You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Open your Bibles, if you will, to Luke 13.
I'm going to be reading Luke 13, beginning of verse 10, down through verse 17.
Luke 13, beginning of verse 10.
Now, he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,
and there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for 18 years.
She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
And when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her,
Woman, you are freed from your disability.
And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight,
and she glorified God.
But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath,
said to the people,
There are six days in which work ought to be done.
Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.
Then the Lord answered him,
You hypocrites.
Does not each of you, on the Sabbath,
untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?
And not this woman, a daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan bound for 18 years?
He loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?
And he said these things.
As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame.
And all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Let's pray together that the Father would give us understanding of his word.
Father, we thank you for your word.
Your word is a light into the depth of our souls.
Your word pierces down through all of our defenses, all of our justifications.
It pierces down to places that we don't even know are there.
And that's what we need.
But your word also shines upon and shows the light of your glory and the wonder of your grace.
And as we see ourselves, we also desperately need to see your grace.
So would you shine the light in both ways that we would see honestly who we are,
but also see the glory of grace
and be drawn more deeply into the knowledge of Jesus
and all that he has done for us.
Give me words from your spirit.
Help me in the weakness of my own words
in such a way that by your spirit,
we will hear you speak to us.
And we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
And some of y'all saw the gift,
or the title of this sermon,
saw the gift of the Sabbath,
you may have been a little anxious
because there are certain sermons that you can preach
that are automatically guaranteed to inspire guilt.
You know, one of those is on prayer,
one of those is witnessing,
and this is another one.
And I don't think in all my years
that I have heard
a good, balanced, uplifting, encouraging sermon
on the Sabbath,
especially in a church
that emphasizes so strongly God's grace.
You know, I appreciate, you know,
the way that we go through,
we are going through the Gospel of Luke
because probably if the topic was just left up to us,
we would have gone here.
But when you go through the text,
you can't avoid it
because, you know,
in the place of just a few verses,
not only here in Luke 13,
but you get over in a couple weeks,
we're going to be seeing it again in Luke 14,
beginning of verse 1,
and we've already seen it
back earlier in Luke.
You can't avoid this subject.
So, you know,
it seems like there's no single command
that Jesus has had to deal with
and runs into so much trouble
with the Pharisees
than this whole idea of the Sabbath.
And so, you know,
at the heart of Jesus' teaching here,
what he's having to deal with,
with the Pharisees,
again, over and over and over again,
is simply their abuse.
It's not the idea of the Sabbath,
but it's their abuse of the law itself.
And this is one of those places in the law
that they have majored on.
And so Jesus is dealing here
with the Pharisees
and their whole concept of the law.
And in that day,
there were these rabbinical writings.
It was called the Mishnah.
And in that Mishnah,
there were about five volumes.
One whole volume of this
was devoted just to Sabbath keeping.
So in a sense,
what Jesus is dealing with
is not so much their misunderstanding of the law,
but it's the way they were dealing with the traditions
even around the law.
They had turned the Sabbath law
more than almost anything else
into a means
where they could show off,
not just to God,
but to the world,
to the culture and society,
their own goodness,
their own religious zeal,
their righteousness.
And they were quite proud of it.
But at the same time,
and this is where we struggle,
you know,
at the same time,
we,
a lot of us,
wouldn't put ourselves in that camp.
But Jesus is not
throwing out the Sabbath.
Not in any way.
What he's dealing with
is the abuse
of the Sabbath law.
You see,
our struggle
is typically
just in the other direction.
I mean,
we,
we're people of grace.
We're not under the law.
We don't have to keep
all these rules and regulations.
In fact,
there's some people would say,
but you know,
even in the New Testament,
we're not even commanded
to keep the Sabbath anymore.
So it really,
it doesn't even apply.
I mean,
why are we even talking about this?
Well,
I would counter
that the Sabbath
is deeply rooted
in many ways
in the gospel itself.
And
in reality,
as we reject
all the rules
and regulations
of the Sabbath,
we find ourselves
more closely aligned
with the Pharisees
than we would want to know.
