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EditorialToday is Friday. The dead-

line for completing this issueis Monday. Before I can write theeditorial, I first have to clear outa small valley between the moun-tains of papers on my desk. Thephone is ringing, and someone ispersistently knocking at thedoor. I came to work early todayand I may stay late, unless I havea meeting tonight. In that case,I'JI probably take some workhome for the weekend (maybe Ican edit and mow grass at the

same time)-but then again, wemay have house guests. Neverthe-less, the deadline is Monday. Andif I'm under this kind of pressure,what must the editor be feeling?

You may think it ironic thatsomeone so close to the brink ofbum out should be writing aboutrest. I agree. We have discoveredat New Wine that before Godallows us to publish an issue on aparticular theme, He will first dealwith us personally in that area sothat our words may be "seasonedwith salt." The topic of rest hasbeen no exception, but we hope itwill be clear from the tone of thisissue that the dealings of God inthis aspect of our lives are justbeginning. Stress has become suchan established way of life in ourday that it may take Him sometime to unwind us all.

Our guess is that most of youface the same predicament ofsearching for the proper combi-nation of productivity and rest.The authors who share theirthoughts this month have searchedfor that combination as well.They have aJl suffered at timesfrom weariness and grieved tosee the people of God so often inneed of rest. But all of them arenevertheless confident that theLord can give us grace to be re-newed. Their insights providewhat we hope will be a fruitfulbalance between experience andvision-between a realistic ap-praisal of things as they are andan encouraging perspective onhow they could be.

At the heart of any biblicalperspective on rest lies the Sab-bath. Unfortunately, even themention of the word often stirscontroversy. The correct inter-pretation of the fourth command-ment has been debated in theChurch for centuries; in fact, theapostle Paul himself had to dealwith the issue. His conclusion leftthe matter open to a variety ofopinions: "One man regards oneday above another, another re-gards every day alike. Let each

man be fuJlyconvinced in his ownmind" (Rom. 14:5 NAS).

We are keenly aware that Paulhas instructed us in the samechapter to "keep whatever youbelieve about these things be-tween yourself and God" (vs. 22).But we are sadly aware as weJlthat all too often our approach tothe Sabbath has not been one weare "fuJly convinced" is right.Rather we find ourselves wearilyasking God for new light to beshed on the subject so that wecan find some relief from thepressured pace of our lives. Forthat reason, the articles on theSabbath are presented here in thehope that raising the issue will en-courage, not more controversy,but instead a new desire to seekout the will of God in a mattermany of us have long neglected.

Above all, we are sensing thesedays that the place of rest await-ing us will be found near to theheart of God. Rest lies deep with-in His nature: He is the Creatorwho ceased from His labor on theseventh day; the still, smaJl Voicewho met Elijah in the Quiet cave;the Lord of the Sabbath and thePrince of Peace; the Victor whowill sit down after His final con-Quest with His enemies as a foot-stool. God's desire is that webecome like Him, not only in do-ing His works, but also in enteringHis rest.

As the leader of a nation, KingDavid had to cope with tremen-dous pressures every day. But hisattitude, so beautifuJly expressedin Psalm 131, should be our exam-ple. We must learn as David did toQuietourselves like a weaned childon the Lord's breast. For in thatplace of comfort we will no doubtdiscover a time for renewal, atime for refreshing-a time torest.

Paul ThigpenEditorial Assistant

JUNE 1982

Fired Up and Burned Out_____________________ by Dwight Ham

,'Burn out" is a topic get-ting a great deal of at-

tention lately. We read and hearabout it everywhere-in articlesand books, on television andradio. People are constantly talk-ing about being burned out on thejob, at home and in general. Ofcourse. they are basicaJly just us-ing the latest term for fatigue anddiscouragement. We have experi-enced those problems all along,but now someone has a new wayto describe and publicize them.

Burn out is the result of pro-longed stress. Stress in itself isnot a bad thing. In many ways, itis necessary for growth and varietyin our lives. When we exerciseour muscles. we stress them; thatis how they grow and stay inshape. When we study somethingnew to learn it, we are stressingour minds. These kinds of stress

. are good and necessary. But theproblem most of us face fromtime to time is either that weundergo too much stress fromtoo many directions at once. orthe stress we are under is pro-longed beyond its usefulness.When we are under more stressthan we can handle, we feel theeffects of it psychologically, phy-sically and spirituaJly as well.

Most of what I have read aboutburn out offers formulas for re-covering from it or for avoiding italtogether. The prescriptions varywidely, ranging from the human-

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istic approach that says, "Sit back.pamper yourself and don't do any-thing you don't want to do" to thekind of "spiritual" approach thatsays, "Don't even acknowledgeburn out. Just stand in faith.believe God and keep pushing."Although there is some validityin the first approach (we do needperiods of relaxation), as well asthe second approach (we do needto be positive and keep trying),it is not always easy to knowwhich remedy would be bestapplied. For a better under-standing, we can look at the ex-ample of one "fired up" servantof God who finally burned out.From his experience we canlearn how God views stress andhow He desires to help us over-come it.

Elijah in the WildernessIn 1 Kings we find the story of

the prophet Elijah. In chapter 19he receives a message to which heresponds rather strangely, and hisreaction in itself is an indicationthat Elijah was probably burnedout.

Now Ahab told Jezebel aJlthat Elijah had done, and howhe had killed all the prophetswith the sword.

Then Jezebel sent a messen-ger to Elijah, saying. "So maythe gods do to me and evenmore. if I do not make your life

as the life of one of them bytomorrow about this time."

And he was afraid and aroseand ran for his life and cameto Beersheba, which belongsto Judah, and left his servantthere. But he himself went aday's journey into the wilder-ness, and came and sat downunder a juniper tree; and herequested for himself that hemight die, and said, "It isenough; now, 0 Lord. take mylife, for I am not better thanmy fathers" (vv. 2-4 NAS).

Elijah had all the symptoms ofburn out. He experienced over-whelming fear and anxiety, whichcaused him to try to run awayfrom his circumstances. He alsofelt discouraged and sorry forhimself to the point of decidingthat he wanted simply to die.

How did Elijah get into thiscondition? We must go back tothe preceding chapters to under-stand what he had experiencedpreviously that made him so vul-nerable to these kinds of emotionsand so ready to give up altogether.

Elijah had confronted KingAhab, an idolater and one of themost wicked men ever to rule Is-rael, with this challenge: "Gatherall of Israel and all of the proph-ets of Baal and the Asherah. andmeet me on top of Mt. Carmel. Weare going to have a showdown."

Several days later, when people5

had gathered from allover thecountry. Elijah made this declara-tion: "Now look-if God is God.serve Him; if Baal is god. servehim. But we're going to decidetoday which is the case. Let theprophets of Baal sacrifice oxenon the altar and call for Baal tosend down fire to consume them.If Baal does. then you can wor-ship him. and I'll do the same.But if Baal fails. I will call on theLord God; and if He sends fire.then we'll worship Him."

The 450 prophets of Baal pre-pared their altar and began to cryout to him. but nothing happened.Hours later-after Baal's priestshad shouted themselves hoarse tono avail-Elijah began to mockthem, saying, "What's the matter?Is your god asleep? Shout a littlelouder!" So they cut themselvesand went into a terrible demonic~enzy. Even though they criedout like this all day long, nothinghappened.

As the day drew to a close, Eli-jah said. "Now it's my turn." Hehad the people pour water on theoxen, on the wood, on the altarand in a trench around them untileverything was saturated. Then theprophet of God prayed a very sim-ple prayer, and fire came downfrom heaven to bum up the wholealtar-oxen, wood. stones, soil,and even the water in the trench.

Elijah turned to Ahab and de-clared, "God is God-we've prov-en that," and immediately heslew all 450 of the prophets ofBaal. He then went up on top of amountain and prayed, and after-ward ran in the power of the Spir-

Dwight Ham attended Texas Technological Uni-versity in Lubbock, Texas, and Life Bible Collegein Los Angeles. He is presently a pastor in Planta-tion, Florida, and serves on the Board of Directorsfor the Broward County chapter of Birthright, apro-life organization. Dwight lives in Plantationwith his wife, Janice. and their children.

6

it to the city of Jezreel seventeenmiles away.

A Man With a Nature Like OursNeedless to say, by the time he

got to Jezreel Elijah had had arather full week. He had not justbeen sitting back. taking it easy.A great deal had been happen-ing. much of it of a supernaturalnature. God had demonstrated Hispower in a dramatic way.

We should note here that Godhad commanded and empoweredElijah to do all that he had done;he had not worn himself out do-ing something that was outside ofGod's will. He was human, andthe Scripture teaches us that ourhuman nature is weak. The proph-et had been operating during thattime under the anointing of theSpirit of God. But when thatanointing lifted after God had ac-complished His purposes. Elijahwas tired.

I would imagine that as soonas the prophet had settled downfrom his experience on Mt. Car-mel, he probably began to feelthe draining of energy that comesafter an intense and extendedperiod of excitement. Just as hewas letting down, probably re-flecting in tired satisfaction onthe victory God had given, therecame a knock at the door, and amessenger said, "I have a mes-sage for Elijah from Jezebel:'Buster, if I don't do to you to-morrow what you did to myprophets yesterday, then I'm notqueen.'" Elijah knew she wasqueen, and he knew she meant it-and it scared him.

Evidently. at that point Elijahdid not have the reserve of ener-gy to stand up and fight anymore.He did not have the strength tosay, "I'm going to stand in faithand keep on going." Instead hebecame afraid and ran into thewilderness. There he sat downunder a juniper tree and cried outto God. "Enough is enough! I'vehad all I can take; I can't goanymore."

How many of us have ever beenin that kind of situation? We getto the place where we say, "God,take me-I don't want to live any-more. I don't know how I can ac-complish what you have called meto accomplish." That is what Eli-jah was experiencing when hesaid, "I'm no better than anyoneelse who has tried to serve Youand failed. I'm failing too."

God's ResponseI think it is crucial for us to

understand how God handled Eli-jah from this point on, becausethat is the key to our being victor-ious whenever we find ourselves inthe same kind of situation. If wewere the one being addressed inthe way Elijah addressed God, weprobably would have been veryharsh with him. We would havesaid critically, "Look, you weak-ling, why are you feeling sorry foryourself? Why don't you get upand go back and fight like youjust did on Mt Carmel?" That isprobably how we would have reosponded. As a matter of fact, thatis often how we respond to our-selves in such a situation. Wecriticize ourselves harshly, ask-ing, "Why am I so weak? I shouldbe able to overcome this. It's justa weakness of the flesh." We runourselves ragged, though inwardlywe don't really have the strength togo on.

But God did not deal harshlywith Elijah. He kept silent, andElijah lay down and went to sleep.Then an angel woke him and said,"Elijah, get up and eat." Theangel provided food, and Elijahate. He lay down again, and theangel of the Lord came again asecond time and said. "Arise, eat,because the journey is too greatfor you." Elijah hadn't known hewas going on a journey, but Godknew.

