1 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1) Prayer/Introduction. Origins of Sabbath Rules

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1 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1) Prayer/Introduction Today I would like to explore a topic with you that has been discussed, refined, refuted, and discussed some more. It has actually received far more attention that it warrants and has caused disagreements and has divided churches. It seems to be a point where we quickly judges others and is central to a legalistic approach to Seventh-day Adventist Christianity. How should we observe the Sabbath? This was a hot topic back in Jesus day. He got in lots of trouble over His failure to properly observe the Sabbath. There were many who had difficulty believing that anyone who so blatantly broke the Sabbath rules could really be sent from God. Origins of Sabbath Rules The Jewish traditions of Jesus day surrounding the Sabbath originated around the time of the exile to Babylon and the subsequent return of many to Jerusalem about 70 years later. It finally sunk in that they were in so much trouble because they were not following God s plan for their lives. They determined that they would do better. Judging from the account of Ezra and Nehemiah, the main problems were intermingling with the local people and a failure to keep the Sabbath holy. Since God ceased from creating on the Sabbath they assumed that anything that had to do with creating or the creative process must be work and therefore not permissible on the Sabbath. (Check out the Website). This prohibited anything to do with planting, plowing, reaping, gathering, and winnowing. Jesus and his crew got in trouble over these as one Sabbath they were walking through a grain field and they pick some (reaping), rubbed it between their hands to clean it (winnowing) and then ate it. Sifting was not ok. Using a tea bag would be unacceptable because in some ways it was sifting. You were not allowed to sort or purify anything. Any activity that took food or drink and changed it somehow to make it eatable was prohibited. It was considered an offense to separate the bones from a fish, even while you were eating it. If you had a bowl of raisins and nuts and you didn t like the raisins but wanted to eat the nuts, picking out and setting aside the raisins was considered a serious transgression but picking up and eating the nuts, leaving the raisins alone, would be ok. In preparing food, you could make a salad, but you could not cook, bake, fry or heat food because that changed the consistency and characteristics of the food creating something a little different. You were not allowed to tie or untie anything. It was an offense to tear something. You were not allowed to trap or kill an animal, not even a fly. Writing was not allowed because it was often used in 1 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1)

2 business and might make you think of work. Demolition is expressly forbidden. Removing hair from your body was considered demolition so you were not allowed to comb your hair or your beard as you might pull out a hair or two in the process. There are many others I could share but I think you are getting the point. They wanted to be sure they were not breaking the commandment so they made rules to protect the commandment, then more rules to protect the rules protecting the commandment. And then more rules to protect the rules that protected the rules and so on. As SDAs, we have not been much better in our approach. Our Sabbath keeping traditions had their roots in the Puritans, one of the dominant religions in the early history of the development of our country and very works and behavior oriented. Is it permissible to swim on Sabbath or just wade how much can we get wet and still be ok? Can we watch TV as long as it is the Hope Channel? Can we prepare our food on Sabbath or must it all be done prior to sundown on Friday night? What about eating out on Sabbath? How about showering or taking a bath Sabbath morning? Is it okay to ride a bike? It s fine to take a nap; but, we often feel guilty helping someone move or clean their home, or any another act of kindness that maybe could have waited until another day. And who of us that have grown up in the church have not at some time or another counted down the minutes until sundown on Saturday night so we could be free of the Sabbath restrictions and go have some fun? We often get so focused on the do s and don ts that we entirety miss the point. We somehow feel that our salvation is dependent on how we keep the Sabbath. We act as though what we do on the Sabbath somehow makes us more or less acceptable to God. It is to many of us one more way to ensure that we have a place in Heaven. In fact, like the Jews of old, it seems that we often worship the Sabbath rather than Jesus, and have elevated our traditions and man-made rules about keeping it above clear Biblical guidelines. Biblical View So what does the Bible tell us? The Sabbath is first mentioned in connection with Creation. It was to be an integral part of a perfect world. Reading from Genesis chapter two: Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3, TNIV) The word which is translated rested is from the Hebrew word Shabath, which in many places is translated Sabbath. It literally means to stop working which also means to rest. It also means to celebrate. 2 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1)

3 It s not that it was a hard week and God was worn out and needed a break He was done with the work of Creation and was celebrating its completion, its goodness! Then He blessed it. This is translated from the word barak which means to bless, to praise, and to bring a gift to another out of respect. It means to give something of value to another that is intended to foster faith and confidence in the Giver. It tells us that God was giving us the Sabbath as a gift of value. The Sabbath is a gift that provides for our needs and inspires us to trust and love Him more! Then He sanctified it. This is from the Hebrew word qadash which means to make or pronounce something as clean or pure; it means to consecrate, dedicate, or to set something apart for a special function. This is telling me that on the seventh day of the creation week, God celebrated the goodness and completeness of His work by pronouncing that day Holy and giving it to us as a special gift to remind us that He has provided us with everything we need. He called it Sabbath, a celebration of resting in Him! In the perfect world created by God, it was to be a weekly celebration of creation, a reminder of God's goodness in a perfect world a gift of time to grow the bonds of love between us and God! Hundreds of years later, after sin had all but destroyed God s image in man God reminded the Israelites, the people He had freed from slavery in Egypt, of the principles of living their life in God when He gave them the Ten Commandments and right in the middle of them we find this gift called the Sabbath! Let s look at this command a bit closer: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. The Hebrew word that is translated Sabbath here, is the same Hebrew word that was translated rested in the Creation account. It means literally the day of resting and celebrating. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. The Hebrew word here translated rested is different from the word used in Genesis 2. The word used here is nuwach, which means to rest in, to settle down in, to dwell or stay or remain. Here God is telling them that He settled down in, or dwells and remains in the Seventh Day. He lives in the Sabbath in a way that is different and special than the way He lives in any other day implying that there is a special blessing for those who meet Him there. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11, NKJV) 3 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1)

