Pentecost 2
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Let’s say that you had a friend at work that you found out was a Christian. This co-worker was a very strong Christian; they didn’t just know their Bible very well, but more importantly they really lived the Christian life. And so you felt that you wanted to get to know this person better. So you went out for breakfast one day before work, you are talking about your life, talking about your faith. You order your meal, and your co-worker asks you, “I noticed you ordered eggs and bacon and sausage. Don’t you know that the Bible says you shouldn’t eat food that comes from a pig?”
How would you answer that question? Maybe you’d say something like that law doesn’t apply to us anymore, but if he asked why it doesn’t, how would you answer?
There are a lot of laws that God gave the Israelites to follow. Laws that are written very clearly in the Bible. For instance, in the Bible it says you are not to make clothes make out of two different fabrics. And I’m guessing that if you looked through your closet, you’d find plenty of clothes that say something like "80 %cotton, 20%polyester." So why don’t we keep this law? Or there’s another law right there in the Bible that prohibits farmers from planting two different types of crops in the same field. And if any of you have any relatives who are farmers, chances are they have planted many different kinds of crops at the same time. So why is it ok that these pork laws, these clothing laws, these farming laws, aren’t kept anymore? The answer: these are laws that pointed ahead to Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, these laws are no longer in effect.
You see, the Israelites had a lot of laws that we don’t follow anymore. There is even one of the 10 Commandments that we don’t follow the same way as the Israelites did. I’m talking about the 9th Commandment: You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House. Now clearly, God does not want us to go about scheming to get our neighbor’s house in a dishonest and underhanded way. And yet there would be nothing wrong with us walking up to the door of a house we liked and offering the owner a bid on their house. That happens all the time in our world…but that was forbidden for the Israelites. Their houses and property were passed down from generation to generation. And if a person was to sell their house, then they were depriving their offspring of their inheritance. So “You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House” had an extra measure of importance for the Israelites that doesn’t have today.
There is another of the 10 Commandments that we do not follow to the letter: the Commandment that we have in our text for this morning, the 3rd: Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Though there are aspects about this commandment that we don’t follow anymore, we are going to discover this morning that We Christians Follow The 3rd Commandment. So 1. Remember to obey it. 2. Remember to benefit from it.
Part I
A minute ago, when I recited this commandment, I used the words that are in the catechism, “Remember the Sabbath Day.” These words are from Exodus 20. But you might have noticed in our text that there is a slightly different word used here, “Observe the Sabbath Day.” “Observe” in the Hebrew text is a much more intense word than “remember.” The root meaning of the word here is Deuteronomy is, “exercise great care over.” So literally our text begins with the words, “Exercise extreme care over the Sabbath Day.”
God’s people were to diligently observe this 7th day of the week. Every week, the Sabbath day was to be a day not only of rest from manual labor, but more importantly, rest for the soul. The only place that the soul finds rest is in the Word of God, and so the Sabbath was to be much more for the Israelites than merely a day off from work. Actually, in a manner of speaking, it was a day of work for their spiritual lives. The Lord required his people to flex their spiritual muscles one day each week.
And the Sabbath had one other aspect to it: respect. The 7th day was the day God rested from the creation of the world. And when his people also rested on this holy day, they were showing honor to the Lord God of heaven and earth.
One time, when the Israelites were wandering in the desert, they found a man who was working on the Sabbath Day. He was outside, picking up sticks to make a fire. And with this infraction against the 3rd Commandment, this man was brought before Moses, and the Lord commanded that he be put to death for this action. Now whenever I read that story, there’s a part of me that thinks, “now wait, isn’t this punishment a little severe? After all, this man wasn’t stealing anything from anyone. He wasn’t being unfaithful to his wife. This man wasn’t killing anyone. He was picking up branches so that his family could make a fire that day! Why was he put to death for the high crime of picking up sticks on the wrong day of the week?” But to even ask that question shows a lack of respect for the laws that the Lord set up.
Think about it. This man had to know that he was doing something wrong. As he came out of his tent that morning, if he had forgotten, he would have known immediately that it was the Sabbath. There was no one outside working. Everyone else was showing reverence for the Lord resting physically from labor. And yet this man thought, “oh, the Sabbath. Big deal! It seems a little silly to me that there are 24 good hours in this day and I can’t use any of them.”
