The Resurrection Experience and the Sabbath

The Resurrection Experience and the Sabbath

Because I was in the midst of a series on Spiritual Warfare prior to Easter, and on Easter Sunday we always have a cantata, I decided to have a series on the resurrection after Easter. My inspiration comes from Eugene Peterson's excellent little book, Living the Resurrection, (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2006). The first week we talked about the wonder element of the resurrection and looked at the story from the viewpoint of the four authors of the Gospels. All of them stressed the matter of the wonder of the resurrection and how unprepared people were for the event. The resurrection knocked out cold the guards who guarded the tomb and left the first responders—women—in a state of amazed awe. None had planned for the event. Peterson' point is that resurrection wonder cannot be planned or programmed. But we must be in position to receive it and we can't do it by multitasking and working day and night. We have to make room for God. More than just room. We need to determine that we will be in a close relationship with Him all the time.

The next event we wish to explore is the relationship of the resurrection experience to the Sabbath.

To begin with we need to see what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath. The first time the Sabbath is discussed is in relationship to God and the creation of the world. Simply, after God spent six days in the process of creation, he rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3).

The first statement in regard to the observation of the Sabbath is found in Exodus 16:23-25 where the regulations for the gathering of manna are given. The people were to gather one portion of manna for each person each day. But on the sixth day they were to gather a double portion. There would be no manna available on the seventh day.

The actual law regarding the Sabbath is found in the Ten Commandments—"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Later in Exodus 31:12-16, Moses outlines the Sabbath Laws:

12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 "You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, 'Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord.  Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever.

Note that the Sabbath was a sign that indicated the relationship between Yahweh and Israel. It was a reminder that Yahweh had sanctified them and they belonged to Him. Every seven days they were to observe the Sabbath to remind themselves of their relationship to God. And all they were to do was rest. No cooking, ladies. No fires to be built. No travel. Livestock could be cared for. Babies could be delivered. Circumcision could be performed since babies come on their own schedule and are not particular about arriving on the Sabbath. But other than that it was a day of rest.

Those who claim to observe the Sabbath today fail to recognize the real purpose behind the Sabbath.

Peterson emphasizes that the first picture we have of God in the Bible is a picture of God at work. He is not discussed in some abstract theological tome, but instead is found at work. In Genesis 1:1-31 he is busy creating the world. From the beginning God put his mark of approval on the workplace. Even Adam and Eve had work in that they were to care for the Garden of Eden. We do not know what they were to do, but they had work. After the fall the work level increased dramatically for Adam and for all future human beings. God designed human beings to work. They are at their best when they are at work.

God also observed a Sabbath after he finished his work of creation.

The big issue is how to bring God into the workplace. In every area of employment, including Christian organizations, it is necessary to bring God into the workplace. Even Christian workers can become so involved in technology and programs, that they begin to forget the place of God in their lives.

We have become so wrapped up in technology that we subconsciously believe we really do not need God anymore or at least we are too busy to give Him any of our time.

Working with college students I never cease to be amazed at their efforts to cheat. College professors face an annual challenge to try to keep students from cheating. Recently I assigned students to read William Young's book, The Shack, and write a review of it. What I neglected to consider was the number of book reviews that are on the internet. So I have no idea how many used book reviews from the internet and may never have read the book. One student even copied a negative review verbatim on the assumption I would not detect it.

I do not allow computers in my classes because several years ago I had an issue with students using Instant Messaging and joking among themselves while I was discussed the Passion of Christ. To the outside observer it would appear that the Passion of Christ was a big joke we should laugh at. I determined at that point no more computers. Then this year I learned that when students are allowed to have computers in class, they spend their time on Facebook rather than paying attention to the lecture. One student on Facebook confessed to another student they were using Facebook in class. When I confronted the student about the confession, the student said, "Oh Dr. Paddock, I never did that in your classes."

What does this have to do with the Sabbath? If a person is so involved in technology that he/she cannot pay attention in a college class, then how can they possibly hear God?

This year at the time of Lent, an Italian cleric in Italy asked his congregation to give up text-messaging for the forty days of lent. I can assure you that college students would consider that an act of personal suicide, not to be able to text-message for 40 days. Even though they are asked to put their cell phones away, they move to the back row and stealthily text message back and forth continuously.

