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What does the Sabbath have to do with believers in the 21st century? And what does it mean to be a people of sacred interruption? Pastor Peter T.O. shares an encouraging word with us today.

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We're gonna talk about a people of sacred interpretation uh interruption. Okay, it means secret interruption. Okay, so this is all about the Sabbath. But let me start by saying that many of the laws of the Torah are similar to those laws outside in the then world. But there are three elements that is quite uniquely Jewish. Firstly, uh the circumcision of male infants when they are born uh on their eighth-day birthday, they're supposed to be circumcised. And then the second one is where they have kosher food, they have uh dietary restriction where they don't eat pork and they don't eat unclean animals. And the third one, particularly, is observing Sabbath, a day of rest. And this is uniquely uh Jewish, uniquely Jewish. And so Sabbath was set apart as a day of rest. Sabbath in particular sounds strange to us, but because Sabbath does make them the people that's been uh of sacred interruption. By interruption, I mean that they have been disturbed, they have been intruded into in their lives, they have a break, a rest. Uh is somebody who's been stopped and hindered from doing something for the time being. So the Jewish weekly, daily thing has been disrupted by God. Every and what what they do is uh um the uh uh the Sabbath basically is the seventh day of the week. That means on Saturday, or rather Friday night, Friday evening, they begin to stop working, and then throughout the whole day on Saturday, they do not work. Okay, so that is a day of rest. And then there is also the seventh year, the sabbatical year, where every seventh year they stop working. They work for six years, seven years stop, and then there is also the 50th year, besides the 49th year, they have the Sabbath. The next year, Jubilee, they will completely stop working. So all throughout the life cycle, there is always a disruption, that there is always an event that they must uh do as the people of covenant. By the way, I just need to say this: keeping the Sabbath do not save you. Let me start from the very beginning, just as uh Exodus chapter 5 uh Acts chapter 15. I say circumcision doesn't save you. Here, Sabbath doesn't save you, but there are things and principles we can learn and pick up from there, the spirit that's behind it. Because there are people who who who do who say the Old Testament is irrelevant and is irrelevant, no more uh applicable for modern life, but I don't think so, because it is the word of God. When God spoke the word is from Himself, and the Word is living. The whole Bible is the living word of God, and it's very powerful. You know why? Because it changes life, it changes my life, and it will change your life. So, so basically, keeping the Sabbath, let me get back to Sabbath, is doesn't save you, but we can learn something from it. Basically, Sabbath started with originally as a as a day of rest, as a day uh where they remember God's creation, firstly, in Genesis, that they were created in the image of God, and God uh worked so hard and uh worked for six days and then he rested on the seventh day. That's basically the big original idea of Sabbath. I would call it the six six plus one rhythm. God has a rhythm. Six days, then one day rest. Six days and one day rest, just like you play music three three hours four or four hours of four. That's a rhythm. Okay, so God has a rhythm. And when God created you as his creation, you are the image of God, right? You also have a rhythm. What rhythm do you have? Six plus one. That's the original. Anything out of seven, out of seven you work, you are out of rhythm. God says, six plus one rhythm. So why did God need to rest? The question is is asked. Does he get tired? No, God doesn't get tired. Does he need to be refilled or rejuvenate? No. But I think God rested on the seventh day because uh it's not not so much of replenishment, but enjoyment. I can just imagine God after the first Sabbath, where He He just, I will imagine God just spreading His hammock and then have an icy beverage, and then with a wonder-filled sigh, says, Wow, I've created so much amazing stuff all around. He was just enjoying what he has done, and it's so good even for us after working so hard to enjoy what you have done, also. And so it started with the original idea that God created us, God rested after six days of work, but then slowly evolved. I noticed in the Old Testament, that the it begins to evolve into God who set them free from Egypt. Who set them free from Egypt. You see, once the Israelites were welcome in Egypt when Joseph was around, after Joseph was gone, the Pharaoh system or the world system began to make them slaves without dignity and without value. Their only value is how many bricks can you make? How many bricks can you make? How many sails can you make? Sounds familiar? And they work every day, each day, every weekend. No, no leave, no bouquet, no day off, no, no time to see to your children having medical attention and no pay. Work for free, they are slaves, their value is slaves. We have pay, right? Are we better off? Are we better off in our modern world? Even with the pay we have we work, we work in the rat race, and no matter how high you climb, you are still a rat. And we work like slaves, but let me let us be reminded that work is not your identity. Work is not your identity, your identity is the child of God. God has redeemed you, you belong to God. You are God is your father, and you are the child of God. And I'm so glad uh Shannon sing that song. It's no longer, I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. Shall we repeat the line again? I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. More confident. I'm no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God, and that can be the same. I'm no longer a slave to work. I am a child of God. I have identity. Even for retired people, don't let the retired label label you. You are not a retired old man or retired old woman. You are a and so Sabbath is very important. It sort of regain our dignity. We are regain our dignity, and our dignity and our identity is that we are a child of God. And so let's go to the uh characteristic of the people of God.

