Exodus 20:8; Mark 2:23-28; July 27, 2025; Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
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Open My Eyes, That I May See — man, that [hymn] sounded like a lullaby, didn’t it? Just rocking us all into this peaceful, restful sleep.
Well, wake the heck up my friends! It’s time to open your eyes and ears, at least for the next 8-10 minutes, so that together we can all get through this sermon, okay?
“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” – Exodus 20:8
The Fourth Commandment.
The noun “Sabbath” is connected to the verb שָׁבַת (shavat) which means: “to rest, to pause, to cease and desist.”
And, good news, my friends — today I’m going to do just that and pause from myself. Ceasing and desisting from how I normally do.
There will be less homiletical polish today. Less veneer.
Sound good? Alright.
Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy is not just about resting, but about this ceasing and desisting.
Resisting the patterns that attempt to condition us. That try to blind us and fool us. These conformities which have done their best to convince us that a perpetual state of busyness is not only preferred in this society, but somehow also normal and necessary, and healthy… when it isn’t.
When it simply is not.
Jesus says to those listening that the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. Almost as if he foresaw the state of the world today, where the structures and systems in place wouldn’t be advantageous to our well-being at all.
That they, instead, would be a huge drain on our mental health, especially by coercing us into this paranoia of believing that we must remain in perpetual motion, lest anybody think something is wrong with us.
And worse, this “normative” have tricked us into assuming that we don’t actually have any power to cease and desist, to take a break and throw our hands up and say “stop” / “no” / “give me peace” / “just leave me the heck alone… for a bit.”
Sabbath was made for us, and not us for it, my friends. Remember that.
For in infinite wisdom, God rested, and on the seventh day said, I Am Done.
I am done, so just let me be. For I am who I am, and I will be who I will be…
And so, just the same, let us also be who we are, and become who we will be. Free from all the voices and forces out there that want to control us, contain us, and drain us, by keeping us from finding our rest and a blissful state of welcomed peace.
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Remember near the end of Jesus’ life, when he goes into the garden to pray alone?
Remember how his body had been prepared already for what was going to happen next — to go to the cross? Remember that?
Well, for whatever reason, perhaps because it was all happening so fast – and that his own people were making it so by turning on him — Jesus’ spirit was found waning in that moment. And so, he “throws himself on the ground and prays ‘Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’” – Matthew 26:39
Remember that? Remember this?
Even the Son of God then needed a moment of retreat. A precious Sabbath interval where he could just be left alone, and throw himself down, vent a little, and say, I’ve had enough.
I have had enough.
You know that famous scripture verse from Paul about the Spirit being willing but the flesh being weak? Well, I think the opposite is almost as often just as true. When the flesh can be willing, but the spirit is weak.
And Jesus, here, like us in his full humanity, just needed to spiritual pause for a bit… to nurse his soul in prayer… so that, like us, his fortitude, his energy, might be ready to join his body in facing all the tasks that lay ahead of him.
My friends, we break the Fourth Commandment when unlike Christ we forget to enter into the garden. When we neglect to take a sabbath for ourselves and forget to take a blessed break.
But worse yet, we shatter the Commandment completely when we rob the sabbath from others, when we disallow them the space to cease and desist, and find their own moments of rest and peace.
…
This past week was not my best week. No, not for me, personally. I got into a couple of arguments, maybe here, maybe elsewhere, as well as this unfortunate spat with Anya at home (we’re fine, because we always are), but all of it trickled down not so economically.
Ever have one of those weeks yourself? Well, I think it happens partly because we don’t give ourselves that sabbath.
I know I didn’t honor thy day, and didn’t go to my garden to look after myself. I didn’t walk through my favorite trees, nor bike my blessed path, to scatter all those good seeds.
Remember how I said in the beginning that I was taking a break from myself today?
Well, Lord, do I ever need it sometimes!
And don’t we all?
Whether you are a teacher, financer, freelancer, or minister, each of us, no matter our vocation, are commanded by God’s will to remember to calm down and pause.
Especially from being so hard and undiplomatic towards others (YES, especially that), but also from being so hard and problematic for ourselves.
We are dictated by God to stop beating ourselves up in both body and spirit.
Remembering that the sabbath was created for us!
My friends, let us then all take a break today. This week, and next. Not only from the speed and busyness of this world, but also from our guilt and shame. Our disappointment and grief. Our anger and frustration. Our second-guesses and critiques.
For each of these only aim to dull us, and drain us, and prevent us from casually walking through the fields of life like Christ’s disciples did, who seemingly, at least according to Mark in our text, walked as if they had not a care in the world, just plucking some heads of grain as they went along… no matter the day or the demands that lay ahead of them.
Open my eyes, that I may see
glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key,
that shall unclasp and set me free.
For silently now I wait for Thee,
ready, my God, Thy will to see;
So let it be.
Amen.
