Title: Sabbath/Lord’s Day
Scripture: Exodus 20:1-20
Thesis: Keeping the Sabbath was about right relationship with God so we could have right relationship in worship and with each other.
Antithesis: Keeping the rules make us holy.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Everyone knows that poison ivy is, well -- poisonous and should be avoided. But what if you didn't really know much else about it? You might begin to question, how bad could it really be? You might not pay much attention to it, or even be able to identify it. But that would be a painful mistake of which you would soon become aware if you ever got into it.
Sin is like that. If you're not careful to watch out for it, you can get into it without even noticing. It tends to creep in, almost hidden, amongst the God-given pleasures of life. And so we may fail to notice or identify it. Or we may underestimate the danger it poses, thinking we can handle it. But sin is poisonous. Left unchecked, it will wreak havoc in our lives. When we see it in ourselves, we must deal with it as fast as we can. It's not easy to get rid of and it's sure to come back, but it's a battle we must fight.
The Ten Commandments like much of Christian beliefs are something that most people will still say are important, but have little knowledge. For instance:
* 35 percent of Americans can recall all six Brady kids from the Brady Bunch.
* 25 percent could name all seven ingredients of the Big Mac®.
* Only 14 percent can accurately name all 10 Commandments.
* 80 percent of Americans know "two all beef patties" of the Big Mac®. "Thou shalt not kill," was known to fewer than six in 10 Americans.
* 62 percent know that pickles are an ingredient of a McDonald's® Big Mac® hamburger.
* Less than half (45%) can recall the commandment to "Honor thy father and mother."
* The vast majority of Americans can easily name the primary ingredients in a Big Mac®: two all beef patties (80%), lettuce (76%), sesame seed bun (75%), special sauce (66%), pickles (62%) and cheese (60%).
* Seven of the Ten Commandments are familiar to less than half of Americans, including the more commonly recited, "Honor thy father and thy mother," and "Remember the Sabbath."
* Bobby and Peter, the least-recalled names from the Brady Bunch (43%), were more familiar to Americans than the least-recalled commandments, "Remember the Sabbath" (34%) and "Do not make any false idols" (29%).
* Even those who attend a place of worship at least once a week have a bit of trouble naming all 10. "Thou shalt not kill" (70%) and "Thou shalt not steal" (69%) are still less top-of-mind with this group than the top two ingredients in a Big Mac® - two all beef patties (79%) and lettuce (76%).
Perhaps part of the reason that we do not spend much time with the big Ten is that certain of our more conservative brothers and sisters use them much as the more conservative Muslims or Jews use the law to abuse and control others. The Ten Commandments are not and never were meant to be a club to beat others in submission, but rather as a tool to show us our own short coming. Keeping the law does not of itself assure that we are right with God or others. The Laws was given in the context of God’s care for God’s people. They are meaningless and perhaps even harmful without an understanding of why we keep them. Jesus spoke harshly to the leaders of the temple who kept the laws without exceptions with all of the accompanying rules that went with them, but had no compassion for the hurting, marginalized people around them. Actually the keeping of the law became a way of hurting others.
