Sermon for September 1st, 2013 - Revision history

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2013-10-14T01:29:48Z

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Iraneal at 00:49, 1 September 2013

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Iraneal at 00:48, 1 September 2013

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Iraneal at 00:37, 1 September 2013

2013-09-01T00:37:43Z

Iraneal at 23:06, 31 August 2013

2013-08-31T23:06:05Z

Iraneal at 19:31, 31 August 2013

2013-08-31T19:31:55Z

Iraneal: New page: ==Matthew 22:-34-40== 34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher,...

2013-08-31T18:38:50Z

New page: ==Matthew 22:-34-40== 34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher,...

New page

==Matthew 22:-34-40==
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

==Deuteronomy 5:12-15==
12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

==Exodus 20:8-11==
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But 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. 11 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.

==A Labor-less Day==

Ten Commandments: For God or for People?
Sabbath: For God or for People?

Egypt -- slavery -- no rest -- Sabbath
Industrial Revolution -- work -- no rest -- labor movement -- weekend
Digital Revolution -- always on -- no rest -- Rest??

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ==A Labor-less Day==
-At church one day, the pastor saw a little boy standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at a display on the wall.  He stopped and said hello to the boy, and the little boy asked him "Pastor, what are all those little American flags hanging on the wall for?" The wall was covered with dozens and dozens of flags.  The pastor answered, "Each one of those American flags is a patriotic memorial to the many members of our church, who, over the years have died in the service."  When he heard this, the little boy turned as white as a sheet.  In a trembling, quiet voice, he said, "Pastor...was it the 9:00 or the 11:00 service?"
+At a local church one day, the pastor saw a little boy standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at a display on the wall.  He stopped and said hello to the boy, and the little boy asked him "Pastor, what are all those little American flags hanging on the wall for?" The wall was covered with dozens and dozens of flags.  The pastor answered, "Each one of those American flags is a patriotic memorial to the many members of our church, who, over the years have died in the service."  When he heard this, the little boy turned as white as a sheet.  In a trembling, quiet voice, he said, "Pastor...was it the 9:00 or the 11:00 service?"
 That joke has absolutely nothing to do with today's sermon, but since we begin our 9:00 Contemporary service today, and we now have two worship services for the first time in many years, I thought it was appropriate. We'll certainly pray that no one dies in the service today!

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 Fast forward one more time to the present day.  We are at the dawn of a new revolution, a digital revolution. The internet, and wireless and mobile technology has connected us in ways we never could have imagined 10 years ago. And that's a good thing--I would be a hypocrite standing in front of you with my tablet in hand, cell phone in my pocket, telling you that digital technology is bad.  Some people are starting to sing that song, however, saying that we should turn everything off and pull the plug to save ourselves from a fragmented life of cyber insanity.
-I don't believe that, anymore than I believe we should have dismantled the first automobile, or ripped up the first piece of parchment. Like the technological revolutions before it, the digital revolution will ultimately bring about more good in the world than evil, more progress than decline, more connectedness than isolation, despite what the naysayers will continue to say.  God is not one of those naysayers, at least not in the fourth commandment.  God doesn't say: "Stop working, working is bad."  He says, work six days, but rest one.  I don't think it really matters too much which one--my sabbath certainly isn't on Sunday, I'm working right now!  It may not even come in one 24 hour chunk.  But take time to rest.  Use your digital technology to do great things--but remember to see and connect with the people behind that technology too.  I'm going to close with a video that says it better than I can.  I think it captures the heart of the fourth commandment, and how remembering the concept of sabbath relates to loving those around us.
+I don't believe that, anymore than I believe we should have dismantled the first automobile, or ripped up the first piece of parchment. Like the technological revolutions before it, the digital revolution will ultimately bring about more good in the world than evil, more progress than decline, more connectedness than isolation, despite what the naysayers will continue to say.  God is not one of those naysayers, at least not in the fourth commandment.  God doesn't say: "Stop working, working is bad."  He says, work six days, but rest one.  I don't think it really matters too much which one--my sabbath certainly isn't on Sunday, I'm working right now!  It may not even come in one 24 hour chunk.  But take time to rest.  Use your digital technology to do great things--but remember to see and connect with the people behind that technology too.  I'm going to close with a video that says it better than I can.  I think it captures the heart of the fourth commandment, and how remembering the concept of sabbath relates to loving those around us.  [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1g3Y2y89EU Video: Disconnect 2 Connect]
-[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1g3Y2y89EU Disconnect 2 Connect]
+I've got one last idea to help us honor our sabbath, and to help us honor each other in the weeks to come:  As often as you can, sit down across a table from another person and share a meal together.  It could be with your family, with a friend, or even a complete stranger.  As you eat together, talk to each other. Don't answer your phone.  Don't watch TV together, watch each other.  Listen to each other. Look each other in the eyes.  This is what the Ancient Israelites did to remember their escape from Egypt.  This is what Jesus did with his disciples at the last supper. This is what we do when we celebrate communion together.
+There is something powerful in the simplicity of a shared meal.  I think it's the power of sabbath, the power of shared rest, set apart from the work and weariness of the world.  Come to your rest. Come to your Sabbath.  Come to the table of the Lord.
-−
-Isaiah 58:13-14
-If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
-   from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
-if you call the sabbath a delight
-   and the holy day of the Lord honourable;
-if you honour it, not going your own ways,
-   serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
-then you shall take delight in the Lord,
-   and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
-I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
-   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
-−
-Mark 2:23-27
-One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ 25And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ 27Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’
-−
-−
-Ten Commandments:  For God or for People?
-Sabbath:  For God or for People?
-−
-−
-Egypt -- slavery -- no rest -- Sabbath
-Industrial Revolution -- work -- no rest -- labor movement -- weekend
-Digital Revolution -- always on -- no rest -- Rest??

