Sunday Homily - August 25, 2019 - Jesus and the Sabbath

Jesus Healing the Sick Icon

I.

If someone were to ask you what the Sabbath is,
 what would you say?

What do you think of when I say the word, "Sabbath?"

Well, a common thing that comes up when we think about "Sabbath"
 is a particular day of the week
  when we aren't supposed to do any work.
   And you would be right!
    Because the word "Sabbath" literally means two things:
    1 - it means "day of rest"
     and 2 - it can more tersely be rendered "STOP."
    [Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the King James Version: "Sabbath"]

But which day of the week is the Sabbath, anyway?
 Oh right, it is Sunday, where we go to church, right?

Some of you probably know this already,
 but did you know that the Sabbath actually isn't Sunday?

If any of you have Jewish friends,
 you probably know that the actual Sabbath is from sundown on Friday
  to sundown on Saturday.
   And this is actually the correct date for the Sabbath
    even according to our early historical records.
    [https://www.etymonline.com/word/sabbath; c.f. The Didache]

The reason why the Sabbath gets conflated with Sunday
 is that we Christians have historically worshiped on the day that Christ was Resurrected,
  which is the "first day of the week"
   which would have been Sunday.
    But, even in the New Testament,
     Jesus Christ and the first Christians were ALL Jewish or Gentile converts
      who worshiped in the synagogues on the SABBATH,
       Saturday.
       [like in our reading from Luke 13 this morning].

Okay, that's all well and good,
 but what exactly IS the Sabbath anyway?
     
Well, let's look at the Biblical teaching around the Sabbath.

And it all starts "in the beginning."
 [Genesis 1:1]

God creates all that exists,
 and then on the seventh day,
  The Lord Most High rests.

This becomes the basis for the calendar
 of the First Covenant with Israel.
  Exodus 34:21 says the following:
  "Six days you shall labor,
    but on the seventh day you shall rest;
     even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest."

So, even at the earliest part of our Scriptures
 we have a COMMAND of God that we must rest.
  In fact, it is so strictly kept and so central to the Law
   that in Exodus 35, Moses places the highest possible punishment
    for any Israelite found breaking the Sabbath.
     (c.f. Exodus chapters 16 and 35).

But now we have to ask the question,
 "Well, what counts as labor? What counts as "work?"
   and how do we know the difference between leisure and "work?"

Naturally, in order to fulfill the command of the Sabbath,
 very smart and very committed Jews began to enumerate some practical ways
  to keep the Sabbath.
   And many of them survive even to modern day.

For example, traveling during the Sabbath was clearly "work"
 because for the people of the Old Testament and our New Testament,
  travel was very work intensive and could be dangerous.
   You had to travel in caravans of people
    and the length of the journey even between towns had to be taken into account.

It takes us just about an hour to get to Little Rock, right?
 Well, imagine how much more of a time commitment it would be
   to get to Little Rock on foot
    or on horseback?
     In those circumstances, even Beebe is quite a journey!

But, what if I need to get food for dinner?
 Does that mean I can't travel to the store to get something?
  Well, of course, there are provisional means for which travel is appropriate on the Sabbath,
    and the commentary on the Torah called the Mishnah
     was written to further enumerate the practical answers to these questions.

II.

And that's how we get to today's Gospel.
 That's the background that we need to have in our head
  when Jesus is teaching in the synagogue
   and the question about healing on the Sabbath arises.

Jesus heals a women,
 "loosing" her from being bent over for years,
   which could mean that she had a spine problem
    that required a miraculous healing.

And the leader of the synagogue gets into an argument with Jesus
 over whether this was appropriate to do on the Sabbath.

After all, could not this woman,
 who doesn't seem to have life threatening issues at the moment,
  be healed on another day than the Sabbath?
   If Jesus took the Sabbath seriously, wouldn't he actually observe it
    by NOT working within it?

But, the basic issue that then surfaces in Jesus's reply
 is that there was already a practical allowance for certain actions
  within the Sabbath.
   Untying your animal from its harness didn't count,
    as it is necessary for the health of the animal.
     Jesus uses this as an example to talk about "untying" the woman
      from the tether that twisted her back for a number of years.

But the authority that Jesus Christ has over the Sabbath
 is also one by his very nature as fully God and fully Man.

The Sabbath was a free choice of God in the beginning.
 God didn't need to rest, but God instead saw it good to rest
  and to look at the beauty of the created universe.

But God's action is not restricted to just 6 days a week.
 And God's action is not restricted by what day it is.
  The Covenant with Israel, of course, was authoritative for us mortals
   who MUST rest in order to remain healthy.

But Jesus Christ Our Lord is Lord of the Sabbath,
 and that is why Jesus performs the healings that he does in this context.

However, we need to recognize something really obvious about today's Gospel:

Jesus doesn't get rid of the Sabbath.

Let me say it again, just to be clear:
 Jesus Christ Our Lord doesn't say that people don't have to observe the Sabbath.
  Rather, Jesus is demonstrating HOW to observe the Sabbath.

Because guess where Jesus was when this argument occurs?
 Jesus is in church!
  "As was his custom."
   [Luke 4:16]

Jesus NEVER indicates that we don't need to observe the Sabbath.
 And anyone who talks about Sabbath as optional in the Bible
  needs to carefully re-examine the evidence within it.

Jesus observes the Sabbath by teaching about God
 and by demonstrating the works of God.
  And for him, that is not optional.
   And it it is not optional for the Son of God,
    it is not optional for us either.

III.

Sabbath is ESSENTIAL to our Christian practice,
 because it makes us "STOP."

And guess what, y'all?
 It's because rest is not just good for us:
  it is an ESSENTIAL participation in God's peace,
   even going back to the beginning of creation!

The forces of the world do not want you to rest, friends.
 This little black boxes that we carry around: [hold up cell phone]
  these things don't like you to be silent.

The internet websites that you visit
 don't want you to rest or to put them down.
  They want you to keep scrolling,
   keep reading,
    keep getting angry at the world,
     keep moving,
      keep working,
       keep doing anything except rest.

But friends,
 we as followers of Jesus are called to observe the Sabbath
  and to see God at work within the Sabbath.

We really are called to put our electronics down,
 to sit and read our Bibles,
  to worship God,
   to pray with God,
    and to foster the relationships with our families
     in ways that are restful and healthy.

What would it look like for you
 if you started making an effort to observe the Sabbath?
  And how would that deepen your relationship with God?

Because if we take God seriously,
 Sabbath is something that God thought was good
  even since the beginning of creation!

The Lord Most High,
 the infinite, all powerful, ever-present God
  didn't need to rest,
   but God thought it good to rest.

So also, friends,
 rest in God this day.

When you go home today,
 take some time to observe the Sabbath in three ways:

1 - Pray with God.
 Open your Bible and say your personal prayers.
  Try 15 minutes of spending time with God this afternoon or evening.

2 - Spend quality time with your family.
 Play a game together or have a sit-down meal together.
  Invest in your relationships with those close to you,
   because God's presence is in the midst of you.

And 3 - Take time to be silent.
 Put the phones down,
  turn the video games off,
   turn off the t.v.
    Find a window or sit out on your porch
     and just "be still, and know that the Lord Most High is God."
      Just take time to be still.
       And then rest in that stillness.

Sabbath is so good for us
 if we take time to observe it.

Jesus did,
 we need it,
  and God blesses it.

In the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.