Respect the Sabbath

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 24th of August, 2025.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

The word “genesis” means an origin, a beginning, or creation.  The first book in our Holy Bible, authored by Moses, is aptly named “Genesis”, for it tells of the origin, the beginning, the creation of everything there is out of nothing, all accomplished simply by the word of God.  In the Book of Genesis we read that God created the world and all that is in it in six days.  And as we humans are an inquisitive lot, that statement alone has generated much thought and scholarly debate.

First off, would it really take God six days to effect this massive work?  Well, no, because God is God and God can do anything in the blink of an eye.  And then there’s the question of whether those six days were really 24-hour human days, or actually six thousand years, or some other amount of passing time.  I tend to believe they were human-type days.

At first, there was nothing, just complete darkness.  After God said, “Let there be light”, He separated the light from the darkness, calling the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”.  And Moses states, “Evening came, then morning — that was the first day.”  Ok, so maybe that stretch of light and darkness could have been a thousand human years long.  But does it really matter if it was 24 hours or ten thousand years?

Time was created for us, to enable change and the unfolding of divine purpose, to provide a foundation for God’s relationship with us.  God Himself is outside of time, so He can call a “day” whatever span of human time He wants to call it.  At any rate, in six days God created everything that needed to be created, and then He rested.

After all that exertion, God was tired and needed to take a day off.  Uhhh, NO!  God does not get tired nor does He need a rest break.  But man does, so God set the example of taking a brief respite from labor.  In this case, it’s one day out of seven, or a one to seven ratio.  This, by the way, also works well in agriculture, allow a field to go fallow, to rest, one year every seven years.  God blessed this seventh day, and sanctified it, setting it aside for rest and worship.  Now in the days of Moses, as in our present age, Sunday was the first day of the week and Saturday the seventh.  So Saturday became that day of rest, the Sabbath day.  

By Jesus’ day, the religious leaders had taken God’s sanctification of the Sabbath to extremes, to where the people weren’t allowed any form of labor, not even to cook a meal during the Sabbath.  If God didn’t work on the seventh day, then neither should they.  To do otherwise would be disrespectful to God, or so the leaders said.

There are a number of instances in our New Testament where Jesus countered this belief, this overexertion of authority the Pharisees held over the people.  Please listen and follow along to one such event that occurred on a Sabbath day, and the various reactions to that event, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in verses 10 through 17 of the 13th chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

10 One Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for 18 years. She was completely bent over and could not straighten up. 12 When Jesus saw the woman, He called her over and said, “You are now well.” 13 He placed His hands on her, and at once she stood up straight and praised God.

14 The man in charge of the synagogue was angry because Jesus had healed someone on the Sabbath. So he said to the people, “Each week has six days when we can work. Come and be healed on one of those days, but not on the Sabbath.”

15 The Lord replied, “Are you trying to fool someone? Won't any one of you untie your ox or donkey and lead it out to drink on a Sabbath? 16 This woman belongs to the family of Abraham, but Satan has kept her bound for 18 years. Isn't it right to set her free on the Sabbath?” 17 Jesus' words made His enemies ashamed. But everyone else in the crowd was happy about the wonderful things He was doing.

--Luke 13:10-17 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us rules to live by so that we can be seen as righteous in Your eye.  And thank You for showing us that we need to take a break every now and then, that we need to rest on a schedule.  It’s for our own health and well-being, both physical and mental.  And we know that we should spend that day of rest to stop long enough in our daily pursuits to worship and praise You.  But, Father, we don’t always take that time, make that time for worship.  We get too caught up in fun things to do while we’re not having to work.  We might only worship You for one hour out of the 24.  And then, with everything going on each day and all the hate and uncertainty in the world, we too often hesitate to share our faith with others, trying to lead them to Jesus.  Please forgive us our failures, Father.  Help us be more obedient to Your will, respecting the Sabbath and showing Your love to others so that they too might find salvation through Jesus.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better grasp the message You have for us this day.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service.  And please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

J. Vernon McGee tells this story about a man who wanted to argue about the Sabbath. The man said, “I’ll give you $100 if you will show me where the Sabbath day has been changed.” McGee answered, “I don't think it has been changed. Saturday is Saturday, it is the seventh say of the week, and it is the Sabbath day. I realize our calendar has been adjusted, and can be off a few days, but we won't even consider that point. The seventh day is still Saturday, and it is still the Sabbath day.” The man got a gleam in his eye and said, “Then why don't you keep the Sabbath day if it hasn't been changed?” McGee answered, “The DAY hasn't changed, but I have been changed. I've been given a new nature now, I am joined to Christ; I am a part of the new creation. We celebrate the first day because that is the day He rose from the grave.”

Yes, the Sabbath is indeed Saturdays - always has been, always will be.  But Christians have celebrated and observed Sundays as our day of worship since the early days of the church.  Of course, not everyone looks fondly on Sundays, not even those who consider themselves Christians.

