Unplug to Recharge

We previously have studied the necessity to have rest, but some may ask what does resting look like, and what's appropriate? Join us this coming Sabbath as we study the look at way to experience the Sabbath.  

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I hope you're not hungry. I'm kidding. I'm not gonna punish you. Yeah, I don't know, man. I'm not even gonna to the sermon.  

I have to say this just from Lisa and I thank you, thank you, thank you. I know the last month in October you showered us with love and texts and everything. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We're so happy to be here.  

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to continue to serve here at the church as we continue on what it means to unplug, to recharge. Be with us now. In Jesus name, amen.  

The other day I was checking the surf reports and I was watching. It was about maybe 5 or 6 o'clock. Usually by this point, especially in Huntington and Seal beach, are blown out. It's not worth driving to go for a surf for the most part. But as I looked at the waves and I looked, I saw that there was hardly any wind. The waves kept their shape and I thought, huh, what's it going to look like tomorrow? And I checked the surf report and I said potentially that it could be glassy, meaning there would be if anything, a light texture because texture, wind, it's much more difficult to catch a wave. And I thought, huh, it's only going to be 4-5 mph on the winds. Just maybe. And as I thought about it later, that maybe, maybe I can go. I woke up yesterday morning, I checked the surf report and it still didn't look too bad. I thought, well, maybe I can go later in the day. Was gonna try to go in the afternoon. Stuff happens. Had to take care of a few things much longer than I expected to take. But then finally I checked the report one more time and I drove down to Huntington beach and I didn't get there till about 5 o'clock and I looked out and there was, I happened to be probably the best set of the hour because it came in and looked great, threw my wetsuit on, got my board, wax up, ran down to the beach. And when I got to the beach and I looked out, it wasn't great. But as I looked out, I could see the sun was setting. And the thing about surfing, when you are surfing, there's only one thing that you can really think about, at least as far as when you start out to get outside, right? Because what's happening, you have waves coming at you. Sometimes I have to duck, dive, sometimes I could just paddle over the waves. But it's a very concerted effort, it's singularly focused. Your job is just get out there as quick as you can so that you can then turn around to ride back in and back in and out, in and out, in and out.  

But once I got outside, I looked and the sun was starting to hit the water. And at that point, I felt exhausted. But I had a moment of clarity. And I could think, I'm in the best place in the world doing what I love. And I just sat there, I pondered, I thought about today. What am I going to talk about? And I had a moment of peace and clarity that I haven't found in some time. It was great just to be able to sit there. I was all by myself, and I'm thinking, where is everybody? I realized, oh, snap, trick or treating. And so I just had this moment for about 20, 30 minutes of just being able to be by myself in the ocean. Some of you are thinking, well, isn't that when sharks feed? Yeah, But I wasn't worried. And I had a piece about myself. And when I came in after catching two horrible waves, I was refreshed of all things. I didn't have to worry about phone calls. I didn't have to worry about anything. It was just me, the ocean, and surprisingly, being able to keep my thoughts quiet and just feel relaxed.  

Shared a story some time ago as well, about 20 years ago, I don't remember the exact reason, but I did not have a phone for like eight hours. I was either getting a new phone or getting a phone replaced, something. And I thought, well, what am I going to do? I can't do anything without my phone. Oh, no. And even then, I mean, we rely on phones. We still relied on phones back then. Not as much as we do today. But I remember getting to my car and I was thinking, well, what am I gonna do? I'll go surfing. And I drove down to the beach, hung out, went to my favorite taco spot, and just spent the day totally detached. Nobody could get ahold of me. I could only go to places where I knew by memory. And it was a peace that I experienced that day that, you know, I reflect and look back. It's not very often that I get to have that complete detachment.  

And I realized, man, maybe the answer is just to be unplugged, to recharge. Unplug to recharge. You know, I have a charger here, savings. And so I can easily. Normally, this will be connected. Work with me. I have my iPad, and it works. Well, it's recharged. It's fine. When it comes to my phone though, I've had it for some time and I know this that I looked at the battery life on it and it's about 84%. They will not give you a new battery unless it's below what? Unless it's below 80% efficiency. And so no matter how many times I plug this phone, the battery will die faster than I would like it to, probably. Also because I listen to a lot of podcasts or I listen to books, but if I want to have my battery working, I have to charge it.  

