Sabbath Keeping -- The North Hill Rules

Sermon for June 5, 2010 at North Hill Adventist Fellowship and the topic for conversation at Friends of St Thomas on June 4.

Six hundred years ago no Europeans kept the Sabbath. At least none that we know about. Five hundred years ago there were Sabbath-keepers all over Europe. What happened? A revival of Bible reading. People like Martin Luther, John Calvin Ulrich Zwingli called for a reform in the church based on what they read in the Bible. Their calls for reform lit a fire storm of zeal for pure Bible religion because of something called the printing press.

The preaching of the Reformers spread like a wildfire because lay people all over Europe suddenly had access to the Bible in their native languages. As lay people and less-than-famous preachers began reading the Bible, they discovered the Sabbath. It was right there, in the fourth commandment, in the stories of Jesus, in the practice of the apostles. It was as plain as the nose on your face.

The famous reformers were not amused. They wanted people to read the Bible. They wanted people liberated from the tyranny of Catholic legalism. They wanted the church to reform. But they did not want anybody keeping Sabbath. That was going too far. These famous Reformers, Luther, Calvin and
Zwingli, became fanatical opponents of Sabbath keeping.

Luther called the preachers who taught Sabbath-keeping: “unlearned,” “foolish,” “apes,” and Judaizers.

John Calvin wrote that Sabbath preachers “went thrice as far as Jews in the gross and carnal superstition of sabbatism.”

Luther and Calvin both used the death penalty to fight “Sabbatizers.” And to a large extent they won. Within a few decades appreciation for the seventh-day Sabbath largely disappeared. In the 1700s the Puritans revived interest in the Sabbath, though, of course, they argued Sabbath had been switched from the seventh day to the first day. But the Puritans got into the same trouble the Reformers did. The Puritans taught people to read the Bible. And when people read the Bible, they run into Sabbath. So in Puritan England, people we now know as Seventh-day Baptists began keeping and teaching the Sabbath. The Puritans used the same weapons against them the Reformers did. Prison and execution.

Finally in the 1860s Baptists introduced Adventists to Sabbath-keeping. There are now over 20 million Adventists around the world who along with many other groups and denominations advocate Sabbath-keeping. So here we are keeping Sabbath as part of a multi-million member community.

One of the curious features of the Bible doctrine of Sabbath is that it is almost entirely negative. The Bible is quite explicit that you are supposed to keep Sabbath. “Keep it holy.” But when you look for Bible passages that spell out what that means, almost all of the information concerns what you are not supposed to do: Don't work. Don't buy and sell. Don't harvest. Don't pick up sticks.

So if you don't do all those things, just what is it that you can do or ought to do.

The Bible doesn't say, so today I'm going to tell you. I'm going to give you seven rules for keeping Sabbath. If you obey these seven rules you will have such a rich Sabbath experience that other people will be jealous of what you have. They may even invite themselves to enjoy it with you.
(Note: These rules are actually rules for keeping “Friday night.” Since I'm a preacher, the day time hours on Sabbath are kind of complicated by church obligations. So our family developed our Sabbath practices by focusing on Friday night. I'll leave day time Sabbath-keeping rules for another time.)

Here's my prescription really good Sabbath-keeping.

1.Stop.
2.Pray.
3.Read a passage from the Bible.
4.Put on some good music.
5.Eat and drink something special.
6.Light candles or sit on the porch and watch the sunset
7.Sit and talk and (if you are married and the kids are asleep) make love.

Stop

Deliberately stop. Just quit. This is the hardest part of Sabbath-keeping for most people. Stop. When there is still some work left to do. If you stop only when you have your work finished, one of two things is true: Either you will never stop or you don't understand the job. Why should a person be legalistic about quitting at sundown (or when 3 stars are visible—this is the classic Jewish definition of the beginning and end of Sabbath—or 6:00 p.m.--this is the time used by the very first Seventh-day Adventists before further study persuaded them that sundown was the proper time to begin and end Sabbath.) The reason for being legalistic, that is, stopping at a predetermined time, is this is the only way to escape the tyranny of the necessary.

