Sabbath: A Life-Giving Touchstone
Photo by zuzanka galczynska on Unsplash
"The Sabbath was made to serve us, we weren't made to serve the Sabbath." It was a teachable moment. Jesus' words definitely rankled the Pharisees who heard him speak as he defended and exonerated his disciples' behavior, even as he critiqued the misuse of Sabbath laws during his day. Reading his words with the help of Eugene Peterson's paraphrase in The Message, contemporary readers are asked to pay attention to their import for our lives today.
Though stitched into the creation story of Genesis 1, the practice of Sabbath keeping has, throughout history, been subject to two opposing but equally reductionist extremes. On one hand, as evidenced in Mark 2, Sabbath keeping rules had run unchecked and lapsed into a legalistic list of prohibitions that must be obeyed at all costs. Humanity's existence, apparently, was in service to the Sabbath. The other extreme is to ignore and neglect the Sabbath completely, dismissing it as irrelevant or extraneous and, in its absence, plunge headlong into the noise, traffic, and busyness of a 24-7 world. Whether they habituate boredom or exhaustion, both extremes diminish human flourishing, leaving their adherents resentful and unhappy. Isn't there somewhere in between, if, as Jesus indicates, the Sabbath is made to serve us? Where is a life-giving way of remembering and observing Sabbath? If the disciples could take pleasure in casually munching on freshly plucked grain heads as they strolled through a field, how might we enter into Sabbath living and let it serve us in a way that complements and enhances a life of faithful Christian discipleship?
At first blush, it is not evident from the biblical text that the very first Sabbath was created to serve humanity as much as it was instituted by God that he might rest and delight in his creation. For six days, God had labored and worked, fashioning the various aspects of creation, culminating in the creation of humanity who were made in God's own image, male and female, to reflect God's nature and care for all that God had previously made. Then, pausing to take a look around, God appears to be really happy with the week's work, declaring it to be not just good, but "so very good," as Peterson puts it. So, the next day — the seventh day — God rests. He is satisfied with creation, beholding it and delighting in it for what it is. In doing so, he blesses the seventh day and makes it a Holy Day because he rests from his work. It is a special day. Significantly, for humanity, that first Sabbath Day is their first full day to experience creation. Created to share God's nature, they rest with God, beholding God's creation and delighting in it along with him.
It is not clear that the concept of a sabbath day was practiced by other ancient cultures. Yet, the biblical text indicates that Sabbath living had been impossible for the Israelites to practice, let alone enjoy, while they had been enslaved in Egypt. Once freed from Pharaoh's yoke after Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery, God reinstitutes the Sabbath, enshrining it as the fourth of the ten commandments. Both versions of the commandment, "Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy…" (Exodus 20:8-11) and "Observe the Sabbath as the Lord your God has commanded you by keeping it holy…" (Deuteronomy 5:12) serve as an invitation to rest and be with God, even as they are injunctions against work. The commandment is as emphatic as it is instructive regarding what should not be done: work. No one, not even those associated with the Israelites —the people of God — should work. Not their servants, maids, neighbors, foreign visitors, or even their beasts of burden. In its explicit stance against work, the commandment doesn't just resist and rebel against the years of slavery in Egypt; it recalls the more distant work of Creation and God's own rest from his labor on the seventh day. It is to this rest that the people of God are invited. We are beckoned to remember and observe the blessed and holy nature of the Sabbath day in which God rested by resting ourselves, along with servants, maids, and others, including animals that are typically harnessed for work.
The mandated rest for humans and other living creatures contrasts sharply when Peterson writes, "the Sabbath was made to serve us." His choice of words prompts us to consider how a day, or any length of time, might provide the kind of assistance and support that extends and enhances our capabilities as a result of its service. Yet, the Sabbath does just that. It isn't just time reserved on the calendar to catch our breath. Sabbath is time set apart that is blessed and holy. Its blessedness speaks to its fertile nature, its ability to reproduce and generate newness. It is life-giving. Its holiness speaks to its purity — a time set apart by God to be God and to be with his creation, beholding it and delighting in it. For us, the Sabbath's holiness provides opportunity for us to be recalled to ourselves as God made us, reflecting God's image and beholding his creation and delighting in it. It is a touchstone bringing us back to ourselves. The Sabbath serves us by being a living touchstone that offers unique time and opportunity to rest from the busyness and demands of the world so that we can return to God and to ourselves as persons made in God's image that we might be regenerated and rejuvenated for whatever we might encounter in the week ahead.