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Okay. So see, having trust in God.

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You see, the Jewish people work and they work very hard, just like Singaporeans.

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When they rested on the Sabbath, they feel they need to do something more.

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When they come to church, they feel they're gonna do something more. Something is not complete, lah. I I I why should I why am I in this church? And over here, while you are here, you're thinking of your work. You're thinking of your what am I gonna do on Monday? And then, but the Israelites make a choice, a risky, radical choice, that they will observe Sabbath and have their production cut by one seven. By one seven, because they knew, you know what? They knew that God will make up the difference. If they work for six days, the seventh day they are not working, God will make up the difference. God will supply all my needs according to the riches, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And some of you is doing that right now, and God is gonna bless you, God is gonna supply your needs. Because the God who make you, the God who rescue you, save you in Christ Jesus, is also the God who will care for you. Not just on Sunday, but every day of your life, every week, every year, even your future, God cares. And that's why the Israelites were not paralyzed with fear or uncertainty. Even as we look at the uncertainty in the days ahead, there's going to be difficult times. Cost of living is going up. People are worried about losing jobs. Remember, God cares for you, God will take care of you, He will provide your needs. Do not fear. Do not fear. You just need to trust God. And if you think that for the Jews, the seventh day of the week, every seventh day off is good enough. You know what? God wants them to every seventh year take a break. And the seventh year, the workers have to stop, the farmers have to stop, the animals have to stop working, and the land is laid fallow. By the way, the word follow comes from the word, the root word, rest, release. Okay, so in other words, it's also rest. So and so the seventh year you you do that, and then not only then, more than that, on the fifth year, they have to do the same following the 49th year. 49th year is a Sabbath, and they have to rest one year, and then the fifth year, they rest another year, two years. And so the logical thinking among all of us here right now is me. What am I supposed to eat? If I stop working, if I rest, yeah, the the the poor and the animals can eat eat after whatever is left over. But what about us? Do we have anything? But God promised. Can we go to uh this uh PowerPoint five? Ah, he says, he says, God promised. He said God God actually knew what the people were thinking when he asked them to celebrate the sabbatical year. They they were asked, What will we eat on the seventh year if you do not plant or harvest our crops? But God says, I will send you such a blessing on the sixth year. On the sixth year, that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crops and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in. Wow. Leviticus chapter 25, verse 20 to 21. Take note of this promise. This is a fantastic promise. That even you don't you don't harvest, you don't do anything, God is going to provide in the years of famine, years of not enough. In fact, uh this water uh buger. Water boogerman. Yes, next one. Says Sabbath is about withdrawing from the anxiety system of the Pharaoh. Okay, but by pharaoh, it means the world system. The refusals to let one's life be defined by production and consumption and the endless pursuit of private well-being. And Israel learned about the fourth commandment, which is the Sabbath, that there is a viable way to organize the neighborhood outside the red race. There's a way, a certain way we can organize our life outside the red race. There's a way that God has created, and it's a wonderful way. It's a sabbatical way of life. Many years ago, I know there's a famous slogan in Singapore. It says, Don't worry, be happy. But I would suggest this morning, don't worry, be trusting. Be trusting in God. The times ahead. One of the characteristics of people who are of the sacred interruption is are people who trust in God. God will take care. And then the second point, the characteristic of people with sacred interruption, is that they are generous. Okay, by the way, before I go into the interrupt uh generous uh point, I'd like to introduce this chart to you. The next one. Uh okay, this is uh the whole what we call uh chaiistic structure of a passage. This is uh uh Exodus, no, no, it's not Deuteronomy chapter 15. Okay, what this structure, a chestic interruption, chaiistic is C H I A, S T I C. C H I A, S T I C. Don't pronounce it as Chia Sit. Okay. This is chai stick. Chai stick means, okay, let me just, it's a narrative, it's a narrative, it's a story, whereby there's a central theme, a central axis, uh, a center theme is actually the like verse eight is the whole center meaning of the whole passage, the center theme. And then after which the top, 1ABCD, these are the elements, these are the ideas that pile on until you come to the center point. And then after the center point, in verse 8, you notice the 2A, 2D, C B A is the same idea from the top, but in reverse order. In reverse order. Okay, we find this kind of chestic structure in the Old Testament and New Testament throughout, throughout. And he only points out, it only points out this Bible that we have is the inspiration of God. It's one of the proofs that God inspired this thing. Who would have thought of writing with things like that, this kind of pattern? Only God can think of that. Okay? Let Jesus also speak in characteristic. Let me uh try you. