Back to School: Sabbath

Readings

Exodus 20:1-17

 Then God spoke all these words:

² I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³ you shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation^[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹ For six days you shall labour and do all your work. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹² Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ You shall not murder.^[c]

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You shall not steal.

¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Mark 2:23-28

²³ One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ ²⁵ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶ He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ ²⁷ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸ so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

Sermon

Over the past few weeks, we have been thinking about the spiritual disciplines, or holy habits, that help us be all God made us to be. They are practices we intentionally weave into our life to enable us to fulfil our purpose of glorifying God and enjoying God forever. We have thought about worship, prayer, reading the Bible, sharing good news, being grateful, giving generously and now we finish with sabbath. The word Sabbath comes from a Hebrew word which simply means “to rest”, but as we will see over the next few minutes, it is about so much more than that.

Sabbath as a word can have a singularly joyless reputation – perhaps from the days when a Sunday day of rest meant three trips to church and absolutely no fun. And this is a shame because Sabbath is a great gift. It is about so much more than resting – it is about reconnecting and recreating, it is about enjoying the world and the life God has given us, it is about justice and play and it is about living in grace. It is utterly subversive and revolutionary. That’s quite a lot to unpack, so hold on to your seats and let’s go!

Let’s begin with our Bible readings though. Our first reading was the ten commandments given to Moses – fundamental rules for God’s people, and the one that gets the most explanation is the one about sabbath. Sabbath is good enough for God and therefore is good enough for God’s people. And sabbath isn’t just for us – it is for our neighbour, those whose labour supports our living, our fellow living creatures and for the planet.

The first thing to notice is that sabbath – that rest – is a command. Too often we squeeze rest in after we have done everything else. Once we have ticked off everything on the to-do list, we will have time to rest, to recreate, to play… But God says not. Rest, restoration and recreation are to be a regular part of our rhythm of living. I have always been something of a workaholic, and moving to life in ministry was a bit of a challenge for me for two big reasons: the work was never done – there was always another phone call to make, email to send, prayer to offer, visit to make – and in living and ministering from my home, there were no office hours to contain everything. I am sure other home workers will be able to relate to this – it can be hard to be truly off duty. If I was to keep sabbath, I had to put in the rest before the work. So days off and holidays went in the diary FIRST and then work was done in the time left around them.

We live in a world where busyness is a badge of honour, and we are judged by what we earn, what we produce and what we contribute to our society. Take a look at your average popular newspaper or read the comments on a social media post and see what people think of people out of paid work or being supported by the state. Benefits can have a huge stigma even when people are entitled to them and need them. No, in our society our worth is tied up in our paid work, whether past or present. And certainly, work is good – it is good to be able to earn and support our families and it is good to contribute to our community – but it is not our purpose. Work is something we do – it is not who we are. Sabbath – the intentional setting aside of our productivity each week – is a reminder that we are human beings not human doings, and that while work has value, our value as people made in God’s image, beloved by God is something else entirely. Sabbath says “I have a value that is not determined by the money in my bank account, the size of my house or the holidays I can afford – I am valuable because God loves me.” In a society driven by wealth and status, this is hugely countercultural – and it is something important to remember, both for ourselves and how we treat others.

But sabbath is not just for us – it is for others too. This means sabbath is about justice. It is about ensuring that for our neighbours and fellow creatures, life is not just about productivity and survival, but there is space to be, to breathe and to enjoy the life God has given them. Sabbath is deeply political – it is about working rights and trade unions and pay that means families can survive without working every hour God sends and more. It is bigger than whether you pop into Aldi on a Sunday, but rather about whether the ALDI worker who serves you has good working conditions and space and means to rest and recreate themselves.

The Pharisees who challenged Jesus missed this point. They were so focussed on the rule, they missed the values that lay behind the rules. Jesus puts them right – sabbath is made FOR humanity, not the other way round. Sabbath is bigger than who does what when, but is rather about humanity remembering that they are more than the things they do – as are their fellow creatures.

So what do we do when we are doing sabbath. Well, in short – we rest and play. We are two third of a Mars Bar – a Mars a day lets you work, rest and play, well we just rest and play. If you don’t know how to play, watch some children – or watch your dog. They are not driven by should – they just fill their time doing what they like doing, reconnecting with themselves and the people they love in the process. The play is important because rest isn’t what everyone needs. I was chatting to Jane the other day about this. Both have us have suffered different sorts of ill health in recent years and for us rest is work – rest is the thing we have to intentionally build into our schedule to ensure we have the energy to do the things we do. Rest refreshes our bodies but not our minds or souls. Instead Jane told me about a day spent sketching at Poleworth Abbey – sitting there drawing, listening to birdsong, her heart felt at peace – and that to me sounds like sabbath. So what is play for you – something that doesn’t make money or produce something useful, but as you while away a few hours, you feel peaceful, you feel restored. Maybe it is gardening, maybe it is knitting, maybe it is baking a cake. Maybe it is trainspotting or bird spotting or plane-spotting. Discover your play – and do it!