A Sermon On:
PREPARED BY
KEN GEHRELS
PASTOR
CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
NEPEAN, ONTARIO
Looking For Loopholes
"Six days you shall labour, " God had told them. Their landlords, employers, and
family needs saw to that. Always more to do.
Come Friday evening, every Jew was thoroughly exhausted. Which is why the commandment
continued - "But on the seventh day you shall not work, neither you, nor your sons or
daughters, nor the sojourner who is within your gates...." The rabbis and other
religious officials saw to that:
More than 1500 rules and regulations pertaining to correct Sabbath observance.
"O Day of rest and gladness, O Day of job and light.... most beautiful, most
bright" says an old hymn about the Sabbath.
Well, maybe.
For the Jew it certainly was a day quite different from the others. Though, honestly, if
one had to put one's finger on it, it was probably so that this day was more oppressive
than the other six. It was a day filled with "don'ts."
The Jew might have identified with W.C.Fields - a friend of his once walked into his
dressing room unannounced and caught him reading the Bible. Knowing Fields's cynical
attitude toward religion, he was surprised. Fields himself seemed embarrassed and quickly
shut the book: "Just looking for loopholes" he explained.
Which is how many Sabbath observers felt - would there be any possible way for them to get
around some of these rules and do something, anything, on the Sabbath.
Into that strode Jesus who, to stand back and watch, seemed for all intents and purposes
to be a bull in a china shop:
Walking along the road on the Sabbath much further than the rules allowed;
Picking grain;
preparing and eating it against what the rules dictated
What we read in Mark is by no means the only time Jesus has a run-in with the leaders over
Sabbath observance. Did you know that more miracles of healing are recorded as being
performed on the Sabbath than any other day?
And for every person who rose up healed, the religious officials' blood pressure went up 2
points.
What was our Lord trying to say about the Sabbath?
What was He saying to the Jews?
And what does He want to say to us today?
Exodus 20.8: "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."
The 4th commandment points to creation as one motive for the establishment of
Sabbath rest. "God enjoyed a Sabbath," says the Commandment. "And He wants
us to enjoy one as well."
Remember, though, that God didn't rest on the 7th day because He was tired. He
desisted from work and entered into the enjoyment of what He had made.
His rest was the time for Him to have holy play with His creation.
When we enter into Sabbath rest, whatever that looks like, it means that we enter into
that mutual enjoyment of these two:
For our first human parents, Adam & Eve, the time after they were created was a
continual Sabbath, a time of enjoying creation, each other, and the Lord.
Then came the Fall.
They were sent East of Eden into a land of thorns, sweat, pain, murder and anguish.
Sabbath was gone.
All that remained was the promise of God that one day the curse would be removed and
Sabbath rest would be restored.
That's why, when the 10 Commandments were given the 4th was included.
God set this time so that His people could experience rest from the back-breaking labour
of carving a living from the cursed creation.
Rest was ordered every seven days, every seven years, and after every seven times seven
years (Lev 25.1).
The Sabbath was meant to be a small oasis in a tired, broken world. In this time people
were again given a glimpse of the rest, the peace, the wholeness that God had in mind for
His people.
Rigid legalism had made the day an end in itself, a day filled with "don'ts."
The original intent was lost.
Jesus, the Saviour, came to set that right; He brought the Sabbath back to humanity. By
His own example He showed ideal Sabbath, restful living:
"Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" said Jesus (Mk 2.27)
The Sabbath is not a rigid slot into which our activities must be mindlessly pressed -
where we have to go hunting around for loopholes.
Rather, it is a day where we can once more get a handle on our priorities and activities
before we dive back into the fray during the other 6 days of the week. It is the day to
see our proper place in Creation.
Even more - first of all - it is a day to see our proper place
with the Creator.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" says the 4th
commandment.
Holy - Remember the One who created us and gave us all our days. Which is why the Sabbath
has always been a day for worship, a day for prayer. It's not first of all a day for the
beach, or for watching NFL football or even for spending time playing scrabble with the
kids.
I always cringe when people tell me they can't take time out for attending worship at the
beginning and end of the Sabbath Day because they've got "other commitments."
