Study guide


By Robert C. Blezard


Sabbath: Being & doing enough I


t seems today everybody is way too busy, too stressed and sleep- deprived. Is this any way to live? No, says the Bible and our loving God. There is a better way, and it starts with the Sabbath.


Exercise 1: Commanded to rest What exactly is the Third Command- ment? Read Exodus 20:8-11 and discuss:


How do we keep the Sabbath day holy? Specifically, what are we to refrain from doing? Are the Ten Com- mandments “negotiable”—a faithful person is free to take them or leave them? Who is exempt from keeping the Sabbath? Is it OK if we rest our- selves but have people work for us? If you shop or go to a restaurant on the Sabbath, aren’t you having someone do work for you?


Have you ever strictly kept the Sab-


bath? What would your life look like if you did? Christians are insistent about not killing, not committing adultery and so on, but why aren’t we as insis- tent about keeping the Sabbath?


Exercise 2: Sabbath made for people


Lest Christians become legalistic in their understanding of Sabbath, we can reference Matthew 12:9-13 and Mark 2:23-28.


Blezard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Arendtsville, Pa. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston University and did subsequent study at the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.


In each text, what was the apparent violation of the Sabbath? How were the situations alike, and how differ- ent? Did Jesus disagree with the Pharisees that, at least strictly speak- ing, there was a violation of the


Sabbath? On what basis did he declare that doing good (Matthew) or satis- fying hunger (Mark) were allowed on the Sabbath? Is Jesus inviting the Pharisees to use common sense, rather than legalism? What larger principle could you deduce about how strictly to follow the commandment to not work on the Sabbath? How would that principle square with Jesus’ pro- nouncement in Mark 2:27?


Exercise 3: Sunday ‘blues’ Only a few decades ago, many busi- nesses were closed on Sundays because of “blue laws” that restricted commerce on Sundays. As a result, Sunday was, indeed, the most restful day of the week simply because there were limited opportunities to dine, shop or do work. Do you remember when businesses closed on Sundays? Was life slower, better? Whom do you blame for the commercialization of Sundays: businesses or those who patronize them? Would businesses still stay open if every Christian in America decided to rest on the Sab- bath and not shop, dine or work?


Exercise 4: Need for renewal The old adage “All work and no play make Johnny a dull boy” may not say all it could about overwork. Think of a time when you felt overworked. In addition to making you “dull,” how else did it make you feel? Grumpy? Tired? Uncreative? Why is rest and play necessary to a healthy life? How do you put these necessary elements into your life? Why is it sometimes hard to slow down and get some rest?


Exercise 5: Enough is enough What do you think of this critique:


Our North American consumer cul- ture is all about striving but never arriving. Advertisements incessantly tell us we never have a car luxuri- ous enough, a home big enough or a lifestyle extravagant enough. We are trained to always want more, work harder, do more, desire more. Does that sound true? Do you know someone who is caught in the trap of relentless pursuit of the next big thing? Have you ever been there? How does our faith empower, equip and inspire us to get off the treadmill? What Bible verses inform us that God’s love and providence are sufficient? Why do we ask God for “our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer, and not something like “our lifelong bread, butter, cheese and cold cuts”?


Exercise 6: ‘Eat, drink and be merry’


The phrase “Eat, drink and be merry” appears several times in the Bible, but in different contexts that shed light on one another. Read Ecclesias- tes 8 and Luke 12:16-21 and discuss: For what reason does Ecclesiastes


tell us to eat drink and be merry? In this text, what are people doing rather than enjoying their lives? If people eat, drink and be merry (verse 15), what happens? Why does enjoyment of life come after one decides to eat, drink and be merry?


In Luke, how does the man in the


parable misuse the idea of eating, drinking and being merry? Why is he misguided? In our country, how many people defer their enjoyment of life until after they have accumulated a certain amount of stuff? What do you learn from these two verses?


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