Trinity 17
Dear friends in Christ. You can see from our readings today that the theme running through them is the Sabbath. Certainly the Sabbath is important because it gets its own commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. But what is the Sabbath? In the OT God told the Israelites to rest on the seventh day—Saturday. That’s what “Sabbath” means—“rest”. God specifically said to the Israelites when He gave the commandment [Ex. 20.11]: For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So, yes, the Sabbath is grounded in the creation and is a reminder to us of God’s creation of the world; each Sabbath day was a reminder to the OT saint of the creation.
But, remember as well when God gave this commandment—and all of the Ten Commandments—after He had led His people out of slavery in Egypt—through the Red Sea; when as St. Paul says [1 Co 10.2]: the Israelites all were baptized in the cloud and in the sea united with Moses. Here they were reminded of their deliverance, rescue, and that they were God’s own special people to whom He had entrusted His holy word and promise of the Savior. And He was leading them to the land that He had promised, in grace, to give them.
Long story short—the Sabbath Day was all about the Lord’s grace to and His care of His people. The rest of the Lord on the Seventh Day points to His grace in creating us and a world through which He would provide for us: work for those 6 days but on the 7th rest and see that the Lord provides; the Sabbath points to the our Lord’s grace in rescuing us. For His OT saints it was particularly seen as He brought them out of slavery—rest from their trials and from their oppressors.
As we look at the holy Ten Commandments, we remember that they are the Moral Law that God had written on every human heart and now has written on those stone tablets. What this means is that unlike the laws that God had given only to the Jews to separate them and serve to remind them that they are to be different from the people around them because the Savior of the world was coming from them—like the Kosher laws and the ceremonial Laws—the Moral Law, the holy Ten Commandments are meant for all people of all times.
What makes the Third Commandment Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy so interesting is that it has two parts. One part of it is meant for all people: gathering together to hear the Lord’s word, to worship Him—that’s the Moral Law! But there’s a part of this Third Commandment meant only for the Jews—the Saturday part, the 7th Day. It’s this part we find the Jews at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry emphasizing and making the main thing—the absolute prohibition of work on Saturday. And that’s how they try to show that Jesus is not the Messiah—He breaks the Sabbath. That’s what we find them doing today’s Gospel. One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. They were watching Jesus to see what He would do, if He would break the Sabbath—that is, if He would break their man-made laws added to God’s command.
Notice the odd thing: in their midst they had the very God Himself, Christ Jesus. It was His word they were gladly to hear and obey—the Moral Law. But instead, they focus on the outward shell of the commandment. That’s the point that Jesus made at another run in with the Jews when, referring to Himself, He told them [Mt 12.8]: “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath”. As we examine our text we will see the great blessing as we keep the Moral Law, keep the Sabbath Day holy.
1. Examining our text from Isaiah, we will see that a right and God pleasing sanctifying of the Sabbath Day means that it is a rest from us and a rest for us.
If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day…Notice the picturesque way the Lord describes the holiness of the Sabbath: turn back your foot from the Sabbath. It is much like when Christ in the burning bush calls to Moses [Ex. 3.5]: Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. The Sabbath is holy ground, is a holy time as we gather around our Lord’s holy word and sacrament—precisely where He has promised to meet us. That’s the right and proper sanctifying/ setting apart the Sabbath. We come to meet the Lord in word and sacrament; we yearn to hear the absolution He speaks to us through the pastor; we gladly hear His holy word and receive Him in our mouths in the Sacrament. The Sabbath is not just any ordinary day. It is the day/ time that the Lord comes and speaks to us in His word and gives us His heavenly and spiritual blessings. That’s why the Sabbath is a rest—it’s a rest from us; it’s a rest from our everyday lives. Normally our daily lives are filled with the cares and concerns of family, job, health, current happenings and a whole bunch of petty matters. But the right and proper remembering the Sabbath Day is turning our attention and focus away from ourselves and toward the Lord; we take off the sandals of our everyday life and concerns and approach the Lord and gladly hear Him. He becomes the focus—not us. That’s why the Sabbath is a rest from us, from our everyday lives. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day…
How absolutely vital it is that we get a rest from ourselves! Our Sabbath rest from ourselves as we come together in worship on Sundays around our present Lord and His holy word and sacrament, is a divine education. It helps clear our heart and minds from the secular influence we are constantly bombarded with. That’s the call and temptation of the world; that’s our old sinful nature at work that directs our gaze downward at the world and makes us think this is the most vital, that this is the end all. The right use of the Sabbath, as we keep it holy, as we don’t drag the world and all its cares and baggage into it, and instead set aside time to hear and ponder our Lord’s holy word and receive His body and blood is that our gaze is turned upward, heavenward; we keep [Hb. 12.2] looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We keep the main thing, the main thing.