Today we are going to look at just one commandment and explore what it means when we see it as a way to right relationship with God so we can have right worship and therefore right relationships with others. If we do not have all three components the Law can actually be a tool of sin rather than righteousness. The fourth commandment and perhaps the least known in this present age is remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
In a day when everyone worked manual labor no matter how you made your living. Women who kept the home, had to plant and care for their own garden. They had to pick the crops, preserve the crops, cook the crops, keep the home. When your home was a tent that was moved from place to place, water was carried from the nearest well or creek, light came from homemade candles or lanterns, a woman was physically tired and needed a day of inactivity so her body could rest and repair itself. In a time when men made their living, no matter what they did by physical activity they needed a day when their body could rest. All help in those ancient time was given by physical labor not just by the head of the household, but by the people who worked for them and the animals who provided he heavy lifting and work. Therefore the keeping of the Sabbath was as much about rest for the people of God, the people who worked for the people of God and the animals that worked for the benefit of people as it was about the worship of God. Perhaps the resting of the creation was the real reason for the Sabbath. God made the creation, the people, the animals, the resources and God made the living creatures to need a day to rest the muscles that they used all the time. Fast forward to the modern world. Few of us make our living by physical labor. I spend much of my time in front of a computer or with my nose in a book. The problem in this country is not that we physically use our bodies and wear them out, but that we do not physically get enough exercise and we pay the price that comes with that life style. Most Americans are overweight. Type II diabetes that used to be almost unheard of in children is now an epidemic among our youth. High blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks that were once the diseases of the elderly are now hitting people in their thirties. Our bodies do not need to spend a day sitting, but rather moving. Sabbath in Hebrew means to stop. Stop doing that which we always do in order to make time for what our bodies needs. Jesus and his disciples traveled on the Sabbath in direct violation of the understandings of the leaders of the day about what keeping the Sabbath meant. In their travels they were hungry so they picked corn and ate it. Jesus healed on the Sabbath. All of these activities were about providing what the people needed in order for them to have right relationship with each other. We cannot enjoy a day of rest while the folks next to us starve or are sick and hurting. Jesus redefined the Sabbath for the Jews of his day by saying that people were not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for people. Sabbath is a gift of God to us so that we can rest, enjoy each other and God.
Moving forward again to the time after Jesus. In Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension the Law was again redefined. It is still in force, but the focus has changed from the keeping of the rules to the attitude behind the rules. The earliest Christians were Jews so they kept the Sabbath as part of their cultural identity. They just could not imagine another way of worshipping God, but they added the first day of the week as the Lord ’s Day when they celebrated the resurrection. That day was celebrated with a meal. The meal was the Lord ’s Supper, but it was not the ritualistic rendition that we celebrate today. It was a love feast, an agape meal. Folks gathered at someone’s home. Everyone brought something to share and they enjoyed each other’s fellowship and remembered the saving grace of Jesus. It was not a formal requirement that everyone gather, nor was there a set pattern of worship. It was about fellowship, instruction and celebration.
Which brings us to the modern church and how we worship God. Much of the trappings of church as we know it is not Biblical, but tradition. Those traditions come in a large measure from two places. One is the mistake of falling back into the legalism of the Jew. When we cannot change peoples hearts through love and acceptance, we seek to tie them down with a set of rules. Now rules are necessary and are guides that keep us from falling, but in themselves they can become as harmful as no rules. When children are little we teach them not to cross the road. Under no circumstances are they to cross the street without an adult to watch them. As they grow and mature and learn to watch for cars, the rule is relaxed until finally they have internalized the need for caution and they cross the street at will. The same is true for the Ten Commandments. As children we teach our children you will go to church on Sunday. As adults they have internalized the need for setting time aside for worship and it may be that Sunday will not be the day they worship.
Which brings us to the second place we acquired many of our habits of worship. When Constantine became Christian and mandated that everyone would be Christian. He needed a way to make a large number of people Christian. The easiest way was to appropriate the Old Testament Law about Sabbath add it to the Christian habit of the first day feast and mandate that everyone would worship on Sunday. The huge Basilica that had been the town halls and places of government were the only places large enough to accommodate the large crowds of people so the huge cathedrals and Sunday worship were born. It worked well while the church was an arm of the state and part of the power structure, but we are now much closer to the church of Jesus Christ and the first century church. We need to go back to scriptures and assess what of our modern structure is truly Christian and Biblical and of God and what was a convenience of keeping large groups of people in line.
Our Baptized Children group is seeking with the Deacon’s support new ways or perhaps ancient ways of being faithful to their faith in a world that does not give special privileges to the Christian church. .This generation of Christians will have to chose to practice their faith in ways that previous generations have not had to contemplate.
Let us support and pray for Christians seeking to be faithful to their baptisms in a world that does not value the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray: Lord help us to hear your voice and follow your ways. Amen