Many of us grew up with an expectation that you should have your house clean before Sabbath. This is a good idea. It lines up with our belief that Sabbath is a time of special visitation by God. If you are going to have your mother-in-law over for dinner, you want your apartment to look clean and neat and beautiful and immaculate and . . . well, perfect. So it's natural to want at least as good for God. “Preparing for Sabbath” makes sense, whether that means cleaning the house, buying special food, getting your Sabbath clothes ready. Preparing for Sabbath makes sense, but there is no Bible command for us to prepare for Sabbath. (If you refer to manna, I will point out that it is impossible for most of us to gather extra manna on Fridays since we don't have any manna at all in our yards on Fridays. Our manna is direct deposited.)

If you have the time and energy to turn your house or apartment into a palace on Friday, go for it. Your Sabbath experience will be richer for it. Unfortunately, most Americans, however, discover that achieving this goal of perfection obliges them to work all night. In the process they miss the party. The only way to actually make it to God's Sabbath party on Friday night, is to just stop working. Especially in December when sundown is at 4:30, there's no way most people are going to be able to get home from work and get the house spic and span before sundown. Don't sweat it.

God says, “Let it go. It's good enough. I like a clean house. I like spending time with you even more. So leave it alone. Come, sit with me.”

God's invite is the reason Adventists insist on getting off work early on Fridays in the winter. Sabbath beckons. God beckons. We don't want to miss the beginning of the sacred party.

It's easy to misunderstand the command to stop. Some of us imagine God standing with a stop watch scowling as the clock ticks closer to sundown, ready to explode when the moment comes, “I knew you wouldn't make it! You're never ready! It's like this every week. You talk about getting ready. You tell the kids to get ready. It doesn't happen. I'm outta here!

That is not God.

Here's God: “It's sundown. I'm going to sit down and enjoy a drink. I'd really like it if you came and sat with me.”

The fundamental, essential doorway into Sabbath is this: STOP ALREADY! QUIT!

I think it is best to hear these words as an invitation. But just in case you are too compulsive to lay down your work, God gave it as a divine command. This command is also useful if you need some help pushing back against the demands of other people.

So stop. Quit. That's how Sabbath begins. That's the part of Sabbath-keeping you can actually support by quoting the Bible.


Rule two: Pray

What to say? Prayer is our way of deliberately, consciously opening ourselves to God. So, once you've stopped on Friday night, the next thing to do is to pray. If you are with other people, invite them to pray with you. Lift your eyes to heaven and say something like this, “Lord, thank you for this holy time. Thank you for this refuge from the pressure to earn more, to achieve more, learn more, to work faster. We accept your invitation to spend this evening in the light of your smile.

Sabbath prayer is not a petition for God to make you or the world better. Sabbath prayer is not introspective. It is not a time to examine your heart. It is a time to bask in the affection that flows from God's heart. Sabbath prayer is extrospective, to make up a word. Sabbath prayer is a glad turning toward God, a happy entry into the joy of God's presence.


Rule three: Read the Bible

There would be no Sabbath in our world apart from the Bible. Sabbath-keeping among Christians traces its roots to the rediscovery of the Bible during the Reformation. It was the intense Bible study that came as a result of the Bible being translated into the common languages and being widely distributed that gave birth to Sabbath-keeping among Christians.

Sabbath-keeping came to Adventists because of Bible study. People join us today in keeping Sabbath because of what they read in the Book. The Bible points us to the Sabbath. On Sabbath we return the favor and point our minds toward the Bible.

Sabbath is the primary occasion when we as a community engage with the Bible. We urge people to spend time every day interacting with the Bible. Then when we come together on Sabbath, our time together is enriched by our focus on the Bible in our Sabbath School classes and sermons.

On Friday night, honor the Book by reading a passage either at sundown or over dinner.


