Scripture: Luke 6:1–11
“Remember the Sabbath and keep it…boring.”
The Two-Way—the Bible study and sermon discussion group that meets on Sundays after church—had a walk down memory lane this past week. We spent a long time talking about our experiences of Sabbath restrictions…things that we remember growing up being specifically disallowed, either by culture or even by law. Many remembered that they were not allowed to watch movies on Sunday, to the point that movie theaters were not even open. I told them how long it took for me to let myself do any yardwork on a Sunday—an activity that is for me enjoyable and dare I say, restful—because of the cultural messages in my head that it was a violation of the Sabbath. One person on Sunday shared the memory of a friend who was allowed on a Sunday to sit on a swing at the playground, but as soon as she started to pump her legs and swing, she was in violation of the Sabbath. Perhaps we have missed the point. These stories, and maybe your own, create in some folks’ minds an association of the word “Sabbath” as something that is restrictive, onerous, and in a word…boring.
Christians have had a complicated relationship with this idea of Sabbath. The first Sabbath complication is Jesus himself. Including today’s Scripture reading, when Jesus talks about Sabbath, it is usually not in a positive sense. Last week, we talked about the origins of a community that honored rest and infused it into their theology and culture through the practice of Sabbath-keeping. But then over time, that command to observe the Sabbath became more and more rigid. Religious teachers narrowly defined what could and couldn’t be done on the Sabbath. There were tons of laws about how much work could be done, and what it could look like. By the time we get to today’s passage, the Pharisees are complaining that Jesus and his disciples had walked through a field and grabbed a few stalks of grain and rubbed them together to eat the grains—a clear Sabbath violation. Jesus went round and round with the religious teachers about why he should be allowed to heal people on the Sabbath. A paralyzed man. A crippled woman. A man born blind. Today, we read about a man with a withered hand. Seven times Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, and it infuriated the religious teachers every time that he would flaunt his disobedience of their laws. If we only read the Gospels, we could come away with the idea that Jesus had completely rejected the idea of Sabbath, and thus we as Christians have no obligation to observe this antiquated and irrelevant command.
But then, two interesting things happened. One, Christians changed the day that we call Sabbath. In Scripture, Sabbath is Saturday, actually beginning at sundown on Friday night. But then, out of a recognition that the Resurrection happened on Sunday, Christians began to shift the language and concept of “sabbath” to the first day of the week and not the last. When the Hebrew Scriptures talked about “shabbat,” or Sabbath, in their minds they translated that to Sunday.
Which brings us to the second interesting thing that happened throughout the history of the Church. Early Christians followed Jesus in bemoaning the rigid Sabbath restrictions that the Jewish leaders had heaped upon the people. “Good thing that Jesus rejected such rigidity and proclaimed our freedom from it! Those silly Jews.” But before long, Christians began to replace rigid Saturday rules with a set of rigid Sabbath Sunday restrictions that far surpassed those of the Pharisees! They slammed down with an iron fist on movies and swings and puttering in your yard. In the name of the Jesus who rejected illogical restrictions that missed the point of Sabbath, they created a million illogical restrictions that missed the point of Sabbath! And as a result, many of our churches have become places to serve and obey and go on mission, but they are not always places of rest.
Sound like anyone we know? First Baptist, we as a church do work really well. It is literally one of our four W’s, identifiers of our practice and vision. And we are currently in the middle of a ten-month series that we call Faith in Action! And we are today highlighting the continued ministry of our Martus, those who work tirelessly, often behind the scenes, to care for our community and our congregation. And most Sundays, the list of service opportunities [mentioned] in the Life of the Church [announcements at the end of the service] is long. We know how to work. And I think that I can say that with pride and gratitude, while also saying this: we are better at working than resting. We are better at Faith in Action than Faith as Rest. We are better at “6-day service” than “7th-day Sabbath.”
And that includes your Senior Pastor. I believe I am called to work as the hands and feet of Jesus. Caring for ministers around the country. Caring for homeless families in our community. Caring for hurting members of our congregation. Walking beside our staff and leaders as we manage a ministry campus that serves the city. I do all of this, and I say all of this not to toot my own horn or tell you how awesome I am. This is not a humble brag…this is a confession. As my mentor pastor would often say, “Church, I need you to be a priest, and hear my confession.” When I read Luke 6 honestly, I see myself…and it is not in the disciples nor in the man healed by Jesus nor in Jesus himself. It is in the voices of the obligation-focused, guilt-trip-laden Pharisees. I have much to learn about Sabbath.
Thankfully, Jesus is here to teach me, and perhaps you today as well. If there is something that we might learn from Jesus about Sabbath here in Luke 6, hopefully it is not that Sabbath is boring and obligatory and rule-laden. I hope that what Jesus teaches us here is that Sabbath is meant to bring us joy!