Elijah's example illustrates oneof the first things to happen whensomeone is burned out, for what-ever reason: he experienced phys-ical weakness. Elijah needed phys-

JUNE 1982

ical strength. and in this situationGod began to minister to him inthe physical realm. to give himphysical rest and strength.

In chapter 19. verse 8, we read."So he arose and ate and drankand went in the strength of thatfood forty days and forty nights."Evidently God's provision wassupernatural. But it was still verynatural in one sense. because itwas a physical provision. God didnot just lift Elijah up and take himto his destination. Mount Horeb;He let him walk for forty days andforty nights. Significantly. thedistance he walked was only 250miles. and a man who was ac-customed to walking could walkthat in ten to fifteen days. But Eli-jah took forty.

I believe that this was the sec-ond aspect of God's restorationfor the prophet. He needed timeaway from the pressures of life,and in the wilderness there wasnothing to disturb him-no otherprophets fo\1owing him around.asking Questions; no soldierschasing him. There was nothinghe had to do, nothing he had tothink about. So Elijah took a lei-surely stro\1 in the strength ofGod's provision for forty days,and as he did he was able tobegin an emotional recovery.

After God meets the physicalneeds of someone who has burnedout, I think He next wants tobuild him up emotionally andmenta\1y. God wants to see thepressures taken off a person sohe can begin to think clearlyagain-something that is difficultto do when we are surrounded byresponsibilities and the demand-ing circumstances of everydaylife. For that reason God tookElijah on a journey out into themiddle of the desert. and Hedidn't make a rush trip out of it.

Often we become worn out anddecide that we need a little rest.So we take two days off and gosomewhere-to the beach, for ex-ample. But we don't even beginto relax before it is time to come

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back and take up our responsibili-ties again. We need to remember.however. that God gave Elijah allthe time he needed-forty days tobe exact-to walk alone in thewilderness, We may need morethan a couple of days ourselves.

Mount HorebAt the end of the journey, Eli-

jah arrived at Mount Horeb, themountain of God-the same moun-tain where Moses had seen theglory of God pass by. Elijah cameto a cave and lodged there. Therethe word of the Lord came tohim. asking: "What are you do-ing here. Elijah?"

We can interpret the intent ofthat Question in a number ofways. We could view it as arebuke. But God was the onewho had led Elijah on thatjourney, and God was the onewho had given him food for thestrength to take the journey. Idon't believe God was rebukinghim for being there, because Goddirected him to be there. Ratherthan a rebuke, I think the Ques-tion was a searching one thatallowed Elijah to open up hisspirit and find out exactly why hewas there. The prophet needed toknow he was there because theLord God had brought him there,and God wanted to continue do-ing something with his life. Hewas asking Elijah to examinehimself.

Elijah's answer at this point, Ithink. was probably one of self-pity. He said, "I have been veryzealous for the Lord, the God ofHosts; for the sons of Israel haveforsaken Your covenant, tomdown Your altars and killed Yourprophets with the sword. And Ialone am left; and they seek mylife to take it away" (19:10).Although Elijah was speakinghonestly as far as he knew, hewas feeling sorry for himself.

Then God said to him. "Goforth and stand on the mountainbefore the Lord." And when hedid. the Lord was passing by. The

~theliglife~~by;;£~ide

scripture says a strong wind waspummeling the mountain, break-ing the rocks into pieces. But theLord was not in the wind. Afterthe wind was an earthquake. butthe Lord was not in the earth-Quake. And after the earthquakewas a fire, but the Lord was notin the fire.

The Sound of QuietnessElijah was a prophet of God

who had seen fire come downfrom heaven. The kind of God heknew was mighty and majestic,and powerfu\1y demonstrated Hisglory. But as Elijah stood lookingout of his cave. waiting for God tomanifest Himself, he realized thatGod was not in the earthquake,wind or fire. This is not to saythat God couldn't have been inthose powerful phenomena, butrather that what God wanted todo in Elijah at this point couldnot be accomplished by a greatoutward show of power.

Fina\1y. the scripture says,after the fire came the sound of astill. sma\1 voice-in the literalHebrew, the "sound of Quietness."

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8

And there God appeared to Eli-jah. He began to speak to theprophet in a Quiet and gentleway. Elijah recognized that hewas in the presence of God, so hehumbled himself and hid himselffrom God's presence in the en-trance of the cave.

Then the holy voice came toElijah and said, "What are you do-ing here, Elijah?" It was the sameQuestion as before, but this time Ibelieve Elijah heard it in a verydifferent way. He now knew thatGod was speaking deep in hisspirit, saying, "What is your pur-pose? Who are you, Elijah? Whyhave I brought you here to thisplace?" The prophet gave thesame answer, but I believe that henow responded with a differentspirit because he was in a deepspiritual communion with his God.I think that he was essentially say-ing this time, "Lord, I don't knowwhat to do now."

Once more, God did notrebuke him. Instead God beganto show Elijah that he still had apurpose in life, that God still hadsomething He wanted to accom-plish through the prophet. Hetold him to go anoint two kingsand a prophet to do the Lord'swork.

Essentially, God said to Elijah,"You were not able to accom-plish what you wished-to bringJezebel to repentance. But I'mnot through with Jezebel, and I'mnot through with you. I won'tsend you back to confront herprophets again, to call down firefrom heaven again. I want you topass on your anointing and yourpower to these other men, andthey will finish what you have

begun. But I'm not through withyou, Elijah. You still have mean-ing: you still have purpose. Iwon't throw you away like a dirtyrag. What I want you to do will bedifferent from what you havebeen doing in the past. but it isstill my purpose for you." Andthen God sent him back.

God's Grace Is Our StrengthHow can we apply all this to

ourselves? I think that many timesGod allows us to get into situa-tions where we are overextended,just as God allowed Elijah to do. Itwas God's purpose for Elijah to beon Mount Carmel and to face allthose pressures. It was God's pur-pose that brought him to theplace where he couldn't stand onhis own any longer.

Elijah was not a failure. Nolack of faith on his part causedhim to go out into the desert andwant to die. God knew what hecould stand and what he couldnot. God had given Elijah super-natural strength before; He couldeasily have strengthened him inthat situation. But He knew Eli-jah needed a season of personalrestoration, a revelation of whohe was and what his importancewas to God, a time of specialcommunion with his Maker. TheLord allowed Elijah to come tothe end of himself for that verypurpose.

Sometimes when God puts usin a place where we don't havethe strength to go on, He doesn'texpect us to go on. He wants usto stop and get away from our cir-cumstances for a while. He wantsus to get away from the pressuresand change some aspect <}four

lifestyle so that we can be withHim and allow Him to restore us.

In those times we don't need tocondemn ourselves or keep tryingto push ourselves. Instead weshould first allow the Lord tostrengthen us physically. We mayneed to change our diet or beginto exercise-whatever it takes tobegin to revitalize our physicalstrength. We may need to changeour pace as well, readjusting ourschedule or trying some activitieswhich are different from our normalroutine. Instead of watching tele-vision, for example, we might reada good book that will help to re-store our minds and get our emo-tions moving in a new direction.

Above all. in such times weneed to seek, not the demonstra-tions of God's power, but thereality of personal communionwith Him, our spirit with His. Weneed to reexamine who we areand especially who we are inGod's purposes. God wants all ofus to experience that. and wecannot experience it if we are sobusy with everything else that weare under constant pressure.

This is not to say, of course,that we should be escapists. Butit is to say that when the timecomes for us to withdraw for awhile, we need to respond in theright way. We need to recognizethat it is not wrong to stop andrest, to be refreshed, to admit ourweakness and our need to bestrengthened. Nor is it wrong tostrengthen one another when wesee each other weary and dis-couraged.

God wants us to come to theplace where, whatever our situa-tion, we are able to draw on Hisgrace. If His grace is for strengthto fight the battle, then we will beable to fight. If His grace is forthe opportunity to leave the bat-tle, then we can withdraw for atime in order to be renewed. Ineither case-whether in the bat-tle on Mount Carmel or the Quietcave of Mount Horeb-God's gracewill be our strength ....

JUNE 1982

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Remember the Sabbath

Any attempt to understand the importance of rest in our lives would be incomplete without aperspective on the Sabbath. Gary Browning offers here a brief descriptive history of Sabbath from its

beginning in the Creation to its development into a complicated legal and religious system. Gemt Gustafsonexamines Jesus' confrontation with this system and considers how the Sabbath day is a shadow of the

genuine substance of rest promised us in Christ. Their insights should be an encouragement to us all toexplore further God's intention for His people to enter into His rest.

Rootedin Creationby Gary Browning

, , Sabbath," which means"to cease or rest," is a

principle rooted in creation. "Godblessed the seventh day and madeit holy, because on it, He rested[or ceased] from all the work ofcreating that He had done" (Gen.2:3 NIV). It is clear that from thebeginning man was to follow theexample of God in creation andobey His commandments to rest.The Sabbath principle's origina-tion in creation should keep usfrom the notion that a "spiritualSabbath" in Christ replaces theneed for a "natural Sabbath." Itwould also imply that man's roleas steward over God's creationcannot be fulfilled without a Sab-bath.

Before the seventh-day Sab-bath was legally instituted by aspecific commandment, it was anormal pattern in Israel's wan-derings in the wilderness (Ex.16:12, 25-26). During these wan-derings, Moses reminded the peo-ple to gather a double portion ofmanna on the sixth day in orderto avoid any labor on the Sabbath(Ex. 16:22, 29-30). This intro-duced the relationship of faith tothe Sabbath, since the Israeliteshad to trust God, not only to pro-vide food miraculously, but alsoto make available enough extraon the sixth day to eat on theSabbath. In short, it took faith toenter rest. The importance of thistruth becomes apparent when we

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consider how much of our laboris born out of fear and uncertain-ty because we depend on our ownproductivity rather than on God'sprovision.

A Unique NationalCharacteristic

Resting on the seventh day ofthe week not only became a dem-onstration of Israel's faith in God;it also became a reminder tothem of how He had deliveredthem out of captivity in Egypt(Dt. 5:12-15). God's command-ment to "remember the sabbathday to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8) be-came a uniquely Jewish memorial,a preserving factor in Hebrew so-ciety and one of its distinguishingcharacteristics among nations.The Sabbath was so important tothe cohesion and unity of Israelas a developing nation that theLord instructed, "Anyone whodesecrates the sabbath must beput to death; whoever does anywork on that day must be cut offfrom his people" (Ex. 31:14 NIV).A contemporary rabbi has re-marked that of all the possiblefactors contributing to the lon-gevity of Israel's identity as a na-tion, Sabbath is foremost.

Observance of Sabbath also be-came for Israel a sign of its cove-nant with God (Ex. 31:16-17), andthus an indication of its faithful-ness or unfaithfulness. The na-tion's delinquency in keepingSabbath was a major reason forthe Babylonian captivity. Ezekiel,preaching to the elders of Baby-lon, declared: "Also I gave themmy sabbaths as a sign betweenus, so they would know that I theLord made them holy" (Ezek.20:12 NIV). Israel's witness to thenations was to be its careful obe-dience to God's covenant condi-tions, and the Sabbath was a partof the covenant.

