I going to do in my relationships? What about my finances? What barriers are keeping me from accomplishing my vision?”

I have a pastor friend who regularly goes to a monastery with a Bible and a yellow pad. and talks to God and thinks. I think once a month is about the minimum frequency for this kind of Sabbath. It helps us to slow down and realize that our life isn’t to be lived in a perpetual state of emergency.

5. Sabbath of the soul – fun that makes you feel alive. (some fun makes you feel dead!)

I’ve neglected this one recently. As I have neglected the day off. I’ve felt exhausted, stressed out. I realized this week that I needed a day just to have some fun.

I need that day, as do each of you.

6. Sabbath of the heart – time alone with God

I think this should happen every day. Ten minutes a day where you sit down and say, “Daddy <which is what Jesus told us to call God>, it’s me. Would you remind me how much you love me? … Thanks, Daddy for … And Daddy, I’ve got some things that are weighing me down. Could you help me?” If you don’t do anything else from this message – ten minutes of that every day will change your stress level.

Here’s what I’m saying: when I observe a Sabbath of body, the mind, the soul and the heart – when I do these things on a regular basis, I find the power of stress breaking up in my life. On the other hand, when I neglect them, I become exhausted and fatigued. Life stops being fun. I become relationally detached. I begin to see people as just another obligation or responsibility. I become suspicious, cynical, impatient and irritable. Ever feel that way?

Common Objections (Dethmer)

But the question that really bugs me is, “Knowing this is the case, why don’t I take the Sabbath principle more seriously?” I thought about it and I realized that there are two thoughts that pop up in my head on this.

1. “I don’t have the time!”

I have too much to do already without making time for a Sabbath. My stress level will only go up if I have to try and squeeze all of this in!

2. “I benefit more by working”

Working is what gets you ahead. Let’s face it: in our world, the badge of honor goes to people who worked 60 hours last week not to people who say no to work so they can say yes to, say, the Sabbath of the mind.

Those two reasons on your list aren’t the real reason you neglect the Sabbath in your life. They’re not the reason you don’t really take off on your day off. They’re not the reason you feel too rushed to sit down and talk to God during the day. It’s a trust issue.

The real reason: “I don’t trust God enough to call time out from what I’m doing and do the Sabbath stuff.”

When it comes right down to it, I’ve got the same problem with the Sabbath principle that many people have with the tithing principle. “God won’t provide.” God won’t help me to do the daily work if I take a Sabbath of the heart – 10 minutes with Him. God won’t help me enough on the other six days to be able to completely relax on the seventh.

How Sabbaths Break Stress

For me, I’m realizing that this whole thing is a trust issue. That’s why God makes such a big deal out of it in the Bible.

1. Let me put it this way: observing a Sabbath (in whatever form) is a declaration that “I am dependent on God.”

“Hallow (respect) my Sabbaths; for they are a symbol of the contract between us to help you remember that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20TLB

Why should you keep the Sabbath? It is because you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out with a great display of miracles. Deuteronomy 5:15TLB

What’s he saying? “You didn’t do it all by yourself. I did the hard part. When you regularly build a time of leisure into your schedule, when you set up a consistent pattern of breaking from your regular responsibilities, it reminds you that I am your strength. I am your provider. You can depend on me!”

2. Guess what? Dependence on God is what alleviates stress.

“If you obey me,’ says the Lord, “and refuse to work on the Sabbath day and keep it separate, special and holy, then this nation shall continue forever. There shall always be descendants of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem; there shall always be kings and princes riding in pomp and splendor among the people, and this city shall remain forever [sounds pretty stress free doesn’t it?] … But if you will not listen to me, if you refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, if on the Sabbath you bring in loads of merchandise through these gates of Jerusalem, just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire shall spread to the palaces and utterly destroy them, and no one shall be able to put out the raging flames.'” Jeremiah 17:24―25, 27TLB

Now that’s stress!

Conclusion

What are you going to do? I challenge you to come up with a plan today.

May I suggest that you take a Sabbath of the mind to determine where you are living your life today.

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Alfred, I’m Tired

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