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Sabbath is made for men, not man for Sabbath. Isn't that characteristic? Although some characters do not have the central theme, but you see, speaking of one thing and then after that reversing it, this is the scripture pattern. That this one of the scripture pattern in the Bible. And so this structure basically in verse 8, it proves that one of the characteristics of the people of sacred interruption is that of in verse 8. If I could sum it all up, it's about generosity, having an open heart to give to a brother who has needs. And so in Deuteronomy chapter 15, it's very interesting, it's very unique. All the other passages that I quote just now in Leviticus 25, in Exodus 23, oh, is it 25? Okay, the thing is, it's all talking about resting, the workers resting, the land resting. Uh but over here in Deuteronomy chapter 15, when I was reading about this Sabbath thing, it's totally different. Deuteronomy 15, it's all about canceling debts and releasing born servants. Check it out. It's a different concept of uh it's an added version of the Sabbath idea all along. It's not just resting. Resting is included, yes, but it's about freeing the slaves as well as canceling debts. You see, and when it says canceling debts, it's not say some. It didn't say some. When it cancel debts, cancel all the debts. All the debts. This is a practice that when it comes to the seventh year, whatever somebody owes you, you cancel all the debts. What when I mean cancel, it means it's written in the Bible remission, remittance, release, canceling of debts. What it means is writing off all your debts. That means the person who owes you is totally free right now. Because in normal business, even today, when somebody Has a loan, they are obliged to pay the creditor, right? After a certain time, they're supposed to pay, of course, with interest. But in the sabbatical principle, in Deuteronomy chapter 15, the creditor is to release the debtors from his debt completely. And the debtor is not obliged to pay the creditor at all. At all. Okay? And this practice that God has helps to facilitate the socioeconomic balance. That means, in other words, it gives the poor a chance to restart, to start again. And this permanent cancellation of deaths will really help them and alleviate poverty and also boost the potential for prosperity. I said prosperity. Prosperity is part of the Old Testament. We are in the New Testament. We got a better promise. We have potential for prosperity. I know there are people who don't like to hear the word prosperity, but we didn't ask for it. God is a prosperous God. He blesses us. I am one of the persons who can testify to you. I'm not a prosperity preacher, okay? Don't get me wrong. But I've experienced prosperity when I was living in Japan for 18 years. Not so rich that I can drive, I can buy uh jaguar or anything like that. But rich enough to say, I never got hungry. I never got hungry. I never I never owe anybody any money. And then I have clothes to wear. This is prosperity. Good health is prosperity. Prosperity is part of the gospel. Okay? So I mean there are people who say, oh, preachers should be poor, very, very poor, like a church mouse. And then there are also extreme prosperity preachers where they preach, uh, preachers must be very rich. I believe there needs to be a balance somewhere. Because God does bless us with prosperity. And so, but then he says here on the top line, there'll be no poor. If we begin to do what the Lord tells us to do, tell us to do, we need to, we, we need to uh there'll be no poor in the land because the poor can restart again. There are times in verse 4, then verse 11 he says, the poor will not cease from the land. That means there are times they will be ceased to be poor because they they go through economic problems because of adverse circumstances. And in order to cope, they borrow they borrow money. And so they go through dark patch economically. And so this is a temporary hole in the ground, but it's not a bottomless pit where there's no escape. God has designed the sabbatical year such that the poor have a chance, have a chance to for forgiveness of debts and also freedom as a bond servant. I wish uh the UN Secretary General Antonio uh uh Guterres would read the Bible. Because not too long ago in April he says he laments, he says, oh, the world progress of elevating poverty from the world is so slow. Read the Bible. The Bible says cancel the debts, set the bond free. And so not only that, as the thing has been canceled, the second thing, uh the the other thing he promised is that God will bless you. The top one and bottom also, God will bless you. Because this talking about to the creditors, the creditors, uh the Lord promised that to the creditors, you will receive the blessing if you are careful to obey all the commandments of the Lord. Your God, I am giving you today. The Lord, your God, will bless you as he promised. You will lend money to many nations, you will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you. Verse 5 and verse 6. So, in other words, God promised to Israel they have a chance to be the richest and the most prosperous nation in the whole earth. But the thing is not because of your technical achievement or advancement, but wholehearted commitment to uh to the Lord. And then not only that, he says, let's look to the child again. He says, but you shall not shut your hand to your poor brother, top and bottom, same thing. That means, in other words, even as you are prosperous, even as God bless you, the the instruction is so such that you must not harden your heart, you must not uh have uh base thought in your mind. Because you say, Oh, the seventh year is coming, it's so near to seven years, seven years the debts will be cancelled, so you can sue. Okay, you can't sue, you begin calculating for oh, I'm gonna lose so much. You grieve over what you're gonna lose and be and refuse to lend to the less fortunate, and become all of a sudden a minzer, all of a sudden, when you