The Sabbatical andJubilee Years

Through Moses' leadership,God established not only a day of

rest but also a sabbatical year(Ex. 23:10-12; Lev. 25:1-7). Everyseventh year was considered atime to acknowledge God as thesource of all things in Israel. Theland was left unseeded, and theyonly harvested what came upfreely and naturally. The vine-yards were left unpruned so thatwhatever was produced duringthat year was shared equally byowners, servants and strangers.Creditors cancelled debts andslaves were released.

After seven observances of thesabbatical year came the year ofJubilee (Lev. 25:18-55). This wasa year of liberty in which familyproperty was restored to its origi-nal owners. In essence, Israel'snational life was directed by Sab-bath guidelines, and its failure toobserve them provoked God todeal with the nation in correctiveways.

Captivity stands out in Hebrewhistory as a primary way in whichGod reminded Israel of the costof broken covenant. Captivityserved two purposes: first, topunish Israel and Judah; and sec-ond, to restore the land and giveit Sabbath rest. Jeremiah prophe-sied that the people would bejudged for disregarding the Sab-bath (Jer. 17:27). We read in 2Chronicles 36:20-21 that afterGod's people were taken away toexile, "the land enjoyed its sab-bath rests; all the time of itsdesolation it rested, until theseventy years were completed infulfillment of the word of theLord spoken by Jeremiah" (NIV).

If Israel had remembered thewords of Moses, it would have

Gary Browning attended Bob Jones University,the University of South Alabama, and Mobile Col-lege. He is presently a pastor in Atlanta, Georgia,where he resides with his wife, Melita, and theirfive children.

11

an Just a Dayemt Gustafson

come to abolish the Law or thePr()pbets: I have not come toabolish them but to fulfillthem. ] tell you the truth, untilheaven and earth disappear,not the smallest letter, not theleast stroke of a pen, will byany means disappear from the'taw unul everything is ac-complished (Mt. 5:17-18 NIV).

~b~lqW s~nd's in the present ageana wiat remain until heaven andeartlil!disappear. If Jesus did notcome to abolish the law but tofulfill it (or to "fiU it up"), thenthe question is not whether lawexists under the new covenant,but rather, "What does trans-formed or 'filled up' law look like?"

Fulfilled LawIn Matthew chapter 5, Jesus

gives the new covenant interpre-tations of several specific laws:

You have heard that it wassaid, "Do not commit adultery."But I tell you that anyone wholooks at a woman lustfully hasalready committed adulterywith her in his heart ....

You have beard that it wassaId, "'Do Dot break youroatil., ... But I tell }IOU, do notswear at alL .. (vv. 27-28,33-34 NN).

JUNE 1982

Each time Jesus said, "But I tellyou." He was "filling up" the law.In each case, He spelled out theintent of the law and its broadermeaning. Significantly, in eachcase the demands of the new lawwere not lesser, but greater.

How would Jesus have com-pleted this statement: "You haveheard it said, 'Remember the Sab-bath by keeping it holy'; but I tellyou ... "? In the same way that He"filled up" the other command-ments, the Lord would certainlyhave broadened the meaning ofthe law and increased its demandsbeyond the original intent.

But Jesus did not make such astatement. Instead, He demon-strated the redemptive essence ofthe new Sabbath. He healed aman with a shriveled hand on theSabbath and said that it was law-ful to do good on the Sabbathand to save life (Lk. 6:6-9). Heand His disciples demonstratedthat it was lawful to satisfy hungeron the Sabbath when they pickedgrain and ate it on the holy day.When questioned, Jesus said that"the Son of Man is Lord of theSabbath" and so revealed a greaterlaw: the Lawgiver is greater thanthe law.

On another occasion. Jesushealed an invalid on the Sabbathand told the man to carry his mataway. The legalists blindly accusedboth the healed man and theLord of Sabbath-breaking. ButJesus answered, "My fatherworks ... and I work .... The Soncan do nothing by himself; he canonly do what he sees his Fatherdoing because whatever the Fa-ther does the Son also does"(John 5:17, 19 NIV).Jesus revealedthat His relationship to HisFather was the basis for what Hedid on the Sabbath. In this wayHe demonstrated that the law isnot essentially constitutional, butrather relational or personal.

New covenant law proceeds outof the will of our living Lord.Compliance to the new law is im-possible apart from a living rela-

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tionship to Him. We cannot mem-orize the will of God. In the samewaythat Jesus did what He saw HisFather doing, so our behaviorshould be regulated by what we seethe Lord doing. But this requiresa constant, vital relationship withGod.

The new Sabbath is not a lesserSabbath, but a greater Sabbath.Our attitude often has been, "Weare not under the law. The Sab-bath has been nullified inChrist." Consequently, we dowhatever we wish. But the newSabbath is more demanding thanthe former, even as the fulfilledlaws about murder, adultery andoaths are more demanding.

In Colossians 2:16-17 we readthat the Sabbath day was a shadowof the things that were to come.The reality-that is. the sub-stance casting the shadow-is inChrist. In Hebrews, Sabbath isgiven a broad definition as a life-long attitude of ceasing from ourown works and entering intoGod's. But that definition is joinedwith a warning not to fall indisobedience and fail to enter in-to our designated Sabbath.

The new covenant Sabbath isnot essentially a specific day. Butwe have made it less than a daywhen actually it is more than aday. Jesus stated the fourth com-mandment in this way:

Come unto me. all you whoare weary and burdened. and Iwill give you rest. Take myyoke upon you and learn fromme ... and you will find restfor your souls. For my yoke iseasy and my burden is light(Mt. 11:28-30 NIV).

Rest and work, the two aspects ofthe Sabbath principle. are bothinvolved here. The yoke is workor productivity. and the goal ofthe yoke is Sabbath-rest. Workand rest are not mutually exclu-sive but go hand in hand, and thesource of both is Christ.

The new covenant Sabbath re-

quires that we be in tune withwhat our Lord is doing and ceasefrom our own works. It obliges usto put upon our necks Christ'syoke and give ourselves to learnfrom Him. It requires that wecomplete the tasks given us bythe Lord in the same manner theLord created the heavens andearth and then said, "It is good."The challenge of the Sabbath tothe workaholic is, "Don't confuseactivity with faithfulness," Butthe same Sabbath challenges the

DID VOll KNOW?~T early 8~ % of all properly ad-1. dressed bulk third-cLRss T1Ulilisnot delivered by the Post Office. That'sthe finding of a recent T1Ulildelivery testwe participated in with a professionalT1Ulilorganization. The best delivery rec-ord was for those items addressed tosingle unit homes (7.5% undelivered);the worst was for those sent to rural ad-dresses, with an aLRrming 31.2% rate ofnondelivery. The nondelivery rate toapartments was 8.4% and to post officeboxes was 14.8%. All total, 8.4% of theT1Ulilin this category is not delivered.

How does all this affect you? Al-though New Wine Magazine itself isT1Uliledsecond-cLRss, all our subscriptionrenewal letters, as well as Tape of theMonth, are sent as bulk third-cUtss mail.

We are concerned that so much' ofour T1UlilT1Ulynot be reaching you. Inorder to find out how the problem direct-ly affects us, we are establishing our ownMail Monitoring System. which consistsof a network of geographically selectedaccounts set up to monitor deliverabilityand condition of our T1Ulilings.

If necessary, we will pay a higherrate of postage to T1Ulkesure that what wesend to you gets to you. We thoughtyou'd like to know.

13

Gerrit Gustafson received his B.A. in Interna-tional Affairs from Florida State University inTallahassee, Florida. He is presently a pastor inMobile, Alabama, where he lives with his wife,Himmie, and their three children.

I' .~I

lazy man with the necessity of theyoke and the obligation of pro-ductivity before enjoying a Sab-bath rest.

"AU Creation Groans"As partakers of the new cove-

nant we must learn to work andrest in a way that pleases theLord. Yet Sabbath should not beseen merely as a pleasant relieffrom our present pain and taxingschedules, a minor "item" on ourspiritual "agenda." Rest is thegoal toward which the wholecreation is moving. Creation isgroaning for the sons of God tocome and relieve it of the yoke ofthe wicked. and to place upon itthe yoke of God-the rule of God-which brings with it rest.

The failure of Israel to enterthe rest designated for it was amajor departure from God's ulti-mate intention. It was a denial ofthe promises of God. We todaymust not take lightly the promisethat there remains a "Sabbath-rest" for the people of God.

The establishment of the king-dom of God on earth will cer-tainly bring with it God's rest.The millenium might weIl be en-visioned as a ten-century Sabbathwhen Satan is bound (Rev. 20:2-3).In any case, victory is associated inthe Scripture with sitting down.The observance of rest should be aprophetic act with a view towardthe final redemption of creation.When we set time aside for ceasingfrom our labors. that act is notjust an insignificant pause; it is areminder of the ultimate purposeof God. Toward that end. wemust labor to enter our rest.

What Shall We Do?The new covenant Sabbath

principle is a way of life involvingwork and rest. It requires that wecome to the Lord of the Sabbathand deny our own rights to self-determination. giving ourselvesutterly to His yoke. Our eyesshould be upon Him as His wasupon the Father. When He works.we should work. When He rests,we should rest. And our rest willonly result from obedience to Hispreeminent will. Those who keepthe new Sabbath can do so know-ing the fulfiIled law is good forthem and that their obedience willbring blessing.

Shall we set aside a specificday for a Sabbath? The ScriptureaIlows for that but does not com-mand it: "One man considers oneday more sacred than another,another man considers every dayalike. Each man should be fuIlyconvinced in his own mind"(Rom. 14:5 NIV). Paul could haveinsisted upon the churches' ob-servance of a specific day as aSabbath, but he refrained fromdoing so. Instead he said, "What-ever you believe about thesethings keep between yourself andGod. Blessed is the man whodoes not condemn himself inwhat he approves" (Rom. 14:22NIV).

The two dangers in this matterare the extremes of either legal-ism or the rejection of the law al-together. The man who totaIlydisregards the law wrongly sepa-rates faith and obedience andputs himself above any law. Heclaims that we are no longer re-sponsible to obey the Sabbathcommandment because it is nolonger a valid law.

This attitude, however. is con-trary to scripture. David shouldbe our pattern when he said,"Oh, how I love your law! I medi-tate on it all day long" (Ps.119:97 NIV). David knew that theprecepts of God proceed out ofHis nature. and that to love Godis to love His law.

The legalist. on the otherhand. makes his religion out oflaws. He judges others by his ownnarrow understanding of what isimportant, often "straining thegnat and swallowing the camel"(Mt. 23:24). He tithes his herbsbut forgets to love, blindly nullify-ing the monumental commands ofGod for the sake of petty humantraditions and hiding behindthem to avoid obedience.

