For a long time now, most of us as Christians have depicted the Pharisees as first century villains. In our mind’s eye, we can almost see them lurking in the shadows, murmuring and conspiring together to bring about Jesus’ demise.

Who knows how many Holy Week sermons have been preached over the years, pointing a finger at the Pharisees as agitators and adversaries who provoked the crowds to turn against Jesus. In fact, some critics across the centuries have described the Pharisees and their fellow Jews as "Christ-killers," which unfortunately has created attitudes of anti-Semitism throughout our Christian history.

The reality is that the Romans executed Jesus. And while some of the Pharisees were conspirators and adversaries against Him, others probably respected Him as a teacher, a "rabbi" just like they were. And it is important to remember that when He was crucified, two Pharisees, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, whom the Bible says was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man who had not consented to their deed (Luke 23:50-54) - Nicodemus and Joseph took Jesus’ body down from the cross and laid it in Joseph’s own tomb (Matthew 28:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; John 19:38-42).

So let us be careful today as we talk about the Pharisees, for they were religious leaders who had the responsibility to uphold and interpret the ancient Hebrew laws, to practice the rituals and to preserve and protect the traditions of their faith. (See The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, Pharisees, pages 774-781). And if the truth be told, in many ways, we and our Presbyterian ancestors probably have more in common with them than we would care to confess.

Now the controversy, the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees in our New Testament lesson revolves around the fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). The Gospel of Mark reports that Jesus and His disciples were walking through a cornfield on the Sabbath and because they were hungry, the disciples plucked some ears of corn and ate them.

Standing nearby, a group of the Pharisees saw what had happened and immediately raised their objection: Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? You see, the Pharisees, who were not only religious leaders but also the lawyers of the community, they had established an extensive set of rules and regulations - 1500 of them! - which governed the Sabbath Day.

For example, you could not kindle a fire, though you were allowed to keep one going. If your ox fell into a ditch, you could pull it out. But if you, yourself fell in, you had to stay there until sundown. If you took a sip of wine for sustenance, that was all right. But if you took it in order to ease your aching tooth, you broke the law. In fact, the rules were so restrictive that one honored rabbi of the time suggested that the only safe way to keep the Sabbath holy was to lie in bed in exactly the same position for twenty-four hours! (From a sermon by Dr. Robert Cleveland Holland, A Cold Dinner on Sunday, February 2, 1975, Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh).

So it was that the Pharisees confronted Jesus that day in the cornfield. From their point of view, the Sabbath laws had been broken, and pointing their fingers at the disciples with righteous indignation, the Pharisees wanted some answers.

Jesus listened to them, looked them straight in the eye and reminded them that King David had done much the same long ago. And then he said The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath... In other words, according to the Bible commentator William Barclay, "...We should not be enslaved to the Sabbath Day - the Sabbath exists to make our lives better."

Ever since God gave that commandment to Moses atop Mt. Sinai, we human beings have been trying to discover the deep truth of what it means.

The Hebrew word "Sabbath" translates into English as "rest." That is what the fourth commandment, in its original form, calls for: Six days you shall labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. In it, you shall not do any work...for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11)

Judaism has always observed the Sabbath on Saturday, but late in the first century, the Christian community shifted its Sabbath to Sunday, the first day of the week, in celebration of our Lord’s resurrection from the grave.

By the fourth century, with the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity, Sunday was officially established as the day of rest. That same tradition eventually carried over from Catholicism into Protestantism, and the Sabbath was strictly observed by our Calvinist and Scottish Presbyterian forbears.

On the Herbridean Coast of Scotland, there is a small fishing village named Applecross, located in the center of a region which has become home to a straightlaced group of folks who call themselves "Free Presbyterians." They love to tell the story over there about an Englishman who was taking his holiday in Applecross. One Sunday afternoon, he set off for a hike along the ocean road and was met by an elder of the kirk coming the other way.

The elder greeted the man and asked "Are you on your way to the prayer meeting"? "Good heavens no!" exclaimed the Englishman. "I’m going for a walk." The elder frowned and replied "Do you think that is the right way to keep the Sabbath"? "I don’t see why not," answered the Englishman. "It says in the Bible that Jesus and His disciples strolled on the Sabbath Day through the fields outside Jerusalem." "Ah" said the elder, "He might have gotten away with that in Jerusalem, but not here in Applecross"! (ibid, Robert C. Holland sermon)

Now we are the inheritors, the recipients of this Sabbath Day tradition, passed on to us down through the generations. If you grew up, as I did, in a family where Sunday morning was set aside for church school and worship, followed by a large dinner around the table which led to a quiet afternoon and evening where movies, athletic games, card playing and television were all forbidden, then you can still remember the last vestiges of a Sabbath tradition which has almost disappeared in our culture today.

