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If you were here last week, you will remember that we came to those great words of Jesus.
28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
If you missed it you can read my script or
listen to what I said online.
And we are going to start right there
because Matthew does not jump from one event to another at random. Jesus is
speaking about rest, and in the mind of his hearers rest meant one thing,
Sabbath. So we join the disciples out on a stroll on the Sabbath and discover
how easy it is to turn the concept of rest into a monster of rules and
regulation and oppression and hard work.
READ Matthew 11 :28-12:14
Shabbat is a lost cause in 21st Century England. You might notice that the shops close early on Sundays but little else indicates that one day of the week is different. Even churches have little impact, as numbers of people attending dwindle. So what is this business of Shabbat or Sabbath or Sunday about?
It is written large across the Bible. Lets start in Genesis 2:1.
2
Thus the
heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast
array.
2
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the
seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and
made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had
done.
Three key words appear here which we need to keep in mind. Finished the work; rested; made it holy.
So the Sabbath is not a religious law it is a universal principle of creation. Work needs a finishing point; there is a place for rest in creation and we need to set that time apart.
Irritating isn’t it that so many jobs never get quite done. Ironing is one of them; just as you put the ironing board away you get the washing in and start again. In fact household jobs tend that way, cleaning the house is like painting the Forth Bridge. As soon as you ‘finish’ one cycle the next begins. Put the rubbish bins out and more rubbish begins to accumulate. But God says, Finish a task! And if it’s good enough for him, it is good enough for you! Sabbath is a bout finishing a week’s work and recognising that it can be put aside for one day. It is good psychology. It is also good theology because on the cross Jesus cried out “It is finished!” And the work of salvation was complete. There is no more to be done, no further sacrifice, no more steps your salvation was complete on that terrible day we call Good Friday. So Sunday celebrates the finished work of Jesus on the cross. If you are a Seventh Day Adventist you will insist on observing this on the Saturday, the traditional last day of the week but Christians like us changed the day to Sunday, a weekly celebration of the resurrection.
Secondly, it is a day of rest. The Christians have long argued the case for Sundays to be a day of rest for the community because it is not considered a religious duty but a universal principle for the good of humanity. God rested from the work of creation, so we, made in his image, rest from our work. What that means in practice we will consider but we need to continue to argue the case for Keeping Sunday Special. And we have loads of evidence that supports our claim. Work output increases where one day in seven off is observed. The Russian Communists actually tried a 10 day week but reverted back because it didn’t work. Modern business practice tends towards working 24/7 and we like everything except us to be running 24/7 but humans do not work well like that. Whether the business runs 24/7 is different to what every employee needs. Every person in the world is entitled to one day off in seven, even mums! And working towards that has to be our objective.
Thirdly, God made the seventh day holy. He set it apart from the others. Sunday must be different. It is not only a day off it is a holy-day. This is where we come to the passage in Matthew.
In the Ten Commandments we know that the Sabbath is specifically set apart, over and above the festivals of Passover, Atonement and First Fruits.
The Big Ten contains this:
Exodus 20:8-11
8
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you
shall labour and do all your work, 10 but
the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.
On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor
your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in
your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and made it holy.
This clearly re-iterates the principles of
Genesis 2:1
If you read on, this extends to the
agricultural principle of fallow fields.
Exodus 23:10-12
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the
crops, 11
but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your
people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the
same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12
“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your
ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and
the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
This underlines the fact that the Law is intended to provide for the poor and provide protection for the marginalized on society. It says quite clearly that you having a day off and making other people work for you is not on. God’s law has equal opportunities written into it. It even provides for wild animals!
But interpreting that law lead to a host of regulation, mainly about the definition of ‘work’ or ‘labour’. So trying to enshrine the principle of the command into a legal framework led to defining how far you can walk and how much you can carry before you are in breach of the principle. By Jesus’ day a ‘Sabbath day’s journey’ was well understood and how much you could carry was the weight of a dried fig. Much disputed was exceptions to the rule. For example, the priests were permitted to carry out their duties, and rescuing livestock and persons was permitted. Also argued was carrying out actions that would be part of a normal working practice. So the disciples raise eyebrows over the simple task of
pick some heads of grain and eat
them.- Harvesting,
winnowing, processing food. Clearly work!
Jesus’ answer
touches on the key problem. It is what exceptions are acceptable, not to the
Pharisees but to God.
Example one is
David. He was on the run from King Saul and he and his band of terrorists
4 He entered the house of God,
and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for
them to do, but only for the priests.
