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Sabbath ~ Join the Resistance!

August 21, 2016 ~ Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Introduction
Todays gospel speaks to us about the role and understanding of the Sabbath, our
relationship to it, and each other. Simply put, Sabbath is both about
relationships and action. Today we will discuss the relationship aspect.
Sadly, the way we see Sabbath today in our country is very different from the way
it was seen over 50 years ago. It was typically a day of leisure, rest, church, and people
getting together. There was a time when Blue Laws existed in which things were
closed on Sunday. That view of Sabbath was influenced by the Puritans and seen as a
day of restraint and not doing certain things. (Breuggemann, 2014.) While it did
provide a sense of balance and time for family, it may not have been that helpful in
affirming faith and identity. (Breuggemann, 2014.)
It is interesting to notice that the Fourth Commandment regarding the Sabbath is
placed in an important position. The first three are concerned with our relationship
with God and the others that follow are concerned with our relationship with each other.
This is by no accident as it serves to pull us from our 24/7 multitasking, achievement,
accomplish, performance, and possessing mindset. (Breuggemann, 2014).
Sabbath as Relational

God
The relationship piece is somewhat trinitarian in nature, creating a space for
developing intimacy with God ~ Others ~ Self. First and foremost, we stop our busyness

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to have an encounter with God through silence, prayer, the Word, and Sacrament.
Notice how this mix allows us to approach the Holy One in a variety of ways and
learning styles.
One of the most powerful and overlooked is silence. The psalmist writes, Be
still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) It is in stillness and silence that we
encounter God. We have to stop the running and shut out the distractions and the noise
of this world to hear the Holy in the small wind. (1Kings 19:12)
Be still and know that I am God; not our egos, not our accomplishments,
not our possessions, these are not God. It takes stopping to focus on what really matters
and asking ourselves if we have been worshiping the wrong gods; for whatever is the
focus of our attention and energy is god to us.
The Holy One wants us to understand his love for us. But most importantly he
gives us Sabbath to show us our dignity lies in who we are as his children and not in
what we do or produce. The great lie of our world is getting us to think we are
machine parts and numbers. Not so, we are Children of God.

Others
Then there is the need to connect with likeminded people. There is no such thing
as a completely solitary Christian for even monks belong to a Christian community.
Christianity is a religion of community as modeled in the perfect community of the Holy
Trinity ~ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are separate but come together as one. We
support each other through prayer and presence. We support each other through

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encouragement that can be through word and deed. We need each other to make it in
this world. It cant happen if we are not gathered together.
Self
John Denver wrote a song called To the Wild Country and I have often
thought of what he wrote:
There are times I fear I lose myself
I don't know who I am
I get caught up in the struggle and the strain
With my back against a stonewall
My finger in the dam
Losing strength and going down again
And I take a look around me
My eyes can't find the sun
There's nothing wild as far as I can see
Then my heart turns to Alaska
And freedom on the run
I can hear her spirit calling me
To the mountains, I can rest there
To the rivers, I will be strong
To the forest, I'll find peace there
To the wild country, where I belong

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Oh, I know some times I worry

On worldly ways and means
And I can see the future killing me
On a misbegotten highway
Of prophecies and dreams
A road to nowhere and eternity
As I write these words, I am struck by how they connect with the first part of this
trinity of relationship. Denvers words echo the need to connect with something
larger than himself, something that is authentic, and for him it is found in nature.
Nature and creation is an expression of the Holy One. It points me back to the need for
silence, stillness, and awe. It seems that God and the individual are so intimately linked
that, properly understood, the two cannot be separated. It is when we are separated by
my own choice that I too, get caught up in the struggle and the strain. St. Augustine
wrote, My soul is restless until it rests in you.
How often do we get tricked into believing it is all up to us? The encounter of the
Self and the Holy tells us we are not enough and that is alright. Is this what St. Paul
meant when he said, I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:13.) This goes against our rugged individualist and pull yourself up by
your bootstraps philosophy that forgets to ask what happens when the great I is not
enough?

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Conclusion
This is a radical and wonderful message that runs contrary to what we have been
taught. Sabbath is designed, in part, to help us remember

There is a Power greater than us.

We do not have to produce to be acceptable.
It is not about us.
We cannot always go it alone ~ we need God and we need each other.

God loves us as we are and Sabbath works to undo those toxic messages we get
bombarded with each day.
Believing and doing this is an act of resistance in a world that sends such a
different message. But, it is in the practice of Sabbath we find release and hope.