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 In this case, the sabbath day is set apart from the other six days.  What do we do on the other six days?  Verse 13-14: "Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work."  The sabbath day is set apart, different, because we don't work.  We rest.  Notice also that verse 14 says the seventh day is a sabbath TO the Lord your God, not FOR the Lord your God.  There's a slight, but important difference here: The seventh day is a sabbath TO God, because God observed the sabbath also.  In another version of the fourth commandment, the one found in Exodus 20:11, we read: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day."  In observing the sabbath, we are following God's example.  If the sabbath is a day set apart to worship God, then what are we saying God did on that first sabbath?  Worship himself?  No, on the sabbath, God rested.  And that is what he asks us to remember in the fourth commandment.
-I said at the beginning of this sermon that all the commandments can be divided into those that teach us how to relate to God, and those that teach us how to relate to others.  I've said that the fourth commandment is not about how we relate to God.  But if that's true, what exactly does remembering the sabbath--keeping it set apart, resting--have to do with relating to others?  I have a hard enough time making myself rest...now I have to make my neighbor rest, too?
+I said at the beginning of this sermon that all the commandments can be divided into those that teach us how to relate to God, and those that teach us how to relate to others.  I've said that the fourth commandment is not about how we relate to God.  But if that's true, what exactly does remembering the sabbath--keeping it set apart, resting--have to do with relating to others?
 Listen to the rest of the fourth commandment:  Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.
-Hopefully, none of you have male or female slaves.  One or two of you may actually have some oxen and/or donkeys, but the point is clear: don't just provide for your own sabbath, your own rest--you are also responsible for making sure that the people around you have a healthy balance of work and rest, too.  That includes those who serve you, wait on you, and clean up after you...at restaurants, shopping malls, your workplaces...rest is not a luxury for the privileged classes, or for those who've paid their dues--it's a gift from God to everyone of every social class, and it's our job to protect it for each other.
+In other words, don't just provide for your own sabbath, your own rest--you are also responsible for making sure that the people around you have a healthy balance of work and rest, too.  Hopefully, none of you have male or female slaves.  One or two of you may actually have some oxen and/or donkeys.  But this certainly includes those who serve you, wait on you, and clean up after you...at restaurants, shopping malls, your workplaces...rest is not a luxury for the privileged classes--it's a gift from God to everyone, and it's our job to protect it for each other.
-Why?  Verse 15:  "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day."
+I mentioned a few weeks ago that the ten commandments are a call to all of God's people to turn away from the prevailing empires and powers of the day, and follow God into a new way of life.  I'd like to tell you three, short stories now--one from Ancient Egypt, one from the dawn of the modern era, and one from our own time.  I think you'll see a pattern emerge.
 Isaiah 58:13-14

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ==Deuteronomy 5:12-15==
 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
 ==A Labor-less Day==
@@ Line 13: / Line 10: @@
 That joke has absolutely nothing to do with today's sermon, but since we begin our 9:00 Contemporary service today, and we now have two worship services for the first time in many years, I thought it was appropriate. We'll certainly pray that no one dies in the service today!
 Exodus 1:7-14

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:31, 31 August 2013
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	==A Labor-less Day==		==A Labor-less Day==
		+	At church one day, the pastor saw a little boy standing in the middle of the hallway, staring at a display on the wall. He stopped and said hello to the boy, and the little boy asked him "Pastor, what are all those little American flags hanging on the wall for?" The wall was covered with dozens and dozens of flags. The pastor answered, "Each one of those American flags is a patriotic memorial to the many members of our church, who, over the years have died in the service." When he heard this, the little boy turned as white as a sheet. In a trembling, quiet voice, he said, "Pastor...was it the 9:00 or the 11:00 service?"

		+	That joke has absolutely nothing to do with today's sermon, but since we begin our 9:00 Contemporary service today, and we now have two worship services for the first time in many years, I thought it was appropriate. We'll certainly pray that no one dies in the service today!
		+
		+
		+
		+	Exodus 1:7-14
		+	8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
		+
		+	Isaiah 58:13-14
		+	13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
		+	from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
		+	if you call the sabbath a delight
		+	and the holy day of the Lord honourable;
		+	if you honour it, not going your own ways,
		+	serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;
		+	14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
		+	and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
		+	I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
		+	for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
		+
		+	Mark 2:23-27
		+	23 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ 25And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ 27Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

← Older revision	Revision as of 01:29, 14 October 2013
(No difference)