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Sabbath Keeping                  Luke 13: 10-17                     August 26, 2007

“The whole world knows what the Sabbath is,” writes Herman Wouk in his wonderful book This is My God.  “One day in every seven, work stops in honor of the Creator.”

“Rest is only half of the ordinance,” Wouk goes on to explain, in a book that, by the way, I would argue is a “must read” for any non-Jew who wants to really understand what he calls, in his subtitle, The Jewish Way of Life; “ rest…is the negative part, one might say.  The seventh day is holy: set off by changes in dress, manners, diet and occupations, and by special worship of the Creator.”

For Wouk, keeping the Sabbath is what he calls “the fulcrum of a practicing Jew’s existence,” and, more importantly, “a source of strength, refreshment and cheer.”

Wouk is correct.  For Jews, and, I would argue, for Christians as well, Sabbath keeping is, first and foremost, about lifting the spirit.

The roots of Sabbath observance, as you know, are found in the Book of Exodus:  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” are the words of the Fourth Commandment, “…for in six days the Lord made heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy.”

Have you ever wondered what God actually did on that day off?

Obviously, we have no clue.  In the profoundly true but clearly not intended to be taken as literally-true Genesis account of the work of the Creator, the writer’s purpose is not to provide a factually accurate account of the world’s beginning, but to convey a message.  And getting bogged down with the notion that the universe was created in six modern-day 24-hour periods, and speculating about what happened on the seventh day, simply doesn’t help with the process of trying to discern and apply that message.

The important question, then, is not “what did God do on that day off,” but rather “why is it that God wants us, as people of God, to keep the Sabbath.”

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with those stone tablets, inscribed with ten directives, why did one of them call upon God’s people to set aside a day and “keep it holy?”

Seven of the Commandments are prohibitions common to most religions and which form the basis for a system of law found throughout civilization:  idolatry, perjury, murder, theft, lying and covetousness are all forbidden. 

Three of the Commandments are positive commands:  worship the One God, honor your parents and keep the Sabbath.

Why, in the midst of all of those important things, do we find a directive to set aside holy time?  A directive to disengage from the duties and activities of daily life?

I believe the reason is this: the creation story tells us, in very clear terms, that we are created in God’s image – and we are expected to act accordingly.  And part of acting accordingly is keeping the Sabbath.

Think of it this way:  Sabbath Keeping is a way to intentionally imitate God – to do something which is decidedly God-like.

And for us Christians, it shouldn’t surprise us to learn that Jesus gives us some insight into how to do that.

After all, Jesus is the perfect example – he is God’s ultimate revelation into how to be God-like.  Jesus, God in human form, is God’s way of saying to us “OK, I’ve told you a thousand times how to be like me – now, let me show you.”

In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Jesus is functioning as a Rabbi – he is teaching in the Synagogue on the Sabbath – when he encounters a woman who had been crippled – stooped over and unable to stand upright – for eighteen years. 

With a word and a touch of his hand, Jesus heals the woman.

Indignant, the President of the Synagogue chastises Jesus.  Talking to the crowd, he says, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day."

Jesus immediately responds, putting the Synagogue President to shame.  “You hypocrite,” he says, “you untie your ox or your donkey and give them water on the Sabbath; should not this woman also be released from her bondage on this Holy day?”

This passage from Luke’s Gospel comes at the end of a rather lengthy section focused on Jesus’ teachings about the coming Kingdom of God.  And the Sabbath, in this case, is not seen as a time for following some literalistic rules but rather as a reminder that, in God’s Kingdom, we are set free. 

The day set aside for us to rest, Jesus teaches those around him, does not mean that we should take a break from bringing to the world a foretaste of the love of God.  On the contrary, keeping the Sabbath, for Jesus, is a way to get a glimpse of what all of us can become when we are in relationship with the Creator.

The question, then, is what message can we take from all of this?

First of all, each one of us needs to find a way to keep the Sabbath.  When we use every day as just one more day for all the work that we have promised to do, with no Sabbath in sight, we are implying that we do not quite trust God to satisfy our needs.

