“FIXING OUR WEAKENED WEEKEND”

LUKE 13:10-17

10  On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues,

11  and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

12  When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."

13  Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

14  Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."

15  The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?

16  Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"

17  When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

I honestly don’t remember who the person was who called.  I just remember that the call came from a booster for one of the youth athletic leagues here in town.  The boosters were having a fund raiser.  So, they waned to know if the Union Congregational Church would support the youth in North Reading by placing an ad in the program for their fundraiser.  “Well,” I said, “we certainly believe in supporting worthwhile activities for the youth in town, but I need to ask a couple of questions.  First of all,” I said, “does your league schedule any practices on Sunday mornings?”  The booster was surprised by the question. “Yes, we do,” he replied.  “And does your league schedule any games on Sunday mornings?”  Once again the answer was yes. “Well,” I said, “does it really make sense for us to make a donation to an organization that puts parents in the difficult position where they have to decide if their children are going to go to Sunday School or play sports on Sunday morning?  “Oh,” the booster  said.  Then after a short pause he asked, “Does that mean you don’t want to buy an ad?”

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”  That’s number four on the list of the top Ten Commandments.  It’s an important commandment and it’s the reason the leader of that synagogue got himself all worked that day.  It all started when Jesus healed that woman.  As far as the leader of the synagogue was concerned when Jesus did that he was working on the Sabbath and that was something that you weren’t supposed to do.  The fact that woman had been suffering for 18 years didn’t matter to him. 

Jesus, of course, condemned the leader of the synagogue for his cruel and cavalier attitude. 

It would be a mistake though to say that Jesus didn’t believe in keeping the Sabbath holy.  The fact that Jesus was in the synagogue that day proves that he believed in keeping the Sabbath holy.  In fact, my guess is that Jesus would be on the same page as the leader of the synagogue when it comes to the way the Sabbath is observed today in this country.  Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say the way the Sabbath isn’t observed. 

When it comes to the Sabbath more and more people are becoming just like the woman who came out of church one morning and shared a few sharp words with the minister. “Pastor,” she said.  “I just want you to know that I’m not going to be attending anymore of your services.”   The announcement caught the pastor off guard.  “Why not?” he asked.  “Because,” she said, “you always sing the same two songs.”  Now the pastor was really puzzled.  “We do?” he said.  “Yes,” the woman replied very indignantly.  “Every time I come we’re either singing ‘Silent Night’ or ‘Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.’”

It’s sad but the Sabbath isn’t what it used to be.  I remember when you used to go to church on Sunday morning.  Then when you got home you kept your shirt and tie on and your good shoes on until Sunday dinner was over. Only then were you allowed to change into our play clothes. There also weren’t any baseball games on Sunday morning and you didn’t do any shopping at Wal-Mart because all the stores were closed.

When it comes to keeping the Sabbath holy I wonder what the leader of that synagogue would say to us today?  I wonder what Jesus would say to us today?   I don’t think either of them would be very happy.

So what does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy and why is it important for us to keep the Sabbath holy?  I think the answer to that question can be found by going back and figuring out what God may have done on that first Sabbath.  After all, the commandment says that the Sabbath is holy because God created the heavens and the earth in six days and then on the seventh day God rested.

Now have you ever thought about how weird that sounds? God rested on the seventh day.  Does that mean that God was tired on the seventh day?  Does it mean that God woke up on that seventh day and said, “You know what?  I’m bushed.  I’ve been working like a dog all week.  So, I think I’m going to give myself a break and sleep in today.”   That doesn’t make any sense.  It doesn’t make any sense that a God who is omnipotent and omniscient doesn’t get tired like that.  The psalmist was right when he said that God “neither slumbers nor sleeps.” (Ps. 24) So, what does it mean when it says that God rested on the seventh day? 

Here’s what I think.  You can tell me later if it makes sense to you. I can’t see God sleeping in on the seventh day, but I can see God looking down from the heavens on that seventh day and enjoying everything that He created.  I can see God being filled with delight while watching a family of otters splashing around in a lake surrounded by majestic mountains.  I can see God being filled with delight while watching a comet streaking across the heavens.  Most of all, I can see God being filled with delight while watching the first man and woman explore the beauty of the world around them.  If that’s true, then what God did then on that seventh day was embrace us and the world around us.  God got closer to us and the world around us.  On that seventh day God started to love us and the world around us.