Unfortunately, we are all proneto such legalism. Often we makeour convictions or our experi-ences into norms for everyone.But we must remember that. inall Paul said about the place of aSabbath or special day. he em-phasized how wrong it was tojudge or to be judged by someoneelse with a differing conviction.We need to be lovers of the lawyet gracious as we apply it.

The Sabbath as a day was ashadow of the Sabbath as a lifeyoked to the purpose of God. Itmay weIl be that in a generationwhose constant tendency is to re-ject the law altogether, and in aday when the Church as a wholeregards the Sabbath so lightly. wewill find that the best way to re-gain the true Sabbath is to ob-serve a particular day as a day ofrest. Just as looking at a shadowof an object can often help uslocate that object. so getting ac-quainted with the "shadow" ofthe old covenant Sabbath couldbe helpful in apprehending andappreciating the new one-a lifecombining productivity with restin Christ.

Observing a specific day. how-ever. must never become a sub-stitute for observing the greaterSabbath. It should instead be ameans toward that greater goal,remembering the words of theauthor of Hebrews: "There re-mains, then, a Sabbath-rest forthe people of God .... Let ustherefore make every effort toenter that rest" (Heb. 4:9, 11NIV)....

14 JUNE 1982

CONCERNS

New Wine's regular feature, "Social Concerns, .. presentsthis month an interview with Rosie Grier, former standout

defensive tackle and member of the famed "Fearsome Foursome"for the Los Angeles Rams. He is currently traveling around the

country, speaking to churches and other Christian groups. Rosie'sthoughts give us some insights into the plight of the poor in our

society and ways in which the Church can help.

NW: You have opportunity to talk with manypeople as you travel the country to speak, andyou are also in touch with the concerns of thepoor. How would you describe the feelings ofthose with whom you have talked?RG: In a word, I'd say that many are desperate.When a man gets down and he feels that there isabsolutely no hope left, when everything he hasdone seems futile, his reaction is usually, "I've gotto feed my kids. Whatever it takes, I've got to feedthem." That's desperation.

NW: What are some examples of situations thatlead to desperation?

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RG: I can name a number of situations that producefrustration, anger, hopelessness and a desire tostrike out at something. For example: Young mengo to college because they are told, "Get your col-lege degrees, and when you come out, then you canget a job." After they finish college they go for a jobinterview and say, "I would like to get this job." Butthe answer they get is, "Well, we don't have anyopenings."

"But your ad said you're hiring!""We don't have any openings."Then they go away and see another person walk

in-someone of a different color or nationality may-be-and when he comes out, he's smiling. Othersstand outside and say, "I'm not going to take a chanceon being embarrassed." They watch others go in andget jobs, but they say, "It wouldn't happen if I wentin; I'm not going to get that job." So they won'teven make an attempt.

When a man is receiving welfare because hecan't get a job, that is frustrating. Granted, thereare some who don't even want ajob and are makingno effort to find one. But when a man who is des-perately searching for a job hears someone accusehim of wanting to sleep all day and not really want-ing to find work, that leads to frustration anddesperation. Those are the things that make peopleangry.

They begin to say, "Well, you put me in this boxover here labeled 'welfare,' but you are taking ad-vantage of all the same things I am. You are accus-ing me of getting welfare, but you are getting it, too.You are getting special rates, subsidies, write-offs,breaks and exemptions. You accuse me, but you aregetting as much out of the system as I am or evenmore. You are still using the same government mon-ey." The poor man isn't dumb-he can see what'sgoing on.

All these men and women begin to see the futilityof their situation. They find that all that they hadfought and died for in our nation's wars and inother fields of public service is lost, that suddenly allthose dreams have come tumbling down aroundthem. Those are the people who are frustrated.

The black man who feels that he was just begin-ning to achieve something suddenly finds the move-ment for equality focused totally on women. Every-one has now jumped behind that cause, but theblack man is out there still trying to find his way.Somehow he was lost in the shuffle. Why did it hap-pen? It happened because no one really cared abouthim-not really.

He is told, 'Well, you are about to break through."But for a real birth, you've got to have a totaldelivery. Not just the feet or the head, but the wholebody has to come out to have total delivery. Andthen after delivery, it takes time until a baby can

JUNE 1982

begin to walk. He needs care.

NW: Is the desperation people are feeling a fac-tor in problems such as alcoholism, drug addic-tion and crime?RG: Of course. Think of how it would feel to haveno respect from anybody, to have everybody yellingat you, "There are plenty of jobs available!" Yet youare walking and walking to find a job, and you can'teven afford to buy a paper to look at the want ads.You are trying to apply for a job, but buses don'tcome to your community, and you don't have a car,and even if you did have a car you couldn't affordthe gas to run it. What do you do?

Then some guy comes up to you and says, "Getout of your troubles-drink this" or "Get out ofyour troubles-smoke this." So you slip away intoalcoholism or into addiction to get away from it all,or you let the lust of your body run rampant to getaway from it all. But each time when it's over yousee the same guy in the mirror with the same des-peration inside of him. The same questions naghim: "Why am I in this condition? How do I breakom?"

Some of the people I have talked to are consider-ing desperate measures, such as guns or violence. Itry to persuade them to stay away from such ac-tions, because that's just not the answer.

When you find an opportunity to defuse thatkind of situation, you have to stand firm right then,because it's a dangerous attitude. Even though peo-ple sometimes boast about such things just to im-press others, negative results can be born out ofthose boasts. Unless you deal with the attitudesright then. before they get out of hand, they willmultiply and spread like tiny seeds. You have to re-direct the anger into some other, positive direction.

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NW: What have the churches done to help?RG: Many of them have given money, and that'sgood, but it is sometimes easy to write a check orsimply make a statement about a problem. But toactually get involved in the problem is a differentstory. It is easy to walk through a poor neighbor-hood and then go home and sleep in your nicewarm bed, with enough heat and food and nobodybanging on your door or cursing and screamingunder your windows. It's easier just to walk througha poor neighborhood than it is to live there.

NW: Do you think the Church has had more talkthan action in helping the poor?RG: Well, it's like a guy speaking to a congregationon morality while he is beating or cheating on hiswife. It isn't right to say, "Do what I say, not what Ido." Think about the example of most churches. Ifmost of the churches are examples of the power ofGod, then God doesn't have much power. A lot ofchurches don't look as if God has been aroundthem very much. Those who reject the churches'preaching haven't necessarily rejected God; theyhave rejected the typical church's presentation of God.Many may have rejected the examples of God's"power" they have seen, but they may not have re-jected God Himself.

All too often, the churches are misrepresenting

God, and the poor man asks, "Who is this God theyare trying to tell me about?" The God that theyrepresent by their example is a God of denomina-tionalism, a God of separatism. Too often the com-municator of the gospel is communicating his own in-securities rather than the power of God. Therefore,people say, "No thanks-I'll just keep movin' on."

NW: What can we do to change the situation?Where do we start?RG: I must search my own heart first, remembering

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that Jesus is our example. We need to ask our-selves, "Am I really like Jesus?" As we learn to belike Him, and we begin to act more and more likeHim, then God will begin to unleash His mightypower on the earth. I'm talking about men andwomen who make a total commitment to be holy, tobe alive in Christ but dead to that old man.

We need that kind of commitment. I believe thatGod wants us to be holy men and women-not justbelievers, but holy people. Many Christians try tohold on to the freedom to do a few things thataren't God's will. But it takes total commitment forall the power of God to work in our lives. It's notenough just to say, "I'm a believer in Jesus Christ."When I can say, ''I'm a believer who has beenanointed-the Spirit of the Lord is upon me," andwhen I make a commitment to holiness, then I real-ly have something.

This is important when we talk about helping thepoor. If we want to go out and evangelize the poor,that's good. But what if they need food? It will takemore than just saying to them, "God will supply allyour needs," as true as that may be.

We've got to do more than just become born-again believers. The Bible says, "Be a doer of theword, not just a hearer." What are we going to dobetween the time of our born-again experience andthe time Jesus comes back again? This is the areawe must focus on and develop: the walk with Godfrom the time we start out as little babies until wereach maturity. How does a man walk with the Lordand do all that God requires him to do? Where doesour commitment fit in? Is my commitment just formyself, or am I genuinely committed to be likeJesus? Can you see the commitment in me, or do Ihave to tell you about it?

Individuals can make a difference. We need in-dividual businessmen, for example, who will belooking for employees who are qualified, hiring ac-cording to what they need, not according to whatthe job applicant looks like. We are all prejudicedin one way or another, you see. But we have toovercome that with the love of God in us.

Next, I think changed individuals have to pulltogether, and I believe that our faith in Jesus Christis the basis for our pulling together. People whoreally care about the poor must join together. If wedon't stand together, we are going to fall together.

The movement of the Holy Spirit is upon us as anation. How will we respond to Him? We have tobuild on Jesus Christ and begin to come together asa Church, as a corporate community. We have tocome together as a government that is truly com-passionate.

Together we have to begin to build small busi-nesses that will utilize the skills people in the com-munity already have, supplying the necessary funds

to invest in the communities, to invest in theschools, to invest in the people. We have to en-courage kids to get proper training, and we have tourge people to spend money in their own community,just as President Reagan said: "Let the dollar turnover and over in the community." But it won't turnover if it doesn't have any businesses to turn overin. So we need to build the enterprises in the innercities where that money can be used.

Next we have to begin dealing with the problemof crime, and that requires first dealing with it on anindividual level. First you have to conquer yourselfand your own home; that's where you begin to dealwith community problems. Then every man has tobegin taking a part in the wider community, startingwith his own block. Together, people in the com-munities will have to make a commitment to standbehind the businesses that have been establishedthere, to fight against a neighbor getting ripped off,to stand as a united voice in the community. In-dividuals must stand together, not alone, to preventthe murders and rapes and other crimes. The com-munity has to stand up and say, "We are not goingto have this anymore. We are going to stop you withthe police, we are going to stop you in the Church,we are going to stop you in the school-we are go-ing to stop crime."

NW: Once Christians are genuinely involved inthese ways, do you think people will respond tothe Word of God?RG: Yes, if we are truly sharing Jesus and not justour own particular doctrines.

NW: It looks like a long road ahead, and it is go-ing to cost us all something personally.RG: Yes, but in one sense, the price has been paidalready. We are already alive in Christ. We haveforever to grow in Christ, but we need to get startednow. We may say, "Well; it will be a long time com-ing." But what about today? Let's start today-rightnow. Let the road become crowded with runners-people who will make the commitment to run therace. We can first make that commitment with ourmouths, but then we've got to do something about it

Overcoming the problem is not" as hard as itlooks. It may seem hard because we have beengiven confusing statistics and studies that make theproblem seem complicated. But the results of thestudies are never sure, and they are sometimeswrong. Why? Because they miss out on one impor-tant truth: the power of God working through or.dinary people.

We have a chance to step out in love and act.Are we going to squander our chance, or will wepress toward the mark to reach the prize of the highcalling of God in Christ Jesus? ...

