I called the manager of Home Depot on Friday just to verify a fact.
She says, "Indeed, on Sunday mornings it is a madhouse at Home
Depot." It's the biggest shopping day of the week for many
shopping centers. I was so disappointed a few months ago to hear
Martha Stewart suggest, "This is the perfect Sunday morning
project." How many millions of people heard that message? In our
dot-com economy, telecommuting, pagers, and our addiction to being
available tempts us to work every day. We've forgotten the Fourth
Commandment to remember the Sabbath, to take a day of rest. And so
today, I'd like to explore what that means and its implications.
The first two chapters of Genesis, in splendid, vivid fashion, tell
the story of God creating the heavens and the earth. For six days,
God was productive, declaring at the end of each day that what he had
made that day was good, and on the sixth day what he made was very
good.
But the Scriptures tell us on the seventh day he rested. Now I don't
think he needed to rest. God has an inexhaustible supply of energy.
He could keep on going, and in fact, he has for all eternity, but
that wasn't the point. He ceased production for a day. He rested. He
ceased his special act of creation and allowed a fallow day.
That theme then gets picked up in the book of Exodus. Up to Mt.
Sinai, we do not have any formalized sign that a Sabbath existed. We
don't get that impression with Adam and Eve after they left the
garden. We don't have that impression in the life that Abraham and
the patriarchs lived. The first we hear of the difference between the
first six days and the seventh day was in the giving of manna in
Chapter 16 of Exodus, in which they were to collect manna for six
days, and on the sixth day to collect a double portion that would
last through the seventh day of the week.
But now in the Ten Commandments given on Mount Sinai, God sets the
Sabbath rhythm as the pattern for the ages. In it, we recognize
life's natural rhythm, a weekly rhythm, a seven-day rhythm of
productivity and then restoration. I see that as the aerobic nature
of our life as human beings, that we put out, but then take in. We
put out and take in, just like in aerobic exercise. We breathe out,
we breathe in. We expend energy to a certain level, and then are
rejuvenated by the intake of oxygen and rest.
Earl Palmer, in his book about the Ten Commandments, said this:
"We are creatures who need to stop and think, who need to
worship and rest. We need unhurried time within the balance of the
seven ordinary days in order to collect our thoughts, and to remember
who we are. We need to remember the fact of the goodness of creation
and the redemptive love that has been granted to us. According to the
law, we human beings are designed to live a rhythmic week; we
function best in the wise and good rhythm of work and rest, time
alone and time in community, intensive experiences and extensive
experience, physical exercise and mental exercise. This is the view
of life taught in the commandment."
{See Palmer, Old Law - New Life, p. 69}
In my reading, I came across a study of France in the 18th century,
in which somebody had the bright idea that we could increase
productivity by having a ten-day week instead of a seven day week.
Now there's an idea, you know? But it failed miserably. Productivity
took a nose dive; people got sick more often. The experiment was a
total failure. Seven days I guess is about right. God designed it,
after all. Even baseball recognizes the need for a change in the routine.
What do we have after the seventh inning? A stretch. Right, baseball
players? The seventh inning stretch.
This Scripture, though not referring to baseball, I don't think,
(that would be interesting, wouldn't it? But I won't go there) has a
two-part promise, a two-part command to it. We have the Fourth
Commandment because we need Sundays. We need Sundays because our
bodies need rest, and our spirits need reminding. So let's take those
two parts.
First of all, we are to remember and to keep a Sabbath to the Lord
our God. A priority is to be given to the Lord's Day, to the
"seventh" day - the first day of the week for Christians,
in honor of the resurrection. The Sabbath was created for worship, to
focus our attention on God himself, the One who created us and re-creates
us on this day of rest. It is a day focused on hearing God speak. We
hear God speak better when we ourselves are not speaking, when the
noise of our lives has abated, when the clamor of those things that
seek our attention are muted; then we can hear God speak. We
come to worship to hear God speak, and that speaking may happen
through a sermon, or through the music, through the quiet time of
prayer you have before the service begins, as you read the Scripture,
or during a prayer. There are several moments during worship when God
speaks to those who would hear.
Sunday Sabbath gives us time to think about the meaning of life. I
have a friend who prayerfully takes out her calendar for the coming
week and looks to God for guidance about how her time should be
spent.
