Sunday
08/21/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Love and Mercy is 24/7”
(“Pursuing God’s
Kingdom” Series – Part 3 of 4)
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 71:1-6
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 12:18-29
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 13:10-17
My friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome on this the Fourteenth
Sunday after Pentecost. Fourteen Sundays after the Holy Spirit moved in that Upper
Room in Jerusalem, and the Christian Church was officially born.
Since that day nearly two-thousand years ago, the first
disciples and many, have worked to spread the gospel, to serve others, and to grow
the church.
Two
weeks ago, I started a four week preaching series called “Pursuing God’s
Kingdom”. In this series, I have challenged us to grow closer to God, and thus
closer to God’s Kingdom.
In
the first week of this series, Jesus challenged us in the gospel of Luke to
consider where we put our time, our talent, and our resources. Jesus told us, “Where
your treasure is, there your heart will be too” (Lk.
12:34, CEB). This is a hard lesson from Jesus Christ, and in it, Jesus
is challenging us to grow closer to Him and God’s Kingdom.
Last
week while I was gone, Jesus had a tough and strong challenge for us in the
gospel of Luke. Jesus basically said, do you follow me or not? Do you take your
faith seriously or not? If you do, I have high expectations of you. One of my
heroes, the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, used the term “Cheap
Grace,” and “Costly Grace”. Bonhoeffer said that if we truly follow Christ, it
will be hard at times, challenging at times, and it could even cost us our lives.
This sacrifice for Jesus Christ, the gospel, and the Kingdom of God is “Costly
Grace,” but it will help us pursue God’s Kingdom, if we seek “Costly Grace”.
This
week, in this third part of our four part series on “Pursuing God’s Kingdom”, I
want to talk about the Sabbath. By the Sabbath, I mean taking a day of rest
every week. During the season after Pentecost, I begin all of my sermons by explaining
how the first and disciples and the early church went forth on the day of
Pentecost, to love, heal, and forgive. Yet I wonder, did the disciples and the
early Christians take a day off? Did they take a Sabbath, as it says in the Old
Testament or Jewish Torah? For that matter, do we take a day of rest every
week? If we do take a day of rest, what does that day typically look like for us?
Do we work on that Sabbath? If so, what constitutes work, and what doesn’t constitutes
work on our Sabbath Day? Do we believe that a day of rest and prayer can draw
us closer to God? Also, can the Sabbath periodically be something that
unexpectedly draws us closer to God in ways we didn’t anticipate?
When I started in ministry over four years ago, I never
took a Sabbath Day, or a day of rest. I would work 7-days a week. My first
District Superintendent in the Adirondack District asked me why I never took a
day off. I told him that there was too much work to be done! My first District
Superintendent then quoted the creation story from Genesis 2:3 that says, “So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it,
because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation” (Gen.
2:3, NRSV). My first District Superintendent then said, “So Paul, God
rested on the seventh day, but you don’t, are you better than God?” After that,
I really tried my best to take a Sabbath. I believe that the first disciples
and the first Christians took a Sabbath Day too.
For us Christians, we generally have
Sunday as our Sabbath Day. Our Jewish brothers and sisters, and some Christian
groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists, have their Sabbath Day on Saturday.
Since I preach on Sundays, I take my Sabbath Day on Fridays.
Many of us can remember years ago that
on Sundays most things were closed, and the concept of the Sabbath Day was
solid. Communities all across America would go to church, and then we would go
home, enjoy a meal, and hopefully relax for the rest of the day.
So, I take a Sabbath Day, a day of
rest, and I hope that you do to, but I wonder what constitutes work on the
Sabbath, a day of rest? In the Book of Deuteronomy in the Jewish Torah, and our
Old Testament it says, “Observe the sabbath day and keep it
holy, as the Lord your God commanded
you. Six days
you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall
not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female
slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident
alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as
you. Remember
that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you
out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded
you to keep the sabbath day” (Deut. 5:12-15, NRSV).
So the Bible says that we are to take
a day off every week and rest and not do work. If we enjoy something though, is
that work? Should we literally not get out bed at all on our Sabbath Day? What constitutes
work?
I remember two years ago when my
seminary group went to the Western Walling Wall in Jerusalem, which is the wall
that remains from the old Jewish temple in Jerusalem. We were there on
Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath, or Shavuot as it is called in Hebrew. Due
to this, we were not allowed to write a note to put into the Western Walling
Wall, as that was considered doing work on the Sabbath. These notes have long
been seen as prayers to God. While I couldn’t write a note, it was ok to stuff
a note into the Western Walling Wall, as that was not considered work. I have
heard a variety stories from within the more conservative Jewish communities of
what does and does not constitute work on the Sabbath Day or Shavuot.
