Proper 4B; Deut. 5:12-15; Mark 2:23-3:6; St. Paul’s, Smithfield, 6/3/2018

Jim Melnyk: “Sabbath Keeping”

Moses said, “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:12).  In Exodus God says through Moses, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” (20:8).  Author Matthew Sleeth, whose work on the sabbath we studied here at St. Paul’s during Lent back in 2014, points out it’s “the only commandment that begins with the word remember – almost as if God knew we would forget.  Well, guess what?” he asks.  “We did.”  Sleeth tells us that ever since we entered the electronic age we’ve become 24/7 people.  Many of you may recall his response to that reality – a book called 24/6.  Sleeth writes:

“In the beginning of the greatest story ever told, we find the inventor of everything taking a rest and enjoying [the] creation.  And like most of the first few chapters of Genesis, this isn’t so much an explanation of how, but of who.  The who, of course, is God.

Who spoke the light into shining and the earth into spinning and the creeping, crawling things into crawling?  God! How? That’s not the point.  Imagine an infinite God creating for six infinitely glorious days, and then on the seventh day [that same God] rests.  We don’t know the details,” explains Sleeth.  “The point is that something very important about the character of God is revealed on the seventh day.  God stops” (p. 32).

Genesis tells us that on the seventh day God finished the work the Holy One had begun, and that God “ceased,” or rested, on that day (2:2).  “And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that the Holy One had done” (2:3). 

To make something holy is to set it apart from the ordinary – to set it apart from the everyday – and to give it purpose.  Therefore, from the very beginning of time, Sabbath is “built into the very structure of the universe; it is God’s holy time… [it is meant to become] the mark of [Israel’s] covenant with God.” (The Torah: A Modern Commentary, p. 35). God gives holy purpose to the act of resting – and commands us to do the same.

But “stopping is a problem for humans,” Sleeth tells us.  Americans are especially, for the most part, not very good at keeping Sabbath time.  In fact we’re not even good at taking days off, or taking our vacations, or even taking sick leave, because too many companies either imply, or tell us outright, that they can find other workers to replace us when we do take time off.

But even that’s not just a modern day American phenomenon.  Speaking about those in Israel who just couldn’t wait for the Sabbath to end so they could go back to making money the prophet Amos cries out, “Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, ‘When will the Sabbath [be over], so that we may offer wheat for sale?’” (Amos 8:5).

So our lessons for today, taken from Deuteronomy and Mark, challenge us to consider the “Who” and “what” of Sabbath and Sabbath keeping.  The “Who” of Sabbath and Sabbath keeping is first, and foremost, God.  God hallows a time set apart for appreciation of the creation and for regeneration.  Israel becomes a part of the “Who” of Sabbath time by God’s invitation and command to remember that day – to observe that day – and to keep it holy; and we, by extension, are invited into this holy time as well.  “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 the holiness of time” (Abraham Heschel).

The “what” of Sabbath and Sabbath keeping has to do with how well we keep the commandment.  The stories we heard a few minutes ago from Mark are about those who take the various oral traditions built around the Sabbath so seriously, they forget not only about God’s gift of the Sabbath, but about human relationships and human need as well. 

In our stories from Mark, Jesus does a great job of channeling his inner Anglican self – finding a via media – finding a middle way – between ignoring the importance of Sabbath and taking it so seriously that it becomes detrimental to the good of God’s people.  Jesus always reminds us that we are supposed to be faithful to the commandments God has given us.  From all the evidence before us we know that Jesus is a Torah observant Jew.  “But,” Jesus is quick to remind us, “Laws must always be reevaluated in the light of the purpose for which they were given in order to enhance human well-being and to strengthen our relationship with God and others” (Synthesis CE).

This is part of what’s going on in the second half of our gospel lesson today.  Jesus and his disciples are in the local synagogue.  Again, Jesus is taking Sabbath observance – taking Sabbath keeping – seriously.  The Pharisees from before are still keeping an eye on him – especially when Jesus and the man with a withered hand come face-to-face.  This time it’s Jesus who puts the Pharisees to the test.  “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). The Pharisees’ silence is deafening!  They know the answer that is widely understood throughout Judaism – that it is lawful – that is even expected – to do good on the Sabbath.

This passage isn’t really about the healing.  Like the first story, it’s about challenging Jesus’ understanding of the Sabbath.  Both passages are controversy stories – stories that follow a theme beginning even earlier in Mark’s gospel with questions like, “Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (2:16), or “Why aren’t your disciples fasting like John’s disciples and the Pharisees?” (2:18) Again, Jesus weighs in with another challenge. 

Why are you so concerned about ritual and not concerned about human need?  Why do you value the practice of your religion over the well-being of your sisters and brothers – especially when everything about our faith is about loving God and loving one another?  Why, in the face of this young man’s physical disability, which stops him from being able to put food on the table or keep a roof over his head, why are you so silent?  The silence of the Pharisees stands as judge and jury (Bill Brosend, Feasting on the Gospels: Mark). 

They’re so busy arguing over dogma that they never stop to talk with the man whose hand is healed!  Likewise, we get so caught up in the debate over theology that this poor guy gets relegated to the background, with no voice of his own (ibid).  It’s so easy to get caught up in power plays over doctrine that we push aside those most in need – and we can translate those power plays into all parts of our individual and corporate lives – the social, political, and religious aspects of our lives!  Humans seem able to thrive on controversy and ignore the realities of human fallout. 

The Sabbath was created by God as a time of rest so that we might reflect on the glory and love of God – and yet what better reflects that glory and love than restoring to wholeness one of God’s beloved?

So what does Sabbath keeping mean if we try to both take it seriously, but not rigidly?  Such an approach seems to leave things up in the air once we start wrestling with the traditional guidelines or laws passed down through antiquity.  One of my Doctor of Ministry professors has said, “One size of Sabbath…does not fit all” (ibid).  So, for example, if toiling away in the garden, hacking at weeds and straining our backs makes us anxious and exhausted, chances are we’re meant to take a break on the Sabbath.  If digging in the soil and bringing beauty and life to the world around us puts us in touch with our Creator and brings us deep joy, then by all means dig away!  If Sabbath keeping comes at the expense of others’ well-being – well, perhaps that should give us reason to pause and rethink our discipline.

The Sabbath command offered by God is a commandment meant to give us life – it is meant to give us rest – it is meant to nourish us, and renew us.  The question isn’t “Should we find ways of keeping Sabbath in our lives?” but rather, “How can we find ways of keeping Sabbath in our lives?”  And when we do, we will find God waiting to meet us in that moment.