In 1986, the good people of Bismarck, North Dakota, thought it was time to overturn or at least soften the blue laws which closed businesses on Sundays. Amid great controversy, Dayton’s Department Store, Target, and many stores and restaurants were to open at noon. Dayton’s and Target were both owned by my employer at the time. Management had no idea how people in North Dakota would respond to the freedom of being able to shop on Sunday. I was working in downtown Minneapolis in corporate credit and was offered the opportunity to earn overtime pay on a Sunday afternoon to monitor credit in North Dakota from the comfort of the ninth floor in downtown Minneapolis. I grabbed the opportunity. And in that six-hour shift, I had the privilege of taking three phone calls – three. Over the course of six hours, only one person wanted to use her Dayton’s Credit Card and had forgotten to bring it with her so I was called to look up the account number, and two people had such a good time shopping at Target that, with their purchases, they would be exceeding their credit limit; I was called to evaluate whether to increase their spending limits.
Needless to say, that was the only opportunity I was given to receive overtime to watch over North Dakota shoppers on a Sunday afternoon. Last year, blue laws were in the news in again, as the North Dakota legislature first rejected an expansion of the hours businesses could be open and then, the next day, approved it – by two votes.
It’s not just the North Dakota legislature that struggles over the sabbath. We do, too. Our first lesson today spells it out, clearly. Out of respect for God’s work in creation and liberation, everyone and everything in the household rests. But ever since God set that in stone, we have argued about it. By the time Jesus walked the earth, the religious community had established additional laws determining just how much could be done on the sabbath. For example, it’s OK to walk about one-half mile, but activities that create (such as planting or sewing or baking) are prohibited. And, of course, the day of the sabbath varies depending upon your faith. Most followers of Jesus moved our sabbath to Sunday following the Resurrection.
In Israel today, the Christians’ sabbath is Sunday, the Jews’ sabbath is Saturday, the Muslim sabbath is Friday, and the Druze sabbath is Thursday, so those with the most strict understanding of sabbath hire those of other faiths to work for them. In Jewish-run hotels and kibbutzim, non-Jewish employees take care of the front desk, housekeeping, the dining room, and kitchen on the sabbath so that guests of all faiths are not neglected and the sabbath is not broken. That doesn't seem to be the point of the sabbath commandment either.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus comes under criticism because the disciples picked grain and ate it on the sabbath, and then Jesus cures a man on sabbath. The sabbath commandment is a favorite choice of those who criticize Jesus because it doesn’t appear to have any loopholes or fine print. But Jesus thinks differently. He says, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.” It’s an important lesson at the time, but it’s not the one that we are particularly needing right now. We’re more likely to forget the sabbath altogether than to be too strict about it.
Even in North Dakota, we’ve become 24/7/365. And, in that scheduling, there has become a level of personal responsibility for sabbath because some people work on Sundays, and others work in middle of the night. And just as things weren’t good with the religious hierarchy enforcing the rules, things aren’t great when we self-enforce either. For many of us, rather than being a day to respect and remember God’s saving acts and to rest, the sabbath is our day to do everything we didn’t get done on the other six days. That’s not what God intended. The God who chose to rest on the seventh day thought that we should, too.
As you can probably guess, it’s difficult for pastors to have Sunday as our sabbath. (Some even think that Sunday is the only day we work!) My sabbath was Friday, but that wasn’t working very well for the church or for me, so I recently changed it. You probably didn’t notice, but I sure did. Friday was my do everything day. It was the day for errands and chores as well as catching up on work. It was not a day of rest. It was not a day when my focus was on God. So I got to start over. And, so far, I’m doing better. In a few months, ask me how I’m doing with my sabbath.
Sometimes we need to hit that reset button. That was certainly true when Jesus was walking the earth. The rules about rules, and the judgmentalism that followed, had gotten out of control. Lifting food from the table was OK, but plucking the heads of grain in the field was not. Saving the life of a human was OK, but making a life better by restoring a withered hand wasn’t.
We are quick to judge those who are quick to judge Jesus and the disciples, because most of us had the privilege of knowing Jesus first. Jesus is practical, logical, and all about love. The disciples are walking through a ripe field, and they’re hungry, so they pluck a few heads of grain. It’s a no-brainer for us. There’s a man with a withered hand and a healer is right there, why would it not be OK for there to be healing.
But if we honor the sabbath and respect God, we can’t just dismiss the centuries of tradition that led to this clash. The sabbath commandment was important enough to God to be part of the Ten Commandments. Much later, Martin Luther mentions God’s word and the preaching of it in the Small Catechism, but in the Large Catechism he writes of the need to set apart at least one day for the study and memorization of God’s word which is part of our sanctification. We become closer to God by focusing our attention on God. In our day, the sciences confirm what God said so long ago – our bodies and minds need to slow down. Workers need to take their vacation days. That sabbath commandment which seemed so oppressive in our text from Mark was given out of love. God knew then what we would rather not know now – that we need to take a rest.
Good things happened on the sabbath in Deuteronomy. People slowed down. Families spent time in conversation. God was worshiped.
Good things happened on the sabbath in Mark’s Gospel. The disciples ate grain on their way to worship. The man with the withered hand was able to use it again. Some people heard and understood what Jesus meant when he said, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.” There was good conversation, and God was glorified.
Good things happen on the sabbath today. God’s word is read and studied and sometimes memorized. There is singing and prayer, conversation, communion, and celebration in worship. Needed rest is found. The reset button is pushed. And God’s love is shared.
Amen