So what I want to do
this morning
is
we're going to do
an overview
of this whole
Sabbath principle.
And then next week,
Will is going to come back
and deal with
the specific context
here
of Jesus
healing this woman.
But because it comes up
so often,
we need to take a look
at what the Bible
really says
about the Sabbath.
So what we're going to do
is we're going to do
basically
a quick overview
and a Bible study
of
what is taught
here.
Because a lot of us,
I don't think,
I really don't think
we know.
And then we're going to see
from that
then
what are the
implications
for us.
You know,
for Christians,
you know,
what are we supposed
to do
with the Sabbath?
The Sabbath
is a gift
that we rarely
take advantage of.
So,
let's look at Scripture
and see what it says.
First,
I mean,
we have to begin
all the way back
in Genesis,
particularly in Genesis
chapter 2.
In Genesis 2,
verses 2 and 3,
we read this.
And on the seventh day,
God finished
His work
that He had done
and He rested
on the seventh day
from all His work
that He had done.
So,
God blessed
the seventh day
and made it holy
because on it
God rested
from all His work
that He had done
in creation.
Here,
all the way back
at the very beginning
in the act of creation,
the Sabbath
is instituted.
It is not instituted
in the Ten Commandments.
It is instituted
way before
the Ten Commandments.
And it was a principle
that should have been
governing all of life
in God's creation.
But in these,
in this couple of verses,
there are three things
that God says
that we need to look at
just quickly.
One is that
God celebrates.
You know,
what we did not read
is the end of chapter 1
in creation
where God looked over
all that He had created
and He said,
behold,
it is
very good.
God looked over
His creation,
all that He had made
from the world
and the animals
and the plants
and man Himself
and said,
yeah,
this is good.
God,
and so when He gets
to the seventh day,
He rests.
But part of that rest
is He's looking back
and He's celebrating.
He said,
look,
my glory
in creation.
and that's one
of those points
about that seventh day
that we just miss.
It's a day of celebration
but then He's,
and at the culmination
of that,
then He blesses
that day.
You know,
God is ceasing
His creative work.
He blesses this day.
He is satisfied
with all that He has done
and that satisfaction
then leads Him
to the next thing
which is He rests.
Not because He's tired.
He doesn't cease working
because,
I need a break.
He's resting
because He looks
and He's satisfied.
It's done.
It's good.
You know,
it's like an artist
who would paint
this glorious painting
and they work
and finally
they stop painting
and they look at the work
and say,
there's nothing more to do.
And so God rests.
He simply ceases
from His work.
And then thirdly,
in that celebration,
in His rest,
He sanctifies it.
He makes it holy.
He sets it apart
from every other day
and establishes this now
as a pattern.
as we have six days
to work,
to do our work
but yet there's this seventh
for celebrating
and being satisfied
with
all that God has done
is creation.
celebration.
And I think,
again,
it's this whole idea
of blessedness
and celebration
is one of those
key ideas
about the Sabbath
that we miss
because we look
at the Sabbath,
we look at,
you know,
whether it's Sunday
or Monday
or Saturday
or whatever,
I'm not dealing
with that part
of the issue.
But we look at it
as a burden.
We look at it
as something,
oh shoot,
I gotta do this,
I can't do this,
okay.
This is a day
for celebrating.
It's kind of like,
you know,
in a sense,
we never feel burdened
over our birthdays.
Our birthdays
are to be celebrated.
I made it another year.
But here God's celebrating
something so much greater,
all that he's done.
There's another passage
a little bit later,
still back in the Old Testament,
Exodus 16.
I'm not gonna read
this whole passage,
but there's something
that God does here.
And the passage
is particularly focused
on God providing manna
in the wilderness.
But this idea of Sabbath
comes into play.
And what God is doing here
is that he's telling people
how to,
he's feeding them
in the middle
of the wilderness
out of nothing.
And he says,
every morning,
I want you to go out
and you're gonna find
scattered all over the ground,
basically,
it's this heavenly bread,
this manna,
that they are to gather.
But he gives them
very strict rules,
particular rules
on how to do this.