It's a time for us to remember also what God has done for us. It's a
time for thanksgiving, to recognize that God has been at work. In the
Deuteronomy version of the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5) it goes like
this: "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that the Lord
your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm. Therefore, remember to keep the Sabbath holy."
So one of the things that we do, when we pause and cease productivity
for a time, is to give thanks to God for what God has done, and also
to look to the meaning of life that is ahead for us. We also
cultivate contentment. By ceasing productivity, we're saying,
"Okay. That's enough for this week. Whatever I have, it's
enough. And today, I will enjoy the fruit of my labor."
Sunday provides us with a discipline of remembering and focusing on
the important things and postponing the distracting, urgent things
for Monday. One day a week, we say to the Lord and to our own hearts,
"Okay. All these thing clamor. They're trying to put themselves
up as the most important things in my life. But Lord, I know that
you're the most important one in my life. Help me to rest and not be
tyrannized by the urgent things of the world." That's what
Sunday is for, and that's the memory of God's faithfulness that is,
in itself, rejuvenating.
But then there is the second half of this Commandment, and that is
that we're allowed six days of work and on the seventh day we rest.
The basic concept of rest is elusive in today's culture, so we must
spend a little time on this point.
Here is how that Sabbath rest looked when the commandment was first
given and interpreted, just to make some comparisons. The Ten
Commandments were given by God, and then the wise teachers of the Law
began to elaborate on those Ten Commandments. They had a field
day with this one. There were 39 categories of work distinguished,
and among those - bottom line - there were over 1500 specific laws
related to the Sabbath. This is why in the Gospels Jesus is harassed
by the Pharisees all the time about Sabbath violations.
I'll mention three of the categories by way of illustration.
One category had to do with burdens. You couldn't carry burdens on
Sabbath. You couldn't carry anything that weighed more than a half a
dried fig. One of the 1500 laws was - you'll love this one - you
couldn't wear your dentures on the Sabbath, because if they fell out,
you would be tempted to pick them up again, and they weigh more than
half a dried fig. In the category of travel, you couldn't walk more
than a thousand yards from home; and in the category of labor, you
could dip a radish in salt to flavor it, but you couldn't tarry
there, or you would be guilty of pickling the radish which was work
on the Sabbath.
Jesus had an entirely different altitude towards the Sabbath. He saw
it as a day of life-giving. He saw it as a day for healing and for
joy and for gift-giving. He saw it as a day for taking walks through
the fields. He saw it as a day for relieving the distress of the
afflicted, for hugging laughing children. He saw it as a day to relax
in the joy of the Lord. To those who nit-picked about his activity on
the Sabbath, he said, "Man was not made for the Sabbath but
Sabbath was made for man." Namely, Sabbath was meant for
humanity's good, not to tangle us and tie our ankles together and
make life miserable and unhappy. But work had no place on the
Sabbath. Work - labor - did not have a place on the Sabbath.
Now you're thinking, I'm sure, by now, "Okay. What is okay and
what is not okay on Sunday?" Jesus was caught running his
fingers through the tops of a wheat field and ending up with some
grains of wheat on his hand, and one of the Pharisees caught him on
that and said, "You're harvesting wheat on Saturday. You can't
do that." And Jesus said, "You guys are nuts. Forget about
that. That's not what this is about."
I think about picking cherries. Is picking cherries on a nice
late-May, early June Sunday afternoon breaking the Sabbath? Well, if
you're a full-time cherry picker six days a week, then yes, picking
cherries on Sunday breaks the Sabbath. But if you visit your aunt
once a year on a family outing to unburden her trees, no. You're not
breaking the Sabbath. It depends on what you're doing the other six
days of the week, and if it's a continuation of that, that is a
violation or a forgetfulness of the Sabbath.
Jesus said he "did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,
but to fulfill them." He saw a continuity with the Old Testament
Sabbath, but it would be superseded by "The Lord's Day,"
Sunday, after his resurrection. The fulfillment of the Sabbath
is to find true spiritual rest in Jesus, and discovering eternal joy
and peace in believing in him. So Christians view Sunday as a day of
redemption, of "re-creation." You notice I pronounce it
that way, rather than recreation, because we work awfully hard
sometimes at our recreation (I'm not sure it's always rejuvenating).