What was the man’s crime? Disrespect. Irreverence. Contempt for the Lord and his silly old laws.
But before we cast stones at this lawbreaker, let’s see how well we have kept the Sabbath. When we talk about the Sabbath in terms of us New Testament believers, we need to guard against two extremes. The one extreme would have us slavishly follow this law just as the Israelites followed it: Either we have to worship on Saturday, as some Christian churches teach, or we turn Sunday into the new Sabbath Day. To guard against this extreme, we need to remember that God has not commanded for us what day we are to worship on, or even how often we are to worship. But now we need to worry about the other extreme, which says, “well hey, if we New Testament people aren’t under any rules, then no one can judge me if I don’t worship as regularly as other people.” Like so many things in Christianity, the truth lies in the middle: no, we aren’t given a specific day to worship on, and yes, God still wants us to worship him regularly and often.
How well have you kept the 3rd Commandment? I suppose to answer that question, some people would look at their church attendance. And if they were in church, they reason that they kept it that week, and if they were absent, then they didn’t. But even if you are physically in church, like you are this morning, are you keeping the 3rd Commandment? Just coming through the doors of this building doesn’t insure a keeping of this law. If you are in church, wondering how so-and-so can wear clothes like that in the Lord’s house, laughing inside at the person behind you who just sung the last hymn way off-key, looking down on the one who has once again let the offering plate go by them without placing anything into it, are you keeping the 3rd Commandment? If you are in church, but are thinking more about how great it will be to get out so that you can watch the big game, are you keeping the 3rd Commandment? If you listen to the readings, pay attention to the message, and then go home and make no changes in your spiritual life, are you keeping the 3rd Commandment? God is still serious about we keeping this law, and when we examine our attitudes about worship, about letting others help us in our Christian growth, about placing service to the Lord at the top of our agenda for the week, we see that we have all been woefully lacking in keeping this commandment. Far too often we pick up the sticks of this world whenever we consider something (work, vacation, sleeping, sports) more important than being at the Lord’s house.
Part II
And yet, we don’t want to be like the Pharisees that we heard about in the Gospel for today. The Pharisees knew their Bible. They could quote chapter and verse. They were very good at pointing out the faults of other people…but woe to you if you tried to correct a Pharisee! Any slip up on their part was a matter between them and God, and the last thing they wanted was for another person to get involved with their spiritual life…unless it was to admire what a devout person they were. Pharisees craved praise, and hated correction.
And they followed this Sabbath law to the letter. But there was something missing in the life of the Pharisee. They had the Bible knowledge. They had the training. They had the outwardly pious life. But they lacked love. The right kind of love. They loved themselves first, and others maybe later.
The Lord wants us to follow the 3rd Commandment, not out of shame for our failure to obey it as well as we should have, not out of fear of what will happen to us if we don’t follow it. Instead, we follow it out of love. This is why we love Jesus so much: God still requires of all people to obey his commandments. God has never said, “ok, just try your hardest and that will be good enough for me.” God wants perfect obedience from each one of us to all of his laws…which is impossible for lawbreakers like us. But we love the Lord Jesus, because he fulfilled this requirement for us, on behalf of us. Jesus obeyed all of God’s laws, and then he credited his perfect obedience to us, so that we would have heaven.
God wants people to follow the 3rd Commandment, but out of love, not fear and guilt. In fact, this is how he motivated the Israelites to keep this command. In verse 15, the Lord points back on his gracious love to Israel as the reason that they should obey. “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.”
Today, the Lord points back to his gracious love for all people. He points us to Jesus Christ, suffering on the cross, freeing us from the slavery to sin.
God didn’t create people to work 24/7. We need periods of rest for our bodies. That was one benefit of the Sabbath Day: no work, no strain on the body. But you have an added benefit when you take regular time out of your life to follow this commandment.
Worship is a blessing. It’s a good thing! You have a Lord who comes to you in Word and Sacrament. Who makes you stronger in the faith, surer of your salvation, and bolder to live it and share it. Observing the Sabbath is like an oasis in the desert. For most of the days in the week, you are in the world, being bombarded by temptation after temptation. But here, you get the strength. You are reminded of the forgiveness Jesus won to free you from your failues. Like all of God’s commands, this is here for your good! Obey the 3rd Commandment, and reap the benefits of regular worship of your Lord Jesus! Amen.
