Sermon B: 2 Pentecost: Deut 5:12

Sorry for the late posting of this 2nd Sunday after Pentecost but as the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost posting makes clear, I got the readings a bit mixed up. The correct readings for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost are Deuteronony 5:12-15 (Sabbath); 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 (Preach Christ the Lord) and Mark 2:23-28 (Sabbath made for man). The text chosen to amplify is Deuteronony 5:12 which reads, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.”

Do we still obey this commandment today? When I ask that question at seminars throughout the country, I always get a mixed response. Some say “yes”; others “no” while most are not sure. The art of theology is the art of making distinctions. The distinction which is most important in regard to this question is that between the three kinds of law as found in the Old Testament. The first is moral, the second civil and the third ceremonial.

It might surprise some of you but we are no longer bound to either the civil or ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. “What! I thought that whatever God said in the Bible bound us!” No, for example, the civil law of the Old Testament is to stone a woman caught in adultery. That is not what we do today. Now we are bound to civil laws. But they are the civil laws that the government today has put in place under the authority of God Himself. (See Romans 13)

More importantly, we are no longer bound to any of the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament as they had the purpose of pointing us to Jesus Christ. Once He came, those laws are abrogated or done away with for there is no longer a need to remind that we should be waiting for the coming of the Messiah. He has come!

Each of the 10 commandments had moral, civil and ceremonial aspects. For example, the 5th commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” broke the moral code anytime you took someone’s life inappropriately. War and capital punishment are appropriate taking of another’s life. In the civil laws, after killing someone you could attempt to get into one of the cities of refuge where you would be safe from retailiation under certain circumstances. And ceremonially, after killing someone you had to follow through on various ceremonial sacrifices depending on the circumstances of the killing.

So also with the 3rd commandment to remember the Sabbath Day. The civil part, for example, was that during the wilderness trek, the Israelites could pick up manna every day except on Saturday. On Friday, they were to pick up a double amount to carry over for Saturday. The ceremonial part of the commandment was that the day of rest beginning at Mt. Sinai was on the 7th day of the week; namely, Saturday. As an aside, that was not always true. Prior to that time there are occasions when Sabbath worship took place on other days of the week.

Those two aspects of the 3rd commandment are no longer viable since we do not have to pick up manna and we are free to worship any day of the week. In fact, the early Christians picked the first day of the week to worship; namely, Sunday, in remembrance of the Day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

What then is the moral part of the 3rd commandment to which we remain bound? Luther’s explanation of the Ten Commandments are most helpful in focusing on the moral aspect of each commandment. For the 3rd commandment he writes, “We should fear and love God that we do not despise preaching and His Word but gladly hear and learn it.” For the true Sabbath rest is to hear from God which takes place in a worship service through the hymns, liturgy, readings, sacraments and sermon.

Under the Law going to church is a burden that we must do in order to be saved. But under the Gospel, attending worship is a privilege through which God provides you with all that is necessary to cope with this life of sin, death and the devil. Going to church is not something you have to do but something you want to do both to worship Him and to receive from Him what He is ready to give you freely and by grace.

So on what day do we worship? No, not just on Sundays but also on Lenten WEDNESDAYS, on Maundy THURSDAY and on Good FRIDAY. In fact, we worship on any day that we decide because we are no longer bound to the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and we are free to obey the moral aspects of the Ten Commandments by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.