Summer Sabbath

Preached at Fox Point Park

On June 12, 2005

By Pastor Thomas C. Davis

Texts:

Romans 5: 1-8

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.  But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Matthew 9: 35-10:8

But the Pharisees said, "By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons."  Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but he laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."  Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.  These are the names of the twelve apostles:  first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Phillip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaen, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.  These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:  "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'  Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.  You received without payment; give without payment.

Sermon Text

The other morning Alice and I were walking through Brandywine Park and we passed behind the cemetery next to Wilmington Hospital.  Right next to a mausoleum there were three fox cubs frolicking while their mother kept watch.  The week before, as I crossed 14th Street I heard peeping, and then saw in a hole in the center of a knot of a sycamore tree several scrawny heads, with yellow beaks wide open, waiting for the next meal.  It is nature's time to recreate.  The trees have exploded their pollen, the carpenter bees are buzzing and burrowing.  By the foot bridge in the park the bass will soon be laying their eggs in the shallows.  Summer is a comin' in--the lazy days, we call them, but all of nature is hurrying, hurrying, to re-create before the days shorten and the cold returns. 

Summer is a different kind of time for us.  Not a time for hurry, but rather, a time for slowing down and catching our breath.  We are roughly half way through a church year that begins with the celebration of Advent in December.  However, to many of us June feels like the end of a year.  Christmas and Easter are behind us.  Sunday school and the choir are going into recess.  The Wednesday Bible study will soon take a summer's breather.  Nature hurries to recreate; but if we human beings are to be re-created, we must slow down and let God's refreshing spirit wash over us.  Thank God for summer Sabbath!

The Gospel text this morning speaks to this disciple's fatigue.  I hope it does to yours too.  Hanover Church lies in one of Wilmington's most afflicted zip codes, judging by the number of shootings over the past several years.  Zip codes 801, 802, 803, and 805 constitute our city's pocket of poverty, the war zone, according to a recent study by the Stop-the-Violence Coalition.  If Jesus were to walk in the neighborhoods of those zip codes, he would surely shake his head in commiseration.  In Galilee he looked about him and noticed that the people were "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."  He commiserated with his disciples who were doing their best to relieve the suffering:  "The harvest is plentiful," said Jesus,  "but there are so few workers!  Pray to God to send more!"  Ain't that the truth, Jesus.  It's still the same:  people harassed and helpless, out of work, hungry, dodging bullets, just trying to get by.  There are so many people like that nowadays.  Why, with enough workers, the harvest could be huge!  But where are the workers?  Pray to God to send more!"

As I read about Jesus teaching and healing, especially healing, I notice that sometimes his ministry became overwhelming to him.  The crowds of needy folk pressing on him became intolerable, and he had to slip away from time to time, take a rest, pray to God for refreshment and renewal.  If Jesus needed a rest every now and then, so do his disciples, who haven't nearly the same portion of Spirit as he.  Jesus told them:  "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.  You received without payment; give without payment."  Whew, those are demanding orders!  Enough to wear anybody out!  But Jesus also said in another place:  "Come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  For my yoke is easy, my burden is light."

Hanover, we have a summer Sabbath ahead.  Let's enjoy it.  Let's let God recreate us in this lazier time.  When the weather gets cooler, we will have a lot to do, probably more work than we can say grace over.  Let's pray to God to send us more workers so that together we can continue the healing and reconciling mission of Jesus in this place.  And in the meantime, let's thank God for Sabbath.  Let's use the summer to savor each other's company, to spend more time with our families, to read a good book, to gaze with wonderment at fox cubs and baby birds.  This is a season of rest and re-creation that the Lord has made available to us.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!