Exodus 20: 8-11; Deuteronomy 5:15 by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
June 5, 2016
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. - Deuteronomy 5: 15
A few years ago I was co-leading a confirmation class of very bright and energetic youth. Confirmation is a time of reviewing the tenets of faith with the 7th and 8th grade youth as they prepare to respond to their baptismal vows and join the church. We began the class with an overnight retreat with interactive lessons and recreation. One part of that lesson was discussing the Ten Commandments. We asked the youth if there was any commandment that they did not see as relevant in today’s culture. I was surprised to hear the majority answer, “The Sabbath.” Or maybe I should not have been surprised.
Currently we mark our time with how busy we are. We are busy earning a living. We are busy paying the bills and saving for the future. We are busy shuttling children to opportunities to develop their character. We are busy caring for aging family members. Busy is the new normal because we do not fare well with idle time. Busy is results oriented. If we want to be successful at anything we do then busyness must be the path to take the next step forward.
We have lost touch with the relevance of Sabbath. It is the fourth commandment which God imparted to Moses on the tablets of stone. And it wins for the highest word count of all the commandments, thereby revealing some important ways to follow the path of God’s faithfulness.
The book of Exodus is the story of Moses leading God’s people out of Egyptian slavery into the freedom of God’s promises. Their days had been filled with hard manual labor for hundreds of years. Egypt’s oppression weighed heavily upon the generations of Israel and it shook their foundational identity. As the people of God followed Moses towards a future of hope, God revealed how they might live more fully into God’s abundant faithfulness through the Ten Commandments. Sabbath was not solely a commandment instituting rules of rest. Sabbath was a gift of finding freedom in the chaos.
Sabbath freed the people to remember how God’s story defined them. Israel was not defined by past mistakes or even the work that had enslaved them. Sabbath reminded the people to keep God at the center of their lives. Our text of Deuteronomy is very specific to name this. “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” (Deut 5:15).
If the people held God as their sacred center then nothing could move them. God delivered Israel from Egypt and God would always be the people’s saving strength. God’s deliverance is the most powerful narrative threaded through all of Scripture. Sabbath was a radical practice of remembering God’s faithfulness and trusting God’s presence in the midst of chaos and wilderness.
Sabbath freed the people to know their intrinsic value. Every time I read the commandment of Sabbath I am struck by its inclusiveness. There is no one and no creature that is excluded from knowing Sabbath rest. God’s command claimed all of the community equally in God’s amazing grace. Sabbath leveled the manmade hierarchy of status and worth for all.
Rev. Maryann McKibben Dana is a Presbyterian minister at large, a speaker, and an author. A few years ago she was quoted on a PBS special on the topic of Sabbath: “Sabbath is the great leveler. I mean, if we take that seriously as a culture, it means that no matter what your life situation, whether you are Bill Gates or the person who cleans Bill Gates’ office, you have an inherent dignity and for a time each week, you do not need to defend your existence. To prove your worth in the culture and the marketplace.”
That is a radical notion! Sabbath creates a spiritual space where we do not need to prove our worth. We are all equally loved and valued by God. We are all equally encouraged to rest in that kind of grace that regenerates our lives.
Sabbath also freed the people to follow a new rhythm. It was not Egypt’s rhythm. It was not Moses’ rhythm. It was God’s rhythm of engaging the world. From the very beginning God’s hands moved in an ebb and flow of work and rest. The rhythm of God’s work to create new life held both purpose and pleasure. God’s work was never out of obligation or even domination. God always works, creates, and acts out of a great love to live in relationship with creation and humanity.
God’s ability to actually pause and rest sets forth a profound way of engaging the world. God took the time to enjoy the fruit of God’s labor. By doing so God freed Israel to enjoy the process of God’s work in their lives. In the practice of observing Sabbath God frees us to give ourselves permission to not only enjoy the fruits of our own labor but to enjoy the process of God’s work in our lives.
Walter Brueggemann says, “Sabbath is not simply the pause that refreshes. It is the pause that transforms.”
We encounter the holy and enter a space of sacred time when we observe the Sabbath. God created the Sabbath for all of God’s people to savor God’s goodness and God’s abundance. If we limit Sabbath only as a command that we “shall not work” then we miss the blessings of Sabbath.
How have you allowed the Sabbath to give you a sense of freedom within your work, intrinsic worth, and rhythm of engaging the world?
While many Christians observe Sabbath on Sundays because it is the day of resurrection, our Jewish brothers and sisters observe Sabbath on Friday evenings through sunset on Saturdays. It is a time to share a special meal and to worship in the synagogue on Friday evening or Saturday morning. The Jewish Shabot, as it is called, is marked by the lighting of candles just before Friday’s sunset. The light is a marker of time set apart to be claimed by God’s shalom (peace).
Susannah Heschel is the daughter of Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel, and she shares her memories of this sacred time with her family:
“Friday evenings in my home were the climax of the week, as they are for every religious Jewish family. My mother and I kindled the lights for the Sabbath, and all of sudden I felt transformed, emotionally and even physically. The sense of peace that came upon us as we kindled the lights was created in part by the hectic tension of Fridays [for Sabbath preparation]…Whatever had not been finished in the kitchen [before sunset] we simply left behind as we lit the candles and blessed the arrival of Sabbath.” [1]
Years ago when I read Susannah’s words, my family and I began observing Sabbath on Friday evenings together. We light candles at the table, share a special meal together, and have family time. The light of the candle reminds me of God’s presence and the freedom we have in Jesus Christ. The light allows us to find a sacred centering because we are sitting around the table of God’s household, all as children of God.
Sabbath frees me to know and trust that God is restoring us to the core of who we are and to God’s keeping. Out of the chaos each week God is at work to bring about a new creation in us, but we must pause to notice it. As the Sabbath candle shines on my table, its circle of light sets a new boundary that we are not enslaved to our work. We do not belong to our work or to the world.
The world is not dependent upon our labors, thoughts, or contributions in this time set apart, nor is our self-worth. Even as the chaos of life swirls in the background, God remains in control. The world was still turning when God rested and the world will still turn when you and I rest too. Resting in God’s grace is to know we are more than enough just as we are. I find that very freeing.
In a time when culture pushes down upon us to always be accessible, to always be working, and to always be busy I invite you to consider the radical nature of Sabbath keeping. You might observe Sabbath on Sundays to worship and remember God’s grace in song, prayer, and story and enjoy time with family. You might choose another weekday to be still, or you may even choose just a few hours. However you observe Sabbath - claim some time apart to be claimed by God’s rhythm. It is the pause that transforms us by this gift of freedom.
In the name of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Source Referenced:
[1] Abraham Joshua Heschel, “The Sabbath” (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1951) pp. vii-viii.
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