And he specifically
tells them,
he says,
this is a test.
I'm gonna test you.
He says,
you're to go out,
gather enough
for one day.
Don't gather two.
Don't gather enough
for three.
You're not storing it.
You're not packing it away
in Tupperware.
You're gathering enough
just for that day
until you get
to the sixth day.
And on the sixth day,
you gather enough
for two days.
Only on the sixth day.
And there was a reason
why he was doing this.
What he wanted them to do
was to trust him.
He says,
I'm gonna provide for you.
I'm gonna supply
all your needs.
I'm gonna do it
from one day
to the next.
But a day in the week,
that seventh day,
you're gonna rest.
You're not gonna go out
and gather.
You don't have to.
You're gonna stay put.
And I'm gonna provide
for you then as well.
And so he sets apart
the Sabbath
as a different day.
But it's a test.
A test
for them
to demonstrate
that they actually
do trust
in their father's
provision.
That's Exodus 16.
You go on
a little bit farther
in Exodus 31
verses 12 through 17.
And I'm gonna read
just a couple of verses
from that.
He says,
And the Lord said to Moses,
you are to speak
to the people of Israel
and say,
above all
you shall keep
my Sabbath
for this is a sign
between me
and you
throughout your generations
that you may know
that I,
the Lord,
sanctify you.
There's a couple
of statements
in there
that draws
my attention.
One he says,
he says,
above all.
Wow.
That is a pretty
strong statement.
He didn't say that
about adultery.
He didn't say that
about anything else.
He says,
the Sabbath is above all.
which is raising
the importance
and the value
of this
significantly.
And now,
why are they
to keep it?
Well,
here,
in this passage,
the emphasis is
that it's a sign.
It's a sign
of what?
It's a sign
that really
is a sense
that God
is gonna set
them apart
apart
from all
the other
nations
around them.
All these
other nations
that don't know
anything about
keeping the
Sabbath.
But he's going
to,
in a sense,
make Israel
peculiar.
He's gonna
make them
different.
He's gonna
set them apart.
He says,
this is what
you're gonna do.
because I
sanctify you.
I'm the one
setting you
apart
and you
are mine.
It's a sign
of ownership
that these
people
are now,
because of the
way they treat
that seventh
day,
they are going
to distinguish
themselves
as God's
people,
not like
any other
people.
And this
is indeed
a serious
matter.
Now we
get to
probably one
of the places
where most
of us would
start when we
think of
the Sabbath,
and that is
when you look
at the Ten
Commandments,
but particularly
I'm gonna look
at those from
Deuteronomy
chapter 5.
You'll find it
back in
Exodus 20,
a little bit
different,
but specifically
in Deuteronomy
5,
verses 12
through 15,
this is what
we see.
Observe the
Sabbath day
to keep it
holy,
as the Lord
your God
commanded you,
you shall
remember that
you were a
slave in the
land of Egypt,
and the Lord
your God
brought you
out from
there with
a mighty
hand and
an outstretched
arm,
therefore the
Lord your God
commanded you
to keep
the Sabbath
day.
Now here,
we have a
different emphasis.
it is a
celebration,
but not so
much about
what God
did in
creation,
it's a
celebration
of what God
does in
redemption.
They are to
set apart
this one
day in
their week
and remember.
They are to
remember we
used to be
slaves.
We used to
be under
the yoke
of Pharaoh.
We used
to be
helpless,
but God
with a
mighty hand
and a
mighty arm
broke the
power of
Egypt and
delivered us
and made
us his
own people.
And so
here, I
mean the
emphasis,
I mean it
is on work
and rest,
but the
reason why
is so
that we
can celebrate
God's
work
at setting
us free,
setting us
free from
our slavery,
setting us
free from
all of that
which would
oppress us
in Christ,
looking ahead
at the
ultimate
redemption
that was
coming.
We rest
on the
Sabbath day,
especially in
light of
redemption,
we rest
on the
Sabbath day
as a way
of saying
our labors,
our work,
the strength
of our hand
does not
give me
freedom,
does not
give me
satisfaction,
does not
supply my
needs,
my rest
comes
in Christ
himself.
