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When
did you buy that first ring? I don’t mean the mood ring that came
from the gumball machine. I mean “the ring” whose sole intent was to
be placed on someone else’s hand. Mine was purchased in sixth grade
at the Sundry Shoppe. (Spelled the fancy way, S-H-O-P-P-E). It was a
shiny silver initial ring with a cursive ‘K’ on it. I paid 49
cents for it. They had some for 29 cents, but they looked too cheap
for my plans. I offered my “special K” ring to Renee, the
first girl to steal my heart. I can still remember my sweaty palms as
I stood there studying the jewelry case. I needed “the ring” that
would show my 6th grade sweetie how much I cared for her.
I should have known better, that was the year The Left Banke had the
big hit, “Just Walk Away Renee.” She did. I discovered later
even the expensive 49-cent rings turned fingers green. I’m not sure
Renee knew that. I don’t believe she wore my special ‘K’
ring long enough to find out, before she walked away.
I’m afraid God seems
to have the same luck with his steadies. He chose Abraham and his
descendants to be his beloved Israel. He gave them the Sabbath
as their “steady ring”. They seemed to show no more appreciation for
God’s gift than my sixth grade girlfriend showed toward my 49-cent
investment of love. Listen to God’s side of the story in Ezekiel 20
and imagine the Sabbath to be a ring given out of love
by God to God’s people. Hear the Word of the Lord:
12Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign
between me and them, so that they might know that I the
Lord sanctify them.
13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in
the wilderness; they did not observe my statutes but rejected my
ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live; and my sabbaths
they greatly profaned. Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon
them in the wilderness, to make an end of them.
14But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it
should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I
had brought them out. 15Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that
I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land
flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands,
16because they rejected my ordinances and did not
observe my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths; for their heart went
after their idols. 17Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I did not
destroy them or make an end of them in the wilderness.
18I said to their children in the wilderness, Do
not follow the statutes of your parents, nor observe their ordinances,
nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19I the Lord am your God;
follow my statutes, and be careful to observe my ordinances,
20and hallow my sabbaths that they may be a sign
between me and you, so that you may know that I the
Lord am your God. 21But the children rebelled against me; they did
not follow my statutes, and were not careful to observe my ordinances,
by whose observance everyone shall live; they profaned my sabbaths.
Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger
against them in the wilderness.
22But I withheld my hand, and acted for the sake
of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the
nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.
23Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that
I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the
countries, 24because they had not executed my ordinances,
but had rejected my statutes and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes
were set on their ancestors’ idols.
In this
passage the prophet Ezekiel relayed to his readers the struggle
between a covenant making God and a covenant breaking people. Let us
pray.
I love
the Old Testament. Its stories are so rich, so timeless, so
accessible. Look at God in this story. He is smitten with love for
his people. God gave them the Sabbath to show them how special they
were. God gave them decrees and laws that if followed would produce a
fulfilling life. God prepared for them land that was the jewel of the
region, and though God has been repeatedly jilted by his beloved, God
will not give up.
We can’t look at the
entire passage in detail this morning. There’s too much there.
However, look with me at the subject of Sabbath in this
passage and see if you can get a glimpse of its holiness. The ‘H’
in Sabbath is for holy. Sabbath
is a band of holiness, a weekly reminder, a regular symbol.
Sabbath Reminds You That You Are Holy
Verse 12
in the New International version reads, “I gave them the Sabbath as
a sign between us so they would know that I, the Lord, made them holy.”
If they would have just set aside one day, always
observing the Sabbath, if they would have been still
regularly, they would have seen the benefits, avoided
the abuse and stood in the place to be.
They would have perceived that they were holy.
Of course, we often
misunderstand that word “holy”. We think of it as
“goody two shoes”, someone who never thinks a bad thought, never cuts
someone off on University Drive trying to get over in the right hand
lane before the by-pass, and spends vacations in Calcutta tending to
the poor. That’s not what it means to be holy. To be
holy is to be set apart, to be different than the rest.
God was telling Israel, “I gave you the Sabbath to
remind you that you’re different. You’re special. You’re my beloved
people.” Jesus’ ministry opened the doors for non-Jews to be included
in the covenant people. The laws, decrees, prohibitions to idols, and
gifts of the Sabbath were offered to us as well. We are
holy. You are holy, I am holy,
and Sabbath reminds us of that.
When I
officiate at a wedding and hold the rings in my hand, I am deeply
touched by the potential power of these rings to remind a couple that
in a sometimes hostile world, there is a person set apart for them to
offer love, care and commitment always. I often remember my seminary
days when I worked in a Sheet Metal Shop. I probably should have taken
my ring off, but I always like having it there. Many of my days were
spent grinding welds into a smooth, seamless corner. It was a dirty
job, oiled steel being grinded with sand paper, and then buffed
smooth. It left my hands raw and covered with dark, greasy flecks of
steel. My hand would be coal black except for one shiny spot on the
third finger of my left hand. It was a reminder that even in the
darkest of times, love shines through.
Sabbath holds that
power. It reminds us that we are holy. We are God’s -
set apart by God. God loves us. God will care for us. God remains
committed to God’s relationship with us. But the ancient Israelites
desecrated the Sabbath, polluted it by ignoring it.
