Sermon for Luke 13:10-17

All of our readings today talk about the Sabbath. What do you think of when you hear “Sabbath”? I think of Sunday rest. I also think of how I’m a failure at keeping God’s third commandment – keep the Sabbath holy. I’ve always got something I’ve got to do. So much for rest. Shouldn’t this be the easiest commandment to keep? Rest. But it’s not. The world never stops moving. Some of us actually have jobs with Sunday shifts. Heck, pastors even get paid for what they do on Sunday, right? Now, we can get creative and say that Sabbath doesn’t have to mean Sunday. Pick a day. After all, God creates for 6 days and rests on the 7th, but that doesn’t mean Sunday. So, then you have to consider what the word “Sabbath” actually means. It’s a Hebrew word – SHABBAT. It means rest, but it also means to cease, to stop, to come to an end. We don’t get to pick which definition makes more sense. So this doesn’t mean taking things easy for a day. This means completely stop everything. If you want to take the letter of the law at face value, then we’ve got a pretty big problem. And I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced that when we try to qualify laws, we always make a mess of things.

Sermon for Luke 12:32-40

A watched pot never boils. We all know that saying. What does it mean? Well, have you ever tried to watch a pot boil? There you go. Actually, there’s a lot of meaning in that little phrase. One thing it gets at, is anticipation. When we’re waiting for something, doesn’t it feel like time slows down? And the more you want or need whatever it is you’re waiting for, the worse it gets. We encounter this in a lot of ways – waiting for a restaurant order. Waiting for medication to take effect. Waiting for an appointment. Waiting for an answer. These are totally different situations, but it all comes down to the same basic thing. Waiting. And don’t we do a lot of it?