The President of local synagogue, and a close friend of mine, asked me if I knew the most sacred Jewish holy day. I said it must be either Passover or Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). He smiled and said, “No, it’s the Sabbath. It is the most important day in the Jewish calendar.”
The Sabbath is a Creation Ordinance, given by God prior to giving Israel the Ten Commandments at Sinai. God rested, and expects us to rest too. The 4th Commandment urges us to “remember” this day because it is too easily forgotten or neglected. We follow God’s pattern when we work six days and cease our normal labor one day.
On any given Friday evening, as sundown approaches, observant Jewish families are winding down…sending one last email, paying one more bill, cleaning one more room of the house. There’s an atmosphere of joyous anticipation. Then the family gathers around the table, covered with a white tablecloth, a symbol of purity. The mother lights the Sabbath candles and prays an ancient Hebrew blessing. Family members then greet one another with “Shabbat shalom!” or “Good Shabbos!”
The family then enjoys a glass of wine and two loaves of challah, a traditional braided bread; two loaves to represent the double portion of manna provided for the Sabbath during the wilderness journey to the Promised Land. And the six braids of the two loaves represent the Twelve Tribes. The challah loaves are covered with a white cloth as the veil of a bride. The unveiling welcomes the Sabbath, followed by a prayer: “Blessed are You, Lord, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.”
At the arrival of the Sabbath, the home is transformed into sacred space, and the meal becomes “a glimpse of human life as it should be, in the design of God” (Harvey Cox). Rabbi Abraham Heschel describes the Sabbath observance as a cathedral, constructed not of brick and mortar, but of time. The Sabbath helps us escape the tyranny of time. Heschel says that “Judaism tries to foster the vision of life as a pilgrimage to the seventh day; the longing for the Sabbath all the days of the week,” and a taste of the world to come…which we will be better prepared for by observing a Sabbath rest. “Six days we wrestle with the world; on the Sabbath we care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul.”
We glimpse the sacredness of the Sabbath in Fiddler on the Roof, as Tevya and Golde pray a blessing for their daughters around the Sabbath table. The song concludes, “May the Lord protect and defend you; may the Lord preserve you from pain. Favor them, O Lord, with happiness and peace. O hear our Sabbath prayer, Amen.”
Gordon College professor Marvin Wilson writes that the Sabbath is marked by shalom, peace. He says, “A home of shalom is a healthy home. Strife brings sickness, but shalom is wellness and wholeness. Shalom is supernaturally produced in the life of each believer. The unity of the home, and of all God’s people, is the unity of God’s Spirit” (Our Father Abraham).
The Sabbath is both a commandment and a gift. It is a day of freedom and release from labor. It is described by Jews as a visiting queen to be greeted with festivity and oneg shabbat, “joy of Sabbath.”
The early Christian church initially gathered for worship on Saturday, but then as more and more Gentiles converted, the day was shifted to Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection, the “Day of the Lord.” Though this caused a severe divide between Jews and Christians, it too was observed as a Sabbath, a day of rest. The Apostle Paul urged believers not to judge one another with respect to the day of worship (Col 2:16, Rom 14:5-6). The principle is one day out of seven.
Jesus said that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath,” Mark 2:27-28. The Sabbath is a safeguard reminding us that there is more to life than work. For some religious leaders of Jesus’ day, Sabbath laws had become more important than Sabbath rest. Christian churches have been known to also make strict rules regarding the Sabbath, some of which were oppressive. However…I do think kids’ sports should wait for Sunday afternoon, and maybe we could use a Sabbath break from technology.
The Sabbath is a custom the whole world needs. We need time for rest and reflection, time to unwind from the pace of life. We sense a kind of holiness in stepping aside from the frantic routine of day-to-day stresses. We rest and recover a full sense of self. We forsake the false gods of hectic busyness and accept from the One True God the gift of restfulness.
The Sabbath sanctifies time through rest and inaction, a “sacred stasis.” We don’t “keep” the Sabbath; the Sabbath keeps us. Work is a gift from God, but work is not our God. The Sabbath is is a day to recover from the stresses of the week. However, weekend leisure without the worship of God is not the plan! We worship because we need it, God deserves it, and Scripture commands it.
Sabbath is also resistance, “an insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods” (Brueggemann). By observing Sabbath, we are no longer slaves to the “tyranny of the urgent.” We set aside our anxieties and busyness, our pursuit of more, and we recognize that our refuge is God alone. We are not alone, or on our own.
There’s a danger: We can externally observe a day of rest while remaining restless. I know of people who sit in church taking notes, not on the sermon, but for tasks they need to accomplish. They’re unable to disengage from the work-week, and they’re watching the clock; they can’t wait till Monday to fret over their work. Such an inauthentic Sabbath provides no rest. All the while God says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Even thinking about work should be avoided. We need to rest from the very thought of labor, and relax without guilt. Rabbi Heschel says it is a sin to be sad or angry on the Sabbath day. So rest as if all your work were done!
Sabbath rest is a day in which all other days have no claim. It is both time on a calendar and an attitude of the heart. Sabbath is for rest, but it is also an opportunity to point our restlessness heavenward (Mark Buchanan). It is a time when God makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside still waters.
Our attitude toward the Sabbath reflects our attitude toward God. How we regard the Lord’s Day also raises a signal to our community that above our work, hobbies, interests and pursuits, there is God, Who has supremacy, first claim on our lives. How we treat this day shows whether we take God and His purpose seriously.
“People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently” (Brueggemann). The Sabbath is a transformative tradition, an antidote to anxiety. We are restless till we find our rest in God.
“God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of Your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.” -The Book of Common Prayer
