This posting combines several powerful scriptural ideas that connect in "The Mystery Of Christ".
We will discuss the "Sabbath" concept, being "Dead" in Christ, the scriptural concept of "Sleep" and "Dreams", and - of course - PEACE.
This is for all you "soccer moms" and "soccer dads" - even if your kids are actual Americans who like games where points actually get scored!
The beauty of our society is that we have so many conveniences, and make such good wages per hour of work - far more than what has been available through history - that we should be "living the Dream" like never before.
Well, it turns out that Maslow had it all pretty much totally wrong. When men and women have wealth, health and security, they get shallow and unspiritual. It is the poor who are rich in faith. When people are broken, in danger, suffering, and facing huge obstacles - then they go to God for peace.
Nonetheless, we should have a movement, among Christians, to LIVE THE DREAM.
Picture this:
We establish software companies which generate great wealth. The programmers live in an idyllic paradise. We have engineers, historians - all manner of experts in vitally important sciences.
Our disadvantaged and disabled are given work on farms, or in specially designed workships. Alcoholics and drug addicts get free, and work with their hands. I know of such places. I LIVED in such a place. I started on a hippie farm and plan to end on one.
But we squander our wealth. We run in circles. We look only after ourselves. We don't even give ourselves a break - much less anyone else.
God has one word to us: "STOP!"
I will not take time to quote all the New Testament scriptures about the Sabbath. People argue - is it Saturday or Sunday? Most miss the point entirely. Some rest - snoring like monsters on the couch. Something tells me we don't get it.
The primary meaning of the word "Sabbath" is just this: "STOP".
We stop and get off our demonic treadmills - our religious treadmills - our kid activity treadmills - our running around and shopping treadmills - our self pleasing entertainment treadmills.
We wear ourselves out with all our shopping and entertainment.
And many of our religious programs are just the best excuse we have for not facing ourselves in peace.
We can't face ourselves. We can't rest in God's presense. We are driven, harassed, guilt ridden and oppressed.
Paul goes into great detail to explain how we don't work our way to heaven. But religion, by definition, is exactly that no matter how you cut it.
The "good" is the best weapon of Satan to block the "perfect" - real spirituality.
We're doing God's work??? But our lifestyle is so nasty that no unbeliever would be drawn to it.
How is that doing God's work? It misrepresents God. God's been resting since he got done with day SIX!
"I've been in the WAY OF GOD for FOURTY YEARS!"
God: "Yeah. And if you'd just get OUT of my way I could reveal myself to people!"
We've rejected the mystical (spiritual) side of what it means to be a Christian. This renders our religious activity both shallow and oppressive. And for all who claim that reading the bible is the way to serve God - we sure reject alot of what the bible teaches us!
Stop! Just STOP!
There.
That's better.
Now you can start living the dream. Sure you'll serve. You may find that, like Jesus, you get pretty busy sometimes. But Jesus always had the STOP TIME - alone with his Father.
If he needed it, we do.
And we need a DAY of peace. So plan a Sabbath. The actual day makes NO DIFFERENCE. You may work a swing shift. In that case, it will "swing" with you! There are good reasons for Saturday as a day of rest. It's part of our heritage and reflects God's Seventh Day Rest. But God made the Sabbath for US, not visa versa. So find time for peace. Find time to STOP.
We are dead in Him. Dead people are really good at one thing: Stopping. Jesus called it sleep. And it is completely valid to connect the two ideas. "I lie down and rest. I rise up again because the Lord sustains me." (from Psalm 4). Jesus laid down in the "sleep" of death - as he called it. And he rose up with new life that could never die again. We die daily.
This is all in the Mystery Of Christ.
So this is where I part ways with most bible teachers. Your controlling mind is ever restless. It won't stop. It won't yield control. That's why you run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Your controlling mind wants to keep control. It fears that, if you rest, you will mentally rest and give control of your thoughts to God.
Then what would happen? Your heart is SET FREE! You start living.
So you pull your little controller aside, have THAT TALK, and fire him! The Holy Spirit is going to direct me. No more SLAVE DRIVER. No more Pharoah.
Unbelievers had no week. They had no weekend. When people rested they got BIG IDEAS that should not be coming into their pretty little heads! So we start wanting Freedom! We rock the boat in so many ways!
And Caesar says, "Clearly, you have too much time on your hands."
Jesus is our Lord. The ruler of this age can just get lost. We will NOT submit to his SLAVERY any more. Caesar killed our Lord. Now he can't touch him. We, too, have passed from death to life. They can kill the body but not our Spirit.
So
"Do not submit again to a yoke of bondage!"
You get to enjoy a Sabbath Rest all day, every day.
You don't work.
You may play REAL HARD.
But you no longer labor.
We can live in radically new ways.
Let's wrap up with some thoughts on death, sleep and dreaming.
Do you want to LIVE THE DREAM?
Start with Communion.
When we are in Communion we are mystically joined with Jesus, and each other, in the Spirit.
I know Communion in most churches is a quick snack of crackers and juice. That's not communion folks. Why should we not be allowed to think on Him, join with Him, feel his LOVE, feel all he suffered for us - and enjoy sweet Love toward Jesus and Each Other?
Most church services are exercises in RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.
Wow!
If we can't "rest in Him" in church, how in the world will we do it in the hustle and bustle of daily life???
Ever think about that?
Probably not.
Do you know why? For all our talk about Grace, we often live in the works of religion and works of the law.
And do you know what gets lost? The whole concept of LOVE.
Hug each other quick before the meeting and SOAK IT UP. That'll be all for you.
But when we rest in Him, our love toward each other vastly increases.
We need to "Live The Dream"!
You sleep, you rest - and then you Dream.
This is appropriate isn't it?
What is a dream????
A dream is the beautiful experience we can have, in our sleep, when our controlling mind has it's hands tied behind it's back and has to sit in the corner praying for a nightmare!
Awake or asleep, we dream.
Why?
We are in the sleep of Spiritual death to this world in mystical union with Jesus in his dying.
Our controlling minds, and our habits, must give up control.
Then our hearts are SET FREE.
They are going to burn me as a heretic!
But I'm telling you, when you rest in Him, "Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams."
And those dreams will SET US FREE.
They won't be able to cram that genie back in the bottle!
Don't get me wrong, folks.
People who live in God's peace serve, submit easily to authority in the church, do not gossip, and gather in the lost sheep. And since they don't run to the mall every hour on the hour, they have plenty of money to give for the care and upbuilding of others.
But don't expect the Pharoahs of this world to let you free without a fight.
And lots of slaves will bug you, too.
But never mind them!
You are free.
And those who the SON SETS FREE are FREE INDEED!
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