are you are not so good in maths, all of a sudden when you become very sharp in business, refuse to land. Okay, so the Lord says, Don't do that, don't do that, but in verse 10 it says, Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. And let me suggest in Exodus 23, 23, it talks about the instruction of commandment, instruction of the Sabbath. But in 25, it talks about instruction of giving. So I would may I suggest Sabbath is a precede uh predecessor to generosity. Even as you celebrate Sabbath, generosity is one of the nodes. So it's and not only that, and you can see even in verse 13 and 15. When you release a male servant, do not send him empty-handed. Give him generously farewell gifts from your flock, your trashfold, and your wine press. Share with him some of the bounty which the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember, you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeem you. This is why I'm giving you this commandment. So, so the thing is not only that you've got to give even to the to the servants you release. So that calls for generosity. Besides must be generous. Okay? And if we do that, if we trust God and also be generous, you know what will happen? Like the book of Acts, there'll be no people in need in the church. There'll be no people in need in the church. And the result is there's going to be uh such a blessing that even the community around us will see God is in the midst of us. Let me close by sharing a testimony. Is it okay? Okay, let me just go to the testimony. Okay, you have you heard about CK Tang? How many of you have heard C Tang? The old old timers have heard of him. Okay, CK Tang, his real name is uh Tang Chun King. He's an old man. Uh died in 2000, I think. He came to Singapore in 1923. 1923. And he came with only a tin box. You know, you saw a tin box there? And he's this tin box is full of lace from China, embroidery lace from China. And the first place, and he is the son of a Presbyterian pastor in China from uh Shao uh Santo, Santo, okay, from the Teo Chu area. Okay, and he when he first arrived in Singapore, he slept, the first place he slept in Singapore from China was a church. He was sleeping on the pavement of the church. And when he got out from his sleep first night, first morning, he promised the Lord, Lord, I will build you a church. I will build you a church. But very soon he became very prosperous. He hired Rickshaw and all that, setting up a store in River Valley, and then later moved to Orchard Road. That's CK Tank. Okay. But his policy, when he set up CK Tank, the and right now become a big holdings tanks in uh Orchard Road as well as Vivo City. His policy while he was still alive is that Sunday will be off. Every Christian likes to work work for CK Tang. Because from Monday to Friday, Saturday you work like crazy, but Sunday is off. And you know one thing? I heard a testimony. Every time it comes to the weekend, either Friday or Saturday, their business is so good, it covers the Sunday. And he was a testimony. People interview him. Why you never close, uh, what I call why you never work on Sunday? He says I followed the Sabbath principle. But and he was a great testimony that it works. Because as I'm talking to you, some of you say, ah, this is the Old Testament. No, it works. He became very prosperous. Yeah, and until he right now he's got a hotel in Orchard Road. And tanks is well established. And then you remember his promise, he said he will build a church. When church our savior needs to move to a bigger place. You know, when we were in the old church, we have only a small little hut with uh the church has only poles, and we can see through from the left to the right and from the front to the back. Because you know why? There's no walls. No walls, church with no walls. And we the church keeps on growing. Someone saw people are sitting outside the car park. And we needed a church. And so he heard about it. CK Tang heard about it. In the beginning, he wanted, he approached his pastor, his own pastor, a conservative church. He says, Pastor, I want to build a church for you. The pastor said, My highways. Because if you give me a bigger church, I got to work harder. And then he heard there's a need in church our savior through some context. I think his son was attending our church. And so arrangements were made to meet him. And uh then he said, I'm going to visit your church one Sunday. You know, he is Chinese speaking, conservative church. And so my pastor, Pastor Derek Hong, whether you like him or don't like him, he's still a man of God. He was worried. So he sent his Chinese pastor to follow him. So when the the Sikitan comes, he sits with him. And then after the service, the pastor was asked, You anything to say? He he he kept quiet. So he went home. And so the pastor was crazy, uh, Pastor Derek was worried. Oh, my donation is gone, let's fly away. And so and so he, but the night, CK Tang search the Bible, open the Bible. Guess what? The Bible, because we are charismatic church, the church uh is very lively, do all kinds of things, okay, dancing and all that. And then he read the Bible, and the Bible comes to Psalms 45. Clap your hands, all you people, shout with joy, shout with shout, shout of triumph. Psalms 45. So he said, Oh, these people were doing exactly what the Bible said. Oh, they are okay, they are okay. And then he signed. He gave two million dollars to church our savior. And that's how we've got the theater. Okay, this story has not been told, but he's and then the insider story is that after he gave the two million dollars, that night when he was sleeping, a light appeared in his room and shine on him, and all his pain was gone. Instantly, all his pain was gone. There is a story about Sabbath, about generosity. So, my brothers and sisters, may our Sabbath be not just the resting, but in an active posture of trust and giving to our brothers.

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