I think that’s a big part of what it means to keep the Sabbath holy.  It means doing something that brings you closer to the God you created you and loves you. Now I may be going out on a limb here, but I don’t think most people feel closer to the God who created them and loves them when they’re in a Wal-mart store on Sunday morning looking for a few bargains.  I don’t think most people feel closer to the God who created them and loves them when they’re out on a golf course on Sunday morning swinging a club.

When you don’t keep the Sabbath holy you end up drifting away from the God who created you and loves you and you only end up cheating yourself. If you’re not careful you might even up living your life like the barber who was a little bit of a cynic.  One day the barber had an eye opening conversation with one of his regular customers.  Every time this customer came to get his hair cut they talked about this and that and just about everything under the sun.  On this particular day the conversation turned to the subject of God.  “Oh,” the barber said.  “I don’t believe that God exists.”   “Why do you say that?” the customer asked.  “Well,” the barber replied, “all you have to do is go out into the street and see all the sick and suffering people.  I can’t imagine a loving God would allow all the terrible things to happen that we see going on in the world today.”  The customer thought about it from a moment, but didn’t want to start an argument.  So, he didn’t respond.  Finally, when the barber was done cutting his hair the customer paid him and walked out of the shop.  Standing there on the sidewalk in front of him though was a homeless man with long matted hair.  The man looked dirty and unkempt.  So, the customer turned around, went back into the barber shop and announced,  “You know what?  Barbers don’t exist.”  The barber was surprised by the announcement.  “How can you say that?” he asked.  “I’m here and I just cut your hair.”  “No,” the customer.  “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, then there wouldn’t be any people with long and dirty matted hair like that homeless man outside your shop.”  Now the barber was smiling. “Ah,” he said, “but barbers do exist.  It’s just that some people don’t come to me.”   Now it was the customer’s turn to smile. “Exactly!” he said. “That’s the point!  God also exists!   What happens, is, people don’t go to Him and don’t look for Him.  That’s why there’s so much sadness and suffering in the world!”

Keeping the Sabbath holy means you take the time to get closer to the God who loves you and created you and when you do that something else happens.  You find yourself getting closer to the world around you.  You find yourself getting closer to the people around you.  You end up doing what Jesus did on that Sabbath day in the synagogue.   He reached out and he helped a woman who had been suffering for 18 years.  He healed her and in doing that he called her a daughter of Abraham, a child of God. 

When you keep the Sabbath holy it brings you closer to the God and you begin to hear God whispering to you.  You begin to hear God calling you to use your gifts so you can be a blessing to others.

Earlier this month 31 lay ministers and one ordained minister from this Body of Christ experienced several powerful Sabbath moments while we were in Beattyville, Kentucky.  One of those Sabbath moments took place with an elderly man named Clayton.  Several of us spent the week working on Clayton’s house.  Clayton was an older man who had diabetes and high blood pressure and had a hard time walking. When we got to his house on Monday morning we were shocked. 

It was a mess and as bad as it looked from the outside, the inside looked even worse.  The house didn’t even have any running water.  At first most of us kept our distance from Clayton.  He was kind of dirty and he smelled. As one of the youth said, “I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him or angry at him for letting his house get into the condition it was in.”  Pam Foye said it best though.  We don’t know why God brought us here, but we have to believe that there’s a reason why we’re here.  So, we spent the week hauling junk away and painting and fixing rotted clapboard on the house and dodging the wasps that kept swarming out of the eaves.  While we were doing that something miraculous happened.  We started to get closer to Clayton.  A little bit of us rubbed off on him and a little bit of him rubbed off on us.  We began to understand that poverty is a disease that goes beyond not having any money in your pockets. It’s a spiritual disease that robs you of your dignity and hope.  The night before we left Clayton came to where we were staying to say goodbye.  He thanked us for everything we had done for him and then proudly announced that he was going to get a new refrigerator.  The week that began with shock and chagrin ended with grace and love.   We got closer to God and got closer to a man we’ll probably never see again, but who will always be in our hearts.   That’s the kind of thing that happens when you keep the Sabbath holy.

Now some people may be able to keep the Sabbath holy while they’re shopping in Wal-Mart or swinging a golf club on Sunday morning, but I can’t.  I’m not that good.  I’m not that strong.  That’s why I need to be here on Sunday morning getting closer to God and closer to all of you and people like Clayton.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

August 26, 2007