Luke 13:10-17 – Scripture Intro
At first
glance, this passage from Luke appears to be a miracle story – because it
begins with Jesus healing a woman who has been bent over for 18 years with something akin to
osteoporosis.
But as you
listen, notice that Luke rushes past this story of a miraculous healing and
doesn’t dwell on the details - because the healing is just a set up for what
come next.
Jesus heals
the woman in a synagogue on the Sabbath – the day of Lord.
And in doing
so, he breaks the Fourth Commandment.
“Thou shalt
not do any work on the Sabbath, keep it holy, for it belongs to God.”
The conflict
that follows between Jesus and the leaders of the synagogue is one that we see
played out time and time again in the Gospel of Luke.
These are the
keepers of the faith, and they are rightly concerned about religious practices,
and rituals, and making sure the faithful adhere to God’s law.
But for Jesus,
the care of human beings is itself a religious virtue and practice.
For Jesus, the
one commandment that anchors and lays the foundation for all of the others, is
that we are to love God, and love our neighbor, as we love ourselves.
The Rev. Maureen Frescott
Congregational Church of
Amherst, UCC
August 21, 2016 – Fourteenth
Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 58:9b-14; Luke
13:10-17
“Fourth
Commandment People”
Most
of us have a passing familiarity with the Ten Commandments,
even
if we can’t list them in order, or name all the commandments that have to do
with coveting, or were not aware that some versions say “Thou shalt not kill”
while others say “Thou shalt not murder” – and that there is a big difference
between the two.
While
these commandments, which were given to Moses some 3600 years ago, still shape
and inform the ethics and morals of our world today, there is one commandment
that I can almost guarantee every single one of us here in this sanctuary breaks
on a regular basis, including myself.
And
that is the fourth commandment:
“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days
you shall labor but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On that
day you shall do no work. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and
rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made
it holy.” (Exodus
20:8-11)
How
many of us can say that we spend Sunday – the Lord’s Day – doing no work
whatsoever – professional, personal, or otherwise?
If
you were born into an Orthodox Jewish household, observing the Sabbath – or Shabbot as they call it – would hold a
primary place in your life.
For
Orthodox Jews, the Fourth Commandment is not just a suggestion –
it’s
a way of life, often consuming much more than the 24 hours contained within it.
On
the Jewish Shabbot - from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday - work of
any kind is prohibited.
And
“work” includes much more than the job we do to earn a living.
The
list of prohibited Sabbath activities includes:
Business
transactions, shopping, using the telephone, driving or riding in cars or other
vehicles; turning on or off anything which uses electricity, including lights,
radios, computers, air-conditioners, and alarm clocks.
Also
forbidden are cooking, cleaning, gardening, washing dishes, mowing the lawn, and
doing laundry (some of us would have no objection to taking a day off from these
chores).
Even
writing, erasing, or tearing of paper is prohibited.
Now
those of us who are not Orthodox Jews may think that this sounds like a pretty
dreary way to spend a day – requiring the faithful to eat cold meals, sit in
the dark, and risk heatstroke on a hot day in August.
But
an observant Jew would tell us that this is not the case at all.
One
needs only to prepare ahead of time for the Sabbath,
Lights,
stovetops, and air conditioners may be used as long as they’re turned on before
sundown on Friday. Automatic timers may be set as well.
Cooking
and baking for Sabbath meals is done on Friday during the day and can be kept
warm on a stovetop, as long as the controls are covered and not touched.
And
you can open the refrigerator, as long as the little light bulb that turns on
when you open the door has been removed the day before.
Some
of the ways that observant Jews have devised to “function within” the rules of
Sabbath may seem almost comical to those of us on the outside.
For
example - certain objects cannot be moved on the Sabbath because doing so may
fall under the category of work – tools, stones, plants, a pen or important
papers – but while moving them directly with your hands is forbidden – they may
be moved with other parts of the body – with one's teeth or elbow, or by blowing on it. As awkward as that may
sound.
There
is also a prohibition against carrying anything from a private space, like
one’s home, into a public space, like the street.
This
includes carrying something in your pocket; pushing a baby carriage or shopping
cart, or going outside with gum or food in your mouth.
To
get around this, some Jewish neighborhoods have erected fencing or simple posts
that run from house to house with string connecting them, enclosing the public
area into one big private – communal – domain.
And
while Jews who are not Orthodox are no longer required to observe the law
prohibiting driving to synagogue on the Sabbath, there are still many who will drive
to a location about a mile away from the synagogue, park their car there, and
walk the rest of the way, to not create the appearance that they are breaking
the rules of the Sabbath.
Now
if you think Christians are somehow more “evolved” because they no longer
adhere to these ancient laws – you should know that many Christians around the
world do observe the Sabbath in this way – albeit on Sunday, rather than
Saturday.
Many
of the blue laws that are still on the books in some states and cities require
businesses to be closed on Sunday or dictate what they can sell.
And
it wasn’t too long ago that all Christians – even hard-working Christians on
the American frontier – set Sunday aside as a day to attend church, visit with
family, and read scripture by candlelight.
