Pentecost 14 - Year C
Luke
13:10-17
Remember
the Sabbath Day
As Jesus is teaching, a woman
appears. She has an evil spirit. For eighteen years this spirit has prevented
her from standing up straight. We don’t
have to ask “What Would Jesus Do?” We
know. He sets her free.
This is why Jesus came – to set us
free. Free from any and all spirits
which bind us and hold us captive. This is
what Jesus taught – that nothing can prevent the children of God from standing
up straight and shouting their praises to the heavens. (Can I hear an “Amen”!)
And yet, this wonderful thing which
Jesus does frustrates and causes some to speak against him. The leader of that synagogue didn’t like
it. So he tries to send the other
cripples away; or at least keep them from getting close enough to Jesus for
Jesus to lay his hands on them. “This is
not what the Sabbath is for!” the synagogue leader kept insisting.
“Then what is the Sabbath for?”
Jesus’ words and actions ask.
Good question. Does anyone want to offer an answer?
Well, those of you who know me know
what mine answer is going to be. Right?
Yes, my sisters and brothers, this
is about to become the second sermon in practically as many weeks in which I am
going to ask you to take out those ELW Hymnals and turn to far back where you
will find printed The Small Catechism. It
starts on page 1160. Today we are going
to look at the 10 Commandments, particularly commandment number 3.
Have you found it? Okay – let’s read together the 3rd
commandment: Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
A couple of things: First, the 10 Commandments were not always one
of the first things that students at the church or synagogue committed to
memory. It is during the Reformation,
when we wanted to re-cast the Church and the Church’s teachings that the focus
was shifted to the 10 Commandments and away from the 7 deadly sins. Second, while the 3rd commandment
is short and its words easy to understand, let’s go ahead and admit that its interpretation
isn’t that simple.
Let’s try this. What have you been told and taught it means to
“keep the Sabbath holy?” What did you learn
from your mommies and daddies? What do
you continue to be told by street preachers and billboards along the
interstate?
-
Don’t
work on Sunday
-
Don’t drink
In the time of Jesus, keeping
Sabbath had some rather strict rules. I
should say that in some Jewish and Christian communities there are still strict
rules. Have any of you been in
modern-day Israel on a Sabbath? I hear
that everything does shut down, and that you had better have everything you
will need for the next 24 hours.
My cousin’s step-son is the pastor
at Hull’s Grove Church in Vale. He and
his father also have a taxidermy business, mostly mounting trophy deer
heads. But not on Sundays. Even in the height of deer season.
What do folks, in our culture
anyway, tend to associate with keeping the Sabbath Holy?
I do want you to look back at the small
catechism. Why don’t we repeat this part
too: “We are to fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching or God’s
word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it.”
I particularly want you to note
that part about not despising “preaching.”
While many will get hung up on whether
or not we do any labor on the Sabbath day, the Small Catechism reminds us that
the purpose of the Commandment is to push us toward a right relationship with God’s
Word and our learning of it. While most
of the rules or laws we are carefully taught are aimed at regulating the type
of activities appropriate, Luther wants to teach us about the commandment’s
hope that we would use this day learning the wide variety of ways in which we
have been set free and enabled to stand up straight.
Of course, if we work all day on
Sunday, there probably won’t be an opportunity to hear the preaching of God’s
Word, or learn what that Word is saying to us.
I might further add that choosing to work 24/7 may fall into the
category of despising the Word and failing to take time to consider it.
“Remember the Sabbath to keep it
holy.” The leader of the synagogue had
his rules about what this meant. Jesus reminds
him, and us, that the Sabbath is a gift to God’s children. It is a day to read the stories of being set
free; a time to learn all the ways in which God enters the lives of God’s
family. The Sabbath is an opportunity to
experience that liberation in our own lives.
One more comment. I trust we are all aware that when “Sabbath”
is substituted for the name of a day of the week, it isn’t referring to
Sunday. Saturday is the Sabbath. Why do Christians observe Sunday as “Sabbath”? Early on, Christians were also devoted Jews,
so they went to synagogue on Saturday and then to church on Sunday. We gave emphasis to Sunday because that is
the day of the week when Jesus’ empty tomb is discovered. It isn’t the DAY of the week which matters; what matters is “We are to fear and love God, so that we do
not despise preaching or God’s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly
hear and learn it.”
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment