Leisure and The Church

Introduction

As the major holiday season begins it’s an appropriate time to be thinking Christianly about leisure. But as we heard from the fourth of the Ten Commandments we can’t think biblically about leisure without also, by way of introduction, saying something about work. As the fourth commandment suggests God’s pattern for human life is a rhythm between work and rest. Neither work nor leisure is complete in itself. In prescribing a day of rest, the fourth commandment also commands us to work. I wonder if you recognize any of the following statements on work and leisure?

• Seen on the back of a truck in the USA – ‘I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!’
• Observed on the back of an office door – ‘I’d rather be fishing!’
• ‘Work fascinates me – I can sit and watch it for hours!’
• ‘Hard work may not kill me but why take a chance?’
• ‘Retired – no more worry, no more hurry, no more boss!’

The first two say a lot about attitudes to work and leisure in the world today. ‘I owe, I owe, so off to work I go’ is one dominant work ethic. It views work in mercenary terms in that it’s what makes our acquisitive lifestyle possible. ‘I’d rather be fishing’ views work as a necessary evil. It’s saying leisure is what we value and work is what we put up with as a means to that end. We hear people thanking God that it’s Friday but I doubt we hear many thanking God that it’s Monday.

But work is one of God’s gifts to the human race. Work is a creation ordinance. We were created by God, in part, to work. Turn with me then first to the end of Genesis 1 and beginning of 2, chapters which are about how God made and meant the world to be. Look first at Genesis 1:31:
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing: so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
So God is a worker. Now look at Genesis 1:26-27:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

So if God is a worker and he created us in his own image, then chapter 2:15 should come as no surprise:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Yes God created us supremely for a relationship with him, and then for a relationship with others in marriage, family and community (see Genesis 2:18-25) and we’ll come back to that later, but also to work. Work, both paid and unpaid, is part of the created order. Work belongs to the original perfect order of things; it is part of God's intended purposes for his people. But because of man's rebellion against God, because of Adam and Eve's decision that they could live without reference to God in Genesis 3, God put a curse on work. Look at 3:17-19:

To Adam God said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

So work would become harder and more time consuming. There would be long hours. There would be painful toil. There would be thorns and thistles. Work would be less satisfying and more frustrating. This side of heaven there won’t be a perfect work-life balance.

So work is a creation ordinance. It’s also a command.

Six days you shall labour and do all your work. (Exodus 20:9)

When the Apostle Paul heard that some at the church in Thessalonica were idle he commanded and urged them

in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:12)

They were not busy but busybodies. (2 Thessalonians 3:11)

If we have lots of free time are we being busybodies – interfering, criticizing or gossiping – or are we using the time God has given us productively for his glory? Praying, encouraging, visiting, caring, building up, witnessing in the community and family, volunteering? In retirement there is still work to be done even though the amount may change as we get older. Certainly biblically there’s no such thing as retirement in God’s service. The book of Daniel is testimony to that for Daniel was in his 80’s when, as one of the chief administrators of Babylon, he was thrown in the lions den for obeying God rather than men.

But rest from work is also a creation ordinance. We were not created to work all the time. Sleep, rest and leisure are also God’s gifts to us. So all workaholics listen up! Commitment to work, to achievement and to Christian service runs strong in many evangelical churches and to an extent rightly so. But there can be the belief that all leisure is bad and that Christians should be above indulging in leisure. So we can feel guilty when we relax. However other church folk can be so busy pursuing leisure activities that they are hardly ever available for service within the church. So all leisure addicts need to listen to what God’s word says about leisure too! So…


Firstly, WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT LEISURE?

Let's go back to Genesis 1&2. In Genesis 1 God rested as well as worked. After each day of creation he contemplated and enjoyed what he’d created, calling it ‘good’. You can see that in verses 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 & 31. After the individual days of creation, each punctuated by rest, there came a whole day of rest. Look at v1-3 of Genesis 2:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

The pattern of having one day's rest in seven was established by God from the start. Interestingly when the Communists came to power in Russia they tried to make people work a ten day week followed by one day off. It didn't work. God's design is one day off in seven.

