Considerations of the Sabbath

[00:00:00] Our text is from Mark, chapter two, verse 23 to 28. I read it from my version. [00:00:08] It happened that as he was passing through the grain fields on the rest days. His disciples habitually picked the heads off the grain. [00:00:17] The Pharisees were saying to him, look, why are they doing what isn't permitted on the rest days? And he says to them, don't you know what David did when he had a need, and he and those with him were hungry? He went into the house of God during Abiathar's high priesthood. And ate the bread of the presentation, which he was not permitted to eat, but only the priests, and gave it also to those who were with him. [00:00:48] He was saying to them, the rest day happened because of the man, and not the man because of the rest day. [00:00:58] Therefore, the son of the man is lord, even of the Sabbath. Here ends our scripture. [00:01:06] So part of the reason I had the kids come up here, even though it wasn't in the liturgy originally, is because when I was young, I would occasionally suffer from what was called Sunday sickness. [00:01:22] Now, I didn't pay attention to my brothers or sisters, but what happened? It seemed to be a very strange malady, and I felt it at times. And therefore, the cure was to stay in bed while the rest of the family went to church. [00:01:38] Why did it strike me at that time and not others? Nobody seemed to catch it from me. [00:01:43] It may have had something to do with the fact that I found the Sunday school lessons boring at that time. There was a great emphasis back at that time on coloring pictures. [00:01:54] I wasn't particularly good at that. [00:01:57] It may have also had to do that. I found it boring and hard to sit on the hard pew, wood pew during a long service. [00:02:11] And this time of year, my church was not air conditioned. And that made it much more unbearable. We had these fans. We could try to cool ourselves off from the funeral home. [00:02:25] Maybe that is why I like having the kids come up for a children's sermon and, if possible, do more things as acolytes. I'm sure that while our old folks enjoy lighting the candles, they would gladly see some of the younger people doing that instead of them. [00:02:46] It helps them to be a part of the service better, and it keeps their interest. [00:02:51] But you know what? [00:02:53] I think some teenagers and adults get Sunday sickness as well. [00:02:59] Teenagers can party late into the night on Saturday night. [00:03:04] I think that may be a major cause of Sunday sickness among that age group. [00:03:10] I've heard some adults display some of the symptoms of Sunday sickness as well. For all types of reasons, they may not even realize they have it. Here's how I often hear it expressed. I work so hard all week long, and on Saturday I'm working getting things done around the house. I just can't seem to get up on the one day of the week when I could sleep in. [00:03:37] Now, Sunday sickness isn't the only reason why some christians miss out on joining in the rest with the rest of God's family on Sunday to hear the wonderful news that God has to share with them. [00:03:51] Increasingly we find other activities taking place that becomes a temptation to draw us away from them. [00:04:00] There are groups of sports activists that have decided that Sunday morning is an ideal time for them to have their games and other events. And often the christians among them have not protested that this infringes on a more important activity than playing sports. I think many parents have in their mind, I got to have my kid in that league because he's going to get a major league contract someday. [00:04:31] Well, good luck with that. [00:04:35] So those things happen after all, God says in the third commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. [00:04:45] He elaborates on this in Leviticus 23 three, where he says, there are six days when you work, but the 7th day is a sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of the Lord. The Bible comments upon this even further in Hebrews 1025 where it says, let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. [00:05:21] But somehow it seems that sports officials and those who plan other events don't care about what God wants. [00:05:29] So we shouldn't be surprised when some people treat every Sunday as if it were just another workday. [00:05:37] After all, time is money, and the more time you put into the job, the more money you can make. I suppose these people feel that there is plenty of time to rest in the Lord once they are dead. [00:05:51] But will the Lord remember those who have not spent any time in his earthly house? [00:05:58] And will they even remember the true Lord? [00:06:01] I suppose the underlying cause of Sunday sickness is the feeling that worshiping God is a burden. It's an obligation. [00:06:11] But God doesn't mean it to be that way. [00:06:15] Whether he has given us the Sabbath for our benefit. [00:06:19] That is what Jesus says in our text. [00:06:22] The rest day or Sabbath happened because of the man and not the man because of the rest day, because which came first? [00:06:33] Man was created on the 6th day, so God created the rest on the 7th he wanted to rest, and we who are made in the image of God are also to rest. [00:06:50] On the 6th day, Genesis 226 says God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the 7th day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the 7th day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. [00:07:08] Now, if God rested on the 7th day, don't you think that he