"Remembering the Sabbath" - Sermon for Epiphany 3 (Narrative Lectionary 3)

Remembering the Sabbath
Epiphany 3 (NL3)
January 27, 2013
Luke 6.1-16

On my better days, I believe that our elected officials, regardless of ideology or party affiliation, are on the same side. I believe that they want what is best for our community, state, and country. Really. The rub, of course, is that between those various perspectives there are fundamental differences about how to achieve the common good. It is similar in religion, and it is with that same attitude that I approach today’s Scripture passage. The Pharisees—the religious leaders of the time—and Jesus are on the same side. Really. They both care deeply about the Sabbath. Aside from the threat that Jesus poses to them, the Pharisees are challenged by Jesus’ viewpoint.

To understand the conflict, it is helpful to recall the background of Sabbath-keeping in the Bible. We tend to think of Sabbath as Sunday, a day we set aside to worship God and a day of rest. Yet, Sabbath is so much more, a really big deal in the Old Testament, right back to the time when God rests from creating the world. It’s so important it becomes codified in the Ten Commandments after the Israelites are freed from slavery in Egypt. So, remembering the Sabbath was not just taking a day off to rest and be re-created. It was a reminder that God delivered them from bondage and set them free to be who God intended.

Sabbath, therefore, was meant to be life-giving and not just one slave master replacing another. Unfortunately, to protect Sabbath-keeping from misuse and neglect, the people added rules called fences around God’s law. Now, sometimes fences are good, such as when they provide security and comfort for children on a playground. And, to be fair, the Pharisees were deeply concerned that matters of faith weren’t being practiced in daily life of the people. Furthermore, as those of us who are old enough to remember the “Blue Laws” prohibiting many Sunday activities, the Pharisees are not the only ones capable of turning Sabbath-keeping into a burden.

One could argue, however, that we’ve gone to the other extreme where there no boundaries on life. Anything goes. Sunday is just another day and worship becomes one more thing to squeeze into a busy day, leaving us exhausted. What gets lost in all of this, and what Jesus is trying to remind us, is that the Law is at heart a gift. A seminary classmate learned this after he was delayed on his final approval for graduation. He could not receive a call and ordination until he completed some additional work. However, other classmates helped him to see this delay as a gift, an opportunity to continue on the track to being a pastor.

Keeping the Sabbath is really an exercise in trust, trusting that everything doesn’t depend on us. Rather, Sabbath reminds us that we receive life from somewhere else outside of our control. Sabbath is a gift to us from a gracious God, a time away from the persistent demands of life. It’s a time to rest in God’s presence, to enjoy the goodness of God’s creation, and to celebrate how God continually delivers us from those things that stand between us and the life God wants for us. Ironically, as Jesus is trying to restore the life-giving force of Sabbath, the Pharisees are planning to destroy his life. Yet, it is in this ultimate destruction of his life on the cross where God will finally set us free.

I freely admit that I don’t know what keeping Sabbath means for me in particular or us as a church. On a retreat a few years ago, I was reminded about the importance of Sabbath and became convinced we need to figure out a way to recover it in our churches and personal lives. I also began to suspect that Sabbath may not look the same as it did for my parents and grandparents. Our conversation with families and their needs have confirmed that, though they didn’t put it so, they need Sabbath more than ever. It just might not involve Sunday morning worship as we know it.

In other words, as the calling of the 12 apostles—literally those who are sent—reminds us, it’s about Jesus’ life-giving mission to the world, one in which we are both enjoy and participate. It’s good and right that we are having our annual meeting today and we do well to ask ourselves how we can remember the Sabbath in a way that gives life instead of death. Please join the conversation. Amen.