{"id":4512,"date":"2022-08-21T16:28:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-21T16:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/08\/21\/queen-sabbath-based-on-isaiah-589b-14-and-luke\/"},"modified":"2022-08-21T16:28:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T16:28:11","slug":"queen-sabbath-based-on-isaiah-589b-14-and-luke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/08\/21\/queen-sabbath-based-on-isaiah-589b-14-and-luke\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cQueen Sabbath\u201d based on Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Luke 13:10-17"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

I’m
\nnot sure when Sabbath got lost. \u00a0Perhaps it was a well intentioned
\nthing, a part of recognizing that Christianity isn’t the only way to
\nbe in the world, and making space for other traditions. \u00a0After all,
\nChristians and Jews both have traditions of Sabbath, but on different
\ndays. \u00a0(We changed ours to line up with a weekly celebration of
\nEaster.) \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nsuspect, though, that what really happened was the long term impact
\nindustrial revolution and the desire of factory owners to get more
\nprofit from their expensive machines by having them worked for more
\nhours. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\ndon’t know for sure though.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\ndo know that Sabbath is lost. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And
\nI also know that it is problem.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Because
\nbefore I can even talk about Sabbath I need to acknowledge that the
\nminimum wage is so low in our country that people can’t live off of
\nfull time work, and people working multiple jobs often cannot afford
\nto take a day off. \u00a0That is, our MINIMUM wage is so low that people
\ncan’t afford to live without working themselves to death.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Additionally,
\nand I think intersectedly, many retail, restaurant, and other low
\npaying jobs like to schedule erratically and at the last minute,
\nkeeping workers hopping to get to work and pick up hours at any time
\nof the week. \u00a0And they punish those who put boundaries on <\/b>their
\nworking hours.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Additionally,
\nand I think this TOO is intersected with it all, we live in a culture
\nthat values overwork and expects it of most people in even salaried
\npositions. \u00a0The expectations on teachers beyond their working hours
\nare obscene, and that seems to apply from pre-school teachers to
\ncollege professors. \u00a0And, they’re not unique. \u00a0Medical professionals
\nhave hours and hours of unpaid paperwork to do beyond their paid
\nlabor. \u00a0Rare \u2013 and valuable – is the job that pays a livable wage
\nand expects only 40 hours a week of work.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In
\nthe book \u201cIt’s Not You, It’s Everything\u201d, Eric Minton helped me
\nput together what’s going on under all this pressure. \u00a0I already knew
\nthat businesses, institutions, and non-profits are all trying to get
\nas much as they can out of their workers \u2013 even when they have
\nfewer workers and more work. \u00a0But Minton points out that the social
\ninequality of our society helps to maintain the frenetic work life of
\nour society. \u00a0That is, because people can fall through the cracks and
\nbecome homeless, and\/or food insecure, and\/or lose everything to
\nmedical bills, and because this happens on a terrifyingly regular
\nbasis, our whole society is in a rat race to not be the ones
\nstruggling the hardest. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Middle
\nschool and high school kids are experiencing unprecedented anxiety
\nand mental health issues. \u00a0Ones that look a lot like the ones their
\nparents have. \u00a0And this is what is under all that: an assumption that
\nif you don’t work hard enough and pass that French test with a high
\nenough grade, you won’t get into a good college, you won’t get a good
\njob, and you could end up bankrupt, homeless, and food insecure. \u00a0For
\nsome kids, whose families already live some of those realities, that
\nFrench test is already eclipsed by the need to get a job and bring
\nhome some money to prevent eviction, or to buy some food.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

By
\nhaving an insufficient safety net in our society, we motivate people
\nto work hard and harder throughout their lives (which does
\neffectively enrich the already rich) to try to prevent themselves
\nform being the ones who fall through the net. \u00a0And to keep this all
\ngoing, we have a societal narrative that the ones who do fall through
\nthat safety net just didn’t try hard enough.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\ncouldn’t be any further from God’s desires.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\ncouldn’t be any further from the practice of Sabbath, either.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Walter
\nBrueggemann has been my primary teacher on the meaning of Sabbath in
\nthe Hebrew Bible, and here he is commenting on our Isaiah passage for
\nthis week:<\/p>\n