Something inside says, "Like what?"
Or when they say, "Service this morning was too long, more than enough. I don't need
two services." Hmmmm -- 168 hours in the week.
You figure it out:
Now - what's fair and reasonable number of hours to say, "Lord, my Saviour and
King, giver of Life, sustainer of Hope, here's my gift of time that I give for devoted and
focussed prayer and worship to You, where nothing will get between us distracting me from
You."
What's fair?
Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it HOLY.
There are lots of distractions in our lives. There's lots to keep us busy. There's lots
that clamours for our attention and energy. There are many lies out there that would seek
to sidetrack us and destroy us.
Sabbath holiness - prayer, heavenly devotion and worship - helps us get our bearings set
correctly again.
And then, with that FIRST, the commandment continues -
"Six days you shall labour and do all your work..."
After praying comes a time for Sabbath playing.
Any other work addicts here?
Easy to get caught up in it, right? One more evening at the office. One more hour before I
go home. One more shift of overtime. One more load of laundry. One more renovation
project. Gets to the point where it takes over. We begin to feel guilty if we relax.
And Sabbath rest pulls us forcibly out of the squirrel cage and says, "stop!"
There's more to life than work. Your body and mind need to stop. Those around you need you
to stop.
Enjoy your Creator.
And then take some time to enjoy His Creation, beginning with those precious ones that He
has given to you -
- your biological family
- your church family
Which is why it is so good to see families take hikes or play games or somehow be
around each other on the day of Sabbath Rest. And why it is so good for people in church
to spend time visiting with each other.
Here's a challenge in this regard - it would be real easy to fall into a Sabbath rut and
only hang around with a select group out of the church family. Can you work to prevent
that? Wouldn't it be great if we would all commit before the Lord to inviting for coffee
or lunch someone who is from outside our usual circle of friends - and to do that, say,
every 4th week? And - before you go off into little huddles of usual
acquaintances after the service, to spend some time talking to someone new. Share Sabbath
with them.
Sabbath - a holy time to pray and play.
A time founded in the one who is the Bringer of true Sabbath
- true freedom
- true rest
Jesus Christ.
He brings people like you and I into a place of peace with God, a place where we are
accepted by God, drawn into His holy family, loved and cared for, guided through every
step of our lives;
- a place of deep rest and security.
As Hebrews 4 says, God's word and gaze cut right to the bone in our lives:
sees all
knows all.
We couldn't pull one over on God. We couldn't work so hard that it would somehow cover up
the many wrongs that we'll all committed. They're there - in plain sight for His holy
eyes.
A disquieting, condemning thing....
Were it not for the One who is our Sabbath Rest.
By His death and resurrection we brought to the place of freedom.
His victory over death is a victory for us.
His entrance into eternal life is the road to peace for us.
And so -
- forget the lie that says you'll find your meaning in life through your work or through your leisure! Forget it!
Take the cue of Sabbath and focus the centre, the heart, the core of your life on Jesus
Christ - there is life!
And there alone!
Most of you spend some time in front of computers. You've probably all had times when they
crashed - the screen goes funny or freezes up; the keys stop working; programs shut down
unexpectedly. The machine got into a log jam of sorts. So what do you do?
Hit the reset key; or ctrl-alt-del: the computer three-finger salute.
And everything starts up again fresh, reordered, memory cleared.
Sabbath time is the time for our hearts, souls, minds and bodies to hit the reset key;
where everything starts up again fresh, reordered, memory cleared.
And what clears it is time spent in the presence of Christ.
That's why, by the way, we worship on Sunday - the day of Christ's resurrection, His
victory over death and destruction.
The Day of New Life - of eternal rest.
The Day that foretells eternal play and renewed communion with creation and all God's
creatures on the New Earth when Jesus returns.
And that's why I'm also going to invite you to return tonight so that we can end this
Sabbath Day in the way we began it - hitting that spiritual reset button; leaving the
world behind and assembling at the feet of the Saviour.
In particular tonight as we gather to celebrate His death and resurrection with the
sacrament of Holy Communion.
There remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.
Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.