But what does God’s rest from work say about leisure? Well first it affirms leisure by drawing a boundary to human work and acquisitiveness. Sadly in our society that boundary is now very thin or gone because of Sunday trading. Like God’s rest, leisure should free us from the need of productivity and allow us instead to enjoy what has already been made. Secondly God’s rest from work infers that leisure is more than emptiness or idleness. There should be joy and satisfaction and the enjoyment and contemplation of nature, artistry and beauty. Thirdly there is a note of refreshment in the rest of God. In the Revised Standard Version of Exodus 31:17 it states that “on the seventh day God rested and was refreshed”. So human rest and leisure is meant to bring refreshment.

Now turn to p78. Rest from work is also commanded. The fourth of the Ten Commandments says this (Exodus 20:8-11):

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

So the Sabbath retains resting and ceasing from work. Indeed it shows very clearly that God has prescribed times when people make a complete halt to utilitarian activities. But the Sabbath is now a holy day of worship. This therefore is also integral to rest and leisure. That doesn’t mean we don’t worship God in our daily work but Sunday worship is a particular kind of leisure and should be part of what refreshes us for the week ahead. One commentator writes:

“Now, what is the meaning of the Sabbath that was given to Israel? It relativizes the works of mankind, the contents of the six working days. It protects mankind from total absorption by the task of subduing the earth, it anticipates the distortion which makes work the sum and purpose of human life, and it informs mankind that he will not fulfill his humanity in his relation to the world which he is transforming but only when he raises his eyes above, in the blessed, holy hour of communion with the Creator. With this meaning it would be no exaggeration to state that the Sabbath sums up the difference between the biblical and Marxist visions. The essence of mankind is not work!” (Blocher)

However, as someone else has written, ‘Therefore the Sabbath is not a lazy day, "the rest of a lethargic God" rather it is a day set aside for something. We understand this with the concept of a sabbatical. One dictionary defines it as "a year or half-year . . . for rest, travel, or study". Something is to be accomplished in a Sabbath rest; as Bonhoeffer put it "You shall keep holy the holiday and not sleep it away"!’ Coming to church both morning and evening is a good way of keeping the day holy, of being refreshed spiritually and not sleeping it away!

Other Bible passages reinforce God’s provision for human rest from work. The annual feast days of the Old Testament were days away from work. In Numbers 28 we learn that on the first and seventh days of the feast of unleavened bread the Israelites were commanded to do no laborious work. And today many of us can enjoy holidays. There is also importantly the example of Jesus. Throughout his busy public years Jesus found times of retreat. In Mark 6:45 we read this:

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.

Jesus prescribed a similar pattern for his disciples. In Mark 6:30 we read that:

The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

So Jesus didn’t reduce life to ceaseless evangelism. God draws a boundary to every type of work, even the work of proclaiming the gospel and helping people in their physical needs.

The biblical principle of rest provides a space in which leisure can occur.

So to my second heading, what does all this mean for leisure and the church?


Second, LEISURE AND THE CHURCH

As a church we need to think Christianly about leisure. Some of us may be too busy with work and church work that we never rest and enjoy that blessing from God. Yes, like the Apostle Paul, there’ll be times when we have to work day and night to get the gospel out. No doubt that may be true for some of the JPC Holiday Club team over the next two weeks. Jesus never said following him would be easy. In fact he made it very plain that it would be costly and that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. But as we’ve seen God commands and gives both work and rest. Christians are not above taking part in godly leisure. If we think we are then we’re disobeying God and withdrawing ourselves from building relationships in the family and community and therefore from gospel opportunities.

One way of connecting with people in Jesmond and Gosforth is to join David Lloyd Leisure Club (if you can afford it) as many families in this area seem to be members and spend Saturday mornings there. As a church we try not to have too much running on Saturdays, apart from outreach events and sports, so as not to wear everyone out and allow time for work that still needs to be done before Sunday and for building family and community relationships. One church in Texas has gone further. It runs each day according to the Hebrew day: 6am – 6pm. There are no timetabled church events after 6pm so that its members can spend time getting to know neighbours and sharing the gospel with them.

