Be Ye Also Ready

Yesterday the Stock Market lost over 700 points. Today there will probably be more loses. Many fear that a very severe recession is possible, and some even say a depression. The leaders of the United States are scrambling to shore up the financial markets.

In this trying and difficult time, many are looking for the Bible to tell them what is going to happen tomorrow. Some are looking at the Bible as a soothsayer looks at the crystal Ball. We gaze into it hoping to find the answer for tomorrow.

Why do you Want to Know?

But why? Is it so that we can know when to stock up on canned goods and bottled water? Is it so that we can show off our knowledge? In Matthew 24:42-44 we are told to be ready. Not because we know exactly when the end will be, but because we don't know.

Certainly there are signs that point to the end, and we can know when the end is near or even at the doors. (Mark 13:29). But that end is not necessarily tied to an economic implosion of the United States. We must remember that we have seen great economic crisis in this country, including the Great Depression of early 20th century, but the end was not yet. Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place.

What does God Say?

What does God say? in the scripture we are told to "be ready because we don't know." Today, I look at all the prophecy teachers and prognosticators telling us what will happen with certainty. I can't do that, but I can say "be ye also ready." Some still are telling me that the economy will crash today due to it being the last day of September, all I can say is "be ye also ready." Instead of trying to look into the crystal ball why not just do what we are told to do, be ye also ready.

What About Restitution?

In too many cases we think about sin and forgiveness as being a thing only between ourselves and God. We may lie on someone and think that our asking forgiveness from God is our only responsibility. We praise God for the blood and the damage that we have done stay unaddressed. We may steal from someone and we feel happy about the forgiveness that God has given to us without ever going to the one we have wronged asking for forgiveness and providing recompense for the wrong. In some cases I have known one to steal from someone and then condemn the one they have stolen from when they desired the stolen money back. They argue that "If God has accepted my apology why can't you?"

Restitution in the Tabernacle

The ancient Tabernacle Service had in them what are called "Trespass Offerings." These include making restitution for that which we have taken. (Numbers 5:6). Numbers 5:6-7 gives us the steps to be forgiven of sins. First was confession where the sinner acknowledges the sin. Second, there is restitution including an additional part (Numbers 5:7). Third, there is a sacrifice (Leviticus 6:6). Then there is forgiveness (Leviticus 6:7).

Zacchaeous and Forgiveness

When Zacchaeous was converted he caught a glimpse of this and was willing to do even more than the law required. He wanted to restore four times that which he had stolen in fraudulent dealings. (Luke 19:8-10). In today's era where we want a Christianity that makes no demands on us, Trespass Offerings remind us that we must make right the wrongs that we have done. It reminds us that the relationship that we have broken with others should be resolved to the best of our abilities. It reminds us that Zacchaeous demonstrates the mindset of those who are truly forgiven.

Sabbath Provides Time to See God's Work

We are commanded to remember that God created on the seventh day. (Exodus 20:11) We celebrate God's ability to make things out of things that do not appear. (Hebrews 11:3). In revelation we are reminded that there will be a movement and a message that celebrates God's creative power when it has the everlasting Gospel. (Revelation 14:7).

God Creates Out of Nothing

God creates out of nothing. When we celebrate this idea we celebrate that God needs nothing to make something. Such an idea implies that God has a way out of or through all of our situations because God doesn't need something that "appears" to create. When we find ourselves in need of rent money. We know that God can take care of it in God's own time and in God's own way. Even though we may not be able to see how God is going to do it, we can know that God will do it, because God specializes in making "something" out of things that do not "appear." It may not be money that God provides. I don't know what God will do, but how God does it is up to God, we just trust in the power and ability of God. In other words we trust God's creative power.

The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow

Our ancestors were right when they said, God will make a way out of no way. They were simply saying that God has the creative power to change any situation into a better situation. And even though we may not be able to see it, we can know it.

But how can we know it? God has commanded us to remember the Sabbath that we may have time to think about God's creative power. We can know it, because God has given us time to internalize the fact that God creates things out of things that do not appear. God has given us the Sabbath to remind us that when our back is against the wall, God is not surprised and that God can see you through the situation.

The Sabbath Helps Us Know It

If it weren't for the Sabbath, many of us would spend our lives in the constant worry of trying to take care of our needs and planning for our future needs. However, the Sabbath gives us time to sit back and think about how Jesus has been with us in our past, and anticipate God's continued presence with us.

What Happens When We Forget to Rest?

Wayne Muller writes in the book Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest:

If we forget to rest we will work too hard and forget our more tender mercies, forget those we love, forget our children and our natural wonder. God says: Please don't. It is a waste of a tremendous gift I have given you. If you knew the value of your life, you would not waste a single breath. So I give you this commandment: Remember to rest. This is not a life-style suggestion, but a commandment -- as important as not stealing, not murdering, or not lying."

Remember the Sabbath, remember to rest, and I would add remember to rest on the day that God created especially for that purpose. Don't get so caught up in work that you lose. Don't "waste a single breath." God has given us a commandment that we might be better spouses, community members, parents, church members, and human beings.

Can We Rest?

How often do we rob ourselves of the rest that God has provided because we want work?

Sometimes we want rest on our own terms rather than God's terms. And in the process end up with no rest at all. How many of us add "church" as simply another burden to the work that we already have?

