Today I preached on the Sabbath. Following is my sermon outline. I may do another post that more clearly says what I found to be a true Sabbath. We’ll see. 
How do we fulfill the Sabbath?
Date preached: 08/26/07, Sebewaing
RCL Proper 16C
Text: Luke 13:10-17 and Isaiah 58
Subject: How do we fulfill the Sabbath?
Complement: In moderation between legalism and neglect.
Exegetical Idea: The Sabbath was far from what it should have been.
Homiletic Idea: The Sabbath is misunderstood and misused and should be correctly used.
Purpose: Hearers will lose legalistic tendencies and honor the Sabbath.
Type: Deductive, Expository
Songs:
- Come now is the time to worship
- Praise ye the Lord
- O for a thousand tongues
- Better is one day
- O worship the king
Prayer
Offering
Announcements
Greeting
- The family of God
Read Luke 13:10-17
I. What a Sabbath is:
A. A Gift
1 From God to his children
a.) God blessed children with a day of rest
b.) A day that no one could make anyone else work
c.) Mark Buchanan says in The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring the Sabbath,
d.) “God gave us the gift of the Sabbath – not just as a day, but as an orientation, a way of seeing and knowing.”
e.) I learned to join them, the cats in their cradles of sunlight. I curled up or sprawled out beside them and catnapped too. It had a unique power to replenish. Fifteen, twenty minutes later, a shadow like a cool, dry hand edged up my flesh and nudged me awake. I stirred, set up, and went about the rest of my day freshly aware. That image comes to mind when I think of Sabbath; a patch of sunlight falling through a window on a winter’s day. It’s a small yet ample chunk of space, a narrow yet full segment of time. In it, you can lie down and rest. From it, you can rise up and go—stronger, lighter, ready to work again with vigor and a clear mind. It is room enough, time enough, in which to relinquish all encumbrances, to act as though their existence has nothing whatsoever to do with your won. It is an invitation, at one and the same time, to empty yourself and fill yourself.” (Quote found on Biblical Parenting Blog)
2 An outpouring of His love
B. A Commandment
1 Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
a.) Commandment
b.) That shows God’s love for us.
2 Leviticus 16:31 It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.
a.) deny yourselves
b.) fast
c.) focus on God
3 Numbers 15:32-41 Look up and read
a.) Man stoned because of
i. Disobedience
ii. Rebellion
b.) Man was a reminder to other to take Sabbath seriously
C. Not a burden
1 A time to be unburdened
a.) Exodus 35:3 says, “Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
i. God’s intent is to allow us to be free to rejoice and rest on the Sabbath,
ii. unburdened by routine work.
2 A time of rest and relaxation
a.) Mark Buchanan: what we’ve really lost is “the rest of God-the rest God bestows and, with it, that part of himself we can know only through stillness.”
II. The Problem of the Sabbath
(what it can become):
A. Legalistic (Luke)
1 Luke 13 tells of the Jewish nation’s sin in legalism
a.) They sought God
b.) They set up hundreds of rules
i. Afraid they would do wrong without them
ii. Wanted fool-proof way to avoid sin
c.) They don’t understand God’s distance
d.) They think themselves more righteous for following every letter of the law
e.) They think they want God’s way, but they are going the way of human nature.
f.) Too immature – trying to be extra mature.
i. Illustration: teenager thinking they are grown up.
ii. Princess thinking she is a teenager.
g.) The law became a burden.
B. Ignored (Isaiah 58:1-7) Read
1 Isaiah 58 God tells of the Jewish nation’s sin
a.) They sought God
b.) Continued Evil
c.) They don’t understand God’s absence
d.) They think themselves righteous
e.) They want their own way, not God’s
f.) Big Babies!!!
i. Illustration:
ii. A child saying: We want
iii. Give it to us
iv. Do what we say
C. Legalistic Ignoring
1 Isaiah also tells of legalistic ignoring
a.) Vs. 4 “Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
i. They fought
ii. instead of focusing on God
b.) Vs. 5 They would wear sackcloth and ashes
i. Not an OT law
ii. Should be done to show humility
iii. They were putting on an act
iv. They really ignored God in their fakeness
c.) Vs 6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
i. They did not loose chains
ii. Set oppresses free
iii. Or break yokes
d.) Vs 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
i. Did not share
ii. Did not shelter
iii. Did not clothe
iv. Did not care
III. What a Sabbath Should Be:
A. God’s example
1 Genesis 2:2-3 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
2 Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
a.) If God can complete work in 6 days and rest, so can we.
b.) His work is greater
c.) Who are we to say we can’t afford a day off?