And sometimes, though, sometimes we have to do the opposite. Instead of being completely plugged in, being hyper aware, sometimes maybe we need to do the opposite and completely detach and be unplugged.  

So AJ Swoboda up wrote, “Sabbath forgetfulness is driven so often in the name of doing stuff for God rather than being with God… The result of our Sabbath amnesia is that we have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, psychologically overworked, spiritually malnourished people in history.”  

We can be so focused on even doing, trying to do wonderful things for the Lord that even then, sometimes we can get caught up and become exhausted. Want to look at some passages today? These are just a sample. We're actually I was even doing research in the last couple days, I came up with some even more passages that I wish I could share, but there's not enough space. But we're going to look at some of these passages.  

Okay. And so if you're joining us for the first time, if you look in the description, there's a link there to the sermon notes.  

And we have to understand too, we're going to actually go to Luke 5:16 in a second. But Sabbath unplugging to recharge requires intentionality, intentionally seeking solitude over staying busy. When you think about it in Scripture, did Jesus ever withdraw? Several times. And actually I did a search on this. How many times do you think Jesus withdrew? In the Gospels, there's at least nine instances. We can look back. Okay. After he was baptized, Jesus went where he went into the wilderness. For how long? 40 days.  

In Mark 1, verse 35. Okay, Mark 1, verse 35, it says, after healing many very early in the morning, Jesus got up, he left the house and he went off to a solitary place where he what he prayed. Mark 14:13. After his cousin, he finds out, has been murdered, what does he do? He goes and withdraws to pray, to be by himself. After feeding the 5,000, Jesus dismissed the crowds and he went up on a mountainside to do what? To pray after a busy day of ministry. Jesus, he tells the disciples in Mark 6, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest before walking on water. What did Jesus do? He spent some time, and he later walked back on the water to his disciples. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to pray where he was transfigured before them and before his arrest. Where was he? In Gethsemane, Mount of Olives, where he was praying, trying to seek solitude, trying to find rest amidst a very important task that he he would need to be intentional and in order to accomplish.  

So being intentional, being unplugged requires intentionality. Intentionality to find peace, to find prayer, to find rest, and to be able to reflect. How many of you have notifications set on your phone that every once in a while you hear a ding or you hear a little buzz or a little rattle? Does it get you excited? Oh, who's texting me? Or again, who's bothering me? And you get more texts and more texts and more texts, more phone calls. Sometimes the editors just want to say, I want to be alone. I saw this funny picture where there's a guy in a hammock in the woods, and people are saying, why do you want to go out into the wilderness? Because I want to be alone where nobody can distract me. And I think sometimes some of us may just feel like that would be heaven.  

And at times, I think we need to actually be intentional by scheduling peace and solitude. Maybe take five minutes or an hour just to be able to sit in your favorite chair, just to be able to think, to reflect. Maybe you might need to find a closet where nobody knows where you're at. If you have an administrative assistant, tell them, I want to block off 15 minutes to an hour so nobody bothers you while you can reflect in your office. Maybe it might mean just going to the car just to have some peace. Better yet, if you can go on a walk or if you can go on a hike, to truly find solitude where there are no distractions, what can you do to find some peace and quietness that. That you can be able to pray and reflect being unplugged.   So we need to be intentional with it, but sometimes also unplugging means we need to also set some healthy boundaries, maybe tell your friends and family, hey, when it comes to Sabbath, it's not that I'm trying to ignore you. I am, actually, but lovingly. I'm going to lovingly ignore you just so I can find some peace. All right, now, you can't do that. Moms and dads with your kids, all right? You got to take care of your kids, but invite them on this journey. Hey, what can we do to unplug? For instance, last week we were actually in our small group. Somebody suggested, you know what? We should get an electronic box. So at meals or for a certain amount of the day, we're going to put the phones in there. Nobody's allowed to touch them. And you actually have to talk to each other. How many of you? That seems so scary. I don't want to do that. Okay? You're poor kids. What am I going to do with my life? I need my iPad. Believe me, we didn't have iPads. We had dirt growing up. Amen. We had bare feet. Oh, we need to be able to spend time together, to reflect. But sometimes being intentional, saying, hey, for this amount of time, I just want to find some peace. So I will respond. And as Bill said, guess what? Your problems are going to be there after Sabbath, but would you rather attack them with rest and having ability to think more clearly? So take some time, set up some healthy boundaries.  

