Matthew 11: 25-12:8
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 33 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Dearly loved people of God,
Some people have an uneasy feeling about God’s instructions for a day of rest. Many of us are not sure what do do with the whole idea of Sabbath.
I’ve been preaching for nearly 20 years. In that time I’ve seen a change in the behaviour of church-going people - at least among Christian Reformed people in Southern ON. I don’t think there has ever been total agreement about what was and wasn’t appropriate in response to the 4th of the 10 commandments, to keep the Sabbath holy. I think CRC people’s responses to God’s invitation to rest has become more diverse in the last 2 decades. Would you agree?
History
History
“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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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.
Jewish people observe the 7th day as a day of rest: Saturday.
How did this get shifted to Sunday among Christians?
All 4 gospels record that Jesus rose on the 1st day of the week. Jesus’ followers initially met every day of the week in the temple courts. There came an emphasis on gathering on the 1st day of the week as a mini-Easter celebration each week.
So we hear phrases in the NT like
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
I cor 16: 2
So it became Christian practice to mark each Sunday as a day of rest, a day of worship, a day of reliving and retelling how Jesus established the kingdom of heaven through his death and resurrection. But in 2019, what does that look like?
People wrestle with applying for jobs that require them to work on Sunday.
People wonder whether or not to play sports on Sunday; questions about sports from road hockey to sports leagues that schedules games and practices on Sunday.
Is Sunday a day of rest, a day for worship and growing in faith? Is it a family day? Is it a holiday to do whatever catches your fancy?
I suspect that if you went around the church after the service and asked 5 people their opinions on what it means to keep the Sabbath holy, you would get 6 or more different answers.
I would love to promise that this morning’s sermon would answer all our questions at once, but that’s too lofty a goal. I’m going to content myself - and hopefully you - by exploring Jesus’ teaching on the Sabbath in and 12. This morning’s reading fits Jesus’ teaching in other parts of the gospel of Matthew. All through , , , Jesus discusses what righteousness looks like, using examples from the OT law. Jesus discusses the Torah - God’s instructions for holy living. In this passage, he addresses rest and what it means to keep the Sabbath.
The whole idea is introduced with an amazing invitation:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Doesn’t it sound good?
We live in a culture that has trouble getting enough rest. A Health Report released in Sept. 2017 by Statistics Canada states the following:
Short sleep duration and poor sleep quality are prevalent among Canadian adults. About one-third sleep fewer hours per night than recommended for optimal physical and mental health.
Lots more evidence for people’s hunger for rest. Life is go, go, go.
Media tells us young and old to shut off our screens, to detox from cell phones, to unplug from social media. Apps for your smart phone to inform you when you use it too much.
The technology that was supposed to make rest unnecessary now makes rest impossible!
So where does God’s commandment to rest fit?
The whole point of Sabbath commandment was to trust in God. You don’t need to work 24/7. You can trust God that things won’t fall apart if you take 1/7 days off. Keeping the Sabbath is an expression of faith in God.
It wasn’t just about 1 day in seven. It was about 1 year in 7, your fields were to lie fallow. The land rested and people trusted God to provide enough food in 6 years to feed them for 7.
1 year in 49 = 7X7: debts were forgiven, slaves set free, land returned to those who were forced to rent it out. It was a year of Jubilee because the people belonged to God, the land belonged to God, and all food, clothing, property and wealth comes from his fatherly hands.
But humankind has a tendency to twist good things. Ever since the fall into sin, people have been suspicious of God’s gifts, we’ve been reluctant to trust God’s instructions for happy, productive lives. So it’s not surprising that God’s good Sabbath law can be a burden. There might be something wrong when you have to work really hard at resting on the Sabbath.
The legalism of the Pharisees undercuts the purpose of Sabbath rest. God mercifully permitted people to rest. The Pharisees had a long, detailed list of what was and was not work. They didn’t just regulate their own behaviour, they kept a helpful eye on their neighbours so they could point out where their neighbour messed up. They even kindly pointed out the disciples’ unlawful behaviour to Jesus.
Did you notice that?
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
mt 12:
The trouble is that we don’t measure up to God’s commands. Nobody does! Not even the masters of legalistic righteousness. Jesus pointed this out earlier, in
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Even the Pharisees didn’t even measure up to true holiness.
We need help. Listen to Jesus’ offer again:
Mt 5.28-29
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Rest for your souls?
It’s the challenge we face this side of humankind’s fall into sin. We find no rest, for we know that we don’t measure up to our own level of goodness, let alone God’s. It drives us to perfectionism, legalism, and pointing out the faults of others to make ourselves feel better. But there’s no peace, no comfort in those behaviours. We remain restless and guilty before God.
Even the commandments that were intended to teach us righteous living with God, don’t give rest, because we cannot measure up to the standard. Our guilt keeps us apart from God. Guilt and shame drive us away from other people. It leads to death. Being cut off from God and from others is death.
But Jesus makes this offer. Take my yoke, he says. Jesus is the first human to live up to God’s instructions. He loved God the Father and his neighbours. Doing good wasn’t effortless, but it was natural to him. His goodness is so great, that he offers to share his success.
He’ll shoulder the weight of holy living with us and share his success. At the cross, God the Father put the punishment for your sin on Jesus. In Jesus’ resurrection, by faith you are raised to a life of righteousness with Jesus.
He’s done all the heavy lifting. He’s removed the burden of guilt by washing away your shame. He offers you his righteousness. Jesus sends God the Holy Spirit, to transform your life so that goodness becomes more natural, God’s love begins to overflow from you, and you becomes more like Jesus in your attitudes and behaviour.
Why wouldn’t you accept Jesus’ offer:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In Christ, you’ve been granted goodness. In Christ you measure up to God’s standard of holiness. Now as someone who has been yoked in with Jesus, your new challenge isn’t to bear the whole load alone, but to stay in step with him.