The Sabbath is meant to be a day that brings life, that fills us up
rather than drains us away. This is the spirit of the Law.
Now as I mentioned before, there are lots of 2lst century challenges
to observing the Sabbath. In today's culture, if this isn't a
mind-blowing, counter-cultural commandment, I don't know what is. We
are crazy. We are frenetic. We don't stop. Our culture is plagued and
afflicted with an inability to rest. Stores are open all night long.
In fact, I remember my parish priest preaching on this text when I
was about seven years old, the week that the Safeway opened on
Sundays for the first time. That was in the mid-1960's. Now it's not
only stores open on Sunday, but open 24 hours a day, every day of the
week. That is the culture in which we live, a culture that cannot
rest. We feel guilty when we relax!
Another part of our concern about the Sabbath is, we over-schedule
ourselves on Saturdays and do stuff away from home, and then expect
our kids to do household chores and homework on Sunday. When will
they get their Sabbath? This is for kids, too! Good news for
you students. But you know what the deal is? You have to get your
homework done on Saturday, so you can really take Sunday off with a
clear conscience, right?
So maybe it's time for a little practical application. This week, we
experienced our first rolling blackout at my house. We're still on
pins and needles here at the church, because the next block to go out
will be the church's property, Block No. 1. My home is in Block
Number 14. At 4:15, I think, on Tuesday afternoon, lights went out,
the television went off, the phones went dead, you know the drill.
Your voice-mail phone doesn't work. [Everybody needs to have an
"el cheapo" non-electric phone in your house, right?] But
it was very interesting. I called my daughter after it was over, and
she said, "Oh, it was really amazing, mom. The television went
off while I was doing my homework, and I actually got my homework
done." And I'm thinking, "What that does mean on the other
days, Judy?" She says, "No, no. It was amazing." What
she discovered was something brand new about quiet (which I've been
trying to tell her for 15 years, you understand, but she personally
got it that day.) Quiet enabled her to relax, to rejuvenate. She got
all her homework done in a much better way. It was wonderful. And I
thought, "You know, we are going to be forced this summer to
unplug our lives." And we're going to discover that there is
life without electricity. Do you realize maybe once a week, we're
going to have the opportunity to be Amish for a couple of
hours? We're going to discover the joys of "life unplugged."
As a pastor, I have a struggle to keep the Sabbath because Sunday is
a workday for me. I figure that if I can make this thing work,
you can make this thing work, too.
Now clearly, worship is an essential part of Sabbath, and so it's
always a challenge and a calling for me to be sure that I'm not
primarily in "work" mode on Sunday morning, but in
"worship" mode. Some Sundays that's easier than others. But
as in the Old Testament tradition, the Sabbath begins the night
before, and after 6:00 o'clock on Saturday night my routine changes
to one of preparation for the Lord's day. That includes very
practical preparation. I lay my clothes out. I set up breakfast. I
clean the kitchen thoroughly, because I don't clean up the kitchen on
Sunday. (Might as well start clean, you know?) And then I spend time
in prayer and spiritual reading Saturday night, all in spiritual
preparation for what it is come Sunday morning.
Families might think about talking together about worship the next
day. The worship bulletin always includes the sermon topics and
Scripture readings for the next few weeks. Pull that out and maybe
read Sunday's passage together as a family. But do something to mark
the moment as the sun goes down: We are now entering into a
period of rest and focus on the Lord our God.
Now because I am here all morning, and my time is very structured, I
have chosen to receive as a gift from the Lord a rather strict
Sabbath on Sunday afternoons. From maybe 1 o'clock to 6 o'clock on
Sundays, I observe a Sabbath. During that period of time - we're
talking about five hours (can we handle this?) here are my agreements
with the Lord. For five hours, I agree to be content with what I
have. I don't go shopping; I don't read catalogs; I don't fantasize
about all the things I wish I had. I enjoy what I do have, and it's
enough for five hours. For five hours, I leave the kids alone. I
don't nag them about what they have or haven't done. If I need rest,
they need rest too. For five hours, we work on developing
relationships on a positive basis. For five hours I give rest to my
body, my mind, and spirit. The extent of my mental work during that
time is to work the New York Times crossword puzzle. I usually take a
nap, but I give my body rest, whatever it needs to be in balance with
the rest of the week. Some of you who sit at a desk all week long,
you might want to go for a walk, actually. But whatever is out of
routine, specifically to rejuvenate your body and your mind and your
spirit, is a good starting place. The idea is to get out of the
attitude of striving and be of a content and joyful mindset. It's a
time to grow in love with God and with others. We talked about
worship and prayer as possible activities: Some spiritual
reading perhaps, maybe a review of the worship bulletin you take
home. maybe talking with your family about what you heard that day.
