There is a phrase we use that arouses immediate suspicion.  The phrase is, “It’s good for you.”  Now what is the first thing that you thought of?  Perhaps some nasty tasting medicine was once introduced to you with the encouragement, “It’s good for you.”  For those of who don’t like green leafy vegetables, have you ever heard this phrase employed to convince you that spinach is delicious? “It’s good for you.”  Of course, just because radar goes up and suspicion increases does not negate the truth held in that phrase.  Sometimes it is even used in favorable situations.  In a recent study at the University of California at San Francisco researchers declared that eating dark chocolate every day is good for you.  Apprarently, dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids and according to the study, “Flavoniods keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries.”

Last week began a 7-sermon series on Sabbath.  In this series I promised to spell out
S-A-B-B-A-T-H: What it is, when it is and what it means.  Last week we were challenged to Set aside the Sabbath every week to rest and enjoy the result of a week’s work, just as God did after 6 days of creation.  The S is for Set Aside.  However, I fear that this was heard by some as the ever suspicious phrase, “It is good for you,” which some people translate as, “I am not going to like this.”

Today we turn to God’s Top 10, you know, the non-negotiables of Jewish and Christian doctrine.  It’s strange - we accept nine of these without protest.  No other gods, no idol worship, no using God’s name in vain are all understood to be reasonable spiritual commandments.  Honoring mother and father, refraining from murder, adultery, theft, lying, and even coveting are not only religiously sound commandments, but also socially profound.   It’s a good Top Ten List, which proclaims in ten different ways that God, the “I am”, is enough.  There is, however, a curious thing about the forgotten commandment - more is written about it than any of the others.

Exodus 20:8-11 expresses the fourth commandment.  Hear the Word of the Lord:

⁸Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.  

The Word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Here we find the fourth commandment compelling the people of God to always observe the Sabbath as a weekly sanctuary of time.  The A is for Always Observe – it’s good for you, really.  In the midst of all the “thou shalt not’s” of the Ten Commandments, we find a “remember” and this exhortation to Always Observe.  Keeping Sabbath is good for you.  Always observe Sabbath it’s good for you, really.

It is a gift not a burden.

God did not design the Sabbath to be drudgery or a day without enjoyment.  Quite the contrary, God gave the Sabbath as a gift to humanity to rekindle our relationship with a God who looks out for our good.  “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God”.  It is an anniversary with the God of creation and anniversaries are meant to be fun.

Of course, forgetting an anniversary takes a lot of the fun out of it.  In the movie “Family Man” Nicolas Cage is hurled into a parallel time.  He wakes up in the world of what might have been, had he not chosen a career over a relationship with his true love.  It was culture shock to be stripped of all his possessions and corporate power and to receive relationships of a loving wife and darling children.  He rolled with the punches as best he could, but when his wife greeted him “good morning” with an anniversary present, he knew he was in for a bad day.  His little daughter saw the shell-shocked man, whom she believed to be an alien in her daddy’s body, and said, “you forgot your anniversary?!”  It was supposed to be a fun day.

I can imagine us in our 24/7 kind of culture racing through the weekend, working on projects for the office and around the home, praying that the clock and calendar would slow down so we could get caught up and sitting down to our Monday morning routine, when God says in a voice as soft as a little girl’s, “You forgot your anniversary?!”  It was a gift.  It was supposed to be fun.  Truth is, if we need 24/7 to keep up with all that we’re doing, we’re probably not keeping up anyway.  “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath”.  A gift between you and God.  Always observe Sabbath it’s good for you, really.

It’s an oasis not a barren wilderness.

When I was a kid, Sundays were tough for me.  Nothing was open, my friends were at church.  There was nothing on T.V., unless it was football season, and Monday was only a day away.  Sunday seemed like a barren wilderness.  Now I’m not saying that Sunday is the Sabbath.  In fact, I’m not even getting in that discussion for a week or two, but I am saying that to many people the commandment of Sabbath sounds like a sentence, like a type of a punitive “time-out”.  It was meant to be an oasis.