might be setting an example for humankind since we were made in his image? [00:07:23] I don't know how you feel about rest, but I'm in favor of it. [00:07:29] Rest is good. [00:07:31] You just can't go on at a frenetic pace forever. [00:07:35] God has told us to rest for our own good. [00:07:38] God made all creation in such a way that rest is an integral part of its existence. [00:07:45] Through rest we recreate ourselves. [00:07:50] Even the things we humans make need a rest. [00:07:54] We can't drive our cars non stop forever. They say they're going to have arrest whether we want it or not, when they run out of gas or electricity. [00:08:04] So they will rest. [00:08:07] Or if you keep it going, parts will break and things like that if you work a tool too hard. [00:08:15] We are not made to work all the time either. [00:08:19] God created everything in six days. He left the 7th as a time to recreate ourselves. [00:08:25] Indeed, the last day is called a Sabbath rest by the writer of Hebrews. He writes, there remains then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters. God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his so God wants you to rest. [00:08:53] He wants us to rest right now because we need it to recreate ourselves. [00:08:58] And God wants us to rest eternally when we join him on the last day. [00:09:06] Now, I don't want to be too picky about all of this. Some Christians are so legalistic that they view those Christians who worship on Sundays as sinners. There are the 7th day Adventists and the 7th day Baptists who are trying to observe the Sabbath as the Hebrews did on Saturday. [00:09:26] Others might view it as wrong for you to do anything but spend Sunday on worship, Bible reading, and other religious activities. [00:09:36] But such legalism does not get at the heart of the issue. [00:09:40] Namely, the Sabbath was made for our benefit because we need rest. [00:09:48] That rest doesn't even need to take place on Sunday. [00:09:52] Here is what Martin Luther had to say about it in his large catechism. [00:09:56] Nature teaches and demands that the common people, men, servants, and maidservants who have gone about their work and trade all week long, should also retire for a day to rest and be refreshed. Second, and most important, we observe them so that people will have time and opportunity on such days of rest, which otherwise would not be available to attend worship services. That is, so that they may assemble to hear and discuss God's word, and then to offer praise, song, and prayer to God. Luther goes on to say, but this, I say, is not restricted, as it was among the Jews, to a particular time, so that it must be precisely this day or that, for in itself no one day is better than another. [00:10:46] Actually, worship ought to take place daily. However, because this is more than the common people can do, at least one day a week should be set apart for it. [00:10:59] What is most important to God is that we, the body of Christ, rest in order to recreate ourselves. [00:11:10] It involves some things we need to do in order to succeed at such a recreation. [00:11:16] First, we need to rest those parts of us that work a lot. [00:11:21] If you are involved in physical labor all the time, you need to rest your body. [00:11:28] Second, if you aren't engaged in physical activity all the time, if you are like me during most of my life, you need to recreate your body to get some exercise, and that might be what you need to do to recreate yourselves. [00:11:46] And this applies to other parts of our lives. [00:11:49] Now, those two rules apply to all of us. If you are straining your brain all week long, you may need to take the time to rest your mind by being a couch potato a while. [00:12:03] However, if your work doesn't require you to use your brain muscle very much, you may need to develop some ways to keep it active and strong. [00:12:14] Crossword puzzles or all types of things like that. [00:12:19] Likewise, our spirits may need to rest or be exercised. If you engage in a lot of creative work, you may need to take a break to let the creative juices rest. [00:12:31] And if you aren't involved in any creative outlets, you probably should find one. Otherwise, you may become a very boring person. [00:12:43] Finally, our souls need to rest or be exercised. [00:12:47] That is what worship and Bible study is about. [00:12:51] As we come together, we hear God's word. That word, as we hear it read, as we hear it preached, and as we study it in Sunday school, Bible class, and at home, recreates our souls. [00:13:05] For we hear in the scriptures how much God loves us and how he gives us eternal life because of what his son Jesus did for us. That good news refreshes us in baptism. [00:13:19] And as we apply those waters of baptism to ourselves in confession and absolution, we remember how every stain of sin has been removed by the blood of Jesus. [00:13:32] Don't we find baths or showers refreshing? [00:13:37] That is what happens spiritually in baptism and in the absolution. [00:13:43] Then what day of rest isn't made better when we have a good meal to partake of as well? [00:13:51] If your family is like mine, it is really neat to sit around the table at Thanksgiving or Christmas with a lot of relatives and eat a sumptuous meal. [00:14:01] It just wouldn't be the same to have some sandwiches made and sit in front of the tv to watch bowl game after bowl game instead of relating with those people who were there in the Lord's Supper. [00:14:18] We join together in a meal where we eat of the body and blood that redeemed us from