Sermon Tone Analysis

Me

When I was little, Sabbath was the worst.

My siblings and I did not like Sabbath at all.

We thought church was okay, but Sabbath itself was terrible.

I mean it was just filled with so many rules!

We were told there were some things we could do on Sabbath and there were many things we couldn’t do on Sabbath.

The things we could do were all the things we didn’t want to do and the things we couldn’t do were all the things we wanted to do.

We felt like we had to be very careful with every little action we did or we might make God unhappy because we weren’t keeping the Sabbath exactly how God wanted us to keep it.

I remember being told that after church we had to be quiet in the house because mom and dad were sleeping.

We could only watch videos that were about animals or about the Bible.

We could play outside, but even then our activities were monitored.

We could go in the pool, but only up to our knees.

We could play outside, but no sports.

We could play make believe, but only if we believed we were a missionary or a bible character.

But when the sun went down we were excited!

Because now we could do all the things that were deemed wrong.

Because the sun was no longer visible, now we could do all the fun things we wanted to do.

And parents wonder why their children don’t like Sabbath.

Or why so many young people are leaving the church.

We

So am I the only one who has experienced this before?

Can you relate?

Maybe you too know it all too well.

Could there be more to Sabbath than a nice afternoon nap?

Waiting is hard, especially for Americans.

We want everything fast and quick, right now.

We shouldn’t have to wait for our food to be made.

We shouldn’t have to wait for our appointments or our mail.

We complain and sometimes even get nervous when we are in large lines that everyone must go through.

Maybe you too want Sabbath to be more than a restful blessing.

This morning we are going to venture on a journey to discover or maybe rediscover the true meaning of Sabbath, which is not merely a day of rest.

But waiting is essential to the christian life.

God

In order to understand the Sabbath, we need to grasp one of the central truths of who God is.

This central truth can help explain why God does anything at all.

Most, maybe even all of God’s actions are based on this one truth.

God is relational.

At God’s core He is relational.

Relationships are of the utmost importance.

Relationships are more important than rules and commandments.

For the rules and commandments are for God’s relationships.

Relationships are more important than prophecies.

Without God’s relationships their would be no need for prophecies.

Relationships are at the center of who God is.

If we can understand that God is relational, then we can understand any biblical truth.

God is relational.

His very existence is relational.

The trinity at its core exists as a three being relationship.

The trinity is our example of a perfect, loving, and selfless relationship.

It is at this core value that the kingdom of God is governed.

Relationship is the driving force of everything God does and is at the core of the Sabbath.

To get a full experience out of Sabbath is not to focus on a list of 100 rules, making sure we aren't going above the knee when we enter water, or making sure that we don’t “work.”

Sabbath was never meant to built around actions or activities, but around a relationship.

We are told by Jesus that the Sabbath was made for mankind.

Meaning, the Sabbath was meant to be a blessing, to serve mankind and not the other way around.

But far too often it has been the other way around.

The Sabbath has been the most legalistic topic in Adventism.

Could it be, that Adventists have at time misunderstood the Sabbath?

The pharisees thought they knew the Sabbath well.

They too had a long list of ways to keep the Sabbath.

Often when we have a Bible study on the Sabbath we take time to address how ridiculous it is that the pharisees had a long list of rules to protect them from sinning on the Sabbath, but the truth of the matter is that we often do the same thing.

In fact one of the pharisees actions on Jesus was concerning the Sabbath.

details two stories about hos Jesus didn’t keep the Sabbath according to the pharisees.

Matthew 12:1-

Jesus and his disciples are making their way through some fields of grain and picking some of the heads of grain to eat.

When the Pharisees saw it, they take offense at it and claim that Jesus and his disciples are not keeping the Sabbath but are profaning it.

Why?

Because you see, the disciples weren’t merely plucking heads of grain they were harvesting the grain!

And harvesting is work.

And the fourth commandment clearly states that no one is allowed to do work on the Sabbath.

So why did Jesus allow his disciples to act in such an abominable way!?

The simple answer is that they were hungry.

Jesus justifies their actions by citing how David and the priests ate the showbread and were also guiltless.

But the kicker is found in verses 6-8.

Jesus lets the pharisees and us as well know that Jesus is greater than the temple, in fact he is the one who created the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was created not for men and women to watch every little thing they do, but the Sabbath was created to be a blessing.

So why was Jesus’ and the disciples’ actions justified?

Were they not working?

No.

They were not working.

It is plain that through the text, that they were passing through and were hungry.

So what does this teach us about the Sabbath and our relationship with God?

It teaches that we shouldn’t limit our Sabbath enjoyment to legalistic thinking but should approach Sabbath with the mindset of joy and not paying attention to a list.

After this Jesus entered into a synagogue.

Its still the Sabbath.

While there, Jesus meets a man who has a withered hand.

Matthew 12:

This man is obviously brought to the synagogue by the pharisees because before Jesus even approaches the man, the pharisees ask Jesus a question.

“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

In fact its a form of a question we probably ask every weekend.

Is it lawful to do this or that on Sabbath?

How do we determine whether we can do these things?

Jesus’ response to their question is by asking them a question of his own.

If your sheep falls into a pit, will you not take him out?

How much more value is a man than a sheep?

Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

According to Jesus it is lawful to do good on Sabbath.

So how do we determine what is good and what is evil activities?

Do we have a biblical scale upon which we can measure all these things?

Is there an app on our phone that can tell us?