Sustaining Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28

Sunday, 14 July 2019

Ecclesia Church, Princeton, New Jersey

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

I have a lot going on right now. In addition to my responsibilities here at Ecclesia, I work at the seminary as a web developer; I am applying to PhD programs, and I am trying to help Gabrielle plan our wedding—which is now merrily and anxiously less than a month away. All of these things demand plenty of attention and energy. And while I am blessed to be in a season of life that is fruitful, even the most sating work takes its fatiguing toll. I’m in need of a sabbath.

But isn’t that just the nature of things? Our Princetonian culture is particularly adept at teaching that the twenty-four-hour day was made to be filled with as much as super-humanly possible. Particularly on our campuses pulses an insatiable passion for productivity. There is no rest for the weary. As the author Wayne Muller puts it, “our culture invariably supposes that action and accomplishment are better than rest, that doing something—anything—is better than doing nothing.” But no matter how much you accomplish, does the feeling of finishing a task ever meet its anticipation? Our to-do lists just keep getting longer, so we tell ourselves to get back to work.

While we are busy striving to be productive, lifestyles that are all work and no rest are dangerous and may leave us burnt-out. Around two-thirds of all fulltime working Americans experience burnout as a result of the demands of their employment. Imagine what percentage of Princetonians are burnt out. According to a Gallup poll, “unfair treatment at work, unreasonable deadlines, unmanageable workload, lack of support from managers and the added stress from having to respond to emails and texts during off hours are primary drivers of job burnout.” But a 2003 study by The Seattle Times found that, “if you work seven 50-hour weeks in a row, you’ll get no more done than if you worked seven 40-hour weeks in a row.”

This culturally-derived constancy is both debilitating and futile. But it’s not just an external demand that keeps us from sabbath. As Muller notes, “If we worry we are not good or whole inside, we will be reluctant to stop and rest, afraid we will find a lurking emptiness, a terrible, aching void with nothing to fill it.” Our overfilled schedules and too-long to-do lists are perpetuated by a desire to distract ourselves from God’s invitation to accept the freely given gift of sabbath. And so, to use the words of the Quaker author Richard Foster, “the heart of God is an open would of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation.” In returning and rest we shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be our strength. We must choose to reprioritize sabbath against the grain of culture, for it provides us with an overwhelming opportunity to experience the gospel truth.

But what exactly is sabbath? The first time it appears in relationship to humanity, sabbath is a commandment to a people wandering in the wilderness. In the book of Exodus, shortly after Israel is led across the Red Sea to escape pharaoh’s tyranny, Moses proclaims, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” Then, after some of the Israelites go out into the fields for manna on the sabbath, God asks, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions?”

If we take this account on its own, we might wrongly conclude that sabbath is an ancient legalism of a bygone millennium, that the commandment to sabbath was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, or that sabbath is optional for Christians today. But sabbath is so much more than a divine mandate stuck in a particular chronometric moment.

When we look at the first creation story, we see that God creates humanity on the sixth day and then rests on the seventh day. The only logically accurate conclusion we can make about time here is that our first full day of being was spent in sabbath with God. We were not created and immediately sent to work. Neither were we given sabbath for working hard all week. We were given sabbath long before we worked, for in the Garden we rested, and upon being expelled we toiled. Thus, it is wrong to think that sabbath comes after our own work. We do not deserve or earn sabbath—we simply receive it as grace.

The command to sabbath also exists among the eternal moral codes of the Israelite people: The Ten Commandments. We know, truly, that we were designed to uphold these ten principles, even though some come easier than others. Of course, we can recognize the distortion of creation that is found in murder, adultery, theft, and lying. And yet, we question whether the fourth commandment—to remember the sabbath day by keeping it holy—should be weighed equally with the rest. Jesus’ ministry did not undo or fulfil our requirements to uphold these tenets of faith. If we cannot justify murder with Jesus’ fulfilment of the Law, then we cannot justify a rejection of the sabbath.

In fulfilling the Law, Jesus does not negate it. In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us not to think that he has come to abolish the law or the prophets; he came not to abolish but to fulfil. “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus commands us to uphold the law, despite its being fulfilled in him. This means that we must observe the sabbath, as Jesus did throughout his ministry.