JUNE 1982

,.

. -~..

BY STEVE LAWHEAD

I'm not much for fishing, or for tramping around fields and forests look-ing for unsuspecting wildlife to shoot. But give me a good football game

on the tube on a crisp autumn afternoon and I'm in seventh heaven. We all have our pleasurable pastimes.We all find excuses to escape the daily grind in one way or another.

Some men join bowling leagues, some collect stamps, some jog or play tennis, others putter around theworkshop. And it's healthy, too. Doctors say that our leisure activities are an important way to relieve thestress of our jobs, to ease the tensions of everyday life.

But lately I've been wondering if we get enough out of our leisure time and activities. With more andmore leisure time at our command-shorter work weeks, longer vacations-I wonder if we shouldn't de-mand more than a few hours of entertainment or diversion from our leisure time. Shouldn't our leisuretime do more than just stave off boredom?

I think so. And perhaps one reason we aren't getting more out of our leisure is because we don't askmuch of it-at least we don't ask the right things of it.

But what is there to leisure besides fun and frolic, entertainment and diversion, or perhaps unwindingafter a hectic week at the office, or a tough day on the job? And if it pleases you, makes you feel a little bet-ter, recharges you to face another day, isn't that enough?

No. Unless your leisure also rests you, it is not enough.Too many of us are just as busy at playas on the job. We work just as hard spending our money as we

do earning it. Maybe harder. For most of us our leisure activities are just as stressful as our jobs; our play isas serious as our work.

Now, I can hear someone saying, "What's wrong with that? When I want to unwind I want to really letgo!" That is a good point. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your leisure activities to the maximum,throwing yourself into the game totally, going for all the gusto, etc. But that full-tiltpace has to be balancedwith rest.

Before you start thinking that I'm some kind of laziness advocate, or a member of the Mattress TestersUnion, stop and think a moment. What is more biblical than rest? Rest was one of the first things Godsanctioned; after He worked, He rested. And in so doing, He gave us an example of the rhythm He ex-pected for His creation. Work and rest. On and off. Work and rest.

Rest is not sleeping, although that might be part of it. It is not just sitting around, although it might hap-pen in that position. True rest is the cessation of activity for the revitalization of body and spirit. Mostoften when we think of rest or relaxation, we think only of the body. But our spirits need rest too.

This is important. In a society where most of our waking hours during the week are spent in strainingfor a living wage, and where weekends have become marathons of frantic activity, trying to cram into two

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days everything we wanted to doall week, the word "rest" is indanger of extinction. In fact, bythe time we topple into bed onSunday night we are totallyexhausted from the weekend blitz-krieg. The only rest we get is dur-ing sleep.

But the kind of rest God has inmind for us is not only sleep.Sleep helps the body, but doesn'tdo much for the spirit. God wantsour rest to revitalize our spirits,too. That is why He recommendedthe Sabbath. Man was to work(and play) six days and rest theseventh. The Sabbath was a giftto man, a time when he couldrest his soul as well as his body,take his ease from his labors andenjoy closer communion with God.

That's the meat of the coco-nut: communion with God. Wehave so filled our leisure hourswith activity that we have noroom for God. He cannot speakto us because we are too busy tohear Him.

God comes to us in stillness,when our minds are open andwaiting, when our lives are atrest. In Psalm 46:10 God speaksthrough the psalmist and com-mands, "Be still and know that Iam God."

For the ancient Hebrews this"rest with God" was so importantthat it was protected by law. Fornot only was the Sabbath the dayof worship, the holy day; it wasalso the day labor ceased, so thatall men could know God, hearHim speak, and soothe theirspirits in the healing waters ofHis presence.

For most of today's Christians,

Steve Lawhead is a graduate of Carnie State Col-lege in Nebraska and spent two years at NorthBaptist Seminary in Illinois. He was on the staff ofCampus Life Magazine for five years and is cur.rently a free-lance writer. His first novel, In theHall of the Dragon King, will be published byCrossway Books in July. Steve resides in Mem-phis, Tennessee, with his wife, Alice, and theirtwo children.

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however, the word "Sabbath" hasa distinctly legalistic ring. Ifsomeone advocates keeping theSabbath, we are quick to pointout (in the words of Jesus Him-selO "The Sabbath \yas made forman, not man for the Sabbath."

But I think we have lost thetrue spirit of what Jesus had inmind when He said that. And inthe process I think we have lost atruly great gift God has given us.

When Jesus gave His declara-tion about the Sabbath, He wasspeaking to a group of peoplewho had so bound up that specialday with laws and codes of con-duct that its whole meaning wasobscured. Therefore, Jesus tookthe opportunity to set them right,to cut through their legal redtape and re-establish the Sabbathfor what it was meant to be. Hewas not doing away with it. Hewas restoring it to its rightfulplace.

When we read that passage to.day, we interpret it as a license todo as we please. "After all," wesay, "Jesus Himself said the daywas made for us." But that at-titude is wrong. Jesus was at-tempting to free the day from theentanglements of small-mindedmen who were placing a burdenon their brothers. He was not giv-ing His consent to abolish theSabbath prohibition against work.He was taking away all the legalmumbo-jumbo which had grownup around it, and which wasstrangling the people.

Jesus wanted the Sabbath tobe free-free from legality andfree from spirit-sapping activities.He knew that it was necessary formen to have that day to rest. Manis so constructed that it is all butimpossible to rest the spirit with-out slowing down the body.

Today, I think more Christiansneed to return to the old idea ofthe Sabbath. That is, a day ofcomplete rest. And I am convincedthat it would make a great dif-ference in the way we spend therest of our week-at work and at

play. Here's why.About a year ago my wife and I

were doing some thinking aboutthe way our lives had subtly be-come so hectic. There just neverseemed to be enough time to geteverything done. And Sunday,which we always called our "dayof rest," was anything but restful.

Typically, there would be amad rush to get ourselves dressedand off to church. Then we'd goout for Sunday dinner at a localrestaurant, or prepare a big feastat home. The afternoon would begiven to some chore around thehouse which had not gotten doneon Saturday. And on Sunday eve-ning I'd go into the den and try tofinish up some of the things I'dbrought home with me from workon Friday night.

By the end of the day we'd beso tired that Monday morningalready looked grimly forbidding.We dreaded going back to workso soon; we didn't feel a bitrested. Our "day of rest" was afailure.

For a long time we told our-selves that was how Sundaywas-everyone lived that way.We could expect nothing dif-ferent. But it wasn't satisfying.And I could see that we didn'thave any more time for eachother than we did during theweek.

But then, in our growing dis-satisfaction, we were struck byJesus' words one day during a Bi-ble study: "The Sabbath wasmade for man ... " If that wastrue, there had to be somethinggood about the way God intendedit to be used.

So we decided to try a little ex-periment to see just what kind ofgift God had in mind when Hegave it to us. We would keep theSabbath in the spirit which Jesusadvocated: a day of completerest, not bound up with eitherlegalistic nit-picking or work.

When we announced our de-cision to our Sunday school classthe next week, you would have

JUNE 1982

thought we were suggesting con-verting the church parking lot in-to a landing site for UFOs. Wewere met with cold stares anddisparaging remarks. "Well, areyou going to watch television?Are you going to read the paper?Or drive your car?" someonesnipped. "What's wrong with do-ing something you want to do onSunday?" another demanded.

I explained, "We aren't tryingto make up a list of 'thou shaltnot's' for our Sundays. We're try-ing to see what God has to give uson our Sabbath. But we have de-cided on some guidelines whichwill keep us from becoming en-cumbered with unimportantthings, and therefore miss whatGod has to give us."

I told them our guidelines: Wewould do no work of a financialnature. In other words, we wouldnot chase the dollar on Sunday,nor would we cause anyone elseto work on Sunday, which meantnot going to the store, out to eat,to a movie, etc. We would not doany work around the house whichwasn't absolutely necessary tohealth and well-being. Thosewere the only don't's.

And we also had some do's.We would make the day as simpleas possible for ourselves and thosearound us. We would spend it to-gether as a family. We would taketime for the little things we en-joyed doing, but which were sooften pushed aside in the ratrace. Such things as writing let-ters, visiting friends, taking ourson for a walk, or just reading agood book.

Although others in our churchwere doubtful (even hostile) to-ward the idea, we received analmost immediate confirmationthat we were doing the rightthing. Suddenly our Sundays be-came restful and enjoyable. Thetension was gone, and with itwent many of the things we hadbegun to hate about our lifestyle.We noticed a change in our-selves, too. We became more

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serene and even-keeled throughthe rest of the week.

As the experiment went on wecame to look forward to our Sun-days, and worked to keep themfree from entanglements. And weweren't afraid to work harder theother six days of the week be-cause we knew there really wouldbe a day of rest at the end of itall. Sundays became a time offamily fellowship and relaxation.We had time to think aboutthings that we seldom contem-plated before: our lives and whatGod wanted us to do with them,our long-range goals and whatwas important to us, our familiesand friends who live far away.

By keeping the Sabbath, ourSundays became richer, fuller,and more meaningful than theyhad been before. Instead of giv-ing ourselves permission to domore on Sunday, we were givingourselves permission to rest. Wewere finding the true heart of theSabbath, and finding it to be agood gift from a loving God.

I am convinced now that moreChristians should keep the Sab-bath-not only as a day of wor-ship, but in the traditional way,as a day of complete rest. Weshould use it as an escape fromthe ever-increasing level of activ-ity which threatens to overwhelmour lives and pulls family mem-bers further and further awayfrom each other.

Sadly, society seems to be ig-noring observance of the Sab-bath. Many stores are open sevendays a week, and Sunday has be-come just another day of ordinarycommerce. This is partly a reac-tion against the old Sunday BlueLaws and partly a simple eco-nomic decision.

Many Christians are findingthemselves with jobs which re-quire them to work on Sundays.That's too bad; I feel sorry forthose people. But at the sametime, I can't help but think that ifmore Christians were aware ofjust how wonderful the Sabbath

really was, they would refuse togive it up to work. And if the restof us didn't patronize the restau-rants and stores which choose toopen on Sunday, perhaps theywouldn't be open.

"But what about hospitalworkers, firemen, policemen, andother professionals who mustprovide 24-hour vigilance?" youask. "What if they all refused to

We were finding the trueheart of the Sabbath ... to bea good gift from a loving God.

work Sundays? Where would webe?" Clearly, not all Christianscan observe every Sunday astheir day of rest, but that doesn'tmean you can't set aside anotherday. If Monday is your day off, orWednesday, make that your dayof rest. Many pastors who put ingrueling, hectic days on Sundayssimply use another day of theweek for the rest and refresh-ment they need.

At the same time, however, weas Christians need to rememberthe necessity of corporate wor-ship and Christian fellowship.Most employers will, at the veryleast, allow employees to haveSundays off on a rotating basis. Iam opposed to the trend thatwould make us do away with aday set aside for God's people toworship together. We only cheatourselves when we neglect toobserve it.