\nSabbath is the alternative to a
\nrestless, aggressive, unbridled acquisitiveness that exploits
\nneighbor for self-gain. \u00a0The ancient command provided rest for
\nmembers of the community and for all the household members including
\nworkers (Deut 5:12-15) \u00a0All will rest and enjoy the abundance of
\ncreation (Exod. 20:8-11). \u00a0Sabbath is a cessation of feverish anxiety
\nand control. \u00a0But the people addressed here are strangers to the
\nsabbath. \u00a0They \u201coppress all your workers\u201d (v. 3) and impose a
\ncycle of exploitation. \u00a0That is, the disciplined act of finding life
\noutside of feverish acquisitiveness is rejected by serving one’s own
\ninterests.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Now,
\nI’ve been talking this whole time as if you all know what I mean by
\nSabbath. \u00a0On a practical level, Sabbath is taking a day off from
\nproductivity and consumption every week in order to focus on
\nrelationships and others things that bring LIFE. \u00a0For Jews, this is
\npracticed on Saturdays, for most of Christian history this was
\npracticed on Sundays, and at this point any day or even a revolving
\nday is a great thing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The
\nBible says that we rest every 7 days because God rested after
\ncreation. \u00a0And that we NEED that rest to maintain our full humanity.
\nThe Bible is also explicit that this isn’t just something that
\nlandowners or rich people get, it is for everyone, and sometimes the
\nBible even includes WORK ANIMALS in the expression of Sabbath.
\nClearly humanity has been practicing various forms of work
\nexploitation for a LONG LONG time, and those listening for God’s
\nvoice heard the commandment for Sabbath, to ensure that people get to
\nlive and not just work themselves to death.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now,
\nin Luke, there appears to be a debate over Sabbath, but is a strange
\none. \u00a0What is strange is that the healing that Jesus did wasn’t a
\nviolation of Sabbath and pretty much everyone agreed on that. \u00a0The
\nhealing was seen as a gift from God, so it wasn’t \u201clabor\u201d on
\nJesus’ part (this is not to dismiss the labor that is medical care
\ntoday). \u00a0And the healing brought the woman back into the community.
\nOne of the interesting side effects of Sabbath is that by stopping
\nwork and focusing on relationships, Sabbath ALSO creates community.
\nSo doing something that healed a woman and her community was a very
\nSabbath activity.<\/p>\n

So
\nwhat was the Synagogue leader upset about? \u00a0I don’t know for sure,
\nand the story doesn’t tell us, but to project onto it a little bit,
\nperhaps the faith leader felt insecure about his work and leadership
\nand threatened by the clear connection between Jesus and God and was
\ntrying to reestablish what felt like slipping control? \u00a0 Again, who
\nknows \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But,
\nlet us be clear, Jewish practice of Sabbath didn’t prevent Jesus from
\nhealing, Sabbath is meant to be a source of life and life abundant,
\nand the Jewish crowd clearly understood and agreed with Jesus’
\nassessment that freeing a woman from bondage was worth doing on the
\nSabbath.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So
\nwhat does this all mean? \u00a0How do we respond to our tradition of
\nSabbath, the reminders of what it means, the affirmations that it
\nconnects us to God, the concerns about its misuse, and the desire
\nfrom God that we might live life and live it abundantly?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(And
\nwhy can’t I ever just ask easy questions?)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nthink there are a lot of conclusions that can be drawn from this
\nconversation. \u00a0One big one is about continuing to work for justice in
\nour society, to work towards making it possible for all people to
\nhave regular life giving time off, and to work towards securing the
\nsocietal safety net so that people don’t slip through. \u00a0But another
\npiece of this is about HOW we work towards justice, and that means
\nworking towards justice while also taking Sabbath. \u00a0We can’t
\neffectively bring love, peace, and justice into the world if we don’t
\nexperience them. \u00a0Those of us who can have Sabbath need to take it,
\nfor ourselves, for our faith, for our community, for our families,
\nfor God, and for the sake of those who can’t yet. \u00a0We won’t get other
\npeople closer to full and whole lives by working ourselves to death
\neither. \u00a0We have to both work for justice and savor the goodness of
\nlife.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So,
\nwhat if, say, you are retired and not even working any more? \u00a0What
\nmight Sabbath look like for you? \u00a0I’d recommend picking a day (maybe
\nSaturday or Sunday) and circling it in your calendar. \u00a0Then, use it
\nto connect with those you love, or to do things you love. \u00a0BUT, keep
\naway from productivity. \u00a0No cleaning out closets. \u00a0No vacuuming. \u00a0No
\nfiling. \u00a0No reading church meeting minutes. \u00a0ALSO, \u00a0no consumption or
\nshopping. \u00a0If possible, keep your Sabbath from being one that makes
\nother people work. Just…. people you love, spiritual practices, and
\nactivities that bring you life. \u00a0EVERY WEEK, and without guilt. \u00a0This
\nis important, and it brings unexpectedly wonderful changes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For
\nthe rest of us, if we are lucky enough to be able to, let’s do the
\nsame! \u00a0And for those who can’t, yet, we’re seeking it with you. \u00a0May
\nGod help us get there. \u00a0May Sabbath be found again. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n

1<\/a>Walter
\n\tBrueggeman, Isaiah 40-66 <\/i>(Louisville,
\n\tKentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) 193.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

August 21, 2022<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure when Sabbath got lost. \u00a0Perhaps it was a well intentioned thing, a part of recognizing that Christianity … Continue reading \u201cQueen Sabbath\u201d based on Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Luke 13:10-17<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,59,1584,1265,1586,1484,1583,1585,218,435,56,57],"class_list":["post-4512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-brueggemann","tag-center-of-the-bible","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-live-beyond-work","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-queen-sabbath","tag-regular-rest","tag-rest","tag-sabbath","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-the-umc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}