Sabbath Rest
Genesis 2:1-4, Matthew 11:28-30, Mark 6:31, Luke 10:6 and John 4:5-6
23rd Sunday after Pentecost – November 16, 2025
By Pastor Jane Shelton, CRE
This past week I have been at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia for continuing education with other pastors in Flint River Presbytery.
Every year I look forward to this time to be with my peers in Flint River Presbytery and our Head Presbyter, Deb Tregaskis. It’s an exciting time for sharing, listening and learning from them, and the professors at Columbia Seminary.
We are always invited to read a book or books to prepare for this retreat, and this year we covered three: The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, by Marva J. Dawn, and Subversive Sabbath, by A.J. Swoboda.
After a season of Stewardship in September, followed in October by Paul’s instructions to his followers to continue to carry the message of the gospel and the Reformers reminding us that all we do is for the glory of God, I thought maybe it would be a good pause for us to consider a Sabbath rest before we begin our Advent Season.
Sabbath rest, I hope, will be a reminder that while we are now in the midst of the busy holiday season, God calls us to rest.
If you remember, though, our sermon last week was full of thanksgivings for all the people who have been busy throughout the year volunteering, and in case you missed it, that included all of you who are sitting here today.
All of you participate at some time in the life of the church. Some may be more visible than others due to time, talents, abilities, and gifts that you are able to provide; however, all are entitled to Sabbath rest.
There is a long list of things that we have done throughout the year in favor of the good work of our Lord, in learning, in fellowship, and in upkeep of our property. All done for the glory of God.
Some of you here and others joining on Facebook Livestream have worked hard on keeping yourselves healthy, while your caregivers also focus on all they can do to make you comfortable and well, which also takes a lot of time and energy, and is the work of Jesus.
Many have started new jobs, new routes in education, and others who are completing education.
There are many stresses that we face in the world, and we don’t need church to be just another point of stress, rather a place to come and be renewed and be in the presence of God, rejoicing and praising the blessings of the Lord.
So let us take a moment and hearken back to the beginning of creation when our God, who worked for six days, rested on the seventh day.
We know this, right? We’ve all read this before. God created the heavens and the earth and all the multitude in six days, and then he rested on the seventh day.
It doesn’t say he rested for an hour or a half day, but for the day. If I’m correct, a day is 24 hours. How long has it been since you have rested for a full 24 hours?
Even when we are not at work, we have errands, doctors’ appointments, housekeeping, yard work, taking care of our neighbors, taking care of our families. We have shopping to do, especially at this time of year, and we have events to get prepared for, so exactly when are we supposed to rest for 24 hours?
You might be thinking, well God could rest because God is God and has all the time in the world, but we have schedules and deadlines to meet.
Yet, God made us in his image. God made us to also rest.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John remind us that we are called to rest, as we just heard in our scripture readings this morning.
John’s gospel might not be as obvious, so let’s look at it just a moment.
I’m sure you can all agree that Jesus was crazy busy. I mean he was healing, teaching his disciples and multitudes of people, dealing with rulers that challenged him at every turn, and finding the lost. Jesus was surrounded by people every day with little time for escape, but he was intentional about making time to pray and be with his Abba Father.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus has been finding the lost and the disciples have been baptizing, and he is headed back to Galilee after sending his disciples on ahead of him to the city to buy food.
Jesus, we are told comes to Samaria, and Jesus went to Jacob’s well because he was tired from his journey and was sitting by the well. Jesus needed to rest, and he recognized that he needed to rest.
It is during his visit with the woman at the well that Jesus explains to the Samaritan woman the water of eternal life that leads to eternal rest. Jesus recognized the importance of rest for himself, and for all people, not just the rest required in Jewish traditions.
Jesus, like God his Abba Father, is talking about a Sabbath rest.
The Sabbath is one of the ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”
Jewish tradition for Sabbath, known as Shabbat, is the Jewish day of rest and celebration that begins on Friday before sunset and ends on the following evening after nightfall. It is a celebration that includes lighting candles, prayers and feasting of bread and other delicacies.
The world keeps us so busy that we barely have time to get here on a Sunday morning for an hour’s worship service, much less resting for 24 hours.
Every time our phones buzz or beep, we look to make sure we are not missing something. We are entertained by our iPad and our iPhone, and I am among the guilty that has to come to think my down time is reading my Facebook page or surfing the internet, not realizing that all the while it is keeping me from my time with God and my mind never rests, and it certainly is not resting on God, except for maybe when I scroll across a thoughtful or uplifting post that I decide to share.
We have spent several Sundays in Generations of Faith on the meaning of Shalom. In his book, Subversive Sabbath, Swoboda says “shalom in the Bible means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight — a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.”
Shalom is what we find in Sabbath rest. Our Contemplative Prayer sessions allow time for meditations when we sit still long enough so that the Creator and Savior can open a door and welcome us in because God delights in our presence.
It’s when we give our minds a break to rest fully with only God as our focus, we are enlivened by the Holy Spirit and re-energized to flourish.
During Sabbath rest, God restores our broken bodies, minds, communities, and ecosystems through our letting go of our own control over the world long enough to enter the mystery of God’s wonder.
Like centering prayer, taking a Sabbath rest takes intentionality and forethought. We may even need to learn to prepare for rest. We may have to start with an hour to two or a half day before we can commit to a full day, and we will need to learn to say no to all the things that lay claim to our lives and our time.
There is a rhythm to how God created us, and Karen Mains believes “every day of the week revolves around the Sabbath with three days to look forward to the Sabbath, and three days to reflect back with wonder.”
So, we learn to prepare for rest with the intentionality and mindfulness being a part of the authentic rest.
I invite you to consider ways that you can begin to enter Sabbath rest. Choose a day or time and build upon it. Look forward to escaping the hectic schedules and deadlines so that you can find shalom.
We could perhaps start with silence or a devotion, followed by a walk with our family, or learn new hobbies that allow you to disengage from work, such as reading the Bible or finally taking the time to read a good book that a friend recommended.
Today, we will remain seated when we sing our last hymn, COME TO ME, O WEARY TRAVELER, and I have asked Donna to play through another time as we prayerfully sit in silence and place our focus on God in this moment as we attempt to approach a true Sabbath rest for just a few moments.
When we return on the 23rd, we will look at the symbols on the Christmas trees, the Chrismons, and explore Christ the King. The youth will assist me in highlighting the Chrismons as I talk about their history, and they will be placed on the trees.
Following the service, we will all finish hanging the greens for our Advent season.
Then, I’m hoping that all of you will be filled with blessings during the week and enjoy your Thanksgiving Day, and when we meet on the 30th, the first Sunday of Advent, we will return for a Sabbath rest during our worship service which will model more of our First Friday Contemplative Service with lighting candles and prayer stations.
There has been a lot going on in the world and in our personal lives, and it will be a beautiful time for us to press pause and just take an hour to breathe in shalom and breathe out our stresses as we enter the Advent season.
Blessings to all of you during this week of Thanksgiving, and may you find your day of Sabbath rest.