4 Because He lives in that day in a special way, He again pronounced that day Holy and gave it to us to remind us that He has provided everything we need. He knew that we needed the Sabbath, a celebration of resting in Him, more than ever because of the battle with sin! Again, this is a weekly gift, a celebration of creation, a time and place where we can receive from God a special blessing unavailable anyplace else. Jesus and the Sabbath Jesus connected Himself to the rest found in the Sabbath: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30, NKJV) In life, there are few really important questions the answer to all of them (including those regarding Sabbath observance) all answered in the phrase, Come to Me! This is the foundation of everything Spiritual. This is where our spiritual life begins. This is how our spiritual life is maintained and grows. This is our invitation to others. This is the culmination of our life as we are taken from this world into Heaven. The words that are translated rest here are also important; they are from two different Greek words. The first I will give you rest implies peace, trust, freedom from worry a gift for now. The second, you will find rest for your souls focuses more on renewal, recreation, and making us into the people who will be able to rest in Him a gift for eternity! This comes by working together with Jesus and living in His presence. And, Jesus tied Himself to the Sabbath in a story we alluded earlier where He and His disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath because they picked, prepared, and ate some grain. He shared a couple of important thoughts and then concluded His defense with these words: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27-28, NIV) The Sabbath was part of the perfect world that God prepared for His children, it was a gift to them intended to provide ongoing fellowship with God it was made for us, not the other way around. Then He declared Himself the Lord of the Sabbath. He was to be its focus, not all the rules that dictated acceptable or non-acceptable behavior. The author of Hebrews helps us complete this picture. As always, I encourage you to read the entire passage, but in the interest of time here are the highlights: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 4 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1)

5 It says that anyone who enters God s Sabbath rest rests from their works. This tells me that the Sabbath is not about my works my good or bad behavior, my attempts to do the right thing so I may gain His approval, my legalistic approach to keeping the Sabbath or living my life in general. I am not saved or lost based on how I keep the Sabbath, my salvation is completely based on Jesus. The Sabbath is about entering into God s rest (found only in Jesus), the gift He gives us of peace and security in Him, the gift He gives us of Him putting His law in our minds and writing it on our hearts (Jer. 31:33-34). Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest Since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:9-16, NIV) This rest is about approaching God s throne with confidence, not because we are good, but because Jesus was good and stands in our place. And what will we receive there? We will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Conclusion The Sabbath is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. It is an invitation to enter into a specific place and time to celebrate God's creation and re-creation. It is a gift to us that, if accepted, will take us closer to God and is key in the process of remaking our lives into all God designed us to be. The connection that Sabbath brings is so vital to our spiritual life that it was put in place for a perfect, sin-free world and will continue throughout eternity when everything is set right again (Isa 65-66). How much more important it is now as we are struggling with the effects of sin in and around us. The Sabbath is a promise that God has time for us. I remember when I was in academy going in to see my Bible Teacher and Counselor. One of the first things he did as we started talking was remove his watch and place it face down on the desk. This told me that whatever time I needed with him; he was willing to give me he was not in a rush. It told me that I was important enough to him that he would give me his undivided attention for as long as I needed it. At a future sermon, we will spend some time looking at more specifics of how to keep the Sabbath; however, I must warn you that there are not very many presented in the Bible. The Sabbath is about relationship, time spent together getting better acquainted and it s hard to dictate how that works for each of us. For now, consider this. The Sabbath is a gift to us from the Creator of the Universe (Sabbath made for man...). It is an invitation to deepen our connection with Jesus (the Lord of the Sabbath). It is not a day for us to do our own thing to get caught up on our own agenda; it s a day to spend getting to know and love Him, it is a day for us 5 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1)

6 to allow God to implant His agenda into our lives. It is about who we will choose as Lord of our lives - ourselves or God? If you and I will come to Jesus with this attitude and ask Him to guide us in our Sabbath observance and activities with the intention of following where He leads, we will be keeping the Sabbath as it was intended to be kept. Keep your focus on Jesus getting closer to Him and learning to love and trust Him; the rest (pun intended) will fall into place! Closing Song (My Jesus I Love Thee, #321) 1. My Jesus I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; For Thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; 2. I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me, And purchased my pardon on Calvary s tree; I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow; 3. I ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee til death, And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow, 4. In mansions of glory and endless delight, I ll ever adore Thee in Heaven so bright; I ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow, Benediction 6 Can! Can Not!! (Part 1)