Look at these two stories again. On one Sabbath, the Pharisees were angry that Jesus and his disciples gleaned from a grain field to be able to eat. Scholar Mark Vinson suggests a simple reason why: the disciples were hungry. These were men who followed Jesus from town to town, participating in his ministry with him. They did not have a home with a pantry where they could go and pick out their Sabbath meals. They instead lived off of the generosity of others. Which, in that time and place, would have included the ancient practice of gleaning: the Bible commands that landowners leave a certain amount of the field unharvested, so that those living in poverty could gather what they need to survive. This seems to be what is happening with the disciples; they could have refrained from gleaning on this Sabbath day, but it might mean that they would go without food. Jesus and his disciples broke Sabbath laws so that they could eat that day. But look at this story through the lens of Sabbath joy. Couldn’t you just hear the disciples laughing as they walked through the grain field together…happy to have food provided on this day, happy to have one another, happy to be living the adventure that is the life of Jesus? In my mind’s eye, it was their laughter that caught the attention of the Pharisees, waiting with arms crossed as they walked out of the field, cheeks full of grain!
And then a second story takes place on a second Sabbath, this time in a synagogue where there was a man with a withered hand. Luke goes out of his way to say that this was his right hand. This was likely his dominant hand, meaning that his inability to use it meant that he was unable to work. For this man, Vinson writes, every day was Sabbath, but not by choice. Because of his hand, he was locked into a life of poverty with no way out. But could you imagine the look on his face when Jesus healed his hand? He could finally be able to contribute to his family! He could feel valuable and worthwhile!
What links these two stories—the hungry disciples and the man with an unusable hand—is that Jesus sees a need, meets that need, and the response is unadulterated joy. And when the Pharisees respond with more rules, Jesus pleads with them to understand that in the end, joy is what Sabbath is all about. That is what it has always been about. Not rules and regulations, but restoration. Healing. Salvation. Rest.
Vinson summarizes these two stories like this:
…Jesus’ teaching argues that God is honored when God’s people meet the needs of others. The word “save” in v. 9 not only means “heal,” but was in the first century a political claim by the emperors. Rome, in the person of its dictators, was claiming that its occupation of foreign territory, taxation, building military bases and quartering troops, domination of international trade, etc., was salvation for the world. Jesus, in this tiny Galilean house of prayer, demonstrates that he thinks salvation begins by meeting the needs of the anonymous man with the crippled hand….
In both of these stories, Sabbath became an opportunity to restore someone’s joy! That was the point from the beginning. Sabbath was and is meant to be about joy, and play, and life-giving rest. It is meant to be about seeing how high you can swing on that swing. And enjoying movies with friends. Or not. It is about finding and doing the thing that gives you joy! What is your Sabbath joy? I want to share another quote, this time from author and medical doctor Saundra Dalton-Smith, who teaches us the true and abundant meaning of rest:
Rest…implores you to slow down and fully live….Rest is not merely taking a break. Rest is about replenishing, restoring, renewing, recovering, rebuilding, regenerating, remolding, and repairing. Rest begins with the prefix re- because it requires us to go back to a prior state. It is a second chance. It’s an opportunity to put back in order anything that has shifted out of alignment with God’s best.
After the church birthday [celebration] this afternoon, my sabbatical officially begins. For three months, my goal is just that: “replenishing, restoring, renewing, recovering, rebuilding, regenerating, remolding, and repairing. …put(ting) back in order anything that has shifted out of alignment with God’s best.” This morning, in my last sermon before I go, I want to invite you to join me. No, not join me climbing 14,000-foot mountains or visiting family in Kentucky or spending time visiting with and dog-sitting for college friends in Europe! That is my Sabbath joy. What’s yours? Join me in asking, “What does it look like for you to observe Sabbath?” As an individual? As a family? As a congregation? “What is my Sabbath joy?” For some of you, Sabbath joy looks like reading, so we have a booklist. For some of you, Sabbath joy looks like talking together with friends, so we have created a small group experience for Sunday school classes to use. For some of you, Sabbath joy looks like worship services, so our preaching and music and worship will help to explore these themes. We have been doing a lot of “sixth-day” work to make it possible for “seventh day ceasing.” And by the time I have finished with a concluding series in mid-September, the hope is that you have at least thought and prayed about what it means for you to observe Sabbath. And that all of us might find ourselves wiser for the journey.
And, if you happen to drive by our house and see me mowing the lawn, don’t worry. I admit it is a little weird that working in the yard gives me joy…but it does! Watching the spring and summer flowers bloom, and listening to the birds splash around in the pond, and tasting a caprese salad made with basil and tomatoes grown in our garden. That’s my joy…one of them, at least. And if I listened to the grumpy, Pharisaical church folk from my childhood who looked askance to anyone who mowed their lawn on a Sunday, I would have missed out on that joy!
Don’t let them steal your joy! In the months ahead, may we stretch out our hands to receive the healing and restoration that only Jesus can give. May we pause in the field to be nourished by the grain of the grace that surrounds us. May we put back in order that which has shifted out of alignment with God’s best. And may we laugh and dance and sing, in the name of God’s Sabbath joy.
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