Remember the Sabbath Day

By Pastor Tom Tuura, pastor of United Lutheran Church

We were created to worship.  So we worship whether we realize it or not.  So who are you worshiping?  The answer is the altar where you offer your best gift.

Mary dug for the matches before walking over to the table to light the candles.  As she lit the first, she said “Blessed are you, Lord our God, of Hosts, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the lights of the Sabbath. Amen”  The sun would be setting soon, and the family would be gathering for the evening meal.

She had been preparing the evening meal and doing some baking that afternoon.  She had laid the two loaves of bread on the table and covered them with a napkin to wait for the meal.  Earlier as she was kneading the dough before shaping it into loaves, she recited “Blessed are You, Lord God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to separate challah”, and she separated a small piece of dough, about an ounce, wrapping it in foil and placing it in the oven to burn as an offering.  She remembered this, her family’s practice of years ago that whatever we are given is not for our use alone.  If we have wisdom, money or good health, our first step is to put them towards a Divine purpose.

It was time for everyone to wash, and not a word was spoken.  Coming to the table, they all took their seats and waited.  Joe, the father, took the wine glass and lifted it saying, “And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day, The heavens and the earth were finished, the whole host of them, And on the seventh day God completed his work that he had done, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he had rested from all his work that God had created to do.  Blessed are you, Lord, our God of the highest heavens...”

Joe continued reciting the blessing and then the family members at the table proceeded with another washing tradition. 

He removed the napkins from the two freshly baked challah loaves lifting them in the air while reciting, “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.”.  He ripped into pieces the bread and passed around the table so that each person may have a piece. 

The sun had now just set, and the new day had begun a day of rest—one day of seven separated to God.

This is the Jewish ritual of the Sabbath in a Jewish household or by Torah observant Christians.

This is not required under Christian practice, as we know.  But what is Christian practice or tradition?  You know, the Third Commandment, it says, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy”.

In the old days, Sunday was the day of rest.  Christians have observed Sunday taking the cue from the Apostolic practice.  But for the last 500 years, everything shut down on Sunday.  Church bells tolled and people streamed into their churches.  They went home and “rested”.  They visited, and enjoyed family and friends.

In my lifetime, I’ve watched this change.  No longer are things shut down.  Almost everything is open for business.  And what a business they do. 

The result:  church attendance has plummeted.  No spiritual candles are lit, and no challah is separated and burned—in our hearts.  We are a church of Sabbath breakers.  Millions of western church goers break the Third Commandment continuously in ignorance and with no regret.

Not all.  There are some who “keep” the Sabbath by worshiping daily in their hearts.  There are some who separate the challah.

But for most western “Christians” saying in their hearts, “my relationship to God is personal”, or “God understands my busy life”, and the kicker, “I’m saved by grace, not by works—so I’ll do what I want!”.  This is what some have called cheap grace.  And cheap grace allows compromise and leads into anything goes lifestyles.  Ultimately ending up with “There is no fear of God in their eyes.” (Rom 3:18).

For certain, Grace is good; the grace of the New Testament spelled, God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.  The Old Testament believers’ mistake was relying on the law to save, which it instead kills.  They erroneously kept those Sabbath Laws for their salvation.  Breaking the Sabbath Laws in Jesus’ time was literally punishable by death.  There were hundreds of tiresome minuscule rules of what you could not do on the Sabbath—like what kind of knots you could tie.  We don’t want to go there.  Instead, our loving Savior, the holy, sinless Lamb of God was offered on the altar in our place.  He bore our sins in his perfect body, dying on Calvary’s cross for us.  And said, “It is finished.”.  The thick temple veil, separating the Holy of Holies from the worshiper was torn in two from top to bottom opening the way into the presence of God.  Hurriedly taken down off the cross before the Sabbath began, His lifeless body spent that Sabbath in the tomb.  God rested.  Then early in the morning, He was raised to life on the first day of the week, vacating the tomb.

Thanks to the redemptive work of Christ, there is middle ground between the rigid Sabbath laws of old, and the weak permissiveness of our day, two parellell ditches to steer clear of.

If we stay on the road God has intended, avoiding the mistakes on either side, There is a real blessed destination.  And that is peaceful worship and rest for our souls.  Give God one day, just one.

So its September, and back to school.  How do we change?  You were created to worship, and you can’t help yourself.  You just need to ask, what am I worshiping?  Light a candle. 

That’s my two cents...

Pastor Tom