Jun 25, 2018
by Carl Greene
The Dessert. Chocolate-covered peanut butter balls must be one of the greatest desserts ever. The combination of a thin, sweet chocolate coating with a creamy peanut butter center makes a taste combination that is simply fantastic. Granted, most people believe chocolate is wonderfully fulfilling on its own. Yet, it would be a horrible shame if someone were to pop a peanut butter ball into his mouth, consume the chocolatey coating of goodness, and then spit out the peanut butter core. Who would commit such an atrocity? Even though the chocolate is fantastic, it is so much better with the peanut butter center—consumed as it was intended to be.
Sabbath Rest. Is it possible that I treat Sabbath like a half-consumed peanut butter ball? Let’s say that I enjoy Sabbath a great deal. I thrive in the blessing of working for six days, and then enjoy a day of rest. I am further blessed in corporate worship that I celebrate on the seventh day. These truly are great blessings—on par with the goodness of chocolate dripping from my chin. But, what if I am consuming the chocolate of Sabbath, believing that I am satisfied with a wonderful delight, but never tasting the peanut butter? Sabbath is more than attending worship on the seventh day and resting from work—that is the chocolatey coating around the core. There is yet more to enjoy, the peanut butter core, or the essence of the Sabbath. If we allow ourselves to be satisfied with only chocolate, we experience a blessing, but far short of what might have been.
Deuteronomy. I wish that I could demonstrate that Moses really, really liked peanut butter balls—alas, probably not. I do think that Moses recorded God’s intention for Sabbath that follows the illustration of the peanut butter ball—a wonderful coating and a fulfilling core. In Deuteronomy 5:12-14:
12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
(ESV)
God offers a wonderful blessing in this passage. First, people who were once enslaved and working all the time now enjoy the tremendous blessing of physical rest. Second, they are still offered the blessing of fulfilling work six days of the week, but it is kept from becoming an idol through weekly rest. Third, the Israelites are given the opportunity to bless the people around them with weekly rest. What a glorious picture! The Israelites have been removed from the pressure cooker of stress in Egypt and have been welcomed into a sustainable life pattern of rest that keeps God first and is celebrated in community. Glorious chocolate I say! Yet, that is the coating: there is so much more at the center of the Sabbath:
15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
—Deuteronomy 5:15, ESV
There is a peanut butter core that cannot be missed! The core is to remember. They were once slaves. God loves them and delivered them. They are called to celebrate. This is an action: remember and celebrate. The chocolatey goodness is to rest and avoid work. The peanut butter core is to remember and celebrate. Specifically, they are being called to remember and celebrate salvation.
Me. I fear that as a Seventh Day Baptist, I can become far too satisfied with the chocolate coating. The seventh day and worship in community are key components of Sabbath celebration—they are wonderful and certainly key components of Sabbath rest. Yet, I am prone to miss the peanut butter core. I can be enticed to smugly believe that attending worship and a Bible Study on the seventh day is the fullness of Sabbath rest. If that is the case, I am missing a key ingredient of Sabbath.
I am called to remember. Sabbath rest should cause me to remember my salvation story. I need to pause and remember how God has been at work drawing me into relationship with Him. I am called to celebrate the people God has placed in my life to help shape and mold me into who God has created me to be. I am called to repentance and forgiveness to remove any barriers that are distancing me from my Savior. My Sabbath remembering should also lead me to action—to share my story of salvation with the people around me. Remembering takes time—active time of engaging in prayer, reflecting on my story, and sharing the hope of salvation with others.
Practical. I want to continue to eat my Sabbath chocolate…but get a whole lot more peanut butter with it. Two practical areas I will invite you to join me in. First, consistent and enthusiastic participation in worship. If I am going to celebrate my salvation in community, I should be there—but that is not enough. I need to be actively engaged, on the edge of my seat into it. Second, I need to practice Sabbath rest throughout the day. How do I simply spend time with my Father on Sabbath? How do I rest in His presence on Sabbath? If you and I do not have a good answer to that—we are missing the peanut butter.