I would suggest that to observe the Sabbath principle we need to bring under control our use of technology. I have started turning off my computer at 4:00 pm on Friday and not looking at it again until Saturday night or Sunday morning. As often as I have done this I am amazed of how little I missed. If people need to contact me, they can use the old fashioned telephone. I still have one. There are very few emergencies. I see people literally addicted to their Blackberries and I-phones. They are constantly working them, anywhere, everywhere. I seriously doubt that God is going to speak to you through the I-phone. Turn it off! Let it rest! Let your mind rest! Observe a Sabbath from technology.

Years ago I found myself wore out all the time. My wife encouraged me to go to a doctor. He gave me a complete physical and declared me physically fit. Then he told me this. As a minister and a college professor you are working seven days a week. You are under the control of your telephone. Your church people can call you at any time and expect you to answer the call. You need to get out of town, away from the telephone.

We didn't have much money, but we got in our car and drove out of town for the day. There were lots of places to go where we didn't need to spend any money. No telephone, no demands, no students and we were able to enjoy each other. My vim, vigor, and vitalis soon returned. I never forgot that lesson.

God intended us to work only six days a week and then have a day off where we can commune with God. I encourage you to do exactly that.

Trip to Colorado March 26-30

We discovered on very short notice that the World Missions Crusade was to be the weekend of March 27-29. We thank Dene Johnson, minister at Rifle, Colorado, and a former student from IBC, for sending us his newsletter that told of the event. It was not a lengthy debate about whether we should go or not. Three things moved to make a positive decision in this direction:

• We would have an opportunity to make contact with numerous old friends and colleagues. I'm guessing that we did meet around 200 of them as well as their children.
  
• We would represent MCC at the conference.
  
• We would get to see our new great-granddaughter in Grand Junction.
  

We won't tell you which of these items was the most important.

Our trip to Grand Junction is described as follows:

To say that our trip to Colorado was exciting would be an understatement. Disneyland or Six Flags over Manhattan couldn't have produced as spectacular an event as we experienced. I'll try to verbalize it so that you can enjoy the experience as well.

 Oh yes, this was one of the God-things that Christians always like to talk about. Some are spreading rumors that I am a Christian. In order to dispel those rumors, I'll admit to it gladly. 

 The first piece of the puzzle came when our oldest son Geoffrey called to say that he thought he could get time off to go with us to Colorado. Would we like him to come along? The answer was simple: Of course we would like to have him. So after playing a late night ball game, he drove to Manhattan and arrived about 2:00 am on Thursday morning. 

 Prior to leaving I had some serious reservations about going. The weather reports indicated a bad storm coming into western Kansas. Then I saw reports of a coming bad storm in the mountains of Colorado. Not exactly the formula for a great trip. No beautiful scenery.  

 I got up at 5:30 and cared for the zoo, ate breakfast, prepared coffee for my class (Mr. Ingmire needs to look into the problem of so many students drinking coffee in the 8:00 am classes), and went to school. 

I taught my class and then proceeded home.

 Geoffrey and Arletta had the car loaded. I tied my computer to the roof so that it would stay cool (joke). We left around 10:30 am from Manhattan. Breakfast at Mac's lounge and then on the road. 

 Weather was beautiful as we went, temperature 58 degrees. 

 With no significant excitement we drove to Hays where we refueled and had lunch at Arby's. But we noticed that the wind changed and the temperature began to drop, but the sky was still clear. As we went by Colby and Goodland the local radio stations were warning people to hunker down, stay off the roads, and get ready for the big blow. Lots of that white stuff on the way. But we continued on. 

 Geoffrey was now driving. He got a call from a friend in the Denver area who told him that I-70 was closed from the Kansas border to Tower Road (just outside Denver).  But we continued on. 

 When we got to the Kansas border the weather was deteriorating with a little blowing snow from the north across traffic. Perfect for drifting. Traffic was moving along and so we continued also most of the time in the passing lane. 

