Sabbath 2: God is enough!

Written by Alissa Bender

Associate Pastor Alissa Bender
Calgary First Mennonite Church
September 5, 2010

Sabbath 2: God is enough!
Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Exodus 16:1-30, Luke 13:10-17

Today is the last time that I will preach from this pulpit as your associate pastor. I wondered for a while what kind of sermon I would make my last. It eventually became clear to me that Sabbath keeping was a theme that had come back to my mind many times in my 3 years here, sometimes because of my own personal discoveries, and sometimes because I could see how a deeper understanding of Sabbath living could affect so many aspects of our life as a church.

So that’s where these two sermons have come from. Last week we already began reflecting on how busy our culture is, how rushed and constantly plugged in. The stress in our culture is evident. Three weeks ago I listened to a story on The National that emphasized higher levels of stress in our post-secondary students. A U.S. study claims that depression has increased 7% among university-age students. A counselor from just down the road at Ambrose University added how under-resourced schools are to deal with the mental health issues they witness related to anxiety, depression, and relationships. The causes and results are complex and multi-layered, but our society seems collectively stressed out.

Last Sunday, to remind you or to fill you in if you missed it, we looked at the Sabbath commandment as it is recorded in the book of Exodus. We saw how that version of the Sabbath commandment was rooted in the story of Creation, which reminds us that God created us and loves us. We are invited to rest in joy because our worth is not bound up in what we do, produce, or achieve. Our worth is found in the fact that we are children of God. We can let go of our constant need to work, work, work, because we are enough!

Today we have heard the Sabbath commandment as it is recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. I’m going to take us through a few differences between the Exodus and Deuteronomy passages as we explore the same three things as last week: 1) remembering who we are, 2) remembering who God is, and 3) God’s invitation to Sabbath rest.

The first difference that I find interesting is the very first word. In my translation, and most that I looked at, Exodus 20:8 instructs the Israelites to "remember the Sabbath day", while Deuteronomy tells them to "observe" it. In the original Hebrew, these are, in fact, different words. Exodus uses "zachar", which can mean to remember, to recall, or to call to mind. Deuteronomy uses "shamar", which can mean to keep, to watch, to preserve, to observe, and to guard.

It seems appropriate to me for those words to go hand in hand. Yes, we remember the Sabbath, we remember the gift of creation, we remember that we were created very good, and we also act on this remembering. We observe the Sabbath. We guard it from whoever and whatever may tell us that we’re crazy for resting one day a week. We keep it faithfully. Like last Sunday, I’ll talk a little more later about what it looks like to keep the Sabbath.

The next part of these verses that we’ll look at is the last part of each. The Exodus words remind us of the creation story. The Deuteronomy words are different: "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" (12:15a).

I’ve said that keeping Sabbath makes us remember who we are. If we were part of the Jewish community, we would speak in first person, despite the generations of difference, and say: "We were slaves in the land of Egypt!" This first audience of Israelites remembered this very clearly, and also remembered who God was – the one who had brought them out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

When we keep Sabbath, we remember that God is God and we are not. God is the one who brings about liberation, and no matter how hard we may work to save ourselves, we need God as our liberator. Let’s consider a story that happened very soon after the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. Soon enough that you might think it should be too soon to be forgetful.Manna story (Exodus 16:1-30)

1 The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, … 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days."
… 12 "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather as much of it as each of you needs, [… ] all providing for those in their own tents.'" 17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it […], those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.
19 And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over until morning." 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul. And Moses was angry with them.
21 Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food […]. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, "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.'" 24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it.
25 Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none." 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? 29 See! The LORD has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

 

The Israelites in this story needed to learn the same thing that we still need to learn today when we observe the Sabbath. Even though they had enough food in their homes, and God had told them that they were safe to rest, some of them just had to take matters into their own hands. They just had to go out and see if God would be wrong, if there might actually be some more manna, just in case. Even after 10 plagues, a great escape from Egypt, and walking safely through the parting of the Red Sea, it is hard to trust in God. No wonder we have trouble in our sometimes less than spectacular lives trusting that God will do what God promises to do… that is, to be our God.

I spoke last week about Sabbath not just as a weekly event but as a way of life. The rhythm of Sabbath living reminds us of the things we forget and allows us to live out of them. Sabbath is about us relinquishing control to God who has done and will do liberating work, and we don’t just do this one day a week, when we keep a day of Sabbath rest, we learn to live this throughout our lives.

We need to be liberated from that which binds us, which otherwise controls us. When our work controls us, we can forget at least three things. One, that we are beloved and worthy children of God. Two, that God has worked liberation in the past and we can trust God to do it in the future. And the third thing is related. We can forget that God is the liberator of the world, not us. We may think that we are indispensable to the turning of the earth on its axis, but when we stop and rest, we realize that the world can get along just fine.

This is a freeing truth to remember. We are not responsible for the saving of the world. That is God’s job, and it won’t help us or anyone to sneak around behind God’s back to see if there’s any manna that God has forgotten.

This is a very difficult lesson for those of us who are engaged in the calling of the Kingdom of God. The truth of the matter is that there are always hungry to be fed, thirsty to receive water, strangers to welcome, and imprisoned to visit. The work of the church could go on and on without rest.

This week I found myself thinking of my sermon and questioning what it means to trust in a liberating God in the context of the stories I was hearing. At MCC’s Planting Peace program, I heard first-hand stories of violence in Nigeria, war in Uganda, occupation in Israel and Palestine, and injustice in Colombia. Where is their liberation? Where is the manna in the desert for the young girls who are kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and forced to be wives to a rebel?