Observing the Sabbath is not athrowback to a law-bound, inflex-ible past. In observing it I havefound new freedom and content-ment, a happiness and joy whichhave long been lacking in my life.I've discovered the gift of rest,and it has helped my family andme to enjoy our work and ourplay all the more . .."

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'To the Point" is a regular feature in New Winein which we present infonnal interviews with members of ourEditorial Board. This month Don Basham. our Chief Editorial

Consultant, talks about setting a proper pace for living.

NW: The pace at which most people live todayis becoming considerably more accelerated.What do gou think are some of the causes, inboth the secular and religious realms, for this in-crease in pace?DB: I think one reason is simply that we are muchmore informed today than ever before. Communica-tion is so advanced that we are continuously bom-barded with information about events allover theworld. The more problems we know about, the morewe feel responsible to do something about them.The result is that we respond by engaging in what isoften fruitless activity in an attempt to fulfill theresponsibility we feel. That, I think, is one of thefactors contributing to the increased stress andpace of our lives.

I also believe the spiritual warfare going onaround us contributes as well to today's hectic pace.By his nature Satan is restless, as we can see fromthe first chapter of Job. When God asks Satan,"Where have you come from?" he replies, "I'vecome from walking to and fro on the earth." Weneed to recognize that one characteristic of satanicactivity is restlessness, and people who are beingharassed by satanic forces very seldom have anypeace. They always seem to be goaded into somesort of restless activity, as if by that activity they willgain some relief from their torment. Such restless-ness is one characteristic of the intense spiritualwarfare enveloping our society.

NW: Do you see that same kind of restlessnessin some of the Church's activity?

JUNE 1982

DB: Ever since I was ordainedas a minister, I have felt that agreat deal of what goes on inchurch life is simply activityfor the sake of activity, andmany times it can be just acover-up for a lack of truespirituality. People often feelthat if they are doing things-sponsoring programs, at-tending meetings, raisingmoney, or building buildings-that somehow this is an in-dication that their particularchurch or ministry is a suc-cess. In that sense, frenziedactivity often conceals a pov-erty of spirit in which peopleare attempting by this volumeof activity to prove to them-selves (and perhaps to God)that they are doing some spiritually significant work.

Such frenzied activity in the lives of Christiansalso stems at times from a lack of knowing whereour salvation lies. Too often we try to earn oursalvation, saying, "Lord, look at all these goodthings I've done. Doesn't this really prove that I'mentitled to heaven?"

Sometimes people are simply afraid of inactivity,afraid of time alone with God because they don'tknow how to be alone with themselves or with Him.But the more we are consciously aware that our sal-vation is by grace and faith, the more we can rest inour salvation and the less we will feel the need toprove ourselves to one another and to God.

Another factor which causes overactivityin church-es, even those with genuine vision and mature spir-itual leadership, is the tremendous pressure all ofus feel to succeed. We see the enormous need forministry and then drive ourselves to try to fulfillthose needs. But the need will always be greaterthan the ability or time we have to meet them. Con-sequently we often suffer from a sense of guilt whenwe find ourselves unable to respond to all the needssurrounding us.

One way to resist this pressure and the guilt is toremember that we are the stewards of the ministryGod gives us-not the people who need the mini-stry. In my own ministry, people have on occasiondemanded to see me, insisting that I help them im-mediately, and they have become very angry when attimes I have had to refuse them. On occasion I havehad to say firmly, "As the steward of my ministry, Iam the one who must judge whether or not I'm in aposition to help you. And I don't think that rightnow is the time that I can help you." Although peo-ple have been upset sometimes by that approach, I

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have learned that it isnecessary so that I can pacemyself and keep from becom-ing overextended.

NW: What would you sayare some symptoms thatwould tell us we're pushingourselves too hard?DB: One problem in recog-nizing symptoms is that theyvary with each individual. Inaddition, when we becomecaught on a treadmill of re-sponsibilities, it's often hardfor us to realize when ex-cessive stress or exhaustionhas pushed us beyond thepoint of effectiveness. Manytimes it takes our spouse orpastor or some loving friend

to show us that we are in a dangerous place.Even so, I would say that one primary symptom

we can recognize is a lack of peace and joy in ourwork. Our responsibilities become drudgery, ourthoughts become primarily negative, and we seemto feel constantly tired and irritable. I think this isone way we can recognize that the pace we're mov-ing at is not God's pace, and that we are somehowout of His will-if not in what we are doing, at leastin how we are doing it. One of Satan's greateststrategies can be to urge us incessantly, "Do it now!Stay busy! Keep going!" When we are driven beyondour peace, we should know it isn't God motivating usbecause He doesn't push us in that way.

Most people know, I think, when they are livingand working outside grace. There is dissatisfactionin their life, a lack of peace in what they are doingand a lack of a sense that they have pleased Godwhen they are finished. The only feeling they haveis a sense of relief about what they have completedand a sense of dread about what comes next. Notbeing able to look forward with anticipation to ourresponsibilities and to what life has to offer is asymptom that indicates we may be moving in ourown strength or at the devil's goading, rather thanmoving in grace and at the bidding of God.

Obviously, if we don't pace ourselves, we areheading for trouble physically, emotionally and spir-itually. If we allow the pressure and demands uponour time to force us into a pace that is beyond ourability, we will first of all begin to suffer spiritually.We won't take the time necessary to keep our rela-tionship with the Lord as healthy as it should be.When we are under pressure to perform "ministry,"one of the first things to be neglected is time spentalone with God and in the Word.

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Second, our primary rela-tionships will also suffer as aresult of having to sacrificetime with our families to re-spond to the pressures on us.Third, we will usually sufferphysically simply from toomuch stress and too little rest.Stress is one of the greatestkillers in America today, andto be forced to carry on at apace that is beyond what wecan handle is to make our-selves prime candidates forhigh blood pressure, strokeand even heart attack.

Finally, we may find our-selves reacting to all thepressure by doing somethingrash or foolish. When we feelwe can't cope with the stress,we may try to run away from it all, or explode emo-tionally and do something which is irresponsible ordestructive. Of course, such a reaction won't makethe problems go away; it will only make them worse.

NW: What do you think is the solution to theproblem?DB: The best solution, of course, is not to letourselves become burned out. Whenever I start toget that "burned out" sensation inside, I stop whatI'm doing, try to back off somewhat and lower thepace at which I'm operating. I refuse to take onadditional responsibilities and I leave some workundone simply because I am not in any shape to doit. I go to a movie, go hunting or fishing or play withmy grandchildren-something that from a purely"productive" standpoint would seem to be a wasteof time.

Many things which we think we have to do, reallydon't have to be done. If we were suddenly removedfrom the scene, or incapacitated, those thingswould either remain undone or someone else woulddo them. Part of the solution is realizing that we arenot as indispensible as we think we are. Sometimes

JUST AROUNDTDECORNER

NEXT MONTH IN NEW WINE:

CERTAINTY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

we may need to resign as"manager of the universe"and take some time off.

We also need to be opento receive counsel fromothers who can discern whenwe are overworking ourselves.Because as Christians wewant to fulfill our respon-sibilities with integrity, weoften push ourselves beyondthe breaking point, ignoringour own symptoms and refus-ing to heed advice to let up.Consequently, we become aspiritual casualty. Just as sure-ly as if we had broken a leg,something emotional andspiritual inside of us hasbroken and needs attention.Part of the solution, rather

than neglecting the problem and pushing ourselvesto an emotional and spiritual collapse, is to seek andaccept the counsel of others who will help us see ourneed for physical, emotional and spiritual rest.

Another part of the solution is simply knowingwhat our own limitations are. That in itself is anessential part of being mature and being at peacewith ourselves. I learned years ago that I don't workwell under intensive stress. If pressure becomes ex-cessive from too many responsibilities heaped onme at once, my work becomes less effective. Know-ing that, I have basically learned through the yearsto settle for attempting and accomplishing a littleless at one time, pacing myself in the hope that I'lllive longer and so ultimately accomplish more inthe long run.

I don't believe it is pleasing to God when we tryto achieve too much at once. The more we are atpeace with ourselves and with God, the less we willfeel compelled to achieve. If we could operate onlywithin the grace of God, then much of the pressurethat we feel now wouldn't be there. The more weare centered in the will of God, the less stressful ourwork and our lives will be. That doesn't mean thatwe will be totally free of stress or responsibility. Itdoes mean, however, that we can free ourselvesfrom the emotionally, spiritually and physicallydamaging pressures which are not from God, butrather are the result of our giving in to demandsthat He is not making upon us.

Part of learning how to be spiritually mature islearning when to say "no." It takes genuine wisdomand maturity to withstand today's frenzied pace.The more we are able to withstand it by God'sgrace, the greater will be our potential for a long,healthy and productive life .....

JUNE 1982

Photo coUTtesyof Bruce Roberts

26

, , HaVing a lousy time.Wish I weren't here."

Why are so many vacations losers?Some people experience disap-pointment year after year andnever know why. Here are a fewthoughts that might help.

Don't overwait. Some peopledemand a reason for everything,and thus don't take a vacationuntil they desperately need one-

when they are physicallyand emo-tionally exhausted, or ill. Even atrip to Paradise would be hardpressed to make up those odds.

Don't overdo. Since they'vewaited fifty weeks for this vaca-tion, some people try to cram ayear's worth of living into twoweeks. They wind up pushingharder and spending longer hoursthan they do on the job. Rushing

from one place to the next, "hurry-ing to be happy," it's no wonderthat peace eludes them.

Don't overexpect. Related tothis image that vacation is a re-ward for hard work is the notionthat therefore we are supposed toenjoy this time, and if we don't,we feel anxious. We carry so manybionic images of leisure into thevacation that nothing could evermatch it-and then wonder whywe're so unhappy.

To anticipate that a place canmake you happy because a full-page ad says it can is inviting aletdown. Likewise to be impatientbecause your last purchase didn'tmake you ecstatic is sheer non-sense. Yet each day, more of usslide into this subtle trap, mainlybecause we don't want to be re-sponsible for our own enjoyment.We want to pay someone else tomake us happy. But it doesn'twork that way. Joy must springfrom within.

How do we begin to bring morelife into our leisure, and particu-larly our vacations? One of thebiggest steps is recognizing thatwe might have some difficultieswith leisure time. A large part ofthe solution to any problem liesin an honest recognition that itexists. This awareness may leadto a change in behavior, and thatprospect may be a little frighten-ing. But the risk is worth taking.What specific steps might help ifyou are the victim of vacationblues?

Vacation Checklist1. Have reasonable expecta-

tions rather than impossibleones, ones that invariably lead todisappointment. A vacation willnot necessarily make you a newperson or salvage a troubled mar-riage. But it can, and will, berefreshing-if you let it be.

2. Examine some of your pastvacations. Be objective, but becompassionate. Don't vilifyyour-self, no matter how your pasttrips have turned out. Just try to

JUNE 1982

think of ways they could be im-proved.