But cultivate a love for God and reinforce that by showing love to
one another.
And so during my Sabbath period, for five hours, I pick no fights; I
make no demands; I unplug from the media and from my computer and
Email (which I realized a few weeks ago was the one remaining plug-in
I hadn't grappled with), and I just enjoy where and with whom I am
and allow the Lord to restore my soul. Now you may not think that
five hours is very much, but since I oriented my life around that
five hours, the spiritual discipline has given me some semblance of
aerobic balance in my life, and my relationships are renewed with the
love of Jesus Christ as a result. If five hours is all you can pull
off, five hours is good. But the day, from sundown to sundown, is
what God has given as a blessing.
I want to add special word here to families with young children. I
have talked about the Sabbath at women's retreats, and I always have
women with young children come up to me afterwards and tell me,
"Mary, it's been too long since you've had preschoolers in your
house. You have forgotten that mothers get no rest." Well, I
want to challenge that. I want to suggest to you that it is even more
important for mothers to get their rest. The point of the Sabbath is
to seek a restful change from the weekly routine. You're creative.
You can figure out a way to do that. Rotate responsibilities between
mom and dad in such a way that each have a Sabbath period. You can do
that. We did it. Find a way to rotate it, so mom gets some time and
dad gets some time, and the kids get some time somehow in that.
And then -- this is probably the most uncomfortable word to give --
families need to remember that the Day of the Lord is not primarily a
family day. It is the Lord's Day. We must remember that the highest
priority on Sunday, the highest priority, is not family time, but God
time. Worship time. Being here on Sunday with your family is the
beginning of that shift of routine that sends your children's eyes
Godward and helps them to know that the rest of the week is fueled by
God's presence and influence in their lives.
And so on June 10th, as you know, we are going to be inviting
families and people of all ages into worship at 9:30 a.m.,
specifically to cultivate that value we hold, and that blessing that
has been given, that the Sabbath is for families. The Sabbath was
given not as a law and a restriction and not as a day of no fun, but
as a blessing.
I love the fact that we landed on Mothers Day with this particular
commandment. When we talk about preparing for the Sabbath and Sunday
rest, I know moms in the room are struggling with the concept. We all
know that if the family desires to go out on a family picnic, it's a
fun diversion for everybody, but mom has to perform all the extra
work to make it happen. I know because you've told me.
But let us please take one last look at the Commandment as it's
printed in your bulletin. Notice that everybody is given a day of
rest: women, men, household help, even the animals are given
rest on Sunday. God knew household burdens fell on women,
particularly in that time and culture, and he made sure that there
was a cultural agreement that even they would be given rest on
the Sabbath. Men, make sure your wives get their rest. On Father's
Day, we will make sure you get equal time. That way, everyone can
find rejuvenation and restoration on this day given by God as a day
of blessing and rejoicing. It is God's gift to humanity.
So I'm going to close now with a six-month challenge. You already
know where you are forgetting the Sabbath. You have a good sense now
of where those places and those decisions and those activities are.
And you notice I haven't given you a list of stuff you can't do. You're
going to figure out what your Sabbath discipline is going to be.
But I want you to try it for six months. For six months, I want you
to orient your Sundays around worship and rest. Our average
attendance here -- our members on average attend only 50 percent of
the time. Am I satisfied with that? No, and you shouldn't be either.
Let us come to church every week. Let us rest every week. Let us find
on Sunday an island of tranquillity and calm and see what happens to
the quality of our lives and the effectiveness of the remaining six
days of labor. This is the blessing God has given. Let's create an
experiment as a church body and decide at the end of six months --
I'm writing it in my calendar for mid-November that we come back to
this topic -- and we see how we're doing. The Lord has given it as a
gift. Let us truly receive it. Would you stand, and let's read our
affirmation from the Study Catechism.