Most Christians know, even if they don't practice it, that Sabbath is important. It is the only practice of faith included in the Ten Commandments. It also might be the easiest commandment for American Christians living in the 21st Century to ignore or deem impossible to obey. It's a non-stop, noisy, smartphone, AI world we live in. Many of us are addicted to the dopamine hit we get when our phone or watch buzzes, vibrates, or lights up, alerting us to something happening somewhere else. It's too easy to check our work email if we aren't already scrolling through our social media feeds, refreshing news pages, and location tracking apps. Resting, never mind falling off the grid once a week, might sound attractive to some but horrifying to others. So, how do we do it? How do we let Sabbath serve us?
Sabbath is a practice of faith, and like any other practice of faith, it is cultivated with intentionality over time. Three things that help foster Sabbath living include commitment, consistency, and community. Unsurprisingly, committing to Sabbath is the first step. For years, I was an on-again-off-again Sabbath keeper (OK, I was more off-again than less on-again). When I began teaching online and realized that Sabbath was one of the topics in my class, I realized that if I was to have any integrity with my students I needed to be intentional about practicing Sabbath. I needed to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Commitment to Sabbath didn't mean that I was just carving time out of my schedule as a moratorium on schoolwork. It also meant I'd commit myself to God's care, that I'd surrender my own self-sufficiency (also known as my unfinished to-do list) and trust him with the Sabbath Day. Friends who practice Sabbath regularly report that their commitment is expressed in a willingness to restructure life in order to connect with God so that God can do something in them. One pastor friend shared that practicing Sabbath meant committing his congregation to God's care and dismantling a culture of pastoral dependence.
If you are interested in discovering how Sabbath might serve you, write out a plan for a month. Take it week by week. Realize that, as A.J. Swoboda, author of Subversive Sabbath, writes, "Sabbath emergencies" will arise. But don't give up on Sabbath until you've practiced it intentionally for at least a month.
Consistency with Sabbath practices is important as well. This means finding a day that works for you and your household to Sabbath and sticking with it. In all likelihood, for those responsible for Sunday worship services, it isn't going to be Sunday. Establish rituals that welcome the Sabbath. Consider the Jewish custom of lighting candles to greet the Sabbath before the Sabbath meal. Oftentimes, Christian families begin to "off-ramp" after dinner by popping popcorn and having a family movie night or enjoying a game night.
Figure out ahead of time what you aren't going to do (e.g. work, chores, errands, those things you'd do on a "day off") so you can be open to what you can and will do. John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, decides what he will do by asking two questions: "Is it rest?" and "Is it worship?" My personal question is "Is it life-giving for me and does it honor the Lord?" If the response is anything but an unqualified "Yes," the activity is green-lit. It is amazing how many things can be done when you tap into using natural talents and God-given curiosity to enjoy watercolor painting, bread-making, kayaking, or playing the piano.
A few friends adopted the "Do the opposite" rule to help structure their Sabbath activities. For those who spend their week in a more physically taxing job, they make sure that they relax by reading, napping, or stretching out in the hammock. If their work is more challenging mentally, they might do something physical for their Sabbath rest, such as going for a long walk, playing pickleball, or getting their hands stuck in dirt for gardening.
Regardless of what we do on the Sabbath, having a community, or at the very least, a group of informed friends to support your Sabbath habits is important. It's a stretch to think we should become Seventh Day Adventists or convert to Judaism just to find a community that revolves around celebrating the Sabbath, but it is possible to seek out and find others who will support your decision to embrace Sabbath living. Perhaps there are other households nearby who also practice Sabbath and might gather regularly for leisurely food and fellowship. If pastoral colleagues chose another day of the week to Sabbath than your household, you can support each other by protecting the other's Sabbath time. I inform my classes at the beginning of the semester—and remind my colleagues from time to time—that I don't check email from late Saturday afternoon through Monday morning. They are respectful, and it is gratifying when they ask me how they can cultivate Sabbath habits of their own.
Don't be discouraged if Sabbath seems more like a disruption than a benefit at first. Remember, it is a practice. Be ready to give yourself grace when hiccups happen. Be prepared that you might feel selfish as you protect the Sabbath for you and your household. Learn to trust the Lord with your time and not just during the Sabbath. With time and practice, it's possible you'll fall into a rhythm of prepping for Sabbath in the three days leading up to it and living the next three in its overflow. Taking Sabbath seriously and allowing it to serve us takes time and is never perfect, but it does perfect us.
Tammie Grimm is Assistant Professor of Congregational Formation at Wesley Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University, in Marion, Indiana. She serves on the Editorial Board of Firebrand.