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A Sabbath Day's Journey

By: Rev. Paul Landgraf
What is a Sabbath day's journey? First of all, it is a Jewish expression. We measure distances in meters or yards. The Jews had a certain distance that they could walk on Saturday before it would be considered work. So their synagogues that they went to on Saturday could not be very far away. The word appears only in Acts 1:12 and indicates a distance of about three-quarters of a mile.

With that in mind, I think it is important to remember the origins of Christianity. Just because we have an Old Testament, it does not mean that we call it the 'Outdated Testament'. Much of the Old Testament has a literary structure that we are not aware of because of our modern emphasis on chapter and verse divisions. Within many of these blogs, I try to get the reader to see a bigger picture, a larger perspective that often includes the Old Testament and the environment that was present when the New Testament was seeing the Light of the day.

Second, a Sabbath day's journey is intentionally short. These 'journeys' with a text, almost always one of the three readings for that Sunday, are deliberately brief discussions. This blog was never designed to be a comprehensive look at any text. Sometimes a specific word is studied in detail. But, as a whole, a blog entry, by itself, is meant to be quite brief.

Finally, since the term 'Sabbath day's journey' appears in Acts, it is meant to appeal to a wide variety of people. This blog is meant for those who cannot come on Sunday mornings. And it is also for those who do come on Sunday mornings but would also like a further study of the text. It is also for those who live somewhere else in the world (besides Drake and Freedom, Missouri, USA) and would simply like a further study of the text. It was meant to get these different groups of people to start thinking about the biblical texts. Part of the reason for this blog is that I am not able to have a bible class on Sunday mornings with either congregation, and so, to have a blog like this seemed like a good idea. I hope it is helpful for you, in whatever situation you may be.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And thank you for taking the time to read this!

June 02nd, 2018

6/2/2018

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​This Sunday starts our walk with the Gospel according to Mark for a long, long while. But at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, this Sunday is a VERY special Sunday. I am humbled to be a part of their 150th anniversary service. And there are special readings to be read on a Sunday like that.

But the Sabbath Day is also a very special day, and that is the focus for the normal texts for this Sunday. And the history of the Sabbath Day goes back, literally, to the beginning of time. People in the past were not amazed that God did not take millions of years to form the earth. They were amazed that he took SO LONG to create everything. He could have created things in a second. And it took basically an ENTIRE WEEK!

What is almost funny is that the text says God rested on the seventh day. Notice that it does NOT say God was tired. It DOES say that he blessed that day and made it holy. And that makes a difference in our lives. That also makes a difference in our perspective of God.

The Sabbath Day has never glowed.  It has never FELT holy. 

Holiness is not a feeling; it is a gift. For holiness to be a feeling, the focus of holiness would then have to be on ourselves. That is NOT the focus of holiness in the scriptures, and that is not the way in which God has chosen to work. 

The Fall into sin could have been on a Sabbath Day. That would make sense, since Adam and Eve were trying to be like God. A lot of people have that perspective.

The gift of holiness is actually given in a very loving way. In the language of the Lutheran Confessions (our perspective of the scriptures), the gift of faith happens 'where and when it pleases God (AC IV).' This is a helpful phrase to remember the primary way in which God has chosen to work--not as a powerful God, but as a loving One. 

This is the Jesus way. He, literally, is our Sabbath rest.
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