B. In Luke
1 Day of healing
2 Day of blessing others – use examples from today’s prayer requests.
3 Day of worship
C. In Isaiah
1 A day of fasting
a.) I don’t mean literal
b.) I mean a fast from our desires
i. Seek God’s desires
ii. Fulfill God’s desires
2 Day of worship that glorifies God not yourself
3 Day to loose chains of injustice, set oppressed free (vs. 6)
a.) Day to share food with hungry
b.) Provide shelter
c.) Provide clothing
4 Day to focus on others!!!
D. Other general points:
1 A time of Community-illustrated by Luke
2 A time to glorify God (Psalm 103:1-8 Read)
a.) Vs 6 – tells them to worship for saving them from oppression.
IV. Conclusion
A. Isaiah 58: 8-14 God tells us the result of our obedience to honoring the Sabbath
1 Light will rise in darkness
2 Night like noonday
3 Lord’s guidance
4 Needs satisfied
5 Strength
6 Spring will not go dry
7 Honor the past
8 Joy in the Lord
9 Rise to the heights of the land
10 Feast on your inheritance
Songs
- We have come into this house
26/08/2007 at 11:01 pm Permalink
You are the sexiest preacher I know!
27/08/2007 at 9:54 am Permalink
Thanks for letting me know you liked my review. My wife wonders why the Sabbath is the only one of the 10 Commandments we ignore today. Glad to see you preach on it.
27/08/2007 at 9:59 pm Permalink
Hi there…..It’s Jeani from agwop! I was involved in a very detailed study of the Sabbath with a Seventh Day Adventist friend, so this is a topic I know quite a bit about. I’ve only quickly skimmed your notes here, but I am wondering if you are proposing keeping the Sabbath on the 6th day or the 7th day? From my studies, I have come to believe that Jesus is our Sabbath Rest…..hope we get a chance to discuss this more! Keep me posted!
27/08/2007 at 10:03 pm Permalink
oops..I meant…should we keep the Sabbath on the 7th day or the 1st day, or just pick a day? Forgive me if you’ve already answered this in your notes above….I read quickly….
28/08/2007 at 7:54 am Permalink
I don’t think that it is important what day we pick. I just think we need to pick a day regularly, weekly being the best. And if that day doesn’t work out one week, I think it’s ok to let it go. Like I said, it can’t become legalistic because then it’s just a burden and not restful.
Thanks for all the great comments everyone!
28/08/2007 at 2:07 pm Permalink
Did you know that women are not to be preachers? Are you a pastor over a congregation? If so, you should really do a study on how you are disobeying a direct command for women not to be teachers of men within the church. This is actually practicing a sin of which you are not repenting and turning away from if you do have your own congregation.
28/08/2007 at 4:39 pm Permalink
I’m glad that you feel strongly about your beliefs, however, I would recommend that you check out this woman’s teachings on women in ministry: Dawn Scott Jones. She has a great 2 disc CD set where she goes through the verses that you are referring to and shows how when they are taken in context, you are mistaken in your beliefs. I am not the pastor of my own congregation (I am an associate pastor), but I would not fail to follow the leading of God if He ever leads me to be a senior pastor.
28/08/2007 at 11:15 pm Permalink
This is not just “my beliefs” it comes from the Word of God. I know you are sitting there thinking, “This person is just reiterating what her pastor has taught her and she has no idea what the truth is because she hasn’t searched the Scriptures.” Well, I have and I do on every doctrine that I have ever learned. I don’t just take people’s word for it…and I’m here to tell you that Dawn is wrong. Just because Dawn says it’s okay then you feel free to disobey God? Are you willing to bet your eternal soul on that? Are you willing to spend eternity in hell just because you want what you want? Believers don’t go to hell because they don’t sin but because Jesus paid for our sins from which we are to turn and ask forgiveness. If you don’t even consider what you are doing a sin, then how can you turn from your sin and ask for forgiveness and thus be forgiven? A person who has a sin which isn’t forgiven will not go to heaven. I’m not trying to rain on your parade, but if you truly love Christ, ask Him for wisdom. Tell Him that you are willing to put everything you love aside for His sake. Plead for wisdom. I won’t bother you any further. I’ve done what is Biblically required of me.
29/08/2007 at 7:26 am Permalink
I’m sorry to rain on YOUR parade, but you are the one that is wrong. I wouldn’t EVER think of preaching if I did not feel compelled by God to do it. I know what God has told me and I, too, have studied the scriptures. Dawn is not the only source I have looked at, but she has the best sermon on it that I have found. Please tell me how I can be sinning if I have heard from God that I am to preach. To be honest, I hate to preach. It’s difficult and dangerous. I am constantly aware of the scripture in James 3 that says teachers will be judged more harshly when they get to heaven. Do you think that I would want that for myself? NO! But, I cannot ignore God’s call and no matter how many scriptures you misinterpret and throw my way, it will never change the truth that I am called and that your interpretation is wrong. I pray that you will actually take my advice and order that CD set. At least have an open enough mind to make sure that what you so strongly believe is right. I believe you will find you are wrong, but at least have check it out. Questioning things is a good thing, it makes our faith stronger.