And here,
because I
celebrate
redemption,
I can
rest.
But this
is talking
about a
rest that's
deep,
not just
physical.
A rest
that goes
down in
our souls
where I
can rest
from my
striving to
be
good enough.
I can
rest for
my striving
that God
would smile
upon me.
I can
rest.
And I
would venture
to say
that most
of you,
or at
least,
a lot
of you,
are tired.
Maybe
you're tired
because you've
been working
non-stop.
Maybe you're
tired because
you stayed up
last night
until almost
midnight at a
rock concert,
like some
of us.
Maybe you're
tired for
chasing your
kids around
all over the
community,
but I would
say there's
a deeper
tiredness.
We are all
in the business
of self-justifying
because we
want that
smile of
God.
We want
God to
say,
I am
satisfied.
And we
don't get
there.
But we
keep working.
We keep
working because
we're not
sure he's
going to
provide.
We keep
working because
we're not
sure we've
done enough.
We keep
working and
striving to
earn that
place that
Christ has
already
finished.
And so we
celebrate the
redemption and
the rest that
Christ gives
us.
And I think
this is where,
if you go back
and look at the
Pharisees and
their struggle,
this is where the
Pharisees missed it
the most.
Because the whole
reason why they're
keeping all these
rules and all of
these laws is that
they're working
hard,
endlessly working,
to keep their
good standing
before God.
And in their
working,
they missed the
boat completely.
Instead,
they should have
been resting in
him and then
fulfilling the
call for justice
and mercy,
which is what
Jesus does here.
Which kind of
leads us into the
last passage,
which we're going
to look at,
and that's up
into Isaiah,
Isaiah 58,
particularly verse
13 and 14.
And it's
interesting because
in Isaiah 58,
the whole chapter
is a rebuke.
This is a chapter
that the Pharisees
should have known.
It was a rebuke
of Israel
because of their
Sabbath keeping.
It was a rebuke
because they had
turned to their
religion and their
ritual and the
performance of the
ritual of thinking
that was enough.
But the problem
was when they
prayed,
God wasn't
answering.
They kept calling
and praying and
all they got was
silence.
And they're
wondering,
what's wrong?
We're doing
everything we're
supposed to.
And then we get
these words
in verse 13
and 14,
which you'll see
there on the
screen.
If you turn your
back from the
Sabbath and from
doing your pleasures
on my holy day
and call the
Sabbath a delight
and the holy day
of the Lord
honorable.
If you honor it,
not going your
own ways
or seeking
your own
pleasure
or talking
idly,
then you shall
take delight
in the Lord.
And notice
the point here
is they're
doing all of
the religious
stuff,
but their
hearts are
directed
somewhere else.
And the
focus is not
so much on
the specific
duties they
do,
but what they
really want.
And so the
message of this
that really
Jesus gives
to the
Pharisees,
and I think
he gives to
us,
self-absorption
can take
many forms.
It can take
the form of
being highly
religious,
very particular
in our
following the
codes and
the rules.
It can also
take the
form of
doing whatever
we want.
But it all
comes from
the same
place.
I'm trusting
me.
I'm looking
at me.
I'm the
one that
provides.
I am the
one that
satisfies.
I am the
one that
will give
myself the
most pleasure.
It's all
about me.
And God
simply says,
I give you
the Sabbath
to tell you
it's not
about you.
so to sum
things up,
the Sabbath
is a day
of rest.
It's what we
see from the
beginning,
from God
rested.
It's a day
of celebration.
It's a day
of celebrating
all that God
has done in
creation,
but also in
redemption,
what he's done
to bring us
back into
fellowship with
him.
And this
is a point
that we may
think strange
because we
so often see
the Sabbath
as a burden,
but John
Piper says
something
interesting.
He explains
it this way.
He said,
if we spend
the day
focused on
Jesus,
the most
pleasurable
and the most
desirable one
there is,
it is impossible
that that day
would become
a burden.
It's a burden
because we're
still working.
We're still
striving.
