THE FOURTH OF THE BIG TEN: Honoring God’s Sabbath
Exodus 20:8-11
Psalm 150 9/10/23
Rev. Paul Wrightman
WE CONTINUE OUR SERMON SERIES
ON WHAT CHRISTIANS KNOW AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
AND WHAT OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS
KNOW AS TEN ALL-IMPORTANT LIFE-GIVING WORDS,
OR TEACHINGS, FROM GOD.
THROUGHOUT THIS SERIES WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY SEEN
HOW THESE COMMANDMENTS –
FAR FROM BEING ARBITRARY AND LEGALISTIC LIMITATIONS
ON HUMAN FREEDOM –
ARE ACTUALLY SOME OF THE GREATEST SAFEGUARDS
CONCERNING HUMAN LIFE AND HUMAN FREEDOM
THAT HAVE EVER OCCURRED ON THIS PLANET.
THE WORD “SABBATH” IN HEBREW LITERALLY MEANS
“TO CEASE WORKING.”
THUS, THE MOST OBVIOUS MEANING
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
IS THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE INSTRUCTED BY GOD
TO NOT WORK ON ONE DAY OUT OF EACH WEEK.
MANY HAVE REMARKED THAT OUT OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS,
THIS FOURTH WORD,
“REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, AND KEEP IT HOLY,”
IS THE LEAST PRACTICED, AT LEAST IN OUR OWN CULTURE.
WE HAVE SEEN HOW EACH OF THE COMMANDMENTS
CONTAINS WITHIN ITSELF A FUTURE TRAJECTORY.
IF WE GRANT THAT GOD REALLY DID REVEAL SOMETHING
ABOVE AND BEYOND THE NORMAL RANGE OF HUMAN COGNITION
TO MOSES ON MT. SINAI
IN THAT FATEFUL ENCOUNTER
SOME THIRTY-THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO,
THEN IT’S NOT GOING TOO FAR TO EXTRAPOLATE FROM THIS
AND TO SAY THAT WAY BACK THEN GOD ALREADY SUSPECTED
HOW EASY IT WOULD BE FOR MANY PEOPLE
TO MAKE AN IDOL OUT OF WORK,
TO PUT THEIR WORK IN FIRST PLACE IN THEIR LIVES,
INSTEAD OF GOD,
INSTEAD OF THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS
INSTEAD OF EVEN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF.
GOD, SURMISING THIS, GAVE US THE INSTRUCTION
TO SET ASIDE ONE DAY A WEEK AS A DAY OF REST,
THE WORD “REST,” ACTUALLY BEING MUCH CLOSER IN MEANING
TO OUR WORD “PLAY,”
THAN IT IS TO “REST” IN THE SENSE OF
CESSATION OF ALL ACTIVITY.
IT WOULD NOT BE GOING TOO FAR TO SAY THAT GOD,
KNOWING OUR PROPENSITY TO IDOLIZE WORK,
INSTRUCTED US TO TAKE A DAY OFF TO PLAY AND PRAY
(JUST AS THE SIGN AT THE END OF OUR DRIVEWAY SAYS)
IN THE HOPE OF HELPING US TO KEEP OUR LIVES IN BALANCE.
BUT THERE’S MORE, MUCH MORE.
IN STUDYING ANCIENT LAW CODES,
SCHOLARS ARE QUICK TO NOTE
THAT WHILE SEVERAL OF THE COMMANDMENTS
ARE AT LEAST PARTIALLY ECHOED
IN THE LEGAL STATUTES OF OTHER CULTURES,
THE FOURTH WORD ABOUT OBSERVING A SABBATH DAY,
A DAY OF REST, OR BETTER, A DAY OF PLAY AND PRAY,
IS WITHOUT PARALLEL.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE COMMANDMENT ABOUT THE SABBATH
IS UNIQUE TO THE HEBREWS.
AND ALL WE NEED TO DO TO FIGURE OUT WHY THIS TEACHING
WAS UNIQUE TO THE HEBREWS
IS TO REMEMBER THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
IN WHICH THIS TEACHING WAS GIVEN.
WE ARE TOLD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BIBLICAL BOOK OF EXODUS
THAT THE HEBREWS HAD BEEN ENSLAVED BY THE EGYPTIANS
FOR MANY GENERATIONS.
ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC SCENES IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE
OCCURS WHEN GOD ENCOUNTERS MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH
AND SAYS TO HIM:
“I HAVE SEEN THE MISERY OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT;
I HAVE HEARD THEIR CRY ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR TASKMASTERS.
INDEED, I KNOW THEIR SUFFERINGS,
AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO DELIVER THEM…”
(Exodus 3:7-8a)
UNLIKE THE GODS OF ALL THE OTHER NATIONS,
WHO SPECIALIZED IN MULTIPLE FORMS OF SLAVERY,
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES
IS BOUND AND DETERMINED TO CREATE A TRULY FREE PEOPLE.
BUT HOW DOES ONE TAKE A BUNCH OF RECENTLY FREED SLAVES
AND SHAPE THEM, FORM THEM, INTO A COMMUNITY
WHERE FREEDOM AND EQUALITY
ARE NOT THE EXCEPTION BUT THE RULE?
GOD DOES THIS BY REVEALING TO THIS PEOPLE
TEN LIFE-GIVING WORDS, WHICH IF ACTUALLY FOLLOWED,
WOULD RESULT IN A RADICALLY DIFFERENT KIND OF SOCIETY,
THE KIND OF SOCIETY WHERE RESPECT FOR LIFE AND TRUTH
AND THE WELL-BEING OF ALL
WERE LIVED OUT ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
NOTE WHAT COMES AFTER THE SUMMARY STATEMENT
“REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, AND KEEP IT HOLY.”
GOD GOES ON TO INCLUDE A SHOCKINGLY DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE
COLLECTION OF BEINGS TO WHOM AND FOR WHOM
THIS FOURTH LIFE-GIVING WORD IS ADDRESSED:
“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.”
(Exodus 20:10)
ONE OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS
ABOUT THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES
IS THAT GOD MEETS THE PEOPLE WHERE THEY’RE ACTUALLY AT,
NOT WHERE GOD WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE.
AND WHERE THEY’RE ACTUALLY AT
IS HAVING SLAVES OF THEIR OWN,
IN SPITE OF HAVING RECENTLY
BEEN FREED FROM SLAVERY THEMSELVES.
GOD, KNOWING THAT ORDERING THE PEOPLE
TO GIVE UP THEIR SLAVES IMMEDIATELY
WOULD BE ASKING TOO MUCH TOO FAST,
AND WOULD PROBABLY RESULT
IN AN EVEN DEEPER ATTACHMENT TO SLAVERY,
GOD, KNOWING THAT, DOES SOMETHING VERY SUBTLE:
GOD COMMANDS THAT ON ONE DAY OUT OF SEVEN,
EVERYONE: FREE, SLAVES, RESIDENT ALIENS, EVEN LIVESTOCK,
WILL TAKE A BREAK FROM WORK TOGETHER.
IN THIS TEACHING ON THE SABBATH,
WHERE ALL ARE EQUAL FOR AT LEAST ONE DAY A WEEK,
GOD IS PLANTING A SEED,
GOD IS PLANTING A SEED WHICH GOD HOPES
WILL EVENTUALLY GROW INTO A MOVEMENT
WHICH WILL OVERTURN THE OWNERSHIP
OF ONE HUMAN BEING BY ANOTHER.
I SUSPECT THAT GOD IS ALSO PLANTING A SEED WHICH GOD HOPES
WILL GRADUALLY GROW INTO A MOVEMENT
WHERE RESIDENT ALIENS – BETTER KNOWN TO US
AS MIGRANTS OR IMMIGRANTS – ARE TREATED FAIRLY
AND WITH COMPASSION.
THROUGHOUT THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
GOD KEEPS REMINDING THE PEOPLE
THAT THEY WERE ONCE SLAVES IN EGYPT,
THE IMPLICATION BEING SINCE THEY WERE ONCE SLAVES,
THEY WILL WANT TO DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER
TO KEEP FROM RE-ENSLAVING THEMSELVES,
OR ENSLAVING OTHERS.
ANOTHER WAY OF PUTTING THIS WOULD BE TO SAY THAT
THEY ARE NEVER, EVER TO ACT AS PHARAOH
TOWARDS ANYONE OR ANYTHING.
SINCE THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION AT ITS BEST
HAS ABSOLUTELY NO HESITATION IN IDENTIFYING ITSELF
WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE HEBREWS
AND WITH THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, AND MOSES,
WE NEED TO MAKE THESE LIFE-GIVING WORDS MORE PERSONAL,
AND APPLY THEM TO OURSELVES.