Making Excuses for Our Work

How many of us try to make excuses so that our particular work might be considered "legal" to do on the Sabbath when this simply adds to the burdens? Some will theologically hide their desire to work by quoting the Biblical text which states "lawful to do good" when we really mean "lawful to do...." We want to do and thus simply add to our burdens.

Do we have the Sabbath rest that God has provided for us? I am sure many do, but many of us are constantly adding things to our plate and never taking anything away. We have much work, much good work, but it is still work. All of this sticks with us as we enter the supposed rest. Thus instead of uninhibited communion with God and our community (family and larger community) we get added work and burdens. And the amazing thing is that we bring it all on ourselves!!!

Our Identity is Work

It is as if we do not want rest...we are telling God, keep your rest, I want to work!! Or, I am too busy to rest. How often do I do that when God is offering the rest that comes in communion and trust with the Most High. Instead I tell God take your rest, I want to work. In American society where we place a premium on work, we have a blackberry cell phone, beeper, and a laptop. And we never slow down. Perhaps our identity is too tied to busyness. Perhaps the first step to rest is in realizing that we are more than what we do!!! Rest can only come from letting go of our desire and need to "do."

If we will rest according to the commandment, we must set aside our false need to "do" and live in our real need to "be." God help us to rest.

Bringing the Garden of Eden to America

One of my favorite Authors, E. J. Waggoner had an article entitled "The Sabbath and the Cross" in The Present Truth of July 20, 1893. You can find the full article at 1888 Most Precious Message. In that article, Waggoner states:

(W)e find that the Sabbath was given to man at the close of the creation of the earth, before the fall. It is an institution of Eden. See the second chapter of Genesis. Therefore the keeping of it as it was given, must bring something of Eden into this wicked world.

Forgetting Eden

Bringing eden to this world. Our attempts at rest and to set aside earthly pursuits is not to be a burden, but to be a delight. We are called to bring Eden into this world. As we go about doing what we must do in our daily lives, we can sometimes lose the big picture. We can lose focus even as we seek to do what God would have us to do. There are many obligations of family, community, work, spirituality, and other important pursuits that we must engage in as people who are productive citizens. All of these things can easily make us forget who we are and why we are here.

The Great Reminder

The Sabbath is the great reminder, ultimately we want the endless intimate community that consist of God and humanity. We want the close communion that Adam and Eve shared as the model community of faith and love. We want to be relieved of worries about jobs. We want to set aside the paper that we just turned in but fear its quality. We want an even deeper connection to God than we could possible have during this week. And yes "we want a place where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Praise God that even though Adam and Eve where thrust out of Eden, they got to take a little of Eden with them in the Sabbath.

We Have Killed the Sanctuary Message

We have killed the Sanctuary Message. We all have contributed to its demise. From the local elder who drones on and on about the color of the tassel the priest was wearing to the pastor who oftentimes just ignores the whole message. From the Bible Teacher who made it merely a mathematical calculation to the lay person who goes to sleep every time it comes up. We have Killed the Sanctuary Message!

We all had a Hand in this

Part of it is the culture that doesn't want to work for anything. We would rather sing "Jesus loves me this I know..." for the rest of our lives than to put forth any effort to provide depth to our religious experience. Part of it is due to the whole tabernacle service being so alien to us. We do not know anything about sacrificing animals and priests representing the people. The sanctuary illustration doesn't make sense to us. Part of it is due to the issues over the years that external and internal theologians, preachers, and Bible teachers have had with parts of the message. Part of it is due to the fact that few seem to be able to give the "cliff note" version of the message which might provide the context to understand the message.

I have been reading the evangelistic messages of some of the great evangelists of our past. One thing that is interesting is that oftentimes the Sanctuary was given to open up the way for the Sabbath. We preached the Sanctuary in heaven where the very Law of God was placed in the throne of God. S. N. Haskell used to use the Sanctuary as his organizing principle for his teaching all of our doctrines. He spoke of everything through this model.

Understanding from the Sanctuary

The simple fact is that we don't know as much as we think we know without referring to the Sanctuary. We cannot understand the "lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) without referring to the tabernacle services. It is problematic to attempt to speak of the "priest after the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 5:6) without looking at the sanctuary. And even what we think we know takes on added significance like why and how we can come "come boldly to the throne of grace." (Hebrews 4:16) Without the sanctuary as a model we would miss some of that imagery.

But we have missed it. The Sanctuary message has not been "seeker-sensitive." It is deemed not "relevant" and even called "valueless. Yes we have killed the Sanctuary message, but what is perhaps more interesting than that is that few seem to notice or care.

Can We Survive Without It?

Certainly there are quarters of Adventism where the sanctuary message is all you hear. And the leadership of the church still produces Sanctuary materials from time to time. The Seven Volumes of the Daniel and Revelation Committee definitely seek to affirm the value of the message. The upcoming Sabbath School Lesson makes reference to this subject. In addition, Clifford Goldstein has made a career out of reminding us of the importance of the sanctuary. There are others who teach this as well, but the majority of American Adventists, those who proport to believe the teaching or not, have set it aside for more "pressing" concerns. And there are some parts of Adventism that would tend to celebrate its demise. One can only hope that Ellen White was incorrect when she said that this is one of the pillars of our movement. In addition, when she said that this is one of the principal subjects we should be preaching, we have to hope she was wrong. Because if Sister White is right, we may have seen a part of our foundation leave...And if that is true, what will we do when all that can be shaken will be shaken?