So God does call us all to try to take
a day of rest, but how rigid should we be with our Sabbath? Further, do we ever
make exceptions? If we break our Sabbath for an emergency or a crisis, are we
not honoring God and the Sabbath by doing so? I believe we are, and so does
Jesus in the gospel of Luke reading from this morning. For example, if I get a
call on Friday, and one of you tell me that your house is one fire, I am going
to say, “Sorry, it’s my Sabbath Day, it will have to wait until tomorrow”. The problem
with me waiting, is that your house will be gone tomorrow. We are called to
take a Sabbath Day, but if we alleviate great suffering, pain, or a called to
crisis on our Sabbath Day, I believe we are honoring God on the Sabbath.
This means for me, that I covet my Friday Sabbath Day, but on
the same token, if you have a family member dying, a crisis, or an emergency,
and etc., I will interrupt a vacation or a Sabbath day for that. Now if you
call me to just say hello on my Sabbath Day, well that is not an emergency.
Some of our Jewish brothers and
sisters, back when Jesus was alive, and today, rejected Jesus as the Messiah, or
the savior of the world, because he was accused of among other things, working
on the Sabbath Day. So how does Jesus respond to this criticism? Our gospel
reading from the gospel of Luke for this morning, provides us with one of these
examples, Jesus was accused of this more than once.
Our gospel reading for this morning
begins by saying, “Jesus was teaching in one the synagogues on the Sabbath”
(Lk. 13:10, NRSV). So all teachers that are present this morning, be ready to
be offended, because in the Jewish Law, teaching on the Sabbath Day is not
considered work.
Then the gospel says, “A woman was
there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over
and couldn’t stand up straight. When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and
said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness” (Lk. 13:11-12, NRSV). The
gospel then says, “He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once
and praised God” (Lk. 13:13, NRSV). So Jesus healed this woman on the Sabbath,
but was that work? It was ok for Jesus to teach and preach on the Sabbath, but
he had to wait until the next day to heal a women in grave pain? I would think that
God would honor Jesus doing that on the Sabbath. I also think God would honor
us doing the same, and we would grow closer to God’s Kingdom in doing so.
Yet the gospel then says this, “The
synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded. “There
are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days,
not on the Sabbath day” (Lk. 13:14, NRSV).
To this Jesus replied, “Hypocrites!
Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox and donkey from its stall and
lead it out to get a drink?” (Lk. 13:15, NRSV). After asking this question,
Jesus then continued on by saying, “Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a
daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from
her bondage on the Sabbath day?” (Lk. 13:16, NRSV).
The gospel reading for this morning
ends with, “When he said these things, all of his opponent were put to shame,
but all those in the crown rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was
doing” (Lk. 13:17, NRSV).
So brothers and sisters, I believe that
keeping the Sabbath for rest is a good thing. If we are going to truly pursue God’s
Kingdom, then we need to do our best to care for ourselves, to get rest, and
try to employ some self-care. Yet sometimes, I also believe that it just can’t
wait until tomorrow. We all have to judge this reality for ourselves, but if
your house is on fire, as your pastor, I will not put it off until tomorrow. If
you have a relative that is dying, if there is an emergency, I will break my
Sabbath, or my vacation, so that suffering might be alleviated through God. For
why would allow someone to suffer greatly today, and do nothing about it until
tomorrow.
For me, providing healing, love, and
or empathy on my Sabbath Day is not work, it is “keeping the Sabbath holy” as
the Book of Deuteronomy says. In the gospel of Matthew 12:8 Jesus says, “For
the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath” (Mt. 12:8, NRSV). In this
scripture, I don’t think that Jesus is mocking the Sabbath, he is saying is he
is doing something holy and Godly on the Sabbath, then that is a Godly thing to
do. For brothers and sisters, it is never the wrong time or the wrong day to do
something Godly. We should take a day off for ourselves, but sometimes we can
make exceptions in pursuing God’s Kingdom.
So do you have a Sabbath day? Is it
Sunday? Do you rest and relax on this day? Would you interrupt your Sabbath Day
for an emergency to help someone, or would you make them wait until the next
day?
For me, I know that this coming Friday
I plan to rest, relax, pray, and recoup, but if one of you, your family, or
someone else is having an emergency, well then maybe the most holy way to honor
God and pursue God’s Kingdom right then, is to be there for the people who are
suffering. For the Sabbath was made for rest, but it is never the wrong time to
love, heal, or forgive. This is my sermon this morning is called “Love and
mercy is 24/7”. For God loves us every second of every day, as does Jesus
Christ.
In the coming days and weeks I would
challenge you all to consider taking a day of rest if you don’t already, and I
would also challenge you to consider when if ever, it is ok to attend to an
emergency on your day off? May we all this day and always “Pursue God’s Kingdom”.
Praise be to Jesus Christ. Amen.
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