Sabbath Making

 

 Sunday or Sabbath. What does that mean to you? Well, clearly you have made a significant choice this morning. You have chosen to be in church. What were you other options? 

 

This morning I want to look at what Jesus has to say about what we should be and do on Sundays. We are exploring what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. So do that we simply have to know what he says and do it. 

 

We will begin with a hunt through the Bible for references to the Sabbath. Please understand I am being very selective. There are many references to the Sabbath and the first day of the week (The word Sunday was not invented in Biblical times), you would need a concordance or a computer Bible to find them and go through them.

 

 But lets start at the start. Genesis 2:1 page 4

Read GENESIS 2:1-3 Wow! The summation of all the created order was that God rested on the seventh day. And here we have the foundations of our Sunday as it ought to be. It begins with God, as all things do. And if you are fussed that Isaid we would find out what Jesus says, well, Jesus was with the Father in creation so he enjoyed the first day of rest. What does it tell us? Well here are three things it tells us.

 First creation is a completed work. God didn’t take the day off and go back to work on Monday. His creation complete we turn to the creation of man and the consequences. Today we celebrate by setting aside Sunday that God completed creation.

 Life is a gift. Creation was not a product of man’s efforts, or a chaotic cosmic accident. It was a thoughtful wonderful universe. Life is created for us to enjoy. It is a gift to be received. We enjoy each evidence of new life as any Christmas or birthday present. Today we celebrate by setting aside Sunday that God gave life.

 The Sabbath is holy because God rested. It is not special because we have rules about church attendance or laws restricting activities. In a post – Christian culture, we have to set today aside because God did, not because it is convenient and set up by our society for us to do so. It will cost you. It will isolate you and limit your choices. But at the same time you put your hand in the hand of God, take time out with him and enjoy him as he intended.

 

I  now what to skip the rest of the Old Testament  and jump to John 19:30 page 1088.

READ JOHN 19:30 

 

It might sound like a dying gasp of despair but it is actually rich and powerful. It is a cry that echoes throughout creation that God completes the work .  Salvation is complete. There is no inquisition at the pearly gates or in the grave, no purgatory. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus, salvation happens by grace, not because you were good enough or religious or a member of SRCF or baptised or any other action of your. God has finished the task. . Eternal life is a gift to be received by faith.  That is where all religion falls down, it sets you the impossible task of satisfying God. Jesus alone comes from God and gives life to those who believe. If you have never received him, there is no other way but to do that. It is quite simple, you ask and receive. You confess you are in the wrong and receive his forgiveness. You admit you are unable to live as he wanted and receive his Holy Spirit to transform your life. Here is an example of a prayer that prayed sincerely, opens up your relationship with Jesus so that you have eternal life. Remember it is your relationship with Jesus that saves not just saying these words.

 READ Prayer for salvation

 Now if you have prayed that prayer or similar, today or in the past, then the Sabbath is a celebration that Jesus rested in the tomb. And he rose again on Sunday Morning. This is why the church moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Because we want to enjoy the fact that we are able to be part of the resurrection life that Jesus kicked off that first Easter Sunday. We in fact celebrate Easter here every Sunday. That is why we have communion every week. We are Easter people, living because Christ is risen, saved because he died and our sins are forgiven.

 

 Our next scripture is therefore not an imposed restriction but a guide to enjoying what is best in life. This is the fourth commandment of God.

READ EXODUS 20:8-11

I want you to understand that these are not laws to  base legislation on, they are commands generated by our desire to respond to the love of God. Some legislation is necessary in our society to prevent others being oppressed. Historically we have been through a period when this law was so heavily imposed on the population that it became religion. In the 1700s you were compelled to attend church on Sunday on pain of imprisonment. Today you will notice that Sundays are so ‘free’ that people are deprived of the opportunity to take one day off work in seven. The Keep Sunday Special campaign tried to establish limits to what was acceptable on Sunday. They listed Recreation, Entertainment, essential Services and Transport. But most of the queue on Station Approach will have little thought of that, other than why have they blocked the bridge!

So lets look at three principles in this command. I see three.

 Remember to keep it holy. That is set it apart from other days. God-rest is important for your physical, mental and spiritual health. It is a proven scientific fact that making Sunday special improves you health and productivity. If we could trust God we could as a society be a better society! Those arguments did not wash with Sainsburys, though, they want a  24/7/365 operation. And that temptation seeps insidiously into our thinking so we all end up throwing away God’s good commend for a handful of straws.