 At this point let me give a sales pitch for the Chrysler 300. Without chains we made the entire trip. Only on one very slick stretch did we have any slippage. Other than that the car climbed Lookout Mountain, Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass without a bit of hesitancy. Of course that could be due to the Pirelli racing tires I installed on the car recently. The car is Arletta's and she said she wanted racing tires so that she could really "enjoy" the car. But that car performed marvelously. 

 We arrived at Limon in a blizzard. The roads were still open. We stopped to take on petrol and make one other important stop. The snow was really blowing now. But the clerk in the store told Geoffrey, "I-70 is now open." Later we would find out I-70 had been closed up to that time. So maybe our guardian angel had made arrangements for our continued progress. We will give Him the credit. 

 We pulled out on I-70 again into the blizzard, but the road was still drivable. As went along we saw numerous snowplows and highway patrol cars, all going east. The gates were open and the barriers down (although we may have crossed the barriers on top of the snow. We are now driving a Chrysler 300 Snowcat. 

 The trip from Burlington to Denver was exciting. Part of the time we could only see 100 feet down the road. The wind was blowing across the highway and there were occasional slick spots. But our angel driver did a great job of keeping the big 300 under control. Around Strasburg we ran into ice on the road and even the 300 fishtailed a little. 

Finally around 5:00 PM we made it to Denver. We ate supper at the only restaurant in town--the Village Inn. We have eaten at the Village Inn off Federal Blvd since 1960.  Actually the rest of the trip was not bad.

 We then began climbing the passes out of Denver. The storm had basically passed and CDOT had done a good job of cleaning the roads. Roads were snow packed, but not slick. The Pirelli racing tires bit into the snow and took up the passes and helped control the downward passage.   

 We did run into some more bad roads outside of Glenwood Spring. 

 Finally we arrived in Grand Junction about 12:30 CDT. Tad and Nick had waited up for us. I sent them updates along the way so that they knew where we were. 

 For the entire trip we were either just behind or just ahead of a storm. Our angel was busy. The news reported today that Denver really got dumped on last night. If we had stopped in Denver we would still be there.  

 A special thanks to Geoffrey and his mountain driving skills.  All of our boys are pros when it comes to driving in the mountains. And we do appreciate them.  Our girls also know how to drive in the snow. If they didn't they would definitely be stay at home girls. 

 We did have a wonderful time at the conference. I was among the original people who started this conference back in the 1960s. Erskine E. Scates was a missionary visionary and he wanted the churches of Western Colorado to be involved in missions. As a result "The World Vision Crusade" was inaugurated. Down through the years we had the best of missionary speakers and programs. I am sure that many were influenced to not only go to the mission field, but to support missions with funds and prayers. I can remember well the stirring services we had. 

This year the featured speaker was David Butts, a prayer guru. He did a marvelous job discussing the role of spiritual warfare and the place of prayer. He gave me the ammunition for several future sermons inasmuch as I am in a series of messages on spiritual warfare. 

We also spent time with our family in Grand Junction, the Mama, the Papa, the Grandma, the Grandpa, the Uncle (Nick) and ultimately the great granddaughter, Olivia Jean Paddock, "Ollie." We oohed and aahed at her by the hour, watching her every movement. "Ollie" is certainly in love with her Grandpa Tad. She has him wrapped around her finger already. My brother and his wife, Doug and Tommye Paddock, came from Moab Utah and we had a great afternoon together on Sunday. 

The trip home was much less eventful than the trip to Colorado. On Sunday afternoon high winds hit the Grand Valley followed by an inch of snow. That gave us cause for concern, but our concern was unfounded. Our trip went well all the way to Manhattan. 

Reflecting on the weekend, I marveled at the support we received from our boys. It was a great family experience. First, our oldest boy, Geoffrey, took off work so that he could help his parents get to Colorado. Marty took off work to stay at our house with his own children whom we normally watch when his wife is teaching. In fact Marty and Alisha stayed at the house and took care of the zoo while we were gone. Much appreciated, Marty. Finally, Tad and Gloria treated us like royalty. Great food, great hospitality. Special coffee was brought just for the old Grandpa and Tad prepared gourmet meals. We just want our boys to know they are appreciated and a source of joy and pride as we grow older. Thanks boys!