But David is the
good guy and hero! So history, says Jesus supports the understanding that there
is a greater principle than the narrow view the Pharisees were promoting. That
principle is that
8 For the Son of Man is Lord of
the Sabbath.”
Example two is the
priests in the temple who were permitted to slaughter, butcher and burn
sacrifices and all the associated clean-up activities on the Sabbath.
So where the
worship of God is concerned, it is acceptable to set aside the command for a
higher principle – that of the day being holy for the worship of God.
Jesus then states
that he is greater than the temple. The problem is that we find it easy to tick
boxes and observe rules. It means that we can worship when our hearts are not
engaged in worship. Jesus calls for mercy rather than sacrifice. That is a
prophetic call that rings down through the ages. Proverbs 21:3
To do
what is right and just
is more acceptable to the Lord than
sacrifice.
1 Samuel 15:22
22
But Samuel replied:
“Does
the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Isaiah 1
11 “The multitude of your
sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves
clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed;
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
Today, we have
exactly the same problem. We approve of actions because we can see them rather
than attitudes of the heart.
Jesus was blunt on
this point.
Matthew 5
23
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your
gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come
and offer your gift.
I expect we all
fail on this one. It is easier to go through the motions of church services
than to tackle the problems of relationship and deal with them before the Lord.
To have communion but not want to fellowship with those we have fallen out with
in the fellowship. We have to swallow our pride, admit we are wrong and seek
forgiveness. This morning, it is not your attendance here that matters, what
matters is your love for God and that is reflected in your love for your
neighbour, each other and your
enemies.
8 For the Son of Man is Lord of
the Sabbath.”
He is Lord of every
day and hour of your life. But he is Lord of the Sabbath and he decides what is
right and proper for you to do today. If you accept his salvation, you accept
his authority. If he lead you through the grain fields on the Sabbath, then it
is not inappropriate to eat of the corn. What is not appropriate is the
judgemental attitude that says my Sunday observance is superior to yours and
you should do what I say, not what God says.
But the story
unfolds further today. Here is Jesus
answer to what you should do on the Sabbath.
This is a turning
point in Jesus ministry. Up to now, he was observed by the religious police of
the day. Now he sets out to upset their security. He goes to the heart of the
religious community of the Galilean community, the synagogue and tackles the
Sabbath issue head-on.
The battle lines
are developing. In this one instant, Jesus becomes the enemy of the Pharisees.
Why is it so important? Because the Lord of the Sabbath came
to seek and to save the lost. He did not come to burden his disciples
with rules of obedience but to offer himself as a gift of grace. And when faced
with the man with a withered hand, he wants to heal. But he wants everyone to
know that healing is more important than observing Sabbath rules.
The Pharisees have
their question:
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
Matthew clearly
believes they were spoiling for a fight. The man was a pawn in their game. He
was someone to save in Jesus’ view.
His answer:
11 He said to them, “If any of
you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold
of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a
sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the
Sabbath.”
His answer is
pragmatic and straightforward. What sting is in the tail.
The man is more important than their rules. Therefore
it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” The rules
were being used as a weapon to prevent people enjoying the freedom Jesus was
bringing. Jesus is clearly saying that the Law permitted good to be done on the
Sabbath. They were interpreting the Law wrongly as they were seeking to prevent
good rather than encouraging it. This
was true in so much of their thinking. People arriving in Jerusalem needed to
buy animals for sacrifice and convert Roman idolatrous coinage to acceptable
temple coinage. That
justified turning the Gentile area of the Temple into a market. They
turned a place of prayer into a market because they did not value the freedom
for Gentiles to worship highly enough. Here the need of the man is for healing
but they thought he was better off by being oppressed by petty rules.
We must be aware
that we like to make rules. And we find it easier if we keep our rules rather
than seek to save the lost. In 2008 we abandoned normal services to explore our
vision for mission under the banner of Hope 2008. There was some criticism. Most
of the criticism I received was “not on a Sunday” EVEN a prayer event in the
church. Well, in 2014, Hope together
will call us to reach out of the walls of this building and go where the people
are. I hope that we have moved on and are more excited about the salvation of
people in our community than what we can or can’t do together on a Sunday.
Lets step back and reflect on this passage. The
Sabbath was God’s idea for reminding us of the completed work of creation and
salvation. It is a day of rest, a change from the routine. And it is a day to
be holy to God. It is not a day for rules about what you can or cannot do, it
is a space to worship and remind ourselves of those things which are central in
our lives. Let’s make Sunday Special by choosing to be turning away from the
sin in our lives, turning to our God in prayer and reflecting his love and
compassion for the man with a withered hand.