The question is, how do you make a day holy.

 Secondly God says in it do no work. We will come back to what that means. But it establishes that a proper employer should not expect the staff to work on Sunday, or make provision for an alternative sabbath day.

 We can't use ot er people to do the work either. This list covers all the recognised social classes and classification of the day. In today's language it would say regardless of status, class, ethnic background , creed or sexual orientation. So its no good making use of services just because 'they' are not Christians. We always  have to be careful we do not abuse other people. That foes mean that the choices you make about Sunday is not based on the opportunities that we have, but how you choose to make the day 'holy'.

What did Jesus say about the Sabbath?

Most of what he said was responding to the legalism that had taken over the religious leaders of the day.

 

 We will start in Mark 2

READ MARK 2:23-28

Notice two key points.

 The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. At the heart of this is that the sabbath is for God and for our good. So rules which inhibit goodness are wrong. So we would not close essential services because that would endanger health; prevent people getting to church; etc. It does not justify us shopping and all the other services we would like to have, on demand.

 Secondly Jesus is Lord of the sabbath as he is Lord of all. Jesus here is identifying himself as creator. Sabbath is not about rules, it is about remembering Jesus creator and Saviour.

Several times Jesus faced opposition becase he healed on the Sabbath.

READ MATTHEW 12:9-14

 Jesus said it was lawful to heal and it was lawful to do good. He is the Lord, not the religious leaders. It is his day to 'rest' as he pleases. And what pleases him is healing and doing good.

 

This is not the first time I have spoken about the Sabbath in this church. It came up in John’s Gospel – our Gospel. And I spoke about it May last year. In John 5:1-15 we have the story of the man Jesus healed by a pool in Jerusalem. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath and told him to take his bed-roll home with him. The Pharisees were outraged because they had made rules to prevent people working and carrying a bed-roll was work. Jesus’ answer was essentially that he made the rules not them. If he is Lord of our life, it is his rule that you will obey, willingly, in a response to his love.

So to review what we have here.

Sunday is, for Christians, a day when we  celebrate the resurrection by setting it apart  for God.

The day of rest is God’s choice not ours. It is grace and a reminder of grace.

It is good for us.

It is commanded.

It is not a matter of rules but right thinking.

 

So if you were expecting a neat list of dos and don’ts, you have come to the wrong church, the wrong religion. But we do need to think carefully about our attitude to God as revealed by our practise on a Sunday. Because the Pharisees were not unusual, they simply did what we all do too easily, measure each other by our rules rather than checking whether there is right thinking and right action.

 

Some warnings.

It is not a day off to do as you please. It is a day set apart to be holy to God.

It is not a day ‘for the family’. Our modern society has pressured us into filling our days and hours so that our families are neglected. There is a great temptation to use Sunday to compensate for this. But it is God’s choice that you set it apart for him. Family is best served by you getting some right thinking about the time you spend with God. It may mean that other things have to go. It may mean that working practises which are against the family like working long hours should be resisted. I am not suggesting that family is excluded. Ideally a God centred family can enjoy God together and I appreciate that divided loyalties in family will create tensions.

Before you jump in to criticize, let me get to the third warning.

It is not a day to measure other’s spirituality. That was the fundamental error Jesus challenged, time and again. He is Lord of the Sabbath and he is Lord of the church. You are answerable to him how you interpret setting apart Sunday as holy. Colossians 2:16 is relevant here.

 

Some thoughts on what it means to set Sunday apart as Holy to God. I believe I can give examples from scripture of all these:

Rest Exodus 20:8-11

Worship Revelation 1:10

Scripture reading Acts 15:21

Learning Acts 20:7-

Giving 1Corinthians 16:2

Prayer Acts 16:13

 

Finally, I want to bring you back to where we began.

It is the creator’s rest, the Saviour’s rest. It is to remind us of a complete salvation; that life is a gift; it is an invitation to share in the fellowship of the father, Son and Holy Spirit. God wants you to share his rest.

READ HEBREWS 4:3-11.The Sabbath looks forward to spending eternity with Jesus. Plan your response to the love of God so that you enjoy Sundays for all that God invites you to share in.