Luke 13.10-17, Hebrews 12.18-29, Jeremiah 1.4-10
In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge. (Psalm 71.1a)
I should not be the one preaching about keeping a good sabbath. I struggle, everyday and every week, keeping a discipline for myself. I procrastinate opportunities to relax and to find life’s deeper core of meaning. But the Christian faith teaches, quite enthusiastically, about the need to step away from the busyness of life, in order to find solace in our existence. I do take part in regular worship, some would even say that I am more than regular, but sabbath means more than that.
As I always told my students, the origin of the word sabbath is “seventh day.”
It first appears in the scriptures in the beginning of the second chapter of the Book of Genesis. Where it is written:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2.1-4)
That closing passage of the creation story has been the focus of many religious laws in the Jewish and Christian traditions. Over time, the meaning of sabbath was no longer numerical; it instead became a sign of the covenant between God and the people led from Egypt to the land previously promised to them. At Mt. Sinai, where the commandments were delivered to Moses, one of the ten stated “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” (Exodus 20.8) And the clarification that followed said,
For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20.9-11)
In the context of this passage of Exodus, the word for seventh day came to mean rest, or worship, or a day of thanksgiving. And the rules, later in Exodus, set punishments for disobeying this commandment. It says the following:
The Lord said to Moses: You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: ‘You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. For six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign for ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’ (Exodus 31.12-17)
Over a thousands years later, after many new interpretations and clarifications were added to the understanding of the commandments of God, Jesus joined the community of believers. He did not discount the importance of the sabbath or of Judaism. But he did proclaim a “new covenant;” one that would supersede the old and realign faithful action with the true purpose of God. Of course, we know some of this story. We know that there were authorities that didn’t believe what this new prophet, or Son of Man, or Son of God, or Messiah was saying. They considered their knowledge and education and background to be superior to these new rules. They felt confident in their traditions. Haven’t we heard that in our lives? I bet everyone one of us has called upon the traditions, the “in my day” rhetoric that often clouds are ability to think clearly about issues that make us uncomfortable.
We read about these authorities questioning Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath Day and we consider them crazy and fanatical rule followers with not much compassion and spirit. We label them as power seekers, whose motive is to maintain the status quo at all costs. But that is not what they were at the time of Jesus. These were the mainstream believers, who relied heavily upon the scriptural tradition. They were relying on scripture from the Book of Exodus, like the ones I just read, that called for a sentence of death to those who broke the sabbath rules. These leaders were upholding that which was passed down to them, which had been passed down to their ancestors. There were some exceptions. For instance, one could care for their animals, because otherwise they would die. But all other work that could be done at another time; was to stop.
So into this tradition walks this radical teacher named Jesus. He gathered a following wherever he went and taught a way that broke down those traditions and equalized the field of play. What he taught was not the rule of law, but the reliance on the heart. And those who heard him were moved, because he made sense. That is what the leaders faced, a new vision in the name of God, from a teacher who spoke with authority. Jesus, like the many who carried prophetic messages before and since, was not favored by those in power. It is rare that a prophet becomes famous, in his or her lifetime.
Take for instance, the Prophet Jeremiah in today’s Old Testament lesson. In this particular passage from the first chapter, Jeremiah describes his call to a prophetic vocation. Unlike many other prophets, who had careers in other fields and served as prophets for only a short time, Jeremiah spent his entire life proclaiming the Word. When he was called, Jeremiah had no confidence in his voice, but God told him to have faith. During his long career, Jeremiah maintained his faith and was unwilling to shy away from his message, even when faced with human pressures and ridicule. He was beaten by his own brothers, ignored by the king, and left to die in a cistern. When his prophetic message proved true which meant that the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were captured by King Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah was set free and thereafter, he led a group of followers banished from their home. Jeremiah is a prime example of faith in the face of extreme social pressure.
Jesus faced many of the same kinds of pressures from those in authority in his time. When his good, even miraculous, deeds were questioned because they failed to fit within religious tradition and interpretation, Jesus called believers to evaluate the laws using the lens of God. In today’s story, one of the seven healing miracles performed by Jesus on a Sabbath, Jesus is questioned by a leader of the synagogue for the timing of his healing. And Jesus asks the gathered crowd to evaluate what just happened. Jesus defends his actions by asking if helping someone who is suffering is consistent with the spirit of God’s desire. Jesus said upon being questioned at an earlier sabbath healing, that the “sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.” (Mark 2.27) In this instance, Jesus questions if God would desire people to be more compassionate to an animal than to a human in need. Each example demonstrates what we like to do with God. We like to think of God, and God’s vision, as never changing. But as the times change, Jesus points out that God expects us to change, as well. And that change demands us to look into our heart and find a way to share God’s love.
It does not mean that God wants us to skip the sabbath. Jesus maintained a careful observance of sabbath throughout his life and the church has been careful to honor that important principle. But at the same time, sabbath is more than setting aside a day, or a couple of hours to God. Remembering the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy, as defined by the Episcopal Church’s catechism found in the Book of Common Prayer on page 847, says that our duty in following this command is to “set aside regular times for worship, prayer, and the study of God’s ways.” For each person, sabbath will look different. We, at St. Patrick’s, have regular worship on Sunday mornings and during the week at services for our Parish Day School and we offer prayers regularly and there are many opportunities to study God’s ways. But the call is an individual one, just as Jesus told the “hypocrites” who questioned him when he healed on the sabbath, each of us must find a way to come to God, while not letting that take over our ability to see the needs of God’s people, the people we encounter everyday who need our help.
I hope that you will take time, this day and everyday, to discern what the sabbath means to you. If you are like me, you are not doing all that you should to maintain a healthy balance in your life. We put the effort off expecting that we can catch up later, but to truly grow in our faith, to grow deep roots, we must make a regular practice, now. Evaluate your effort, remember to not get caught up in checking off boxes, but instead find a way to honor God’s covenant: to spend time in regular worship, prayer, and studying God’s ways. God calls us to be balanced, to open our heart to God, make sure to find your way.
The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard - kurt@stpatrickschurchdc.org
Proper 16C
August 22, 2010
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