death and the devil. And just as in a big family meal, the more of your brothers and sisters who join you in the meal, the better. [00:14:34] But during the worship, our souls receive some exercise as well. [00:14:39] As we join in praising and thanking God and putting our request before him, we exercise our souls. [00:14:46] We are serving God by doing so. [00:14:49] Did you know that the word worship comes from Old English and originally meant worthy service? [00:14:57] It is a way where we show respect to our Lord who deserves our respect for all he has done for us. [00:15:05] We know from various medical studies that we can begin recreating ourselves at any time and that they will respond to the care we give them. [00:15:16] Many people who are too busy to take care of their bodies during their life end up suffering a heart attack or something like that. After the heart attack, they begin eating correctly and engaging in regular exercise, and pretty soon their bodies are in better shape than they have been since high school. [00:15:35] The same holds true for those who don't exercise their brains. [00:15:41] Back some decades ago, I knew doctor Henry Hammond, who was a lutheran professor from Australia who often taught at our seminary in Fort Wayne. When I was the library director there, 1 October, he came down with intestinal cancer. He had to suspend his teaching activities as he was suffering from cancer, his mental capabilities began to deteriorate as well. [00:16:09] So some of my colleagues on the faculty began playing chess with him. That mental activity strengthened his mind so it was able to be active and attentive. [00:16:21] The same applies to our souls. [00:16:25] They need regular exercise to stay in shape, and the kind of exercise they need is the kind that God prescribes. [00:16:34] While there is nothing wrong with watching a preacher on tv or listening to christian songs on a radio, it's just not the same as coming to worship God with the rest of the congregation. [00:16:47] Why? [00:16:48] Because being a Christian isn't like playing golf it is not an individual sport. [00:16:58] It is more like basketball. [00:17:01] While in golf, you can play alone if you want, just to see if you can better your score. [00:17:08] You just can't play a basketball game by yourself. [00:17:12] You see, in our spiritual lives, there is an opposing team. [00:17:17] Let's call them the Red Devils. [00:17:19] These devils want to beat you badly, but we are on God's team. Let's call it the body of Christ. [00:17:28] Our worship services are in some way our practices because we praise God here and we should praise him to other people out in the world. We pray for people here. We should let help people as we can in the world through God working through us to help them. [00:17:45] All kinds of things relate right here are kind of emblematic of what we do in our everyday lives. [00:17:54] Our worship services are our practices. [00:17:57] It is there we hear our coach's instructions and hear how he has forgiven us when we miss a shot. [00:18:05] It is there that we rally with our other team members and chant such cheers to our coach as Alleluia, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. [00:18:16] Then, as we leave this practice gym, we go out into the world to face the adversary's team. It will try to get us to not play together as a team. It will try to block our shots and hurt us by fouling us. [00:18:31] But as we remember the words of our coach, and as we remember that we are out there to win this battle for him, we can play with his power until we hear the final buzzer. [00:18:44] You see, the third commandment is not there to be a burden. [00:18:48] It is there for a help. [00:18:51] And that is the way it is with all the commandments. Suppose everybody followed the 6th commandment. Do not commit adultery. In other words, do not have intercourse with anyone other than your wife or husband. [00:19:05] There would be no sexually transmitted diseases if everyone followed the fifth. [00:19:12] Don't murder and what it implies. Don't hurt other people. Don't do things that harm the world would be a much better place. [00:19:22] Likewise, if everyone rested, as they should, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and exercise their bodies, minds, souls and spirits, as they should. [00:19:36] Everyone would be happier indeed if everyone took care of their souls as they should. By believing in the one who is the Lord of the rest day, namely Jesus Christ, they would someday enter into the eternal rest day that God is planning for his team. [00:19:55] Now, I don't expect you to be in church every Sunday of every week. There's a lot of good reasons to not be in church on a Sunday morning. There are times when you or your kids are sick. There are times when work calls in and it requires you to be there. [00:20:15] Sometimes you may even have a case of the Sunday sickness. [00:20:20] After all, you are still human. To err is human. To forgive is divine and God is divine. [00:20:30] But don't make a habit of it. After all, the Lord of the rest day is your Lord. He wants you to come and practice with the rest of the team. [00:20:40] It cost him more to get you on the team than what is paid by a team to get the highest grade athlete on it. [00:20:51] His price you can pay with money. [00:20:55] Your price was paid by his death, and he was glad to pay it. [00:21:03] Amen. [00:21:05] And now may the peace that surpasses all human understanding stand guard over your hearts and minds through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.