We did hear stories of manna in the desert, of provision in impossible circumstances. We met Rosemary who works for MCC with the girls who have returned to their communities but have been rejected. Rosemary works at a school where these girls are taught skills that will help them to live and make a living. They are given back the dignity that was stolen from them, and the respect they deserve. This is manna, that looks small at first, but that we hope and pray will be enough for one day at a time.

So, what does Sabbath rest mean in the context of this work, or any work of justice, or any work of ministry we take on within our congregation?

The quick and practical answer to this question is that God didn’t create energizer bunnies. God created humans. Fallible, tirable, imperfect humans who cannot work from sunrise to sunset 7 days of the week, every week of the year. We need rest for our bodies and for our souls if we hope to do the work of God’s kingdom well when we are doing it.

Another point that I would raise in response to this question takes us back to our Sabbath commandments. Let’s look at what I call the "justice clause" in the commandment.

The two writings start off about the same: "But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work-- you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock". Then Exodus simply says "or the alien resident in your towns", whereas Deuteronomy drives the point home a little further: "or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you".

The resident aliens are the sojourners in Israel who are not related to them, probably don’t speak the same language as them, and don’t have the same traditions. But they are included in the Sabbath commandment. Not as a command to the foreigners to follow, but as a command to the Israelites to include the strangers and slaves in the blessing of Sabbath rest. The invitation to Sabbath rest includes the instruction to give rest to others, especially those over whom we may have power. The Israelites had power over their own slaves and could choose when to make them work. But God’s intention was for the Israelites to practice justice by practicing the Sabbath.

God is indeed our liberator, but our liberation (and I could use the word "salvation") is tied to the liberation of our neighbours. Like the Israelites who poured out of Egypt, our liberation is a communal affair. It is the truth within the simple bumper sticker "No one is free while others are oppressed".

Jesus makes this clear, if we look at another story of him misbehaving on the Sabbath. In Luke 13 we find him teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. When a woman walks in, bent over and crippled for 18 years, Jesus calls her over, lays his hands on her, and says "Woman, you are set free from your ailment". She is immediately healed and starts praising God. The leader of the synagogue, though, is indignant that Jesus would dare do the work of healing on the Sabbath, and he reams him out.

But Jesus answers: "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"

We could repeat here his words from last week’s gospel story: "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath". Jesus shows his audience that the Sabbath is about freedom from bondage. It is about freedom from bondage to our work, to our cycle of consumption, to other people’s demands and expectations of us, and to our need to play God. And it is about enacting freedom for others who are in bondage, others who can receive God’s liberation because of the actions that we take.

I wonder if anyone feels confused by contradictions. On one hand, I’m saying that we rest because we trust God as our liberator. And on the other hand, I’m saying that God wants us to be like Jesus who broke his community’s understanding of the Sabbath to bring liberation to someone. So, do we stop working or keep working?

Remember that Sabbath keeping isn’t something you check off a list every Sunday, or whatever day serves as your Sabbath. Sabbath living is a rhythm of bringing us back to God who is a God who provides, a God who liberates. With each return, our work has a little less control over us. We see our belovedness and our limitedness more clearly. And we act on the other six days of the week out of the knowledge that we are beloved and we are limited. We need God to be God because we can’t actually do everything that needs doing in this broken world of ours.

So, yes, I am proclaiming that God calls us to celebrate a Sabbath day of rest, joyfully delighting in God, and steadfastly trusting in God when we let go. This will mean setting up boundaries for ourselves, since otherwise, our families and communities will drag us along to the speed of as many activities as we can physically handle. But it does not mean, like the leader of the synagogue, that we set up barriers between ourselves and other people that revert Sabbath keeping to a cause for judgment on each other and a reason to ignore people’s pain.

When we keep Sabbath, we don’t ignore the pain of the world. We actually make space to become more aware of it as we cease our constant activity and draw near to God in a new way. When we rest and re-orient ourselves to our relationship with God and God’s calling on our lives, we may hear a new calling to turn to our neighbourhoods the next day and to see how our great passion may meet the existing deep needs.

When we stop our work and frantic activity, we say: "Okay, God, you are actually in control, and today I am going to trust in that, rather than my own desire to provide for myself". In the creation story, we discovered that we can rest in joy, because we are enough! On our Sabbath day, we delight in God, in what God has created, and in the loved ones God has given us. We play, we celebrate, we relax, and we enjoy.

And in the story of the Exodus and the manna in the desert, we discover that we can rest in trust because God is enough. We cease our work, we pray, we worship, we include others in the joy of Sabbath rest, loving our neighbours as ourselves.

Sabbath-keeping is a way of life to which we are each invited. God said to the Israelites: "The Lord has given you the Sabbath". Let us receive this gift and let it shape our lives, how we treat ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we remember and keep our relationship with God. May this rhythm of work and rest, action and contemplation, empower us to walk in Jesus’ footsteps in the journey of seeing God’s kingdom come here on earth. And may it be a gift that we share with others as it has been given to us.

Manna-giving God,

Loosen our controlling grip that makes us believe we can save ourselves. Call us to greater trust as we rest in you, and lead us in sharing your rest with all of your beloved children. We rest in your love, and we rest in your provision. We pray in the name of the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ. Amen.