3. Relax. Don't hurry past thebeauty. Joy is a gentle and deli-cate living thing. Let it happen.

4. Don't take yourself too seri-ously. Expect some obstacles.Embrace them. Even laugh atthem if you can. Convert them in-to part of your vacation. Make anadventure out of your inevitablemishaps. Murphy's Law-whichsays that if anything can possiblygo wrong, it will not only do so,but at the worst possible time-still has a habit of inviting itselfon a lot of vacations. Don't let itrum yours.

5. Be creative. Put a littlevariety into your celebrations.Don't let someone from a travelagency plan your happiness. Letyour imaginative juices flow.Make each vacation a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

6. Take all of you on vaca-tion. Use all of your senses. Thisis a time when you can be whole,when you can use your smellerfor something more than just tohang your glasses on, and thosefunny-looking contraptions onthe side of your head for some-thing more than just to keep yourhat off your shoulders. Don't justeat; taste your food. Let yourvacation be a five-sense event.

7. Plan a strategy for vacationdiet Enjoy your food, but don'tmake it the whole purpose of yourvacation. Resistance is usuallya lit-tle lower during vacations. Fatigue,frustration, or even boredom some-times stimulate indulgence. Have aplan.

Without some forethought,overeating can ruin a vacation.Take low-calorie snacks for thoselong rides in the car, and remem-ber that the famous response towhy something was done-"be-cause it's there" -was meant forclimbing mountains, not eating.

8. Get regular exercise. Notonly will this help you controlyour diet, but it will also help youenjoy your trip. A good balanceNEW WINE

between rest and activity is best.9. Take short vacations if

long ones make you homesick,especially if you are taking one ofthose special getaways withoutthe kids. But make sure you giveyourself enough time to unwindfully.

10. Forget such maxims as"Hard work deserves a rest."Don't spend all your time justify-ing your vacation. A vacationisn't just a dessert for a job welldone. Enjoy it for what it is-timeto live.

11. Break your routine. Getup at a different time than youusually do during the year. If younever get to read-read. If youread as part of your job-putdown the books for a few weeks.Let some new light into your life.

12. Do something unusual. Bean experimenter. Meet new peo-ple, try new experiences ....Climb a mountain, or a tree.Don't wear a watch for a week.Hug a tree, fly a kite, wear a but-ton, jog in triangles. Fool some-body. Fool two somebodies. Gofor a long walk in your barefeet.Poke some holes in your rigidity.This is not a time to be timid.Take a chance. It's worth it

13. Do something a little ex-travagant Buy something you'vealways wanted. Let go a little bit.Don't be so reasonable all thetime.

14. Learn something new onyour vacation. One of the greatjoys in life is learning. Teachyourself to play chess, or learn toneedlepoint. Learn calligraphyand send fancy postcards to allyour friends. Uncover some of

those talents you've been hiding.15. Learn to look for the best

and laugh at the worst You willusually see what you are lookingfor. Choose to see the good, thebest, the beautiful. Also chooseto laugh at the crazy things thatalwayswant to go on vacation withyou-flat tires, flat hair, flatspirits, flat experiences. A couplesummers ago when melting icecaused a river to flood our camp-site, a friend woke me with thecomment that "the dew was a lit-tle heavier this morning." No onecan make you depressed butyourself.

16. Give yourself permissionto be happy. Practice it. Workhard to eliminate that free-floating guilt that still says youshould be working or doing some-thing more useful, and that youshouldn't be having such a goodtime. Let your restless spirit relaxfor a few moments. Let your cupoverflow. Fruit is simply the ex-cess of life. You can't try to bearfruit; you've got to let it happen.

17. Let the hero out in you.Live each day and each vacationas if it were your last opportunity.Rejoice and crack the skies withlaughter. Let your passion for be-ing alive and being one of God'speople encourage you to be thevery best you can be. Put forththe best qualities of your per-sonality to each person and each ... -.-"situation you meet-and in givingit away, much of it will con-tagiously rub off on you..... It

Used by pennission from W71enI Relax I Feel ~ ~

_CU_il_ty_b_Y_T_im_H_anse__ I. _@_1_9_79_b_Y_D_aV_id_C_.• A ~Cook Publishing. ;-..

Tim Hansel is director of Summit Expedition, amountaineering and wilderness survival schoolfor individuals seeking deeper experiences withGod, others and themselves. He was fonnerly afaculty member of Azusa Padfic College, a YoungLife staffer, and a high school teacher. Tim livesin San Dimas, California, with his wife, Pam, andtheir two sons.

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loRD OF THE HARVEST,

Photo courtesy of H. Annstrong Roberts

, 'I'd rather bum out thanrust out." How often

have we heard someone take thatapproach to serving the Lord?Yet a close look at the patternJesus established for ministryreveals quite a different attitude.Although He grew wearyfrom min-istering to the needs of others.there is never any indication inthe gospels that our Lord either"rusted out" or "burned out" indoing all that the Father had sentHim to do. Rather. He simplycom-pleted the work He was given.

Jesus described Himself bothas "Lord of the Harvest" and"Lord of the Sabbath." His lifeportrayed the delicate balancebetween the labor of the ministryand the rest needed to labor

commissioned to labor in thisharvest and meet its need.

Chapter nine of the book ofMatthew might be called "A Typ-ical Day in the Life of Our Lord."It gives us a picture of the harvestand the variety of needs Jesus en-countered. In that one chapter,Jesus healed and forgave a par-alytic (simultaneously confront-ing the hypocrisy of the religiousleadership), called a disciple tofollow Him, shared a meal withtax-gatherers and sinners, an-swered probing questions from thePharisees (and even some fromJohn's disciples), healed a hemor-rhaging woman, raised a younggirl from the dead, restored thesight of two blind men and castthe demon out of a man who was

sionaries unless you are willing tobe one." That is exactly what hap-pened to the disciples. While theywere considering how they couldbest share in their Lord's concernfor such great needs, praying withHim for more laborers, God an-swered their prayer: Jesus con-scripted those disciples and gavethem the authority to meet theneeds of the harvest!

"Come to Me"After the disciples went out in-

to the harvest and returned, theLord made a statement which formost of my life I thought wasdirected solely toward the harvestitself: "Come to me, all you whoare weary and burdened, and Iwill give you rest" (11:28 NIV).

loRD OF THE SABBATHby Bruce Longstreth

effectively. He knew that all Hislabors in the "harvest field" hadto proceed out of Sabbath-thatis, complete rest in His Father'swill and direction. An under-standing of how Jesus calls usboth to His yoke and to His restwillhelp us as well to complete thework we have been given to do.

Lord of the HarvestThe harvest represents human

need: the cry of the downtrod-den, the diseased and the pos-sessed; the plight of the poor whosee no justice and are withouthope. To this harvest Jesus camepreaching that a "new kingdomwas at hand." It was God's rulecome to earth, the answer to thepain of those in need. It wasGod's new order, and Jesus-God's only begotten Son-was

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possessed. Verse 35 of thatchapter sums up the scope of theLord's harvesting ministry: ."Jesuswent through all the towns andvillages, teaching in their syna-gogues, preaching the good newsof the Kingdom and healing everykind of disease and sickness."

All this was the work Jesus wassent to do. But it was a formid-able and potentially exhaustingtask, and He realized that it wasmore than He could handle alone.No wonder, then, that just a fewverses later, Jesus voiced His con-cern to the twelve: "The harvest isplentiful but the workers are few.Ask the Lord of the Harvest,therefore, to send out workers in-to His harvest field" (9:37-38NIY).

You have probably heard theold saying, "Don't pray for mis-

For years I applied this scriptureto the needy world around me-until just the other day. It was aday when I was weary and bur-dened, battered and drained fromworking in the harvest, and Ineeded this verse for myself, eventhough it was directed toward"the other guy." In my need I"borrowed" it, and immediately Ifelt better. In fact, I was sorefreshed by it that it made mewonder whether this verse hadnot really belonged to me andother Kingdomlaborers all along. Ibegan to realize that Jesus mostprobably spoke this verse to thedisciples as they returned fromtheir anointed labors in a harvestfield filled with critical needs.

Like the disciples, we havebeen confronted with the de-mands of the harvest, for many of

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the needs they dealt with are stillprevalent today. We have felt theMaster's compassion for the lost,needy, sick and dying, and we haveobeyed His voice. In His name wehave attacked the strongholds ofSatan with some degree of victory,and we have participated withHim in the harvest of lost menand women. With great energyand high hopes we have laboredfor our Lord.

But often we have also been~orn out with the task given tous. Though we have witnessedthe success of the gospel, muchremains to be done. In fact, thetask seems greater today than itwas years ago when we started.At times we are overwhelmedwith the enormity of the harvestbefore us.

Lord of the SabbathYet through the fog of our

bone weariness we hear thewords, "Come to me all you whoare weary and burdened, and I willgive you rest." We may tend tothink at first that the devil is try-ing to trick us into inactivity, forwe have been taught that theweary are those who have for-saken our Lord, and that no onehas the right to rest when theharvest is so pressing and theneeds around us so great.

But the refreshing truth is that"Come to me" is the Lord of theSabbath's invitation to His dis-ciples upon their return fromministry. After He spoke thosewords "Jesus went through thegrainfields on the Sabbath" (Mt.12:1). It was time to relax-timeto rest from ministry. It was a

Bruce Longstreth graduated from Simpson Col-lege in San Francisco and did graduate study atGolden Gate Seminary in Mill Valley, California.He is presently the Managing Editor of Father-gram, a monthly newsletter published as a serviceand resource for fathers. Bruce also serves as apastor in Mobile, Alabama, where he lives withhis wife, Janet, and their two daughters.

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time to walk through the grain-fields together in fellowship. "Iknow you men are tired," Jesusmay have said, "let's take timeout together."

Certainly the disciples neededto know the Lord of the Harvestand to respond to His concernfor the world's needs by accept-ing a commission to labor in thefields themselves. But they alsoneeded to know the Lord of theSabbath and to hear Him say-after they had labored and toiledin the heat of the day- "Come tome and rest."

This invitation to rest is joinedby an important command thatgives us the proper perspectiveon our labor: "Take my yokeupon you and learn from me."One of the greatest reasons whyrest is so necessary is thatweariness from labor in His fieldcan cause us to think that we aredoing the job alone. We tend toforget that we labor together withthe Lord in the harvest, that weshare the yoke with Him.

Our weariness can also makeus forget to learn from Jesus howto labor. We need to follow Hisexample of approaching the har-vest field, not out of compulsion,but in complete rest and peace.Jesus rested in His Father's will

and purpose. Though He abun-dantly met the human need whichconfronted Him, He was at alltimes the Prince of Peace and theKing of Rest. He was never foundin a state of unrest or anxiety.

If we examine the pattern ofattitudes and actions in the earth-ly ministry of the One who wasnot only Lord of the Harvest butalso Lord of the Sabbath, we canmake seven observations whichwill help us to rest in the Father'swill as Jesus did.