In order to better understand what sabbath was to Jesus, we must look briefly at what happened to the concept of sabbath throughout Israel’s history. In the book of Jeremiah, we read that the kingdom of Judah was handed over to destruction because its citizens did not uphold the sabbath. God said, “If you do not listen to me, to keep the sabbath day holy, and to carry in no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates; it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.” Judah is consequently destroyed, and the people are sent into exile.

After their return, the Israelites understand sabbath as a preventative measure against destruction. They were determined to uphold a sabbath at all costs. Therefore, over the centuries leading up to the life and ministry of Jesus, the Jewish religious authorities developed a detailed list of impermissible actions on the sabbath. Some prohibited actions include sowing, ploughing, reaping, gathering into sheaves, threshing, winnowing, cleansing, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking. Let’s say you had to tie your shoe on the sabbath—you were only allowed to tie knots that could be untied with one hand. Let’s say you had to write something down—you were only allowed to write one letter on the sabbath. Let’s say your house caught fire—you were not allowed to carry clothes out, because that would be considered work; however, you could put on as many layers of clothes as possible and wear them out of the house, because wearing clothes is not work.

But the manmade sabbath laws eventually became bafflingly extreme and particular. As mentioned above, you could not plough on the sabbath. This rule was expounded by the Pharisees to include spitting on the soil. Such an act could be considered ploughing, because your spit might disturb the soil. Likewise, you could not walk through the grass, because if you bent or broke a single blade of it, one might consider that threshing. You get the point: when Jesus begins his ministry, the sabbath is an absolute distortion of what God had intended. To combat this, Jesus’ ministry expresses his understanding of the sabbath, which confers upon us healing, teaching, justice, and life.

So, what, then, does Mark 2, our scripture reading for today, mean for our understanding of sabbath?

As it is recorded, one sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields; and as he and his disciples made their way, Jesus’ disciples began to pluck heads of grain. According to the Pharisee’s rules as mentioned above, this would have been considered unlawful, as their actions could be manipulated in a way in which they were reaping the field. That is why the Pharisees ask, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”

As Matthew’s account of this story records, the disciples were plucking the grain because they were hungry, not because they intended to reap. It is a misinterpretation to imply that Jesus did not observe the sabbath. In fact, Deuteronomy 23 specifically permits that “you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbour’s standing grain.” By no means could a Pharisee argue that the disciples were breaking God’s law. The only law being broken was man-made.

Therefore, Jesus’ reply comments on a moment with which the Pharisees would have been very familiar: the account of David and his companions eating the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat. This account of David is recorded in First Samuel 21. With David being a man after God’s own heart, no Pharisee would dare condemn him for this. If David can feed his companions on what is holy, so can we eat on a holy day.

Jesus is not rejecting the sabbath! He is reclaiming the true intent of the sabbath. He says, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” This enigma does not imply that we can determine what we should do on the sabbath. Rather, it expresses the authoritative interpretation of the divine intention of the law, which emphasizes mercy.

Sabbath should be a blessing full of mercy and grace, as God had intended. The Pharisees’ rules made the sabbath an unmanageable burden. Sabbath is to be enjoyed, not endured. And with that, the sabbath was intended for all of humanity, not just those who abided by normative Judaism. In combatting the Pharisees, Jesus not only reforms the sabbath for the Jews, he also invites us to sabbath with him: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

So, what exactly should sabbath be for us today? We can follow some guidelines that point us in the right direction.

The first and foremost guideline is that a proper sabbath is restful. It’s important to note that Jesus and his disciples did not work on the sabbath; neither did they use the sabbath to refresh themselves for another week of work. We uphold the fourth commandment when we cease all work and instead choose to take the opportunity to delight in our lives and the accomplishments with which God has blessed us. We rest as though all of our work was already done. And with that, while there should be no productive conversation, it is okay to talk about our work from a perspective of thanks. We thank God, for “in him we live and move and have our being.” On the sabbath we choose celebration instead of preparation.

With that, the second guideline is that a proper sabbath is one during which we embrace an abundance of time. Jesus never rushes. He deliberately experiences the fullness of every moment, whether that means healing, teaching, bringing justice, or giving life. Whereas our culture may feel like a raging river with a current that forces us along in ways uncontrollable, God’s invitation to sabbath gives us the opportunity to step out of those waters and onto dry land.