Rule Four: Put on Some Good Music

What can I say? My favorite Friday night music is baroque trumpet. You'll find your own favorites, music that speaks to you of beauty and holy love. Prose is inadequate here.


Rule Five: Eat and Drink Something Good

Just in case, you think I'm making all this stuff up, let's consider a few Bible passages.

What event climaxed the first day of Moses' father-in-law's visit? Exodus 18.
What did the elders of Israel do when they saw God? Exodus 24
What did Jesus do after church? Mark 1
What did Jesus REALLY want to do before he died? Luke 22:14-15
What does Jesus want to do with you right now and in the future? Revelation 3:20

Bible religion is not just about words. It is about eating together—with each other and with God.

Your children should be able to tell it's Sabbath by the smell of the kitchen. You should be able to tell it's Sabbath by the flavor in your mouth. Now that it's spring, my favorite Friday night food is strawberry shortcake. I make fantastic sweet biscuits. We whip real cream. (We don't use the stuff that comes in spray cans. And for sure, we don't use Dream Whip.)

Then we pour some Martinellis or some Welches sparkling grape juice. Ahhhhhhh! It's good. It's Sabbath. I'm smiling and I know our heavenly Father is smiling, too. We are partying with God.

Good food is as important for Sabbath-keeping as reading the Bible or praying. It doesn't have to be home made. It does have to taste good. When we eat and drink on Friday night, we are worshiping God with our bodies. We receiving his grace with our mouths.

Sabbath-morning worship in Adventist churches focuses on the Bible. In Sabbath School and in the sermon, we give careful attention to what God has said in his Word. On Friday night, we focus on God's people and God's presence. Like Moses and the elders, like Jesus and his disciples, we eat and drink in the presence of God.

Rule Six: Light a Candle or Sit on the Porch Watching the Glow in the Sky

In the winter, lighting candles turns the early gloom into a backdrop for warm light. In the summer, if the evening is warm and you can see the western sky, why not sit outside for awhile and bask in the magic of the evening? The attention to light reminds us that God smiles at us. The face of God is not a frown, not a scowl, not a stony indifference. It is a smile. Given the ugliness and trouble in the world, it is good on Friday night to push back, to remind ourselves that when God looks our direction he smiles.

Rule Seven: Sit and Talk and Engage in Marital Intimacy (Got to keep this appropriate for an audience that includes children.)

Sabbath-keeping is about relationships. It is about intimacy, about connecting with others. In the rough and tumble of everyday life we connect with people through work and through conflict—both as allies and as enemies. We connect with people through commerce.

Sabbath is about connecting with people through “unproductive” conversation and eating and music and worship. The point of Sabbath is to just be with one another. We do derive benefits from Sabbath-keeping. However, these benefits are not easily quantifiable or measurable. Sabbath-keeping takes us into another world.

Given the Puritan distortions of Sabbath-keeping, it is important to point out that the first Friday night, the first beginning of Sabbath, was a honey-moon night in the most literal sense. Sabbath is supposed to be a weekly renewal of marital intimacy. Sabbath was intended by God to interrupt our drive to secure our place in the world and give attention to cultivating the relationships that make life worth living. So Sabbath-keeping involves the rich sensuality of food and drink. It is an invitation to the even richer sensuality of marital intimacy.

This earthy, concrete approach to Sabbath-keeping can be realized to its fullest only in the concrete world of real food and drink and real people. The internet and 3ABN may be useful substitutes when the real thing is unavailable, but ideal Sabbath-keeping involves face-to-face, person-to-person intimacy. Listening to a sermon on 3ABN is a very meager form of Sabbath-keeping.

When we embrace this kind of Sabbath-keeping, this evening full of prayer, good food and drink, candles and conversation, and sweet touch, we experience Sabbath as the very essence of life. No wonder it is one of the ten commandments. Sabbath-keeping is the very opposite of the woes prohibited in the succeeding commandments: stealing, adultery and murder. In contrast to these life-destroying aberrations, God calls us to the joyous experience of Sabbath.

I recommend it.