Looking Ahead to June 2, 2024

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Deuteronomy 5:12-15
• Mark 2:23-3:6

Sabbath Evening

The Sermon title is Sabbath is for....?

Early Thoughts:  We are commanded (it is not a suggestion) to take a day of Sabbath rest each and every week. Why? What might that look like? How well do we do that? 

The words of Scripture give us two different reasons for the commandment to keep Sabbath. When the 10 Commandments are given in Exodus 20 we are told to take Sabbath in keeping with the first story of creation in Genesis 1, where God rested on the 7th day. In this week's reading we have eh commandment as it is given in Deuteronomy where the act of pausing for a day is a sign that the people are no longer slaves. Even further, the people may have slaves themselves now but those slaves are also to be given a day of rest. Everybody--slave or free, adult or child, native or alien, human or livestock--  deserves a day of rest.

The act of taking Sabbath is an act of declaring our freedom.

Does that mean that refusing to take (or give) Sabbath-time is an act of enslavement?

Stepping aside from the why question for a moment (there are several years worth of discussion on why a day of rest is a good idea for our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health), let's ponder what it means to declare a day of rest. What does it look like to do that? How do we encourage or allow it to be a possibility for everyone? [For example, it can never be the same day for everyone but that does not mean it should not be available to everyone, just maybe on different days.] What exactly is meant by "do nothing"?

Within both Jewish and Christian tradition there have been vast amounts of discussion and writing about what is/is not allowed on the Sabbath (or in Christian terms "The Lord's Day" since the early church moved away from the Jewish Sabbath to mark the first day of the week in honour of Easter). I remember hearing of Christian homes that ensured their Sunday meals were all prepared by Saturday night so that no one would have to cook on Sunday. There are longstanding "blue laws" about what is not allowed on Sunday -- remember the Sunday shopping debates a few decades ago?

This week's reading from Mark shows us that debates about what "do nothing" means go back millenia. Here we see Jesus running afoul of others in the community because he does not appear to share their opinion about the best way to keep Sabbath. I like his answer: "“The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath," (2:27) and later on "“Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). This fits with the Jesus who later will remind his followers that it is of upmost importance to love one's neighbour as you love yourself. As with the rest of life, the ethical requirement of keeping Sabbath is not about rigorously following rules, it is about caring for self and neighbour.

So how do we best honour the Sabbath commandment in 2024? I can think of a few possibilities:

1. Mandate in Labour law that no person can be scheduled for 7 days straight and no more than 5 days in one week at one employer (I am not sure what to do about people working for multiple employers but maybe the next point will help with that)
2. Ensure that every single person has enough to live on to remove the "I have to work constantly or I can't pay rent" reality that many face. One way to do this would be a Guaranteed Annual Income. People need to feel that a Sabbath day is in fact
   
3. Teach children from a very early age about a balanced life. As adults we need to model to our children that it is important to have a day of rest, not just a day off when we are busy cleaning or doing chores but a day of rest.
4. One possibility is a more compressed work week, say for example 4 10 hour days

I am sure there are other things that others could think of that make it easier to encourage and allow people to take a day of Sabbath time. But I strongly believe that the reason we are commanded to take Sabbath is that God recognizes that it is healthier for us as individuals and as a community. It changes our priorities. It changes how we spend our energy. It may even change how we relate to our families and neighbours. We would all be better off.

I Like this option (source)

I don't think the debate about Sabbath time needs to be about rules and "what is allowed". I don't think it need to be about "what day is best", no one day will ever work for everyone. The debate needs to be about "why is this important" and "how do we make it possible and acceptable".

We live in a world that has largely forgotten the importance of Sabbath time. It could be argued that in some circles the idea of Sabbath time, of down "non-productive" time is in fact denigrated. We need to get back to taking that time, for the better health of all of us.
--Gord