And therein lies our dilemma. Like the Pharisees and all those Christian ancestors who have gone before us, we know what the fourth commandments says: Keep the Sabbath Day holy. And yet, how many of us really want to return to the restrictive rules and regulations that accumulated over the years and somehow turned Sunday into a somber and somewhat repressive observance?

I think Jesus, walking in the fields that day outside Jerusalem, pointed the Pharisees and all of us in the right direction. The Sabbath was made for us He said, not the other way around. We are not supposed to be imprisoned by or enslaved to twenty-four hours of legalistic rituals once a week. Just the opposite. The Sabbath was given to us by God as a day to set us free!

And if we believe, as Jesus said, that "He is the Lord of the Sabbath," then it ought to begin with the worship and praise of almighty God. Sunday worship is the heart and soul of the Christian faith and it is the source of joy and hope for the Christian Church. On the first day of the week, we gather together in this sacred place to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to proclaim that His love and grace have transformed our lives.

In worship, we look upward toward the Lord and sing "Praise God from whom all blessings flow"! In worship, we look inward at ourselves, and through prayer and confession, seek the forgiveness which God alone can give. And as we receive the benediction, we look outward and hear the charge "Go forth into the world in peace," for this is where God sends us to be ministers of reconciliation and servants of those who are in need.

I believe that there is nothing more important for a Christian than to worship God on the Sabbath Day. But there is another dimension to this ancient tradition and that is to rest from our work. A few moments ago we sang the hymn "Come Labor On, Who Dare Stands Idle," and there are times when that text is true. But there are other times when it is not true, because we need to rest from our work.

Again, Jesus can show us the way, for the gospels reveal that He discovered the secret of the rhythm of life. To be sure, He worked hard, preaching, teaching, helping, healing and reaching out to others. But He also consistently withdrew from His labors and found rest and renewal in the desert, in the mountains, by the Sea of Galilee and in His own quiet places of solitude.

You see, Jesus was not keeping to a relentless schedule. He was, instead, fulfilling a life. And that fulfillment depended upon His discipline of withdrawing from work and making the time, taking the time to rest and be renewed in body, mind and soul.

Now if we really do want to become more like Him, if we truly desire to draw nearer to Him, then would it be presumptuous of me to suggest that we try to follow the example Jesus set for us? On the Sabbath Day, we need to worship God. That comes first. And then, we need to rest from our work, enjoy our relationships with family and friends and spend some quiet time alone. You’ve heard me say it before and I will say it over and over again: "No one at the end of their life ever said, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

I wonder what would happen if we actually decided, on this Labor Day weekend, right here and right now, to "keep the Sabbath Day holy"? It might be difficult at first, considering all of our distractions and compulsions and our addictions to work and non-stop activity and always being so very busy. But if we really tried it, if we decided to do it, to keep the Sabbath holy, what do you think would happen?

If you need some incentive, I clipped an article out of USA Today last spring which offers at least one possible benefit. It’s entitled Worshipers Live Longer Than Those Who Skip Services and this, in part, is what it says:

"Those who attend worship on a regular basis live 10% longer than those who never attend services. A national survey on religious involvement and adult mortality, conducted over a nine year period by researchers from Florida State University and the Universities of Colorado and Texas, indicates that the life expectancy for weekly churchgoers is 82 and 83 for those who attend more than once a week. Non-churchgoers live an average of 75 years.

The study did take into account certain adjustments for those who were chronically ill and unable to attend worship, together with alcohol and tobacco use and people who were overweight. Even so, they found that non-worshipers have the highest risk of early death and that risk decreases as worship attendance increases...

‘We think there is a cause and effect going on here’...said Dr. Robert Hummer, a sociologist from Texas. ‘It does seem that behavior is influenced by...religious involvement and that affects life expectancy..."

(From USA Today, Monday, April 26, 1999 by Richard Willing)

Well, of course there are no guarantees. But even if we don’t live longer, we can be assured that our lives will be richer and deeper and more meaningful than we ever thought possible, if we do keep the Sabbath holy. And that didn’t come from a survey. That promise comes from God Almighty, and it is a promise we can count on, both now and forevermore!

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.