"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Many years ago the youth of our church were not permitted to play pick up ball games on Sundays because it was the Sabbath. The fourth commandment needed to be honored.
Yet Jesus, instead of restricting what we do on the Sabbath, redefined it’s meaning. Apparently the Sabbath was intended to be a day where God’s blessings would expand. Picking and eating heads of grain from the field had been considered work and therefore was prohibited. Jesus indicated that wasa silly rule if it becomes deadening legalism. Healing on the Sabbath was also prohibited because it, too, was work. Yet the Sabbath is for people. God intended it for our welfare. The Exodus command, “keep the Sabbath holy” was God’s way of ensuring that His people would stay connected to the source of all health and welfare, God Himself. Within the context of Honoring God, however, much is permitted if it is life-giving.
Empty ritual deadens. Yet biblical practices, when understood as conduits to “the life that is truly life”, are wonderful. Prayer, worship and fellowship all enliven. But so does play, caring for others, and anything else that elevates God as the source and sustainer of life.
Amen to that, I have enjoyed ritual worship and have found it a wonderful way to connect to God; I have also seen rituals become dead repetitions by people thinking they were the end objective. I always laughed when people pulled out the "sabbath" command to control what people did on Sunday... since Sunday is not the Sabbath they should have been concerned with what they did after sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
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