Brueggemann writes that there are 'two commands (that) epitomize the best of Israel's counterpractice." These are from the commands at Sinai - today is #1. First, there stands at the center of Torah commands the practice of Sabbath, the steady practice of work stoppage that makes visible the claim that life consists in being and not in doing or having. I have no doubt that the recovery of this discipline is decisive for the reenactment of this community of emancipation and resistance. I often try to tell our confirmation students how important this command is when we think of how God is trying to make a new community that is not the same as the ordinary ways of the world. It is not easy to trust that God will provide if we stop. And yet, this also means that in the days when we are not at rest, we work. The Sabbath is not made to build a community of sloth. It is to build a community of people who will trust that God shapes us by what God calls us. We are the children of God. That is our status and our life and our future. Even when we have nothing or can do nothing, this status never changes. Within God's Reign - which is the community of God's people throughout all time and in each and every day - we are a named people - a marked people. Yes, the mark is different as we move from the Jews to the Christians - but the claim is still the same - forever and ever as God has made it so. When we talk about Sabbath, I do think we must always watch for the legal aspects of Sabbath that, quite honestly, can make a mockery of the day of rest. That can take us into a many-sided conversation that would be best done when we are together. Connection: Do you give yourself time to rest - to remember that God is Lord of All - Creator of all that is?!? Do you make rest a legalism in your life - or a gift that you treasure? |
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