Taking your time may take different forms. It may look like intentionally choosing to make your favourite breakfast even though it takes a long time to cook. It may look like spending unhurried time reading the scriptures. It may look like going to the beach or walking through a park with a friend. As the Jewish mystic Abraham Heschel says, “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world.”

The third guideline is that a proper sabbath is one during which we avoid distraction. Jesus does not avoid persons in need of his ministering, nor does he shy away from confrontation but instead faces these things head on to stand up for what is right. Specifically, Jesus heals who he sees in need on the sabbath, even though he knows that that Pharisees will inevitably use this as fuel for their vindictive fire. Jesus’ mindfulness of his neighbour is an expression of the sabbath gift of being fully present—being attentive to both God and neighbour.

Being fully present means putting away technology and media. Social media is designed to make us hyper-aware of the cultural expectation to become more “instagrammable” or likeable, and as a result produces anxiety and insecurity and affects us in ways contrary to the purpose of sabbath. The paradox of virtual reality or virtual identity is that what is virtual is not real. Our online accounts can only offer illusions of real friendship. Sure, social media may be a useful tool for ministry, but it also distracts us from the true delight we can experience if we were to push ourselves to be fully present with God and neighbour. We ought to choose to spend a day delighting in our inherent belovedness instead of coveting others in our feed. It sounds like a crazy idea, but try leaving your phone and television off for an entire day and seeing what kind of headspace in which you will find yourself.

The fourth guideline is that a proper sabbath is one done in community. As his actions express, Jesus wants our holy days to be enjoyed alongside others. Most prevalently, Jesus spends sabbath dining with those whom he loves. We are wrong to think that sabbath should be some privatized thing we do alone. Doing life together means that we are in the business of working and resting in community.

Therefore, having children does not prevent you from taking a sabbath. For many, this is a real challenge. But you don’t need to find a babysitter to sabbath, especially because sabbath is best done as a family. We must be willing to share our time with those whom we love by doing what is life-giving for them. I invite you to encourage your family members to share what gives them joy. And then, shape each sabbath around those things.

Personally, I enjoy a slow, still morning where I sit on the patio with a warm cup of coffee and simply soak in the silence of a new day. But, I’m not going to spend the entire day out there. I’ll make sure to check in with Gabrielle to see what could bring her the gift of sabbath. I have learned that she loves taking an extended walk around town or through the university campus. It’s important that I not set some kind of goal or destination in this walking, because that would defeat what is life-giving by simply walking outside. And Gabrielle knows that I experience a lot of life-giving when I have two scoops of ice cream from Halo Pub. See, walking and eating ice cream are not the most profound activities. But they are the things that bring us joy and peace. It is through being outside and eating ice cream that we delight in our lives and are willing to say “yes, this is enough.”

But I already know what my fellow introverts are thinking: isn’t the most restful thing to go a whole day without talking to anybody else? Even if we have to expend energy to be with people, we were made for relationship. You don’t need to fill your sabbath with events or grand get-togethers. A healthy sabbath for an introvert would include both solitude and sociability. Just as work and sabbath should cooperate towards a more balanced life, so too should we balance our prayerful moments with God and our call to do life with others.

The fifth guideline is that a proper sabbath is one of creativity. Closely related to the last guideline, this one addresses the fact that, due to systemic injustices and economic insecurity, we are not all equally afforded the opportunity to take a full twenty-four-hour sabbath. Preaching on what could be interpreted as “taking a day off to have fun” may seem an ignorant claim to someone who has to work two jobs in order to make ends meet. If you find yourself without a full day available to sabbath, you are in good company. In an ideal world, yes, we would all take a full day to rest in the presence of God. However, when we need to work to feed our families or have commitments every day of the week, we need to get creative, because satisfying spiritual hunger and physical hunger are both important.

