Week Nine (Sabbath) - Sunday

Sabbath

Some of you may have heard of or maybe even remember years ago, there existed a thing called “the blue law.”  It was usually a local law or ordinance that prevented certain businesses from opening on Sunday in observance of the holy day.  Then, the rules began to be less restrictive.  Some were allowed to open, but only in the afternoon.  Today, there are very few businesses that refuse to open on Sunday morning and those are decreasing at a breathtaking rate.  But we cannot lay all the blame on merchants since we are the ones who patronize their businesses.  Even more so, many just do not seem to understand the purpose of the Sabbath.

To the astonishment of many, the Sabbath is not Sunday.  It is actually Saturday.  The reason that we often call Sunday the Sabbath is because Jesus was raised from the dead on Sunday, the day after the Sabbath.  The early Church came to understand Sundays as “mini Easters” and thereby established it as the Lord’s Day, but not the Sabbath.  That does not negate the need for a Sabbath day though.

The ancient understanding of the Sabbath is two-fold, though they are closely intertwined.  First, it is a day of remembering God.  Genesis 1:1-2:4a gives a strict account of Creation.  It shows the orderly and methodical process of God in the Creation for six days.  Then, on the seventh day, God rested.  Think about that for a moment, God, the Creator of the universe, rested after six days of work.  How is it that we feel that we can outdo God and do more work without rest?  Can we blame this on our ignorance or our arrogance?

The early Jews strictly adhered to observing the Sabbath.  On the Sabbath, absolutely no work was to be done.  All food that would be consumed over the Sabbath had to be prepared the day before.  Travel was limited to less than a mile, so not to work up a sweat.  To do any type of work would be to defile the day and the person was to be put to death.  No exceptions! 

Then, one day, a certain Jew healed a man with a withered hand.  The religious people who were with him were outraged at his defiance of their customs.  Then the man put things into perspective as he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”  Of course, you recognize these words as being spoken by Jesus.   Many today want to say that Jesus was saying that it is okay to work on the Sabbath.  What Jesus was doing was not negating the Sabbath but putting it in proper context.  The Sabbath is not a ritual to be blindly followed, but a state of heart in which recognizes the need for recognition of God and for rest.

This leads us into our second understanding of the Sabbath.  It is a day of rest.  I feel that it is important at this point to point out that, in regards to the Sabbath, rest and relaxation are not the same.  The Sabbath is a day of rest.  It is not a day off or a break from our daily grind to do something as strenuous or more strenuous, even if it is fun!  The Sabbath is a holistic approach to true rest.  It covers the whole basis of health and well-being: physically, mentally, and spiritually.  The body needs regular breaks for rest and God, the Designer, provides that through the Sabbath.  That is why Jesus, the Lord of even the Sabbath says that you weren’t created for the Sabbath, the Sabbath was created for you.  


JOURNAL QUESTIONS

1. Reflect on your sermon notes and journal reading from today.


GROUP EXERCISE

10 minutes - Community Building (informal time of gathering)
10 minutes - Sharing of Concerns and Praises
  5 minutes - Prayer for One Another
30 minutes - Discussion of Topic
                     - What journal entry would you like to share?
                     - What childhood memories do you have of Sundays?
                     - What do you think about the Sabbath actually being Saturday? Do you think
                       Christianity has broken the commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy?
                     - Do you think the Sabbath is as important in modern times as it was in our biblical 
                       readings?
                     - How do you observe the Sabbath? Do you think that is adequate? 
  5 minutes - Wrap Up/Closing Prayer