How can you do so, you know, go analog? When's the last time you wrote something down besides your signature with a pen? I started writing notes and I realized I can't write as well as I used to. I can't even read my own handwriting sometimes. But the aim for being able to set up healthy boundaries is to make sure that you can be present and intentional with when you come out of Sabbath.  

Unplugging to recharge allows you to lead with energy when you've had time to think, time to have clarity. When you woke up this morning, did you woke up with fervor and energy, or did you wake up and say, how much more time do I have? Let's be honest. This morning I woke up. Oh, it was still dark. Yes. But then I had to take Jackson out. No, but I still had another hour and a half. And I took that hour and a half and found some more sleep. All right. Do you feel, when you wake up, do you feel revived? Please do so now.  

Let's go to Matthew. Sorry. Let's go to Luke, chapter five. Okay, Luke, chapter five. When you unplug on the Sabbath or during the week, it will lead you to better decision making. Did Jesus ever have to make any important decisions in his life? So let's go to Luke, chapter five, verses 15 and 16. Okay. Luke, chapter five, verses 15 and 16. And so here he heals a man with leprosy and oftentimes was Jesus... Did he ever meet people who asked to be healed? He wasn't asked, he was swarmed. Sometimes he would spend a nice peaceful Sabbath and in the evening, everybody showed up. Hey, I need some help or can you listen to my problems? There were plenty of times where Jesus, he just, he was overwhelmed. And before we see that, even before that, earlier he also had called his first disciples. So verse 15 he says. Yet the news, though, because he had been healing, he became so popular, yet the news about him spread all the more. So the crowds of people came to hear him and be healed of their sicknesses. And verse 16. But Jesus often, often key word, often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Now we see that Jesus is our ultimate example of how we should follow and go forward in our faith. Right? So it's important. If Jesus withdrew, maybe we should also too.  

Now flip over to chapter six. Okay, chapter six, verse 12. This is not in your notes, this is just a bonus, but chapter 6, verse 12. One of the days, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God. How long was he gone? All night. And when morning came, he called his disciples to him. And he chose what, 12 of them, whom he also designated apostles. Simon, also known as Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alphaeus, Simon, also called the zealots, Judas, son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would betray him. Jesus spent the whole night praying, reflecting, resting, and finding clarity. And then he calls 12 individuals to walk with him for the next three years. He shared all the lessons, all of the things that he could to these disciples to prepare them. To what? To lead the church. And ultimately that church would grow because we're all here because of their work. Was it important for Jesus to know the clarity, how to ask them, how to share, to invite them on this journey? Rather important task.  

Do you take time to unplug so that you can be able to make sure that the decisions that you make are good ones? Do you want to make decisions when your brain feels like fog? I woke up this morning and as we left to leave the church, I opened the garage door and I saw what fog thought. Oh, man, we may be late. We get in the car, but as we exited, as we, as we got onto the road, we drove maybe 100, 200 yards. And guess what? The fog lifted. But then when I got onto the freeway, what did we do? We drove back into the fog. And sometimes fog is sometimes life feels like that we're in a little bit of a fog. We get out of it, and then we go back in. And the fog, the brain fog, does not allow us to make good decisions.   Sometimes you need to, again, unplug and recharge, and so as you lead to better decision making, it prepares you.  

Unplugging to recharge means you can engage with others and accomplish important tasks. Do you want to deal with a very difficult, arrogant person while you're feeling very foggy or very tired and grumpy? Or do you want to feel rested and secure and confident? So find rest. Unplug to recharge.  

