Keeping Sabbath

For the last two days the first bible reading taken from the Old Testament, has been from the 58th chapter of Isaiah.

This morning it gave me goosebumps as I read it, and I thought about all the prayers that are being lifted to God right now, because of the trouble our country is in.

Isaiah 58 says:

"Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'

"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ?

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken

This scripture humbled me.

We are a nation of people, many of whom are eager to do whatever it takes to take God out of every aspect of our lives. And we wonder why we are a nation in deep trouble. God hasn't caused this, we've caused it ourselves.

Today, I was struck by the part about the Sabbath. It's one of the things God seems to keep bringing me to, so I decided to post about it today.

A few months ago I was doing a study with my friends on the book "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World".

I think it took us 4+ months to get through the study. Not because it was hard or boring but because we were all too busy to get together.

We finally concluded our study on a pontoon boat on Houghton Lake last summer.

In the next to the last chapter, author Joanna Weaver, talks about the gift of Sabbath rest.
Oh my, did we have a lively conversation about Sabbath rest.

One friend who loves, loves, loves, to make gourmet meals asked, "If you love to do something is that breaking Sabbath? My friends thought not.

Oh, was my tongue bruised from all the biting it was taking. I'm always the odd man out in these kind of discussions. I had an opinion, but it differed with everyone else's. God told me to keep it to myself, and it was hard to do.

I'm guessing God wanted me to learn more before I shot my mouth off, because since that day He keeps bringing the subject of Sabbath back to me in teaching ways.

A few weeks ago I heard a teaching on the topic, reminding me that God made the Sabbath for us and not because He wanted to be serenaded with praises all day long. On Sabbath God wants to do for us.

We are to rest from labor and go to church so we can be fed, fed by both the Word of God and by God's body. It wasn't a coincidence that when Jesus was born they laid him in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough, and Jesus' came to be real food for us.

The manna in the desert was collected 6 days and on the 6th day the Israelites collected enough for the next day, Sabbath, so on that day they could rest. On our Sabbath God gives us our manna in the Eucharist.

But I digress..... As I read from Isaiah this morning, I was struck by the words "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day".

It spoke to me about the things I may do that may seem pleasing to me, but that are causing others to work on the Lords day of rest.

Going for a Sunday afternoon ride may be enjoyable and relaxing, but in doing so do I need to stop to buy gas along the way? What about eating in a restaurant, or grocery shopping or going to the mall?

What about going to a professional football game or baseball game? It may be a way to relax for us, but it's work for the players. Sandy Koufax refused to pitch on his turn in the 1965 World Series in order to observe Yom Kippur. Eric Liddell refused to run in the 100-meter dash in the 1924 Olympics because the heats were on a Sunday. Liddell, who later won the 400, spent the Sabbath preaching in a Paris church instead of running. I have a feeling that kind of thing wouldn't be tolerated by today's sports fans.

So whats wrong with doing something relaxing on Sunday you ask? Isn't relaxing the same as resting? I don't think so. Our culture no longer knows how to rest. We are so busy going, that we feel unnerved if we aren't in perpetual motion.

Again, God didn't impose a Sabbath rule on us for his enjoyment but because he knows what we need. He knows what our bodies can handle. The incidence of cancer and heart failure in this country have both been linked back to stress caused by lack of proper rest and sleep.

Of course, I am sure that some out there may differ with my opinion. They may think that the stores and businesses being open on Sunday give people needed employment.

I would argue that by not honoring the Sabbath, and instead, doing as we think best, has caused us to be a greedy self centered country, and has contributed to driving up prices and thus forcing some people to work on Sunday just to put food on the table.

I'm guilty on all accounts.

I think I will make a conscious effort to really start observing the Sabbath. And who knows, maybe if we all tried it would be the real kick start our economy needs, and we wouldn't need to go in debt another trillion dollars to do it.