SPECIFICALLY,
CONCERNING THIS FOURTH WORD REGARDING THE SABBATH,
WE NEED TO REPHRASE,
SAYING THAT SINCE WE WERE ONCE SLAVES,
WE WILL WANT TO DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER
TO KEEP FROM RE-ENSLAVING OURSELVES
OR ENSLAVING OTHERS.
ACCORDING TO GOD’S DEEPEST WILL FOR US,
WE ARE NEVER, EVER TO ACT AS PHARAOH
TOWARD ANYONE OR ANYTHING.
MANY SCRIPTURE SCHOLARS AND THEOLOGIANS
ARE CONVINCED THAT GOD NOT ONLY “SPOKE”
THE WORLD INTO BEING,
BUT ALSO SANG AND PLAYED THE WORLD INTO BEING.
SINGING AND PLAYING ARE THUS ACTIVITIES
THAT ARE ESPECIALLY CLOSE TO GOD’S HEART.
IN A VERY REAL SENSE, THE WHOLE POINT OF OBSERVING
A SABBATH DAY, A DAY OF REST,
IS TO RELEARN HOW TO CELEBRATE NO JUST WHAT WE DO,
BUT WHO WE ARE.
EACH OF US IS A ONE-OF-A KIND, ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE BEING.
HONORING THE SABBATH GIVES ONE AN OPPORTUNITY
TO RECONNECT WITH THE PATTERNS OF BEING
THAT ARE UNIQUELY ONE'S OWN.
PULITZER-PRIZE WINNING POET MARY OLIVER WRITES:
"TO PAY ATTENTION, THIS IS OUR ENDLESS AND PROPER WORK."
ACCEPTING GOD'S GIFT OF SABBATH
GIVES EACH OF US THE CHANCE TO REDISCOVER
THE WAYS OF PAYING ATTENTION THAT ARE DISTINCTLY OURS.
AUTHOR BRIAN DOYLE IN HIS BOOK GRACE NOTES
GIVES US A PICTURE OF WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
TO PRACTICE SMALL ACTS OF ATTENTIVENESS
WHICH PUT US BACK IN TOUCH WITH WHO WE REALLY ARE.
IN A CHAPTER HE CALLS COOL THINGS, DOYLE PLAYFULLY MENTIONS
A NUMBER OF THINGS WHICH BRING HIM JOY AND DELIGHT.
I SHARE PART OF HIS LIST WITH YOU IN THE HOPE THAT
THIS WILL INSPIRE EACH OF US TO COME UP WITH
OUR OWN LIST OF WHAT BRINGS US JOY AND DELIGHT.
PAYING ATTENTION TO THE GOODNESS OF GOD'S CREATION
IN OUR OWN UNIQUE WAY IS THE BEST WAY TO COUNTER
THE IDOLATRY OF WORK AND BUSYNESS THAT SEEMS TO BE
A UNIVERSAL TEMPTATION TODAY.
WHAT DOYLE SHARES WITH US IS, I THINK, A PROFOUND WAY
OF HONORING THE SABBATH.
HE WRITES:
"I SING A SONG OF THINGS THAT MAKE US GRIN AND BOW,
THAT JUST FOR AN INSTANT LET US SEE SOMETIMES
THE WEB AND WEAVE OF MERCIFUL,
THE ENDLESS POSSIBLE,
THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE INEXHAUSTIBLE INEXPLICABLE YES.
