Mark 2:23-3:6
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Relational Question: Turn to someone near you and share a
story from your experience about how you practice sabbath rest.
Raise your hand if you are more of a rule-follower. Now raise your hand if you are more of a
free-spirit.
For the Jewish people the Sabbath was something that set them apart from
others. It made them different. “Sabbath” means “7.” It was on the 7th day that God
rested after God finished creating the heavens and the earth. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt,
they never had a day off. They couldn’t
be whole people, who God made them to be while they were slaves. Why would God free them just to have them
work 24/7 just like before? God wanted
to give them a greater freedom, so keeping the Sabbath became the third
commandment after worshipping no other gods and not making wrongful use of
God’s name. It was rest not only for
oneself, but also one’s children, one’s servants, and one’s animals. There was even a command to let the land lie
fallow in the 7th year to allow it to rest, and to forgive all debts
every 49 years, which is 7 times 7. Rest
is part of life.
To rest is also to trust. We
easily make idols of our hard work. We
think if we work hard we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make enough
money to live our dreams. But when we
rest, we limit our productivity on purpose and we leave room for God to do
something in our life. When we work,
work, work, we act like that is the answer to everything, we begin to worship
our work, to look to our work for all the answers, to make an idol of it. To refrain from work for just one day out of
7 is a way to put our trust in God to make things happen even when we don’t
work. It reminds us that life is more
than productivity and money. It is a shift
of focus ourselves to God.
Sabbath is for enjoying all that God has done. On the 7th day God rested, and
looked at all that God had made and reveled in it, enjoyed it. We get to do the same, to stop, to notice
God’s work, to enjoy God’s Creation.
Finally, Sabbath is a day of remembering.
It is a day of remembering who we are and who God is. It is a day of remembering and appreciating
all that God has done. It is a good day
to remember our proper place in the whole, that the work we do makes work for
other people and may deny them rest, that we don’t work in a vacuum, but that
we are part of something greater. Our
lives require more than just our work, but the work others do. Our cheap goods may require others to be in
slavery or in conditions that never allow them a day off or to be a whole
person. We remember who we are, who God
is, and who our neighbor is. The word
remember has the prefix “re” which means again, of course, and the second part
is “member” which is the parts. So when
we remember, we come back together, we return to the way things should be, were
created and intended to be. Rest is
essential to who we are. Sabbath is good
for us and the whole earth and all its creatures.
After Jesus came, Jews and non-Jews came together in his name, and they
had to decide, will we keep our Jewish laws or not. So we have this story from Mark. Jesus plucked grain on the Sabbath. He did work.
And he did it when the Pharisees were looking. And he healed on the sabbath. This was not an urgent situation. The man could live with a withered hand
another day. Why couldn’t Jesus respect
the Sabbath and wait until tomorrow?
This reading seems to say the Sabbath is optional. So we’ve basically thrown it out.
This is hard for me, because I like a good rule. I need a good rule. And I am starved for rest. I’m not good at rest, and I don’t know that
many people who are good at it.
Especially women, especially moms of young children, especially my
age. When I sit still and do nothing,
when I go read in the backyard, when I sit and visit with a friend, I feel
lazy. There is so much to do. There are dirty socks all over the floor, a
sink full of dishes. When I sit quietly
and pray, I feel lazy. There are
parishioners to visit, phone calls to make, emails to respond to, people to
train, classes to prepare for.
But I don’t think Jesus is throwing out the Sabbath. He is simply reminding the rule-followers
that it isn’t about the rule, but it is about the blessing that the rule is
meant to bring. Sabbath is for
healing. Sabbath is for liberation,
freedom. Sabbath is to keep us truly
human instead of slaves to our work.
Sabbath is for interrupting our productivity for reflection, processing,
and appreciation.
How many of you find that you have a good balance of work and play and
rest and prayer? How many of you have
too much sabbath rest? How many of you
have too little? How many of you feel
like your habits have gotten better over the years?
We can so easily allow ourselves to get lost in the details of Sabbath,
that we wear ourselves out and defeat the purpose. Is it on Saturday or on Sunday? Does it have to be a whole day? Does it have to be the same day as
others? What is considered work? What if the cow needs to be milked? That’s one of the things that Jesus was
reacting against. Don’t get all stressed
out about it. The other thing Jesus
points out was the fact that King David breaks a rule and no one bats an
eye. But these lowly disciples break the
rule and the Pharisees freak out. Jesus
is upset because the rules are enforced differently depending on one’s social
status. And he’s angry because the rules
which are meant to be a blessing are used to hurt the very people who need the
freedom they offer the most, like the hungry disciples, like the man with the
withered hand. Jesus is saying healing
and freedom can’t wait! This is
urgent! He’s unwilling to wait to bring
wholeness. He’s not going to wait
another day to give Sabbath freedom to this man with a withered hand. Freedom and abundant life is God’s intention
for Creation now. Thy Kingdom come!
I invite to you to observe Sabbath.
If you need it to be a command, then go ahead and hear it that way. If you
need it to be a suggestion, then hear it that way. It could be a day or an hour or whatever you
need it to be. One person I know leaves
town for 48 hours every other month for prayer and renewal. Consider what for you is a healthy balance of
work, play, rest, prayer, and service.
It may take some experimentation.
What are some signals your body sends you when you need to do some
self-care. I offer you some tools—some
devotion books and some scheduling helps are out on the table, some get out of
work free cards may be found in your bulletin, because unless we’re intentional
about it and try a new practice for a couple of weeks, we will keep on ignoring
the blessing God is trying to give us.
In the case of Sabbath, we can be both rule-followers and free spirits,
because this rule of rest is meant to free us from slavery. I encourage you to find the healthy place for
you between throwing the Sabbath out and using it as a stick to beat yourself
and others up with. Let rest and Sabbath
time free you to be a whole person in relationship with God, other people, and
God’s good creation.
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