This document discusses the importance of keeping the Sabbath and finding rest in God. It contrasts Chronos time, which is a burden, with Kairos time, which is a gift from God. By receiving each day as a gift from God and resting in Him, we can redeem Chronos into Kairos. The Sabbath helps anchor our days and prevent us from constantly fleeing from our troubles. Examples are given of Jews who kept the Sabbath even in hardship and of William Wilberforce, who was able to focus on abolishing slavery after a day of Sabbath rest.

1. Sabbath (1):
Understanding Our Days
by Timothy Chan
(August 2012)

2. Sabbath
(Ex 20:8-11 ESV) Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all
your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to
the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any
work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your
male servant, or your female servant, or your
livestock, or the sojourner who is within your
gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

3. Sabbath
Why should we study about the Sabbath?
Sabbath = most neglected commandment
We don’t neglect worshipping God,
honoring parents, not killing people.
We are not even conscious of it.
Sabbath is often misunderstood, followed
legalistically (rules!), or treated as a burden.
The keeping of Sabbath has important
impact on our daily life, and for our future.

4. Our Relationship with “Time”
Q: What is a typical answer for “How are you?”
“Busy” is now the new “Fine”.

5. Our Relationship with “Time”
Q: Do you tend to agree when people say
“Twenty four hours a day is not enough”?
Typical solution: Time management
i.e. visualizing time as a sequence of little
boxes, and determining what tasks go into
which boxes.
But... we still find it hard to
complete our tasks and our
plans no matter how much
time we have.
Q: Why?

6. The problem with “Time Management”
“Time management” doesn’t work because:
Time cannot be possessed: it’s not static like
money, but it’ll slip through like water.
Time cannot be controlled: with our planners
we pretend to live above time, but we actually
live in time.

7. The problem with “Time Management”
“Our problem with time is social, cultural, and
economic, to be sure. But it is also a spiritual
problem ... we come to believe that we, not
God, are the masters of time. We come to
believe that our worth must be proved by the
way we spend our hours and that our ultimate
safety depends on our own good
management.” (Dorothy Bass)

8. The Lexicon of Time
(Eph 5:15-17 ESV) Look carefully then how you
walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the
best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand
what the will of the Lord is.
(Eph 5:15-17 NIV) Be very careful, then, how
you live — not as unwise but as wise, making
the most of every opportunity, because the days
are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but
understand what the Lord’s will is.

9. The Lexicon of Time
There are two different Greek words for “time”:
Chronos
Kairos

10. Time: Chronos vs. Kairos
Chronos (root of “chronological”)
Chronos is a cruel god in Greek mythology
who devours his children.
Chronos time is defined in measurable
quantity, for example:
24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour
number of tasks accomplished
Chronos time is a ration and a burden; it
makes us slaves of the clock.

11. Time: Chronos vs. Kairos
Kairos (used in Eph 5:16)
Kairos means: the right moment, or an
opportune moment.
Kairos time is defined in quality and
purpose.
We can receive Kairos time as a gift and as
an abundance.

12. Time: Chronos vs. Kairos
(Eph 5:15-17 ESV) Look carefully then how you
walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the
best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand
what the will of the Lord is.
We can redeem Chronos time into Kairos
time if we:
Live carefully, paying attention.
Make wise choices.
Discern God’s will, and use our time
accordingly.

13. Unit of Time in the Bible
Q: What is the basic unit of time in the Bible?
(Gen 1:5 ESV) God called the light Day, and
the darkness he called Night. And there was
evening and there was morning, the first
day.
(Ps 90:12 ESV) So teach us to number our
days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
(Matt 6:34 ESV) Therefore do not be anxious
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be
anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its
own trouble.

14. Receiving the Day as a Gift
(Ps 118:24 ESV) This is the day that the LORD
has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Q: Do you find it hard to obey this, that is, to
rejoice every single day?
We find it hard to rejoice every day because:
We focus on the
circumstances.
We fail to see each day as
God’s gift.
We don’t understand the
rhythm of our days.

15. Receiving the Day as a Gift
Q: When does a day begin? Is it: 00:00am?
When alarm clock wakes you up? Other?
According to Jewish reckoning, a day begins
in the evening and lasts until the following
evening.
(Gen 1:5b,8b,13,19,23,31b ESV)there was
evening and there was morning, the 1st/
2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th day.