SUCH AS, FOR EXAMPLE, TO NAME A FEW,
THE WAY THE SUN CRAWLS OVER THE RIM OF THE WORLD
LIKE A CHILD'S FACE RISING BEAMING FROM A POOL
ALL FRESH FROM THE WOMB OF THER DARK,
AND THE WAY JAYS HOP AND DAMSELFLIES
DO THAT GEOMETRIC AEROAMAZING THING
AND BEES INSPECT AND BIRDS PROBE AND SWIFTS CHITTER,
AND THE WAY THE YOUNG MOTHER AT THE BUS-STOP
HAS HER INFANT SWADDLED AND HUDDLED AGAINST HER CHEST
LIKE A BLINKING EXTRA HEART,
AND THE WAY SEALS PEER AT ME OWLISHLY FROM THE SURF
LIKE RUBBERY GRANDFATHERS,
AND THE WAY CORMORANTS IN THE OCEAN
NEVER EVER GET CAUGHT BY ONRUSHING WAVES
BUT DISAPPEAR CASUALLY AT THE LAST POSSIBLE SECOND,
AND THE WAY NO PAVEMENT
ASPHALT MACADAM CONCRETE CEMENT THING
CAN ULTIMATELY DEFEAT
A TINY RELENTLESS GREEN THING,
AND THE WAY PEOPLE SOMETIMES LEAN EAGERLY
FACEFIRST INTO THE FUTURE,
AND THE WAY INFANTS FINALLY DISCOVER
TO THEIR ABSOLUTE AGOGISHMENT THAT THOSE FISTS
SWOOPING BY LIKE TINY FLESHY COMETS ARE THEIRS!,
AND THE WAY ONE OF MY SONS SLEEPS EVERY NIGHT
WITH HIS RIGHT LEG HANGING OVER THE SIDE OF HIS BED
LIKE AN OAR
NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I FOLD HIM BACK
INTO THE BOAT OF THE BED,
AND THE WAY CROWS ARRANGE THEMSELVES SOMETIMES
ON THE FENCE LIKE THE NOTES OF A SONG,
AND THE WAY YOUR ARM GOES ALL TOTALLY NONCHALANT
WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING THROUGH SUMMER
WITH THE WINDOW DOWN,
AND THE WAY EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE
SOMEONE YOU HARDLY KNOW SAYS SOMETHING
SO PIERCINGLY HONEST
THAT YOU JUST WANT TO KNEEL DOWN RIGHT THERE
IN THE GROCERY STORE NEAR THE PEARS,
AND THE WAY LITTLE CHILDREN FALL ASLEEP
WITH THEIR MOUTHS OPEN LIKE FISH,
AND THE WAY SOMETIMES JUST A SIDELONG GLANCE
FROM SOMEONE YOU LOVE
MAKES YOU ALL SHAKY FOR A SECOND
BEFORE YOU CAN GET YOUR MASK BACK ON,
AND THE WAY SOME PEOPLE WHEN THEY LAUGH
TILT THEIR HEADS WAY BACK LIKE THEY NEED MORE ROOM
FOR ALL THE HILARITY IN THEIR MOUTHS,
AND THE WAY PEOPLE FALL ASLEEP IN CHAIRS BY THE FIRE
AND SNAP AWAKE STARTLED AND AMAZED,
UNSURE, JUST FOR A SECOND,
WHAT PLANET EXACTLY THEY ARE ON,
WHICH IS A QUESTION WE SHOULD PROBABLY ASK
FAR MORE OFTEN THAN WE DO." (END QUOTE)
DOYLE CONCLUDES HIS ESSAY WITH A FINE POINT
ABOUT HOLINESS, WHICH HAS SOME PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS
REGARDING HOW WE CAN KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH DAY:
HE WRITES:
"I KNOW, WITH ALL MY MUDDLED HEART,
THAT WE ARE CARVED OF IMMENSE CONFUSING HOLINESS;
THAT THE WHOLE POINT FOR US IS GRACE UNDER DURESS;
AND THAT YOU EITHER TAKE A FLYING LEAP
AT NONSENSICAL ILLOGICAL UNREASONABLE IDEAS
LIKE MARRIAGE AND MARATHONS AND DEMOCRACY AND DIVINITY,
OR YOU HUDDLE BEHIND THE WALL.
I BELIEVE THAT THE COOLEST THINGS THERE ARE
CANNOT BE MEASURED, CALIBRATED, CALCULATED,
GAUGED, WEIGHED, OR UNDERSTOOD
EXCEPT SOMETIMES BY HAVING A CHILD
PATIENTLY EXPLAIN IT TO YOU,
WHICH IS ANOTHER THING THAT SHOULD HAPPEN
FAR MORE OFTEN TO US ALL.
IN SHORT, I BELIEVE IN BELIEVING,
WHICH DOESN'T MAKE SENSE,
WHICH GIVES ME HOPE."
(Brian Doyle, Grace Notes, pp.55-57)
IT IS A WELL-KNOWN FACT THAT
THE RICHER OUR INNER BEING,
THE MORE NATURAL IT FEELS
TO INCLUDE OTHERS IN OUR LOVE.
THUS, LEARNING TO BE AND TO PLAY ON THE SABBATH
IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS WE CAN DO
TO ENLARGE THE CIRCLE OF OUR CARE FOR OTHERS.
AMEN.