They walked away from God and God’s purpose for them - a purpose of
love, life, and land. Shame on them - to spurn such a pure love, to
throw away such a beautiful reminder of their relationship. Shame on
them! Shame on us when we convince ourselves that we’re too
busy for Sabbath and walk away - just like Renee.
Sabbath
reminds you that you are holy. You are God’s.
Sabbath Reflects A Holiness of Its Own
Not only is a Sabbath
a reminder of our special relationship with God, it is special
itself. There is a holiness of its own resident in the Sabbath.
Verse 20 in the New International Version begins, “Keep my Sabbaths
holy”. That is, observe this day as holy. “Hallow my Sabbaths,”
is how the NRSV, in the pews, puts it. What the Israelites did was to
take a day holy - in and of itself - and misuse, abuse, and desecrate
it. It would be like holding a wrestling match in this sanctuary. It
would be like using the pages of your Bible to make a shopping list.
We would be appalled by such behavior, and yet we don’t even bat an
eye at the desecrating of the Sabbath.
Several
years ago Zachary was in a weekend workshop at First United Methodist
Church in Pasadena. The workshop was similar to the “Striving for
Righteousness” retreat that this church offers our teenagers. The
focus of the session was on purity. The youth director had a
cherished communion chalice that she set in the front of the group of
teenagers. She told them how special this cup was to her and how it
was only brought out on special occasions. It was set apart from all
other dishes in her cabinet. It was at that moment that Zachary’s
stomach rebelled on him. We don’t know if it was something he ate,
the lack of sleep from the night before, allergies, or something
else. All we know is that he was forced to make a hasty exit from the
room. As he was evacuating the premises, he bumped into the table
holding the cherished chalice. It fell to the tile floor and
shattered. The entire youth group gasped with horror. This symbol of
their purity had been destroyed. We would have been shocked as well.
I have too often
stumbled around in my busy-ness and knocked the holy symbol of Sabbath
off the table. We convince ourselves that we’re too busy for a
Sabbath and walk away - just like Renee.
Perhaps after seven
weeks of these sermons about Sabbath you have no more inclination to
observe Sabbath than when we began. If that is the case, I fear we
have not caught a glimpse of its holiness. But I hope we have. I hope
we’ll remember the S is for Set Aside one
day a week for rest, reflection and reassessment. The A
is for Always observe the Sabbath as a
sanctuary of time. The first B is for Be
Still, for Sabbath only truly begins when we are still.
The second B is for Benefits beyond belief
- benefits of joy, exhilaration, and home await all Sabbath
keepers. The second A warns us that abuse
happens when we try to tell others how to keep Sabbath
and lose the rest that is ours, when we focus on rules over
relationships. The T reminds us The Place
to be is where God’s presence is most deeply felt. Jesus made it his
habit to be in worship on the Sabbath. And the H
is for Holy. Sabbath reminds you that you
are holy and the Sabbath reflects a
holiness of its own.
Rabbi Levi once
wrote, “Israel does not keep the Sabbath as much as the Sabbath
keeps Israel.” Let the Sabbath keep you close to God, close to
rest, close to what God has planned for your life. The Divine Lover
of our souls declared in Ezekiel 20:24, “They profaned my Sabbaths,
and their eyes were set on their ancestors’ idols.” It is easy to
do. We can get so focused on the idols of busy-ness, accumulation,
status, and all the other idols of our ancestors, that we can forget
to simply take some time to be with God. We convince ourselves
that we’re too busy for a Sabbath and walk away - just like
Renee.
As I bring this seven
sermon series on the Sabbath to a close, let me pass on some of the
Sabbath suggestions of Wayne Muller in his book, Sabbath, Restoring
the Sacred Rhythm of Rest. These are ten practices that could
very well help to make your Sabbath the day of the week in which you
are still, more meaningful:
●
Sabbath Blessing - Offer verbal blessings, once a week, to
the people with whom you share your home.
●
Sabbath Box - Put in the box those things that
represent busy-ness and unplug yourself for a day. Place in that box
your beeper, watch, cell phone, jump drive, calendar, to-do lists,
etc. You get the idea.
●
Sabbath Call – Phone a friend and visit without concern
for time or all the things you need to do.
●
Sabbath Confession – Confess your faults and shortcomings,
even if only to a candle.
●
Sabbath Flowers - Place cut flowers on the table reminding
you of the holiness, the specialness, of this day.
●
Sabbath List – Pray, play, phone a friend, sleep late
●
Sabbath Meal - Prepare a Sabbath meal. Start first
thing in the morning and prepare a meal from scratch. This is for you
who enjoy cooking.
●
Sabbath Memories - Remember those whose lives have touched
you and whose deaths you still grieve.
●
Sabbath Moment - Sit quietly at the table, light a single
candle and breathe a prayer for someone else as you watch the flame
flicker.
●
Sabbath Walk
- Read a short passage of
scripture and reflect on it as you take a walk. Observe everything
around you. Trees budding, flowers blooming, clouds, stars, birds
singing, bells ringing. Don’t be in a hurry. You are going nowhere.
Just breathe, walk and pay attention.
How you
keep Sabbath is your business. That you keep it is God’s business.
So I end this series of sermons as I began it with a prayer, a plea, a
blessing, and a hope. Shabbat Shalom. May Sabbath peace be
yours. Amen.
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