Sunday
services back then often lasted 3-4 hours – and that was just the morning
service – worshipers were expected come back in the afternoon for another 3-4
hours of Bible study and Sunday School.
So
you’re all getting off easy.
The
concept of “Sabbath” is not completely lost on us in the modern world.
Even
the most busy among us try to grab a few hours here and there or set aside a
day every now and then to do as little as possible –
to
go for a walk, read, meditate or pray, or just sit in a quiet space with the TV
off and the phone on silent.
Taking
time to go shopping or to binge watch Netflix doesn’t count.
Because
Sabbath – as a way to honor and move closer to God – should be spent with as
few outside distractions as possible to be effective.
Which
is the whole point of the ancient practices that Orthodox Jews observe to honor
the Sabbath.
Because
every time they resist the urge to turn on a light switch or pick up a hammer,
they’re reminded that God is the focus of Shabbot – the day of rest.
Admittedly,
many of us are not in the habit of making space for rest.
For
even just a few hours, let alone an entire day.
And
if we have a demanding job, or young children, or we’re the caregiver for a
spouse or a parent who needs near constant care – the concept of Sabbath is a
luxury that we can’t even fathom having time for – as much as we may need it.
So
how do we rectify this?
How
do we make space for the Sabbath in our lives?
How
do we become Fourth Commandment people?
Because
it is a commandment.
One
that is pretty high up in importance –
It
comes right after “Thou shalt not have any other God’s before me and thou shalt
not take the Lord’s name in vain.”
Even
things like stealing and murder don’t rank as high on the list.
Which
may lead us to believe that God wanted us to comprehend just how significant
the observation of Sabbath is –
Not
for God’s sake, but for our sake.
Perhaps
we need to shift our understanding of the purpose of Sabbath.
Because
when we see it as a day of rest – a day to do no work – something inside of us
resists.
Do
no work? When there is so much that needs to be done?
Even
if we’re not working at our “job” there is always some work that awaits our
attention – mowing the lawn, going to the grocery store, volunteering in the
community, helping those in need.
Call
it the Protestant work ethic, Catholic guilt, or good old fashioned Yankee
steadfastness - many of us have it
bred into us that to be idle when there is work to be done is not a good thing.
So
there is no wonder that the concept of taking a Sabbath –
a
full day off from doing any kind of work – is so foreign to us.
But
if we look again at the text from Luke, we’ll see that Jesus didn’t encounter
the old woman in the synagogue and declare that she needed a day of rest.
No.
What
he did was remove her burden.
He
took her spirit that had been twisted and weakened and had left her bent over
for 18 years, and he healed her.
He removed
whatever it was that was weighing her down, and allowed her to stand up
straight, and see the world in front of her, rather than just the ground
beneath her feet.
How might our perception of
the fourth commandment change if we saw the Sabbath not as a day of personal rest,
but rather as a day to release our
burdens to God?
I
believe more of us are looking for relief – then are looking for rest.
What
brought you here this morning?
What
brought you here – when you could have gone straight to the lake, or the beach,
or the mountains?
What
brought you here – when you could be lounging in bed – on the one day you get to
wake up without an alarm, take your time eating breakfast, and read the Sunday
paper out on the patio.
What
brought you here - when you could
be wandering the aisles at Home Depot picking up supplies for the weekend
project you’ve been meaning to get to all summer.
What
brought you here when you could have been doing X number of things, rather than
getting up early, putting on presentable clothes, and sitting on a hard pew in
a stuffy sanctuary for an hour?
Maybe
you came because you haven’t been to church all summer and you thought it was
time to check back in – to catch up with people you know,
to
find out what goings on you’ve missed, to get yourself back in the habit with
September fast approaching.
Maybe
you came because you’re new – to this town, to this church – and you were
curious to see if this one would be the right fit for you –
If
you’d feel welcomed, inspired, spiritually fed, and if maybe, just maybe you
could see yourself coming back for a second, or third time.
Maybe
you came because this is where you always come on Sunday morning. To connect
with God and others, to say a prayer, to hear music or scripture or a word that
moves something inside of you, to be inspired to go out and serve in the name
of love, compassion, and grace as our God calls us to do.
Or
maybe you came because there’s something happening in your life right now that
is just too much for you to carry on your own.
And
you came here seeking guidance – comfort – peace –
something
or someone to lean on,
to
give you the strength to move forward or to let go, as needed.
We
come here for all sorts of reasons.
But
few of us get up out of bed and come sit in a church sanctuary because we’re
looking for rest.
We
come because we’re looking for God.
The
One who has the strength and the power to redeem us and heal us from whatever
is weighing us done.
The
One who touches our lives by working in and through the people sitting here in
the pews next to us.
The
One who sent us Jesus to show us how to walk upright and how to help others to
do the same.
This
is Sunday.
This
is Sabbath.
This
the day the Lord has made.
Let
us rejoice and be glad in it.
Amen.