It's all about
us and it's
all up to us.
The Sabbath
is to be set
apart from
all other days,
made special
for these purposes.
It's a day
of focused
concentration
and worship
and celebrating
what God
has done.
It's a day
we remember
all that God
has done.
It's a day
that we
remember
our dependence
and it's a day
we turn away
from our
self-sufficiency.
So,
that said,
how are we
going to live
as Christians?
As those
who embrace
God's grace,
how are we
supposed to live
then in light
of the
Sabbath?
I think there's
three things.
The first
is just
avoiding
the extremes.
The extremes
are really
two things,
two directions.
One is
that highly
legislating
what you're
supposed to do
in the specific
acts.
In here,
you can go
to such extremes.
I got into
a conversation
once.
I was doing
a presbytery
exam with a guy
and we were
talking about
this whole
Sabbath
principle
and asked
him,
he says,
well,
what can
you do
and what
do you
think of
the
Sabbath?
What can
you do?
What can
you not
do on the
Sabbath?
And he says,
well,
I don't think
going to a
Braves game
on the
Sabbath
fits with
what the
Sabbath
means.
because that's
doing
commerce.
And he says,
well,
what if you
buy your
ticket on
Saturday?
Can you
go then?
Well,
what about
if you go
on a
Saturday night
game but
you stay
out so
late,
it's a
double header
and it
goes into
extra innings
and you're
totally exhausted.
Is that?
Can you do
that?
Or
can you go
to the game
and not buy
hot dogs?
Or
you see,
if we start
asking the
questions,
if we even
begin to ask
the question,
what specifically
can I
and I
cannot do
on the
Sabbath,
you get into
a quagmire.
So we need
to avoid
that approach
because it's
hopeless.
You'll never
get to the
end.
But there's
another
extreme.
The other
extreme is
we throw
it out
altogether.
And that
misses the
point as
well.
The
Sabbath is
a gift.
It's given
to us.
It was not
thrown out
when Jesus
came.
He put it
back in its
rightful place
as a place
for us to
celebrate.
And so
the day
is a day
to be special
and set
aside.
where we
can express
our faith,
our trust
in the
one who
provides.
So
avoiding the
two extremes.
The second
thing is
embracing it
as a gift.
God gives
us a
Sabbath as
a gift
of rest
but I
think it's
a bigger
gift than
that.
And it's
not just
that physical
rest.
Some of you
need some
physical rest.
Some of you
need to quit
carting your
kids around
town,
quit running
to the
store,
quit work
for one
day,
quit studying
and just
rest.
But we're
talking here
about something
more deeply.
And the
gift that
God gives
us on
the
Sabbath
is actually
a gift
that protects
us from
our
idolatries.
It first
protects us
from this
idolatry of
self-dependence.
By telling us
not to work
on one day,
it simply
tries to
break that
hold of
I am the
one that
has to make
it happen.
If I don't
work, I
won't eat.
And God
says,
uh-uh.
You eat
because I
provide.
You have
all you need
because I
give.
And so the
Sabbath is a
way to protect
our hearts
from that
kind of
self-dependence
of thinking
it's all
up to
me.
It also
protects us
from the
idolatry of
acceptance.
What are
your neighbors
going to
think?
What are
your kids'
friends going
to think
when they
can't do
travel sports
on Sunday?
They said,
man,
y'all a bunch
of weirdos,
a bunch
of religious
freaks.
You're going
to be looked
at as
different and
weird.
Yeah.
In some
ways,
that's part
of the
point.
Our
acceptance
doesn't
come from
other people.
Our identity,
our sense
of belonging
doesn't come
from somebody
else's smile
and pat on
my back.
It comes
from the
Father who
has set
me apart
as his
own.
And I
am different.
I don't
belong here in
this world.
If that's
news to
you,
we are
citizens of
another kingdom.
We don't
belong here.
And when
we follow
Christ,
we are
different.
We can't
help it.
And so,
in a sense,
this guards
us from
this idolatry
that we
have of
other people's
approval.
The third
thing,
it guards
us from
this idolatry
of self-determination.