Working in ministry means that my job requires me to work the weekends. And as a student, I was required to show up to class on the weekdays. For the last three years, I have not been afforded a full day of rest. In order to sabbath, I found two twelve-hour blocks to dedicate to sabbath. When I was lucky, these two blocks backed up to one another so that a twenty-four-hour period was formed between the evening of one day and the morning of the next. For example, one semester, I would set aside Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings for sabbath. But another semester I had to split my sabbath into two separate pieces; I rested on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings. I lived with the excuse that, as the Presbyterian minister and theologian Frederick Buechner writes, “All moments are holy moments, and life itself is grace.” If these two twelve-hour shifts were holy moments, why couldn’t I break apart my sabbath?

These alternatives worked for me for a short season, but they ultimately could not provide the same kind of rest of a full twenty-four-hour period. Therefore, I would not recommend breaking apart your sabbath for long. It is not sustainable. We can live every moment as a holy moment, but even the Creator of the universe takes a full day to sabbath. We need to learn how to better trust God that we can be sustained through a day of rest.

As one of my professors, Nate Stucky, once said, “Endless work suggests that the Gospel only comes to us through work, yet the core of the Gospel is grace. How can lives of endless work—even if the work is supposedly ministry—proclaim a Gospel of grace?” This isn’t just for seminarians or pastors. As Christians, we are all ministers; “like living stones to be built into a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.

This is especially where we need to look to and trust Jesus. There are so many accounts of Jesus addressing need. But if we zero in on the feeding of the five thousand, we see that Jesus had been retreating to rest when saw a great crowd: “he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled.”

Even though Jesus was ready to call it a day, he witnessed sickness and hunger and chose compassion. When we have the means to sabbath, we should want to invite others into that rest by sharing a meal, praying for one another, and bringing about justice and life. Jesus says that he is lord even of the sabbath, so we should keep the sabbath as Jesus does, which is guided by the principle of doing good with and for others.

That is why we do what we do. This community exists to care for one another in ways the world wants to deem strange. So often have I been blessed by this community for providing for me in times of need. Whether it’s a restorative conversation over of a cup of coffee, a good laugh over a great meal, a convicting message in a moment of vulnerability, or a helping hand when your moving into a new place—I have found that the church shows up when it’s invited. Humility allows us to recognize that we can do nothing to earn this. The church should be a community of persons aware of their utmost need for mercy and grace.

If this is how we understand sabbath, then we can understand our weekly setups and teardowns and church gatherings that run from eight in the morning and into the afternoon as time in which we serve others. When we convene early and stay late, we take part in the healing, teaching, justice, and life that Jesus offers us and our neighbours. If we are doing the work to which God has called us, we should be determined for it. But alongside our ambition for the kingdom of God must be an embrace of the sabbath. We cannot do kingdom work without kingdom tools. Without sabbath, we will inevitably resent setting up and tearing down, and we will altogether lose sight of the way in which Ecclesia is a beacon of hope in a world wrought with work.

Nobody said that sabbath was going to be easy. Our culture values human achievement, vocational ambition, and productivity. We measure the benefits of sabbath against these things. We see sabbath as the sacrifice of an entire day of work—an entire day lost in the race to meet society’s expectations of us. But what if we stopped identifying ourselves by our achievement, ambition, and productivity, and started identifying ourselves with the grace of God?

What if we chose not to follow culture’s promise that money, reputation, or success will make us loved? Culture’s promotion of self-salvation forces us to work too hard to earn love by our own doing. And we fall into that trap because being loved is what we want as humans. But as Christians, we ought to know that money, reputation, and success are false gods that cannot satisfy and cannot save. When we choose sabbath, we choose Jesus. We choose to set aside monetary profits, performance, and productivity, and instead delight in our inherent belovedness. This is enough! The cross is enough.

I really think the song, “In Christ Alone” is a testament to the power of sabbath. The first verse states, “What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My comforter, my all in all—Here in the love of Christ I stand.” When we sing this song, we proclaim that we are secure in the love of Christ even when our strivings cease. Even when we choose to pull back our ambitions and put away our to-do lists, we are loved by God, who blesses us with hope and light and strength and song and sabbath.

We will never earn sabbath rest. And yet, we have already received it, promised to us from the very first day of our existence in creation. Likewise, we will never earn the salvation we receive in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We come to the table every week to remember that every sin on Christ was laid—that the freedom and fullness of life we live is by no means credited to anything we do. And in response to this gift of love and righteousness, we should humbly face the cross and embrace Christ’s full gift of grace, including the sabbath.

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