What happens though, if we don’t remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy by gladly hearing our Lord’s word? We become increasingly secular; we lose the focus of what is truly important. This world and the things in it become all important and in the end we lose God’s grace and eternal life.
Rightly used, the Sabbath Day rest is a glorious divine discipline that, in a good sense, forces us to occupy our minds with God and His word. Because we still have our old sinful nature that tries to get us to focus on the world and to take our gaze off of Christ, we need always to examine our hearts and lives: am I remembering the Sabbath Day rightly by holding God’s word sacred and gladly hearing and learning it.
The Sabbath Day is also a rest from us since our focus, then, is on the Lord—not ourselves. What happens, then, if we don’t have that Sabbath’s Day rest away from ourselves, when our focus isn’t turned away from us and on the Lord? We become self indulged, self-absorbed. In our text the Lord describes it this way: …going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly. Look at the world around us where people neglect gathering around our Lord and His word. The society around us has become a “me-first”/ “it’s all about me” type society. Self becomes the center and people go out trying to fulfill every whim that arises/ gratify every desire—whether it is legal or not, whether it is moral or not. After all, it’s all about me; no one can judge me. Because this is the dominant view in our society, because this is so appealing to our old sinful nature within us, we truly need this rest from ourselves to lift ourselves out of this and to get our focus on the Lord. Here, what He says, His word, work and promise—are the true reality. It’s not “all about me”; it’s all about the Lord.
How vital this rest from ourselves is for us! When we neglect to keep the Sabbath Day holy, neglect to focus on what is above and instead focus on what the world thinks is important, we will experience spiritual turmoil. That’s because God created us as spiritual beings who are content and at peace only when we are in communion with Him. No matter how much we make ourselves the focus, no matter how much we try to satisfy every whim, everything will be empty unfulfilling unless our gaze is heavenward and in communion with Him. The right use of our Sabbath rest directs us to the Lord.
Remembering the Sabbath Day, gathered in church, around His word and sacrament, with Him as the focus—where we have rest from ourselves, there is true rest for ourselves.
2. The true blessing of the Sabbath Day, our Sunday, is that it is a rest for us. It is a rest for us because as we come to church, gather around our Lord’s holy word and sacrament—as our gaze is directed away from us and toward the Lord—what is happening? He’s serving us in His holy word and sacrament. He’s giving us the forgiveness of sins and the peace of conscience; He’s strengthening our faith; He’s giving us peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Lord doesn’t give us the 3rd Commandment— Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy—as a work we do to earn His favor; it’s not we were made for the Sabbath, to do all kinds of works to merit God’s favor. Instead, He gives us the Sabbath so that by His work in word and sacrament He may give us rest and peace of conscience. Jesus elsewhere says [Mk. 2.27]: The Sabbath was made for man—not just for bodily rest but rest of soul.
This right use of the Sabbath Day to hear and ponder God’s word and to receive His sacrament is a true joy for us Christians precisely because it leads us away from everyday life and away from ourselves and to the Lord. Obeying the 3rd Commandment is not a burden to the Christian because in Spirit-worked faith we know what God is doing for us and giving us in Church; and in fact, we Christians call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable. Our true joy is in the Lord because of His graces toward us—as He, the almighty God Himself, comes to us and gives us every heavenly and spiritual blessing. He even comes to us with bread and wine giving us His very body and blood so that we can have no doubt that He has forgiven us our sin and comes to us and is united with us and we in Him. What delight fills our hearts and minds as we leave the Divine Service! And we can’t get enough of that joy in the Lord and set aside part of each day—a Sabbath hour, if you will, to spend time daily with our Lord in reading and studying His holy word and in prayer!
Our text: Then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. As we rightly and joyfully use each Sabbath Day our gaze is directed heavenward and we enjoy a delightful fellowship with the Lord. We not only have rest now but we are—especially in the Blessed Sacrament, I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father —given a foretaste of the perfect rest we will enjoy eternally, soul and body, in heaven. How blessed we are—the Lord made the Sabbath Day for us. It is a rest from us and a rest for us. Why wouldn’t we want to be in Church? INJ Amen.