1. Jesus was a 'full-tenn baby. "Redemption was not somethingwhich the Father, Son and HolySpirit threw together in a hurry inresponse to the crises of sinfulman. It was a plan set in motionbefore the world began. "Em-manuel" spent a full nine monthsin the womb of Mary-He wasnot born of expedience.

2. Jesus trained for thirty yearsbefore He began to minister. "I'vegot to get out of college. Theworld needs me!" Though we mayfeel a sense of urgency, we dis-cover in reality that we train mostof our lives to make one simplecontribution to the purpose ofthe kingdom of God. and thenour brief appearance in redemp-tive history is over. Since the tim-ing of our appearance is ordained

JUNE 1982

by God, there is no use in our try-ing to rush it.

3. Jesus never ran anywhere.When Lazarus died, Jesus waitedan extra day before He decidedthat it was time to go and minis-ter to him. He knew the Father'stiming.

4. Jesus finished His ministryin a short time. In three and ahalf years, Jesus completed Hiswork and then released it to elev-en ordinary men. When we walkwith the Lord of the Sabbath, wediscover that it is not necessaryfor us to hold on to "our ministry"so tightly that we squeeze the lifeout of it. In fact, the best courseis to train others constantly totake over for us so that ourgreatest joy can be in seeingthem succeed in even more thanwe have.

5. Jesus viewed the ministryas simple acts of kindness. Manywill come on the final day of ac-counting and submit lists of mas-sive undertakings and superhu-man achievements to the Lord,saying, "Did we not do such andsuch in your name?" His answermay well be, "I don't recognizeyou," meaning, "We did not dothat job together." Others willhumbly await the King's verdictand be surprised to hear Him sayof them, "Inasmuch as you minis-tered to the least of these mybrothers, you did it to me. Youwho have labored with me-enter now into my joy."

6. Jesus never felt guilty abouttaking a break. When Jesus ledHis disciples through the grain-fields on the Sabbath and onother occasions as well, He tookthem aside just for a time of fel-lowship together. He never feltguilt for withdrawing from press-ing needs when He became wearyfrom His task.

7. Jesus' attitude of rest engen-dered faith and peace in others.An example of this truth is thehealing of the blind men who fol-lowed Jesus, desiring that Heheal them. He asked them this

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question: "Do you believe that Iam able to do this?" "Yes, Lord,"they replied.

Something in Jesus caused pe0-

ple to believe that He could meettheir need. He caused faith toleap up in them. I believe thatthat something was the spirit ofSabbath-a spirit of being com-pletely at rest in the will, purposeand direction of His Father. Heknew the call of the Father onHis life, He rested in the power ofthe Spirit within, and when Hecalled for faith in others it cameforth!

"The Son of Man is Lord ofthe Sabbath" (Mt. 12:8). I believethat this claim is an importantsecret of Jesus' ministry. He min-istered from a foundation of restto people who needed rest. Histrust in the Father's power andcare challenged others-and chal-lenges us as well-to respond tothe stress and weariness of life by"casting every care on Him" (1

Pet. 5:7). As we do this, the scrip-ture says that "the peace of God,which transcends human under-standing, will keep constant guardover our hearts and minds asthey rest in Christ Jesus" (Phil.4:7 Phillips).

My desire is to serve the Lordof the Harvest. When I prayed forlaborers, I became one. Daily Iam confronted with the needs ofa sick society, and they weighheavily upon me. But in the midstof so many pressing concerns, Ihave heard the Lord of the Sab-bath call, "Come to me and rest."It is not really so much a com-mand for my work to cease as it isa gentle reminder that I am notto allow the needs of the harvestto control me-a reminder that Imust return regularly to the yokeof the Lord of the Sabbath. Forin that yoke I will find rest for mysoul, and from that rest I will beable to serve those in need asJesus did....

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Pass it onI'm sorry I haven't written

before, but I am really enjoyingyour wonderful magazine.

There is a group of us, allsenior citizens, and I pass mymagazine on from one to theother so they can enjoy it too. I'venever read a magazine that cancompare with New Wine. I'velearned valuable information thatevery Christian should know andpray about

Harriet, Van CliefRichmond Hill, NY

Welcome backIt didn't take long to realize the

need to be put back on your mail-ing list. Your April issue [An Endto Guilt] did it. My past sins keptnagging me. Now I am free. PraiseGod. Thank you for the greatissue. I look forward to all of DonBasham's writings.

Viola KochAlamo, CA

•lneThe Crucifixion

You all are doing such an ex-cellent job. We just received yourApril issue. Our children (agesfour and two and a half) had justbeen asking us that morningabout how Jesus was nailed onthe cross-did it hurt Him, etc.

What a moving article "TheCrucifixion:, A Medical View" byDr. Daviswas. It certainly has realanswers to their questions. Any-one who ever takes for grantedwhat Jesus did on the cross for usshould review this article.

Mrs. Dwight MorejohnDavis, CA

Wants more interviewsI enjoyed your February issue

on the arts very much. The inter-view with Francis Schaeffer wasespecially meaningful for me. Anyinterview you publish allows usthe readers to catch a glimpse intothe personal life of an author orpersonality whom we've admiredor desired to know more about

I've been enriched through

several of the Schaeffers' booksin the past and it was good to"reacquaint" myself with themagain. Francis's quote on art be-ing a reflection of God's creativityand an evidence that we're madein God's image really spoke to mein a freeing way. The time I putinto some of the simplest expres-sions of creativity, such as ahand-sewn article of clothing fora member of the family, is a con-firmation that I've been createdin His image. What a privilege toenjoy that expression and thesometimes difficult and frustrat-ing process of the production andpreparation.

Ruth SchrockE. Lansing, MI

The ArtsAs a violinist and pianist who

studied in the classical tradition,I was especially touched by GlennBasham's remarks in the Febru-ary issue. Two days before I readthe magazine, the Lord had givenme the idea for a rather largesymphonic work inspired by oneof the Psalms. After reading thatarticle I took the idea much moreseriously.

I also want to express my ap-preciation for printing the ex-cellent poem, "Winter Song," byPaul Thigpen in such a beautifulformat. I am so encouraged byseeing Christians producing ex-cellent art.

Linda JohnsonMadison, WI

Needs a Christianperspective

I am a college student, andalthough I have access to newsabout what is going on in theUnited States and the world, Ilack Christian analysis of thisnews. I especially enjoyed DonBasham's article in the Marchissue about inflation. This is atopic that is talked about on cam-pus, but I felt that joining in onthese conversations would be fu-tile because I didn't have enough

JUNE 1982

knowledge to present God's viewon this subject. But now, becauseof Don's article, I feel I can pre-sent God's view on inflation toother people, backing it up withscriptures.

The influence that well-in-formed people who present God'sview can have is tremendous, es-pecially on a college campus.

Sally KronerCorvallis, OR

Let's all walkFirst I want to commend you

for publishing the letter in theMarch issue which you titled"Not enough meat." I agree it isimpossible to please all the peo-ple all the time, but you havegiven me much solid food forthought in the past few issues. Ireally needed the issue on the useof time. It helps to realize thatthe use of my time is part of myservice to God. But it was yourMarch issue on paying the pricethat finally sent me to thetypewriter.

I can identify completely withCarol Biesinger. I don't know if Icould run two blocks on levelground, but I am perfectly ca-pable of walking a mile each day-if it's not too cold or windy, orif I don't have a tiny sore throat,or anyone of a dozen excuses.The day after I read her article, Iwalked to a meeting at church,rather than ask a neighbor for aride. I carried a bag with me andpicked up a dozen empty bottlesand cans along the way (inMichigan they can be' returnedfor ten cents each). A frienddrove me part way home, but I in-sisted on walking the last few

blocks down our gravel road. Ifound three more bottles and atwenty dollar bill! I expected thereward of feeling better, but thatwas really stunning.

Jo BorrinkMiddleville, MI

New Wine EventsSo glad you are coming to

Dallas. I've said for years thateveryone needs a shot of BobMumford from time to time.

Your issue on discipline was"just for me." I had been prayingespecially for more discipline forQuite a while before receiving thisissue, at the same time pleading,"Lord, you know I can't do it bymyself." Derek Prince's articlewas a needed refresher.

Thanks to you all.Maxine WilliamsDenton, TX

To the collegesAs a college instructor, I see

students and families alike strug-gle very unsuccessfully with beingdisciplined. I believe God willallow me to share some thoughtsfrom your magazine with my stu-dents, particularly from JosephGarlington's interview.

Ray CollingsAnderson, SC

Cultural overlapThanks to the help of a Chris-

tian friend, I started to receiveNew Wine in 1976. Every issue isan enormous help for me. It isamazing how biblical truths areapplicable, no matter what theculture or background. When Ishared the various ideas with my

Christian friends, they seemed tobe needing the spiritual foodyour magazine offered. May Godbless your fruitful work.

R.p.Poland

Jesus is aliveI want you to know that New

Wine has blessed me in so manyways. I am totally disabled, andyour magazine seems to comewhen everything else is goingwrong to remind me that Jesus isstill alive and His love for me ismore than I can imagine.

I have read many times aboutthe crucifixion and seen movieson this many times, but I don'tthink I really understood all thatwas done to my Lord Jesus until Iread Dr. Davis's article, "TheCrucifixion: A Medical View."Now I know for sure how muchJesus loves us. My daughter whois thirteen also enjoys themagazine.

Sharon PritchardSpringfield, OH

HometownsThe feature "Hometowns" on

the back cover really gives a neatlittle snap to the magazine. Ihope we shall be seeing more ofthis. It somehow gives us agreater vision to see that we arereading the same thing thatsomeone in some other countryhalfway around the world isreading.

Wendy HunterHilton, NY

P.O. Box Z, Mobile, AL 36616

The editorial policy and purpose of New Wine are (1) to proclaimthe gospel of the Kingdom of God to all nations. (2) towork with all Christian ministries for the maturity and unity of HisChurch. (3) thus making ready a people prepared for the coming of theLord. We recognize that. according to the Scriptures. God uses mengiven as ministries to build His Church in the earth. However. the basisof our relationship is not primarily commitment to human per-sonalities. but to Jesus Christ as Head. to the Holy Scriptures as theultimate standard by which all revelation and practice are to be judgedand to God's purpose for His people in the earth at this time. as inter-preted by the Holy Spirit New Wine is a non-subscription magazine

NEW WINE

supported by the voluntary contributions of those who believe in itsmission. All gifts are tax-deductible. A tax-deductible receipt for con-tributions is available at year-end upon request. l'/ew Wine Magazine isunder the supervision of an editorial board which meets several timeseach year to provide direction and oversight. The board consists ofDon Basham. Em Baxter. Bob l>lumford. Derek Prince and CharlesSimpson. who receive no remuneration for their service on the board.Please use the fonn found in this magazine to request New Wine andfor address changes and contributions. All foreign contributions orpayments should be made in the fonn of a check for U.S. dollars drawnon a U.S. bank or International Money Order for U.S. dollars.

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