The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Mark, the second chapter:
One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. What a wonderful and freeing statement our Lord of the Sabbath gives here, for we find, not a legal requirement for us to fulfill, but an invitation. In reality, we actually treat the Sabbath day as a burden, but that’s the wrong approach, isn’t it?
Now, to be fair, I treat every morning like a burden. I feel so badly for my poor wife, who really has to work to get me to wake up. I think I could easily see her dragging me out by my feet some day, but we’ve still got a little ways to go there. Every day feels so hard. But, sometimes Sundays, even for a pastor, feel especially difficult. I mean, come on, it “feels” so much better to go to St. Mattress some mornings. Pastor Pillow always has a good sermon. Deacon Duvet is super warm and inviting. Going to church on a Sunday is so hard. You’ve had a long week. You’ve had a busy weekend. You’re nursing that buzzkill from the night before. You’ve got the kids or grandkids in ball tourneys, soccer matches, football games.
Before you know it, one week becomes two. Two weeks becomes a month. And before you know it, you’ve been gone from the Church since last Easter. Soon, even the high holy days become a burden. You want to open presents on Christmas morning, spend time with the family. You don’t want to go to Church. You want to hunt eggs and look for baskets and rabbit tracks. You don’t want another thing to take away from your fun. The holidays slip away and soon, you’re on your deathbed, calling the pastor of the church you used to go to and ask if they’d come visit you, but the church is no more. It closed its doors long ago because too many people didn’t come. There’s no one to come visit you, no one remembers you, no one knows where you are.
It’s terrifying. But it’s true, and, sadly, all too often, very close to home. When we break the Law of God, there are just natural consequences. Sometimes, it probably could happen, that you skip church to go fishing and God sends a lightning bolt to hit you. But I wouldn’t say that’s the norm.
Usually, the consequences of our sin are kind of like a slow burn, building up over time. Whether it’s adultery and hiding it from your spouse until you both drift away from each other, whether it’s theft and the gradual building of desire and covetousness until you get caught with something really big, whether it’s lying over a small thing makes lying over big things much easier, whether its callousness towards life that leads you to supporting abortion rights and even cheering for an entire country, like Ireland, to repeal an anti-abortion law that now gives any woman the right to kill the baby that is growing inside her, breaking the laws of God are all going to get you in the end.
But, the Sabbath law is a big one. It’s a day that we’re to observe. I mean, think about that. God sets aside an entire day for us to be ministered to by His Word. We’ve worked hard all week. We’ve given everything we can to our neighbors, our loved ones, our families, our friends. We’ve done our chores, cleaned our rooms, cut the lawns, shoveled the snow, and God says, “Alright, that’s a great job, now, come and relax, hear my Word, rest, repent, be forgiven, be strengthened. You’ve worked hard this week, let me work especially for you today.”
I mean, it’s such an important thing, God put it in the Law that would last for ages and ages to come. I mean, it’s impressive. You can wear mixed fibers now, you can eat crabs and lobster now, you can shave your face and not have a beard now (though, why anyone would choose NOT to have a beard, I’ll never understand), but God’s command to obey the Sabbath law still stands. And it’s not to give you another burden to fulfill, but an opportunity to lay down your burden.
This is the beauty in the Altar. While there’s much that is happening here that is not symbolic, such as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ coming to you under the bread and wine, such as the forgiveness of sins, such as the strengthening of faith, coming to the Altar together as a family of faith is a symbolic action. Imagine carrying the burdens of your week to the Altar, not just to lay at the feet of Jesus, but to lay down on the shoulders of your brothers and sisters in the faith. It’s as if we all bring them here and we all lay them down, so that when we stand up together, the burdens we all bear are lighter, easier to bear, because our Lord stands with us and His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
There is much that happens up here, but it can really only be done when you are here (the exception to the rule, of course, is when you are too sick or homebound to come to the Church and so the Church comes to find you, to bring the Church to you). That’s why God gives us the command to observe the Sabbath Day, to keep it set apart from the other six days of the week, so that this day, the family of faith can gather together, hear the Word of God together, hear a (hopefully) explanation of it, pray, sing, eat the Supper, remember our Baptisms all together. We gather to remember that we were slaves, not in Egypt, but slaves to sin, indebted so much to sin that we could not free ourselves, and our Lord brought us out of our slavery with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, outstretched upon the cross that He might die in your place to forgive you and promise you eternal life.
Where else can you get that? But we turn this into a burden. Ugh. The Pharisees did the same. They turned the Sabbath day, not into a day of rest, but a day of strict rules. It was not rest, it was aggressively burdensome. They laid rules on people that weighed them down, not making them joyful in the Lord, but worried about their standing before God. We do the opposite many times. We make it a day of complete freedom. We sleep in, barbeque, watch the ball game, drink some beers, sit by the pool, and not once did thanks to God come to mind, much less the real reason for the Sabbath, which is to hear His Word, receive His Sacraments, and live forever.
Yet, even missing the Lord’s Day, even missing out on what He would have to give, though it is a sin, is a sin for which Christ died. If man was made for the Sabbath, there never could be mercy. The Sabbath would be not just our accuser when we fail, but our judge. But because it was made for us, that we might glory in our Lord, enjoying His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness, and then go and enjoy the fruits of His creation, strengthened in the knowledge of Him, Christ can serve as our judge. And when Christ is our judge we are judged according to His mercy.
For if Christ died for you, and He did, He judges you holy as He is holy. In His eyes, because of His death and resurrection, He judges you righteous because all He sees is Himself on you. You are not the Sabbath breaker, for Christ truly rested from all of His labors on the Sabbath. Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and there is no greater fulfillment of the Sabbath than God resting. Six days of Creation, and God rests on the seventh. Six days of Holy Week, culminating in the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, and God rests in the tomb on the seventh day for you.
Jesus has fulfilled it all, and He invites you to come to Him on His Sabbath day. You should be here, you need to be here. Observing the Sabbath day won’t save you, but observing it brings you salvation. Do not miss the Lord’s invitation. Make sure that the Sabbath, as you are doing today, is a day you use as a tool, bringing to you life, forgiveness, and salvation in Christ forever. He comes to you on the Sabbath to do the work for you. Rest in Him, for this is a place where the Lord of Sabbath is found, now and forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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