29/08/2007 at 10:07 am Permalink
sjonss Says: “I’ve done what is Biblically required of me.”
I am afraid not, you have done what is required by the Koran, not the Bible. The Koran declares that we are so responsible for our brothers that we must censure them for their incorrect beliefs and behavior, this can range from reproof to insult, to the radical islamist’s suicide bomb. The New Testament gives quite a different requirement. The law of love.
Jesus commanded us not to judge, for we are then in danger of being judged with the same measure. He also says that we cannot try to remove a speck from our brother’s eye and ignore the plank hanging out of our own eye. I am afraid that sjonss has allowed a black and white fundamentalism to become a 2X4 hanging from her eye. She’s become blind to the law of love and decided to take the roll of the Holy Spirit upon herself.
It is the Holy Spirit who has the responsibility to convict of sin. We are forbidden to take his job from him. And there’s good reason. God’s ways are higher than ours, his thoughts are greater. As much as it comforts fundamentalists to think they understand God and his ways, they cannot. For man sees the outside of a man, but God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. I’m sure Romans 6:1-2 is a favorite passage for most fundamentalists,
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
And it is a good word, but they forget the verses that precede it, “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So it is that grace is more powerful than sin. It must be a frightful thing to live in constant fear of dying with an unrepented sin, for which of us is perfect? What if we should die while going a mile over the speed limit, or have a heart attack while thinking a hateful thought about our brother? Living in fear of how it all will end isn’t my idea, or dare I say God’s idea of grace. Grace abounds. And I rest secure that a just God will judge justly. The whole of scripture tells me so.
29/08/2007 at 11:05 am Permalink
Pretty intense dialogue here…
As it relates to the “Women in Ministry” bit – here’s a link to an article by N.T. Wright (who is considered one of the foremost authorities on First Century History and the New Testament).
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Women_Service_Church.htm
Another series of conversations can be found at – http://www.jesuscreed.org/?cat=27.
Scott McKnight is also a New Testament Scholar that sheds some light on these passages…
Other Research of interest may include digging into Paul’s writings of Romans 16:7 and it’s reference to Junia – a female apostle.
29/08/2007 at 11:23 am Permalink
Thank you, Chris for your insight on the attitude that is so hard to defend myself against.
Thank you, Jerrell Jobe for your great links. While I have studied this, I am always looking for more information and I still need to learn more so that I can intelligently express my beliefs about and reason for preaching as a woman.
30/08/2007 at 3:58 am Permalink
Chris,
wait! If I cannot judge, then neither can you! I’m judging redhead, but you are judging me. Are you being a hypocrite? Yes, I think you are. You are very much misinterpreting that Scripture. Here is a site which will teach you the correct way to interpret that Scripture. http://mikeratliff.wordpress.com/judge-not/
Also, I never said that we were perfect. But those who refuse to admit that what they are doing which Scripture deems as a sin are in danger of hell fire. If they die in their UNREPENTANT sin, they were never saved in the first place. God’s elect will never lose their salvation but they will always turn from their sin and ask for forgiveness. 1 John is a good starting place for you to read about practicing sin.
redhead,
I wouldn’t have come back here but you came to my site. I figured that was an invitation back.
I stand by the Bible you are indeed sinning. Chris is right about one thing: only the Holy Spirit can convict you and show you the truth. Right now you are deceived and I pray that He will turn you to see the truth.
30/08/2007 at 6:13 am Permalink
sjonss,
I encourage dialog on my blog, so yes, it was an invitation.
I’m sorry that we seem to be at an impasse. I do not believe I am sinning or I wouldn’t be preaching, as I said earlier. I find it rather amazing that you still trying to tell me I am wrong when you are up against God telling me I am right. Personal revelation is another very important way that we can hear from God. We should make sure we hear correctly by checking it against His word. I have done that. You cannot read a Bible verse and interpret it without reading the Biblical context and the historical and cultural context of the time. If you were to do this, you would see that God is right. Besides that, God is GOD! He can do anything He wants, including making pastors out of women, even if there weren’t any Biblical precedent, which there is.
Thank you for contributing to the dialog here, though.
30/08/2007 at 7:55 pm Permalink
My hubby wrote a post that continues this discussion.
17/11/2009 at 4:11 pm Permalink
It’s funny how a post on Sabbath turns into a Women’s ministry discussion.
Relating to the topic, so from your sermon, does the Sabbath mean 7th day or 1st day?