“You shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.”  All were equal on the Sabbath.  All were at rest.  There was no positioning for that competitive edge, no frantic self-serving efforts to achieve more, no loopholes for activity - just a day to enjoy what one has.  It’s an oasis.

            Several years ago, my daughter, Chelsea, and I got up before dawn to hike 6-1/2 miles into the Grand Canyon.  It was a beautiful day.  The temperature was about 48 degrees, perfect for a brisk hike.  We made the 6-1/2 mile hike in about 3 hours.  We soaked our tired feet in a stream near Plateau Point.  Then we turned around for the 6-1/2 mile hike up.  It was no longer 48 degrees, but about 100; within hours it would be about 110 where we were and 115 degrees on the canyon floor.  There were rest stops every mile and a half and they were full.  People went there to get under the shade of the tin roofs and get water for our bottles, and water for our over-heated heads.  We’d fill our hats with water and put them on our heads, letting the water roll down us, knowing that it would evaporate before it reached our shoes.  We barely noticed those rest stations on our way down, but we sure appreciated them on our way up.

That’s the kind of oasis Sabbath offers us.  Let me give you a taste of what God has for you.  Take a deep breath and as you inhale think of the word “peace”, as you exhale think of the word “stress.”  Breathe in peace, breathe out stress.  Most of you felt some relief in less than 30 seconds.  Just think of a whole day, once a week, every week.  It would be an oasis, and it’s yours.  I find myself in desperate need of an oasis this week.  The nightmare at Virginia Tech that has flooded the television screens went from unbelievable, to sickening, to sucking the life out of me.  It was as if a cloud of sadness hovered over my soul and I was unable to see the sunshine.  Thursday greeted me with the news that friends of over 20 years lost their son to depression and suicide.  There have been stretches of time where I never noticed the rest stops, but there are those times when I desperately need an oasis.  Do you have times like that?  I have good news for you.  God gave it to you, commanded you to always observe it.  Always observe Sabbath it’s good for you, really.  It’s a gift, it’s an oasis.

It’s Divine

            The rationale for Sabbath was straightforward.  To anyone who would ask “Why do we always observe Sabbath?”, the answer would be, “Because God did”. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.” God did it.  I told you last week that this is not an addendum to the creation story, it is an essential element to it.  God instituted the work/rest rhythm of creation.  So if we miss Sabbath we miss the beat, we’re out of step, we’ve got no rhythm.

Thursday afternoon on my way home from Missouri City, I drove through Richmond, Texas and the Swinging Door.  I remembered going there years ago with a Lutheran pastor and his wife.  They wanted Tammy and I to go dancing with them.  I don’t dance.  I’m not against it.  I just can’t do it.  I am rhythmically challenged.  Nevertheless, I told them I’d give it a try.  Kathleen is about a foot and a half shorter than me and suffers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  She could not walk until she was a teenager.  She cannot tie her own shoes.  She experiences more pain and discomfort in a day than most of us experience in a year.  And yet, she can two-step.  She could feel the rhythm and move in proper time.  I don’t have to tell you which of us seemed to be suffering from physical limitations on the dance floor that night.

            I thought about showing you my “two-stepping” ability.  I thought it might give you a visual image of how awkward we are when we forget the Sabbath.  I thought perhaps that frightening image alone would compel you to always observe Sabbath.  However, I realize that I’d better not do that for two reasons.  First of all, it would destroy any shred of dignity that I have in your minds and secondly, it could produce nightmares.  So suffice it to say, that to observe Sabbath is divine, to forget it is to be out of step with God, who looks out for our good. Always observe Sabbath it’s good for you, really. 

So, I invite you to obey the fourth commandment.  Sabbath: The A is for Always Observe.  It’s a gift.  It’s an oasis.  It’s divine.  And to help you remember it, just think G-O-D:

Gift. 

Oasis. 

Divine. 

Because Sabbath is all about God – a God who looks out for our good.  Always observe Sabbath it’s good for you, really.   Amen.