There's a story told of a skilled carpenter who was commissioned to make a table. And he got all of his tools, he got all the supplies and everything, and he started to work. He cut everything to do order. But then he realized, oh, wait, you know what? There's still a few more things I need to cut. So he got his saw. And over time, as he used the saw, what happens to the blade becomes dull. And it's actually more dangerous to deal with a blade that is dull than a very sharp one. And he was not resharpening or replacing the blade. And he pushed. He could hold that saw to work until finally the saw said, I'm done. And oftentimes I feel like sometimes we are that blade of the saw. We're worked and worked and worked. So much is expected, and yet we're pushed. We're told.  

Later this week in your small groups, we're going to talk about a story where the leaders of the Jewish faith were being so insistent on making sure everything was done correctly that they forgot the importance of the Sabbath. Sabbath was not made. Sabbath was made for man. We were not made for the Sabbath. Sabbath should be freeing. Sabbath should be a time where we can confidently say, I'm unplugging for the next roughly 24 hours to be able to find peace, to find restoration.  

Now, I know many of you. Look, I harp on the phones, okay? And the reason why is I think it's become an idol to us. God said to not have anything before us, but even though we know God, we love God. Where is our focus and our attention? Where is our focus as husbands and spouses and children? And don't think that I'm accusing everyone because I am just as guilty. I am the first to admit my faults, but as I've tried to be very intentional in trying to limit now my screen time, I have felt that I'm more present, I'm able to think more clearly and I'm not so charged up, especially if I get the wrong headline. There's a lot of headlines out there and who do you believe? It's so much work to try to find what is really true sometimes. Can you feel that? You feel me on that? I just. Sometimes I just want to throw my phone out into the water. Oh, no. Well, I'd feel bad if you can get a hold of me, but I wouldn't feel bad about all of the nonsense that goes on too. So I think that a phone, it's just a device at the end of the day, it's just a device. But how do we view it? Are you on the phone when you need to be or are you on at all days? Doom scrolling again. I am just as guilty as everyone and I'm trying to change to be not only a better husband, but just better follower, a better person.  

How can we unplug? It takes intentionality. It takes time, so reflection. How can you influence others to unplug and find rest to recharge? How many of you would just like to tell your family, okay, today we're just gonna relax, we're gonna take naps, or what would you like to do as a family? If you don't have a family, what can you do to find time for yourself? Especially even, okay, I know moms are looking at me and saying, pastor, I have kids. All right, yes, you may not be able to have that hour of worship, but even if it's for five or ten minutes, just to be able to be creative husbands. Okay, spouses. If your spouse is doing the majority of the work, pitch in, help. How can you be of service to your spouse? Work together as a team. And when you're able to say, hey, I want to spend some time with God, don't feel bad because this is where you're going to be able to find clarity. You're going to find rest when you're able to reflect and when you live by faith, you'll be able to move forward with courage. Jesus took the time to rest and withdraw. You may not be able to go up onto a mountainside. It may be in the comfort of your your home, it may be in your car, wherever it may be. Take time to unplug not just on Sabbath, but even during the week on a daily basis. If you want to be able to think clearly, you have to take pauses. You have to have breaks to be able to think with no distractions. But when it comes to Sabbath, look forward to that day and say, hey, we get to unwind and we get to spend time as a family with friends, maybe make a meal together, whatever it may be, and spend time unplugged to recharge.  

This week I want you to brainstorm as an individual or a family on three ways you can unplug on the Sabbath. Okay, three ways. Maybe even as you're going home, I said implement them. That's coming this week, but maybe you can even do it today. I to want, I want to encourage you. What are three ways you can unplug on the Sabbath? Can we do that? Amen. I look forward to hearing stories what you come up with. Share with us either in the comments on YouTube, whatever. Okay, let us know how you want to do that.  

Let's pray. Lord, in a busy, chaotic world, it's so busy and it seems like everything is trying to distract us and take away from what's most important. Help us, Lord, to have clarity. Help us to find ways to be able to practically unplug so that we can be recharged. That as the world looks to us, they'll find that we're different and will be attracted, but ultimately that they will be able to find you. In Jesus name. Everybody said amen.  

Grace and peace everyone.