The Sabbath,
in a way,
is a
line.
And all
you have
to do
is draw
a line
in front
of someone
and then
they're going
to feel
there's a
fence,
there's a
barrier,
and then
they want
to cross
it.
So,
don't put
a barrier
up to
me.
Don't
restrain
me.
I am
self-determining.
I am
the one
who rules.
You know,
and Paul
himself said
in Romans 7,
all you got
to do
to tell
somebody,
if you want
to get
them to sin
is tell
them don't
do it.
There's
the fence.
And that
rears up
in us
this
self-determination
that we
have.
And the
Sabbath
is one
of those
things where
God gives
us and
says,
no,
you don't.
This is not
about you.
This is the
place
where you
hear my
word
and you
say,
I trust
you.
it.
And so
this is one
of those
gifts that
we have
that guards
us.
But then
the third
thing we
see as
we celebrate
the
Sabbath
is we
celebrate
a hope
of something
greater.
See,
we need
rest.
We need
rest more
than just
one day.
But in
Hebrews,
as Will's
already read,
a rest is
coming.
Where a
rest from
all of our
striving,
all of our
working,
all of our
performing,
we're going
to get to
rest
ultimately,
finally,
completely,
because
it'll all
be over.
A rest
is coming
where we
will stand
before God
and we
will see
him smile,
say,
well done,
good and
faithful servant,
enter into
the rest
of your
master.
And when
we celebrate
the Sabbath
together,
we are
saying,
that is
my hope.
This is
just a taste.
It's just
a foretaste.
This is
not the
end of
the story.
This just
sets our
sights on
something
much,
much
greater
and more
glorious
to come.
God
is
to
God
is
the
gift
of the
Sabbath.
And really,
when we
come to
this table,
when we
come to
the Lord's
table,
this is
what we
celebrate.
We
celebrate.
We stop
our rest,
we stop
our working,
and we
gather around
the table
as a
feast.
we rest
in the
work that
Christ has
done.
His
broken body,
His shed
blood,
has paid,
and has
earned,
and established
our rest.
And so we
celebrate
this
together.
So let
me,
this is the
invitation.
Those of
you who
are in
Christ,
come
and
remember
the deep
rest that
has been
given and
provided for
us through
Christ.
But I
will also
acknowledge that
some of you
here may not
know Christ,
but I
would also
say,
more than
likely,
you are
exhausted,
you are
tired.
Don't
come to
the table,
but come
to Jesus.
Come to
the one
who says,
all you
are weary
and heavy
laden,
I have
given you
rest.
So come
to Christ,
stop your
striving to
be good
enough.
stop your
striving to
provide
enough.
Come to
the one
who has
done
everything
and is
satisfied.
Come to
the table
and again
and remember
and taste
the rest
we have in
Christ.
Let's pray
together.
Lord Jesus,
as we
come,
would you
in a very
tangible way
help us to
remember the
rest that
you've given?
Help us to
taste it.
Help us to
sense it.
Help us to
know it.
Come and meet
us here.
We are tired
Lord.
And we
don't have
to be.
Bring us
into your
rest.
Through your
shed blood,
your broken
body,
it was all
done for
us.
We pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let me read
you these
words from
1 Corinthians
where Paul
says,
For I
received from
the Lord
what I
also delivered
to you,
that the
Lord Jesus
on the
night when
he was
betrayed,
he took
bread,
and when
he had
given
thanks,
he broke
it and
said,
This is
my body
which is
for you.
Do this
in remembrance
of me.
In the same
way he took
the cup
after supper
saying,
This cup
is the
new covenant
in my
blood.
Do this
as often
as you
drink it
in remembrance
of me,
for as
often as
you eat
this bread
and drink
this cup,
you proclaim
the Lord's
death
until he
comes.
The body
of the
Lord Jesus
as we
see in
this bread
was broken,
took our
judgment.
His blood
was poured
out to
wash us
clean from
all of our
failure,
all of our
sin.
Come and
eat,
come and
drink,
and remember
the gift
of rest.
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information,
visit us
online at
southwood.org.