16. Receiving the Day as a Gift
Evening = start of the day
Therefore, we begin the day with sleep.
Sleep is an act of self-abandonment: of
control, of power. It is also an act of faith.
(Ps 3:1,5 ESV) O LORD, how many are my
foes! Many are rising against me; ... I lay
down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD
sustained me.
(Ps 4:8 ESV) In peace I will both lie down
and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me
dwell in safety.

17. Receiving the Day as a Gift
Q: Do you go to sleep, out of sheer exhaustion,
or out of complete confidence in God?
Also: Evening = God works while we sleep
(Num 11:9 ESV) When the dew fell upon the
camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
(Matt 6:11 ESV) Give us this day our daily
bread

18. Receiving the Day as a Gift
Morning = we join in the work that God has
already begun without us.
(Ps 90:14-17 ESV) Satisfy us in the morning
with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice
and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as
many days as you have afflicted us, and for
as many years as we have seen evil. Let your
work be shown to your servants, and your
glorious power to their children. Let the
favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and
establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

19. Receiving the Day as a Gift
Q: When someone says “God’s work,” what
comes to mind?
It isn’t limited to the work of a pastor or a
missionary.
(Ps 127:1 ESV) Unless the LORD builds the
house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the
watchman stays awake in vain.

20. Receiving the Day as a Gift
In response to God’s work, we work, as an act
of faith.
(Eph 6:5-7 ESV) !Bondservants, obey your
earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a
sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the
way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as
bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God
from the heart, rendering service with a good
will as to the Lord and not to man

21. Receiving the Day as a Gift
“This Hebrew evening/morning sequence
conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to
sleep, and God begins his work. ...... We wake
and are called to participate in God’s creative
action. We respond in faith, in work. But always
grace is previous. Grace is primary. We wake
into a world we didn’t make, into a salvation
we didn’t earn. Evening: God begins, without
our help, his creative day. Morning: God calls
us to enjoy and share and develop the work he
initiated.” (Eugene Peterson)
Q: How’d this daily rhythm change your life?

22. Sabbath: the anchor of our days
In our busyness and stress, the rhythm of our
days tend to drift out of whack.
Sabbath is God’s gift of Kairos time to help us
re-orient the proper rhythm of our days...
... like kids needing proper nap time
... like a piano needing occasional tuning

23. Sabbath: the anchor of our days
The word “Sabbath” means: stop, rest
(Ps 46:10 ESV) Be still, and know that I am God
“God gave us the gift of Sabbath -- not just
as a day, but as an orientation, a way of
seeing and knowing.” (Mark Buchanan)
(Isaiah 30:15 ESV) For thus said the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest
you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust
shall be your strength.”
Those who keep the Sabbath live with more
purpose, more resolve, more resiliency.

24. Sabbath: the anchor of our days
(Isaiah 30:15-17a ESV) For thus said the Lord
GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and
rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust
shall be your strength.” But you were
unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon
horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We
will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your
pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at
the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall
flee

25. Sabbath: the anchor of our days
In the face of troubles and burdens, our
tendency is to flee.
But fleeing is false safety. With each flight, it
gets harder and harder to avoid fleeing.
“God’s solution is surprising. He offers rest. But
it’s a unique form of rest. It’s to rest in him in
the midst of our threats and our
burdens.” (Mark Buchanan)
(Matt 11:28 ESV) Come to me, all who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

26. Examples of Sabbath Keepers: Jews
The Jews kept Sabbath amidst hard times, in
Hitler’s concentration camps.
A saying goes: “more than the Jews have kept
Sabbath, Sabbath has kept the Jews.”

27. Examples of Sabbath Keepers: Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was famous for helping
abolish slave trade.
When he first entered British parliament, he
was intoxicated with political ambitions, and he
struggled with it.
After a Sabbath day of solitude and
rest, he wrote, “Blessed be to God
for the day of rest and religious
occupation wherein earthly things
assume their true size. Ambition is
stunted.”

28. References
Receiving the Day (Dorothy Bass)
The Rest of God (Mark Buchanan)
“The Pastor’s Sabbath” (Eugene Peterson)
“A Biblical View of Time” (Loren Pinilis)
“Wisdom and Sabbath Rest” (Tim Keller)
“Your Most Important Conversation” (Gordon
McDonald)