We are implying that WE need to satisfy our needs, and everyone else's needs too—without God.  It is as if we believed that the world would somehow stop spinning if we stopped pushing.

This form of arrogance – and it is truly arrogant for us to feel this way – not only hurts us spiritually, it hurts us physically as well.  One of the reasons we are so tired much of the time is that we continually try to cram as much work as we can into every hour of every day.

Step back, God tells us, set aside time for the Holy. 

People in the ministry, by the way, are particularly vulnerable to the temptation to trample the Sabbath.  We tell ourselves that because so much of what we are doing is the Lord's work, it's ok—maybe it's even necessary—to treat every day like every other day.

Wrong. Wrong for me, and indeed wrong for all of us.  “When we do this,” one scholar says, “we lose sight of our limitations and of God's power for satisfying needs. This is wrong, and it is killing us.”

Second, we need to remember that keeping the Sabbath is not just taking a day off.  The importance of the Commandment "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" is that it is a model for a God-like life. God’s plans really succeed, through us, when we live with the same pattern of action and reflection, work and rest, that God showed us during Creation.

So, it’s not a vacation day. It’s not just about an Eagles game on TV or shopping at the mall.  Keeping the Sabbath is about embracing God’s plan for our lives. It’s about taking time to remember who’s in charge.

And third, we need to remember the message of our Gospel Lesson for today:  keeping the Sabbath is a step in the direction of bringing about the Kingdom of God.

When he heals the bent-over woman, Jesus challenges the dominion of Satan and moves the Kingdom of God closer to fruition.  

Indeed, in his ministry, death and resurrection, Jesus challenges the dominion of Satan over everyone who has been bent over by the power of sin in any form, even the form that says we must work seven days a week, that we cannot trust God to keep the world spinning and to keep the evil one at bay but must manage these things ourselves.

So our Sabbath should be spent in the same way the woman who was healed spent it – praising God and rejoicing at the wonderful things Jesus is doing. After all, what greater Sabbath activity can their be than prayer, praise and thanksgiving!

In practical terms, then, what, besides churchgoing, is Christian Sabbath keeping? The answer is probably different for each one of us.  Author and theologian Dorothy Bass suggests three things to refrain from and one thing to do:

“What is not good on Sabbath, or in Sabbath time?” she asks. “Not good are work and commerce and worry. To act as if the world cannot get along without our work for one day in seven is a startling display of pride that denies the sufficiency of our generous Maker.

To refrain from working—not every day, but one in seven—opens the space within which a glad and grateful relationship with God and a peaceful and appreciative relationship with nature and other people can grow. And refraining from work on a regular basis should also teach us not to demand excessive work from others.”

“Commerce?” she goes on to say, “Buying and spending are closely related to working too much; they depend on work, create the conditions for more work, and often are work. We could refrain from shopping on Sundays, or whatever day our Sabbath turns out to be, making a choice that might complicate the weekly schedule at first but should soon become a refreshing habit.”

“And, thirdly, worry. It may be difficult to banish cares from our minds altogether, but we can refrain from activities that we know will summon worry—activities like paying bills, preparing tax returns, and making lists of things to do in the coming week.”

Finally, on the positive side, Bass goes on to ask what is good on a Christian Sabbath?

“Most important,” she suggests, “is joyful worship that restores us to communion with the risen Christ and our fellow members of his body, the church.” For Christians, every Sunday is Easter Sunday, a time to gather together with song and prayer, to hear the Word proclaimed, and to recognize Christ in our midst. It is a festival, a spring of souls, a day of freedom not only from work but also from condemnation.

At times, worshiping communities lose sight of this. Hymns drag, children fidget, and the minutes tick slowly by. We all need to remember that Sunday worship is not just about ‘going to church’; it is about taking part in the activity by which God is shaping a new creation. It is a foretaste of the feast to come.”

Here is the bottom line, my friends.  You and I have been created in the image of God, and God expects us to act the part.  Thankfully, one of the clues God has given us to guide us along that path is a directive to keep the Sabbath.  Let’s work together, shall we, to find out exactly what that means for us and let’s support one another in the process of making it a regular part of our life.

                                                                        AMEN