Title: Rest, Rest, and Work
Contents
Mark 6:30-31 Sabbath, rest, and work
One of the most important reasons Koreans immigrate to Canada or study abroad is to improve their quality of life compared to in Korea. Students try to improve the quality of education as students, husbands as husbands and wives as wives, respectively, to improve the quality of life. However, when it comes to methodologies for improving quality of life, it will be different for each individual.
In your case, what do you think will improve your quality of life? Quality health care, a good education system, a healthy environment, job and business stability, a friendly and safe society, an old-age pension system, hobbies and entertainment, etc. will determine the quality of your life. And although it varies from person to person, there are many people who immigrate to Canada or study abroad who think that the quality of life here is better than Korea.
Of course, here in Canada and Calgary, they don't make cars, ships, computers, etc. like Korea. In other words, we see that Canada lags far behind Korea in the industrial sector. However, in terms of educational environment, social environment, and work environment, which are major factors in determining the quality of life, Canada is far ahead of Korea. Moreover, when it comes to old-age insurance and medical insurance, Canada is far ahead of Korea.
Living here in Canada, Korea also feels like, ‘I wish it could be like this…’, but it is none other than the medical insurance system. In Korea, medical insurance does not cover 100%. The same is true of the United States, which is said to be a great power in this regard. But here in Canada, health insurance covers almost everything except dentistry. We do not pay a single penny for surgery, hospitalization, and meals. Those who have just come here from Korea and have had this experience may think, “Hey, this is a wonderful country!”
Everyone, as people live, they get sick and have no choice but to go to the hospital.
There are times when you have to go. But imagine that your family dies if you delay going to the hospital or give up receiving treatment because you don't have hospital bills. How sad is that? Moreover, when you become an old person, you are bound to get a fatal disease, so where do tens of millions of won or hundreds of millions of won in hospital bills come from? I live here and pray to God that Korea will soon become a country with 100% coverage like this one.
In this way, 100% of health insurance benefits are provided here in Canada, and in addition, for seniors aged 65 and over, the government provides an old-age pension of $1,000 per month. The elderly here are truly blessed. That's why, when I go to a restaurant, I see a lot of old people talking and living their lives leisurely. I hope Korea has such an old-age pension system as soon as possible.
And there is a word that expresses the quality of life, and it is nothing other than 'leisure'. One of the reasons Canadians say they have a better quality of life than Koreans is that life here is more affordable. There is one thing that foreigners in Korea consistently say is that Korean society is too tight. In particular, it is understandable that Korea has the highest mortality rate for men in their 40s in the world. You have to go to work early in the morning, leave work late at night, suffer from alcohol and pollution, have to keep an eye on your superiors, and make every effort to win the competition... Real Korean men in their 40s have a very tight life and can't afford it. I'm sorry.
Maybe that's why, when men who lived in this way in Korea come to Canada, they say, "Hey, Immigration is good here!" and think. It's because I found something else to do with life. Biblically speaking, it is because they have found rest. Ladies and gentlemen, God commands us to work hard. But on the other hand, God says that we must do once a week, and a year in seven years, and also a year in fifty years.
I ordered you to rest. In particular, he was told to rest once a week on the Sabbath, but God even told the Israelites to stone him to death, who were cutting down trees without ceasing.
Gentlemen, compared to the punishment of not eating if you do not work, the command to kill if you do not rest when you are told to rest is a terrible punishment that is hard to understand. So I'm going to give you some examples. When I was in the military, I once served as a one-star aide. I'm a one-star assistant, so sometimes I can't sleep and I have to check things like this.
But when I can't sleep because I'm working hard, the one-star driver sleeps next to me. Why? Because the next day he has to drive from dawn. Who can stop the driver from sleeping? For him, sleep and rest are very precious things. That's why, in the military, when they tell you to sleep, if you don't sleep and do something else, you'll get it. The same is true of God in this regard. When God tells us to rest, if we do not take rest, we deviate from God's purpose. The human body is disrupted.
And again, I feel sorry for the women for talking about the military, but when my superior says this, my subordinate thinks it is good for him to do that, so he doesn't do what his superior said, and if he does that as he thinks, this is also exciting. In other words, if you do not take rest when God tells you to take rest, it is the sin of disobeying commands and there is no fun. Ladies and gentlemen, many Koreans have negative thoughts about rest. They think that working hard is a good thing and taking a break is a sin.
Therefore, it is difficult for those who work in Korea to take a week off. Working day and night like this, the efficiency of work decreases, the body is broken, and the mind is broken, causing stress and irritability.
