Take a Break (Sept 17, 2023) Exodus 20.8-11
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We are continuing in our series on the Ten Commandments or the Ten Promises. We have covered the prohibition of other gods, idols and misuse of God’s name. Today we will turn to the fourth commandment which is considered the last of those found on the first tablet, those laws that pertained to the worship and relationship with God. But it is also the beginning of the laws that pertain to our relationship with fellow humans.
The commandment needs to be read again. “Remember to keep the sabbath day holy. You have six days to labour and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; that day you must not do any work, neither you, nor your son or your daughter, your slave or your slave-girl, your cattle, or the alien residing among you; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and declared it holy”.
Now I am sure most of you remember when Sunday was a day when nothing happened. There were no stores open, no restaurants open, no gas stations open, nothing. I remember when many stores were not open and not just Chick-Fil-A. It was a day of rest, at least for those who did not have to prepare the Sunday dinner that followed church. It was a day when the normal hubub of life was stopped and people took a break.
But over time things changed, as they always do. Stores remained open on Sundays, although most with shorter hours. Gas stations remained open, some being open 24 hours. And most of all, restaurants opened, giving those who prepared meals some time off. Sunday became another day in the week.
The Hebrews have been told that there is a day when they will take some time off. The seventh day is a day when they will not be able to gather manna. They have been told that on the sixth day they are to gather enough for two days. They are told that this is because it is a holy sabbath, a rest, a ceasing, to the Lord.
But in the giving of the tablets of the law, the people are given more information and a reason why this is a holy day. It is a day when the Lord took time off from creation and rested. It was after the creation of humans that this occurred and after the full creation. It is a day that God decreed as holy.
It was to be the seventh day, or what we call Saturday, because that was the day the Lord rested. Calvin states it in this way: “…the Lord ordained a certain day on which his people might, under the tutelage of the law, practice constant meditation upon the spiritual rest. And he assigned the seventh day, either because he foresaw that it would be sufficient; or that, by providing a model in his own example, he might better arouse the people; or at least point out to them that the Sabbath had no other purpose than to render them conformable to their Creator’s example.” The people were to imitate the creator.
And what was to be done on this day? We do not know. All we are told is that the day is to be set aside as a sabbath to the Lord and that the people are to do no work on this day. And when God said no one, he meant no one: “you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.” If you notice that the wife is not included in this listing, rest assured that she is included. The “you” is inclusive of the husband and the wife. All people are to not work on the sabbath. In Deuteronomy, the people are reminded that they were slaves in Egypt, and they would remember that they did not have a day of rest. This would help remind them to give their slaves a day of rest and to prevail upon those who were foreigners that they were to rest also.
But what does that sabbath mean to us? Does it mean that we are to take time off from working to observe one day a week? Or are we no longer under the law and therefore have no need for the sabbath? The answer from the reformers may surprise you. Calvin said this: “But there is no doubt that by the Lord Christ’s coming the ceremonial part of this commandment was abolished. For he himself is the truth, with whose presence all figures vanish; he is the body, at whose appearance the shadows are left behind. He is, I say, the true fulfillment of the Sabbath.” He goes on to say that Christians need not follow the “superstitious observance of days.” But Calvin also says this: “Although the Sabbath has been abrogated, there is still occasion for us: (1) to assemble on stated days for the hearing of the Word, the breaking of the mystical bread, and for public prayers [cf. Acts 2:42]; (2) to give surcease from labor to servants and workmen. There is no doubt that in enjoining the Sabbath the Lord was concerned with both.” The gathering of the Lord’s people to give worship, to learn and to praise God, plus to give time off for servants are some of the reasons that a sabbath should be observed. Calvin then states that any day will do as long as there is what he names in the reasons for the sabbath.
