Can I…On the Sabbath?

Text: Mark 2:23-28

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          God gives us so many gifts. Some of them we recognize very easily. Ask any group of Christians what some of the greatest gifts are that God gives and you’ll get the obvious answer of Jesus. But after that you’ll almost always hear people say things like family and friends, a house to live in, a job to provide support, and seasonable weather. Others will go immediately to the First Article gifts described by Martin Luther. Body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses…clothing and shoes, food, drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all that I have. These are but a few of the great gifts God gives to His people.

There are certainly others we tend to think of less often. Spiritual gifts like wisdom, peace, patience, and so on. And unless we’re in a particular situation to think of them we might forget that authorities, caregivers, faith, and even laws are great gifts. Think of the number of accidents you might have been in should traffic laws not have been in place. And how often do we thank God for the gift of the Sabbath.

THE SABBATH IS ONE OF THE GREATEST GIFTS GOD GIVES TO US.

          We Lutheran like to think of things in terms of Law and Gospel, and that’s good. But too often we think of those two categories in the same way we might think of political parties. One’s over here and the other one’s over there and there’s no place in the middle where they might meet or overlap. That’s just not the case though. Law and Gospel are much more fluid than that. If we were to ask people whether “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy” is Law or Gospel, I’m sure the vast majority would say Law. It’s in the Law after all. The 10 Commandments. It’s a statement telling us what to do or not to do. That’s got to be Law. And yet Jesus, the One who fulfilled the Law on our behalf, has a different take on it.

“One Sabbath (Jesus) was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, His disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to Him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’” Of course, the Pharisees were looking for anything they could find to point out that Jesus was doing something that violated the Law. Even this early in His ministry. Don’t we do the same? We find the law that someone has violated and we’re happy to point it out. Sometimes our intentions are honorable. Calling someone to repentance lest they continue down a road toward destruction. But sometimes, as much as we’d like to think they are, our intentions aren’t as honorable as we’d make them out to be. While I’m sure there were some very well-meaning Pharisees, some of them were surely just looking for a way to catch Jesus in the act of violating God’s Law. Whether it was jealousy about the following Jesus was beginning to command or something else, The Pharisees provide Jesus with an opportunity to teach about the fullness of the exhortation to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

After sharing the story of David, who ate the bread of the Presence and shared it with those who were with him, Jesus makes the primary point in today’s Gospel. “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” God first created people and then the Sabbath. In the beginning there was no need for the Sabbath. Adam and Eve were perpetually in the presence of God. Every day was a Sabbath for them. Receiving God’s gifts. Communing directly with Him. Enjoying the state of perfection that God had created.

When sin came into the world and people began to think they knew as well as God did what was best for them that eternal bliss of constantly being in God’s presence began to fade. So in His Law, God established the command to Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. He saw an area where His people were not desiring and enjoying the good gifts He was giving them. So He implores us to remember His gifts. Is this Law? Sure it is. But even more so it’s Gospel. As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man.” What God makes for His people is good and right, and it’s a gift. It’s Good News – it’s Gospel – that God would set aside an opportunity for His people to rest, refresh, and to be in His presence receiving His gifts.

But as with anything that’s both Law and Gospel, we tend to focus on the Law and resent that we’re being told to do something. That’s one response. Or we might add to the Law in order to put an extra hedge of protection around it so that we’ll be less likely to break the actual Law that was given. Which is what the Pharisees would do with so many things. And why Jesus needed to remind them that the Law was actually a gift and not a burden, and ultimately God’s good and gracious will for their lives.

We do the same thing as the Pharisees would do. Think about all the Blue Laws that existed for so long. Some of which still do. Stores that were completely closed on Sundays or wouldn’t sell certain things. Communities that all but shunned people for performing certain activities, even in their own yards and homes, on the Sabbath. Much of this has lightened up considerably, but vestiges of these practices still remain. It used to be that you couldn’t get a hamburger in Oostburg on a Sunday. Now that Culver’s has moved into town, you can get your butterburger, but evidence will show that Sunday’s dinner sales are still by far the slowest of the week. Some of these laws and practices were good and done for the right reasons. But once it becomes legalistic, it crosses over from good and helpful practice to assist people in focusing on what they should be doing at certain times and in certain places to Law for the sake of Law. While there are days when I’m saddened by the fact that I can’t get a chicken sandwich or satisfy a crafting urge on a Sunday, I think Hobby Lobby and Chik-Fil-A continue to respect the Sabbath by remaining closed for the right reasons.

We all have many more options on a Sunday than anyone in the history of the world has ever had. And our culture’s respect for the Sabbath is at an all time low. This makes it harder each week to choose what God desires of us. Which is why our question should not be, “Can I do this or that on the Sabbath?” but rather, “How can I revel in God’s gift of the Sabbath this week?” When the Sabbath is viewed as the good and gracious Gospel gift God intends it to be for us it’s much easier to see our use of it as a joy rather than as a burden or obligation. Where else can you gather together with brothers and sisters in Christ and receive forgiveness of sins, assurance of the Gospel, and life giving food and drink to assure you of your salvation.

There will be times, of course, when tough decisions need to be made. When other obligations and opportunities force you not to be able to observe the Sabbath by being in God’s house. But don’t allow those times to multiply. Any decision not to receive God’s gifts on the Sabbath should be taken seriously, remembering Luther’s exhortation found in the meaning to the Third Commandment. “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” Excuses might be hard to justify the first few times you make them, but they become easier and easier each time you use them.

A wealthy churchman was once approached by a church college fund-raiser to ask for a sizeable contribution for the school’s endowment fund. The churchman responded: “No thanks. I don’t like strawberries.” Surprised by the response, the fund-raiser asked what strawberries had to do with his request for a contribution. The churchman explained: “When you don’t want to do something, any excuse will do.” Such is the nature of all excuses not to remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. And that’s exactly what Jesus is getting at as He responds to the Pharisees. If we truly believe that the Sabbath was made for us, and that it’s a good and valuable gift from God, we won’t be looking for any excuse to avoid the benefits of the rest and refreshment it provides. We’ll yearn for the peace and comfort of the forgiveness provided. And we’ll long for the fullness provided God’s presence and His sacramental gifts.

          We find this peace, comfort, rest, and fulfillment, not in the careful observation of the details of the Law, but rather in the assurance that Christ’s obedient life in fulfillment of the Law for us is satisfactory. And His death on our behalf, His resurrection, and His ascension into heaven assures us that we who have faith will enjoy the eternal Sabbath rest promised with Him for all eternity. As the writer to the Hebrews says, “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.