That is, we absolutely need adequate rest and rest. This time I went to Vancouver because there was a local pastor's family retreat. But, as you know, the distance between Calgary and Vancouver is about 1000 km, and if you have a car and keep the speed properly, it will take about 12 hours.
But after driving like this for 12 hours, there is something absolutely necessary. Of course I have to go to the bathroom. And if you are hungry, eat. And there's one more thing I really need. If I'm sleepy, I must sleep. I left Calgary for about 8 hours and slept for about an hour at a place called Merritt. And when I came back to Calgary from Vancouver, I slept for another hour in a place called ‘Golden’. For me, sleeping is a rest in preparation for the next drive. And this break is absolutely necessary.
The Bible teaches us that we need rest and rest, and furthermore, heaven is a place of rest and rest. If rest and rest were sin, heaven would become a place of sin. And the Bible repeatedly says that God also created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. This realization comes when you read the Bible related to this. “If Almighty God worked during the rising sun, he would not have rested because he was tired... Why did he rest? Perhaps he did not set an example for himself because we humans need rest on the seventh day?”
Let's take an example. I have a mother with a small child. But I have to put the child to sleep, but the child does not sleep well. So, even when she can't sleep, she opens the blanket and pretends to sleep first. And stroking the child's back to induce sleep. The child sleeps with the mother because the mother sleeps next to her. Then, the mother makes sure that the child is sleeping, covers the child with a blanket, and does the housework again.
Gentlemen, the Bible says that God is a God who neither sleeps nor sleeps. Moreover, the Bible says that God is a God who does not get tired. In other words, our God does not need rest and rest. Even so, God rested. It is none other than, “I, God, have rested, so you too should rest.” In today's text, Jesus speaks to his disciples. “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.”
Guys, people get annoyed when they can't rest when they're resting. I get stressed. I get sick. According to the Bible, the great prophet Elijah was like that. He worked so hard for the Lord that he fell deeply into stress and anxiety. So he went to the wilderness of Beersheba and confessed to God. “God, I am inferior to my ancestors. I am too tired to live, so take my life now.”
Then what did God do to him? It gave him rest. He made Elijah go to sleep. And when Elijah woke up, he sent an angel to feed him and strengthen him. Then he made him sleep again, and when he woke up, he fed him again. In today's words, we ate and slept, ate and slept, and the number of sales increased. In a way, he seems like a lazy prophet who looks very lazy. But God knew that Elijah needed a rest.
Folks, we must work hard. You also have to study hard. You have to work hard at home and work hard at work. Also, the Lord's work must be done first and foremost. But do not forget. Sometimes you and I need rest and rest. Before we enter Heaven, the land of rest, we must also train to rest and rest on this earth. And we must prepare to take eternal rest with Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath.
While preaching on rest and rest like this, some people misunderstand this sermon. In other words, there are people who do not work and just want to rest. But do not forget. God worked hard for six days and rested on the seventh day. God didn't take a week off. When you work, you work, and when you rest, you rest. Just as a student has to go back to school after a vacation, we too have to work harder when the break ends. Even after vacation is over, students should not forget to go to school and study.
Ladies and gentlemen, to rest and rest does not mean to be lazy. This does not mean that you can neglect your work. Rather, it means to prepare and prepare to better fulfill the mission entrusted to you. It's a short time before the all-night service, but sometimes I go to sleep. Because it is a preparation to lead the all-night worship more powerfully. Of course, for students who work hard until late at work and study hard because of school studies, it will be difficult to control their condition even before the all-night service.
However, even if you come out to the all-night service, you will get sleepy and your eyes will close when you come out because your eyes are tired from watching a computer or TV right before the all-night service. You will be tired and will not receive grace properly. If you don't take a break when you should take a short break, you're doing God's work wrong. Therefore, in order to receive God's grace properly and to do God's work properly, we must train for rest.
Moreover, even though tomorrow is Sunday, if you are tired from working on the computer until late on Saturday night, your steps to church will be heavy on Sunday. When I come to church like that, I want to go home as soon as possible, and church work is difficult. Moreover, caring for a newcomer is just too tiring to do. So on Saturday, please go to bed early. Get plenty of rest through sleep. And get up early and prepare through prayer.
Just look at the people next to you. If your eyes are closed and you are feeling tired right now, you are the one who did not prepare properly for the week. After worship, we have to eat lunch together at church, clean, study the Bible, and practice choir, but what if we are already tired? Please, please. Saturday is a day to prepare for the week. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will prepare enough with rest through prayer and serve the Sunday fully.