Author and co-director of Mainstay Ministries, Karen Burton Mains, steps on a few toes when she asks, “Do you rush, push, shout and become generally unpleasant on Sunday mornings?  Do you complain about church?  Are you irregular in your attendance?  Are you over-conscientious about matters that are not really important?  Do you always criticize the pastor, the choir, the length of services and the usher crew?  Then don't be surprised if your children grow up to look at Sundays as the worst day of the week.”

In a sense, Sunday can be looked at as the Christian Sabbath.  It is our day to worship God and celebrate His Son’s day of resurrection.  But in our modern culture, Sunday has become anything but a day of rest and worship.

In my youth, not that long ago in the grand scheme of things, we had Blue Laws that prevented most stores and businesses from being open and kept some items from being sold on Sundays, at least until after normal church hours.  There wasn’t as much going on so folks could spend more time together at church and church gatherings.  All that has changed over the years, and now many people have to work on Sundays, and you can buy anything on a Sunday that you can buy any other day of the week.

But the greater sadness in all this is that fewer and fewer people attend any kind of church service, on Sunday or any other day.  For those who do, worship is only an hour, maybe two, before going about other activities.  And those other activities have increased in quantity and variety, becoming more attractive than spending time in worship.  Many of our kids’ events, especially sports games and tournaments, now are held on weekends, taking up all of Saturdays and Sundays.  It seems we’ve either forgotten what God meant by giving us a day of rest, or we simply choose to ignore it.

The Sabbath was one of the first gifts God gave us, right from the very beginning, and it has endured throughout the history of man.  It holds high honor in both Old and New Testaments.  Let me give another example of respecting the Sabbath, as the great prophet Isaiah tells us how we should live and behave every day, beginning with the Sabbath.  Please hear the words of Isaiah from verse 9 through the first part of verse 14 of chapter 58 of the book bearing his name…

9 When you beg the Lord for help,

He will answer, “Here I am!”

Don't mistreat others

or falsely accuse them

or say something cruel.

10 Give your food to the hungry

and care for the homeless.

Then your light will shine

in the dark;

your darkest hour will be

like the noonday sun.

11 The Lord will always guide you

and provide good things to eat

when you are in the desert.

He will make you healthy.

You will be like a garden

that has plenty of water

or like a stream

that never runs dry.

12 You will rebuild those houses

left in ruins for years;

you will be known

as a builder and repairer

of city walls and streets.

13 But first, you must start

respecting the Sabbath

as a joyful day of worship.

You must stop doing and saying

whatever you please

on this special day.

14 Then you will truly enjoy

knowing the Lord.

--Isaiah 58:9-14a (CEV)

If we look at what Jesus said in our morning reading with what God says here through Isaiah, do they seem to be in conflict, contradicting each other?  No, not really.  We are to treat the Sabbath as the day for worshiping God and doing good in His name.  It is ok to do things on the Sabbath if it is in some way serving God and Jesus.  This is how we respect the Sabbath.

Jesus reminded the Pharisees that the Sabbath was created for man’s benefit, not that man was created for the Sabbath.  He also told them that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and by His own acts He showed that doing good on the Sabbath was OK in God’s eyes, even if it meant having to labor to do it.  So yes, it is indeed ok if we do other things on our day of rest and worship, as long as we keep that worship aspect in the forefront.

We worship God best by doing what He commands, and what He commands is all based on love.  He loves us, and wants us to love others.  Like Isaiah points out, while we’re going about our Sunday activities (or on any day for that matter), we must not mistreat others, or falsely accuse them, or say something cruel.  We must remember to help others when we can, letting the Light that is Jesus shine through us.  We respect the Sabbath not by what we do or not do, but by how we love.

So once we walk out these doors to continue our version of the Sabbath, let’s make an extra effort to show God’s love through our love, to everyone we encounter.  And let that Sabbath love extend throughout the days and weeks to come.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for instituting the Sabbath for us, giving us the time and opportunity to rest.  And thank You for sending Your Son as the Lord of the Sabbath, who explained what the day is really about.  But sadly, Father, we don’t always observe this beautiful day, this offering to our well-being, in the way we should.  We don’t really stop and rest, nor do we spend more of the time in worship.  But we do try to usually gather together and worship You here in our church family.  Remind us, please Father, why You set the example of rest.  Remove our attraction to all those activities that pull us away from spending more time with You, and forgive us those times we fail to live and behave righteously.  Please help us reach out to others and share with them all You teach us through Your word.  Help us lead them to Jesus so they too may be saved. 

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what comes our way.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for teaching us about the Sabbath by example and by word.  You emphasized that the Sabbath was instituted for us, for our own good, so that we can rest and build a stronger relationship with our Father God.  Please forgive us, Lord, when we don’t respect the Sabbath as we should.  We know we disappoint You when we rush out of our worship service, or avoid it altogether, just to enjoy other activities.  Please help us be more like You in how we live and behave.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to do to lead the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.