How many people remember--or have ever played--the schoolyard game, Red Light, Green Light? The person who is “it” stands at one end of a field, with everyone else at the other end. “It” turns his or her back to the others and calls out “Green light!” Everyone else then runs as fast as they can towards “it.”

The trick of the game is that, at any time, the person who is “it” can call out “Red light” and then turn and face the players. If anyone is caught moving, they’re out or have to return to the starting line.

I loved the game and even considered myself pretty good at it! But I never imagined that this game of my childhood--Red Light, Green Light--would turn out to be a great way to make sense, not only of today's gospel reading, but also of the demands of the Christian life!

Let’s begin here: The LORD said to Moses: You yourself are to speak to the Israelites [and tell them this from me]: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

Red light!

I think it's important we begin here, with this citation about the sabbath from the Ten Commandments, to make sense of what's going on between Jesus and his opponent, the synagogue official.

One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

Red light! By almost any reading of scripture and the Ten Commandments, what Jesus is doing is wrong.

Is there any ambiguity here? “You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.”

Red light! We should be sympathetic to the reaction of the synagogue official towards Jesus. When Jesus reaches out to touch and heal the woman who was bent over, he is working. Healing is work. And working on the sabbath breaks and profanes the sabbath, which is one of the Ten Commandments.

No wonder the synagogue official is angry! As he says to Jesus, Jesus has six other days to work and bring healing. It's not just his opinion, God says--and God says quite clearly--“You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.” Red light! ...
Green light!

A lot of people--both in and outside the faith--think that Christianity--and, indeed, all religion--is about issuing Red Lights to the world. What foods are right to eat? Red light! How should I spend my Friday (if I'm Muslim), my Saturday (if I'm Jewish), or my Sunday (if I'm Christian)? Red light!

What kind of clothes should I wear? Red light! What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a man? Who can I fall in love with, or marry? Red light! Red light! Red light! Red light!

No, no, no, no, no! Green light! It's not that Jesus cavalierly disregards the sabbath. It's not that he thinks he has a right to obey--or not obey--God's law whenever and however he wishes. As we're about to see, the key is that Jesus understands God's law--and, in particular, God's law about the Sabbath--to truly be about a Green light rather than a red.

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Old Testament. Once is in the book of Exodus, from which I quoted earlier. That’s where we read, “You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.”

The other place where the Ten Commandments appear is in the book of Deuteronomy. It begins the same way: “Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you."

At this point, however, instead of putting a death sentence on anyone who breaks the commandment--Red Light!--Moses explains its purpose: Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

Green light! Keeping the sabbath is meant to be an exercise and a reminder of freedom. We used to slaves. We used to have no control over who we were or how we spent our days. We keep the sabbath--one day each week--to show to the world and ourselves that God has set us free. No one owns us. No one controls us. No one, except God, is our master.

So, when the synagogue official angrily accused Jesus of breaking the sabbath by healing (which was work), Jesus responded by saying that this daughter of Abraham should be afforded the same treatment as people treat their animals! When a need arises--sabbath or not--people respond. That’s what Jesus says he’s doing. And that’s what God intends for the sabbath.

Which brings Jesus’ message, here and now, to us. To this day, most people both within and outside of the Church, mistakenly regard religion and God’s laws as a system of red lights. Don’t do this! Don’t do that! Stop this or stop that!

Jesus says, no. Jesus says--and shows--that true religion is a green light! True sabbath worship--the real joy and purpose of going to church--is to give ourselves over to God to help others. That kind of work honors the sabbath. That kind of work honors God.

Before God gave us the Ten Commandments, he first set people free from the false gods that bound them. Set free, God then gave us the commandments that guide us as his people.

We keep the sabbath to remind us of this gift and of this freedom. It is a green light to give ourselves, like Jesus, in service to others.

On your mark, get set, go! In Jesus’ name. Amen!