Even Jesus observed the Sabbath when he was here on earth. He attended synagogue “as was his custom.” But he also ran afoul of the religious people because of what he did on that day. He healed and was rebuked by a man who said could he not have done this on the other six days? The man had a point. but Jesus pointed out that the man and others would let their animals out to drink or would pull them up out of a pit if they fell in all on the Sabbath. If they were willing to do these things, then why should not Jesus heal on the Sabbath? Jesus even points out in Mark, after being rebuked for his disciples plucking grain to eat because they were hungry, that the Sabbath was made for humans to enjoy, not the other way around. This is where we can run into trouble. There have been calls to have a sabbath legalized and to have all people observe it. This turns people from enjoying the day of rest to becoming sulky and resentful. We cannot legalize how people observe such a day. Nor do we make this about the day because then we lose who established the day.
But how can we observe the day? I have worked many times 7 days a week, not because I wanted to, but rather because necessity demanded it. When I got a Sunday off, I tried to go to church and be more observant of the sabbath. But that was about it. I would go to church. I did not do as people used to do and have the day devoted to the study of the Bible or the catechism. Oftentimes I would do work that I would normally have done the other six days: laundry, mowing the grass, etc. I had, and still have, a difficult time following the sabbath.
But when I read Karl Barth on the Holy Day as he called it, I saw that it was more than just a day off. Barth states it this way: “What does the Sabbath commandment say? It speaks of a limiting of man’s activity to the extent that this is, generally speaking, his own work, his own undertaking and achievement, the job he does for his livelihood and in the service of the community. It says that, in deference to God and to the heart and meaning of His work, there must be from time to time an interruption, a rest, a deliberate non-continuation, a temporal pause, to reflect on God and His work and to participate consciously in the salvation provided by Him and to be awaited from Him. It says that man’s own work is to be performed as a work bounded by this continually recurring interruption. This interruption is the holy day.
In the Old Testament it is called the “Sabbath” (probably just “festival” or “rest”). In English and German it is cheerfully given the somewhat ambiguous and heathen title of “Sunday.” … In a special way it belongs to God and not to man; and this is something man ought to respect by not claiming it as his own. Man’s activity on this day ought not to be complete inactivity, but a cessation of what he does on other days. He is to pause in his work—not perhaps for his own sake, but for God’s, and yet to his own salvation—so that on the following day he may again take up his work. On this day he is to celebrate, rejoice and be free, to the glory of God. In this celebration, joy and freedom he will be obedient. To withdraw from it under any pretext would be disobedience. This is what the Sabbath commandment says.” Barth goes on to say that it is a day to remind us that our works do not save us. They are unimportant compared to the work of God.
So, what do we do with all of this? Are we to go out and protest that stores are open and people are working? Are we to work to have new laws enacted to have the sabbath instituted? No, though we should be upset that people must work seven days a week just to survive. There is something to protest and work to have laws changed such as the minimum wage. But to us there is more to do. Albert Curry Winn tells a story about an educator in a Christian school who worked his way up to giving his students 10 minutes of sabbath. They did not do anything during that time but take a break from the hurry and scurry of the school day. The students were grateful. The parents, not so much. One claimed that it was not Christian (interesting since it is in the Bible) and another said that he was not paying to have them do nothing. That tells us how even we as Christians view the sabbath.
Simon and Garfunkel began a song with “Slow down, you’re moving too fast...” We move too fast in our world today. Things must be done now instead of taking the time to do it right. We must get to places now instead of taking the time to look around and see the sights (who remembers the Sunday drive?) What would it look like if we took time off to take a break? We would stand out somewhat to our neighbors and be objects of curiosity. But there is more. When we take a break, when we have a rest, we will find that our hearts that are restless will find rest with God. Isn’t that a good reason to take a break? May we find the time to rest in God and to have a rest from our daily toil. Amen.
Barth, Karl, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Thomas F. Torrance. Church Dogmatics: The Doctrine of Creation, Part 4. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004. Print.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2. Ed. John T. McNeill. Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. Vol. 1. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. Print. The Library of Christian Classics.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2. Ed. John T. McNeill. Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. Vol. 1. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. Print. The Library of Christian Classics.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2. Ed. John T. McNeill. Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. Vol. 1. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. Print. The Library of Christian Classics.
The Revised English Bible. Cambridge; New York; Melbourne; Madrid; Cape Town; Singapore; São Paulo; Delhi; Dubai; Tokyo: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.