The church should also provide, in moderation, occasions for leisure among its members. That is one reason why JPC runs a holiday weekend away at Blaithwaite in the Lake District each year, when we also enjoy the wonder of God’s creation. It is one reason why small groups in the church should have socials as well as Bible studies and prayer times. Now don’t get me wrong. The church is first of all a spiritual fellowship. Acts 2: 42-47 makes that very clear. But with that as a base the church is also made up of people with normal human needs, such as sociability, relaxation and enjoyment. Sure, we must never turn the church into a social club. We have been commissioned to go and make disciples. Part of the purpose of the football and hockey teams is evangelism as well as providing opportunities to play sport at a time which doesn’t clash with Sunday worship. But we must not ignore the need for human fellowship and shared enjoyment. Jesus understood this as he shared in and even provided for the celebration at the wedding at Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-11). He also shared meals with those he had come to seek and to save.

Others of us may be too busy pursuing leisure activities, such as going away most weekends or sport, that God and his people come second. It can be a slippery slope. In Exodus 20 God commands us to work six days and to rest from work on the seventh but he also commands us to keep that Sabbath day holy. It is not the holiday or shopping day our secular culture has made it. Nor should it be the work day for all shop workers in Newcastle at this very moment. Praise God that the government said this week that proposals to extend shopping hours on a Sunday are not to become a reality for now. Last Sunday evening the religion called soccer was being worshipped around the world on the Sabbath. Did we remember to keep the Sabbath day holy? Do we normally keep the Lord’s Day different? Is it right to go to the pub after church?

“Six days shall you labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.”

Recently my son has been asked to play cricket for Newcastle U13’s but, of course, they play on a Sunday morning so it’s not possible. Maybe your family is facing similar pressures. We need to stand firm and work to change the culture, not to be legalistic but for the glory of God and the well being of his creation.

Now Paul in Colossians 2:16-17 says

“do not let anyone judge you with regard to a Sabbath day”.

But the New Testament also shows that Christians did think of Sunday - the day of the Resurrection - as a special day. God led them to move his special day of rest from the 'seventh day' of the week (that had celebrated the first creation) to the 'first day' of the week (that now celebrates the new creation). Jesus encountered a great deal of legalism with regard to the Sabbath, as we heard from Mark’s Gospel. And he would have none of it.

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)

But he still kept the day of rest himself. And the change to Sunday, from Saturday, showed that one day in seven as special was still important after Christ. So we should prioritize a Christian Sunday to meet together as a church. And we should make daily time 'holy to the Lord' for Bible reading and prayer, both individually and as families and in small groups. Now I’m sure physical exercise can be one good way of spending some leisure time. I wouldn’t know too much about that! However spiritual exercises such as worship services, Bible studies and prayer groups share some of the same qualities as leisure. They remove us from the world of work and send us back to that world refreshed. God blessed the Sabbath day – it’s meant to a day of blessing for us. As I said at the beginning God did not create us only for work, but supremely for relationship with him. And of course we should steward all our time for the Lord and not just one day in seven.

Leisure is God’s gift to us. God’s people should therefore not drift into low quality leisure life but have high quality leisure even though it won’t be perfect this side of heaven and even though some of that leisure life will be radically different to that considered high quality by the world. As I’ve said following Christ will involve sacrificial commitment but rest from work is a creation ordinance and part of God’s provision for us. The proper response is gratitude to God and stewardship of that time to him. In our leisure time we don't stop being Christians. We shouldn’t forget God on holiday. Jesus is Lord of the whole of life, even of the Sabbath. We are to live to please him. As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 10:31:
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

You see there is a rest that is more than physical. God’s eternal rest – salvation, eternal life. And Hebrews 4:1 tells us that

“the promise of entering his rest still stands”.

How do we enter this true spiritual and eternal rest? Hebrews 4:3 says – those who have believed the gospel enter that rest – those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can’t enter that rest by our own work – no we must, as Hebrews 4:10 puts it, cease our own efforts to gain salvation by our own works, which is absolutely impossible, and ‘rest’ in the finished work of Christ on the cross. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Who needs to enter that rest today through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?