Sermon for March 31, 2019 
Read Exodus 20:8–11 and Mark 2:23-28 In some ways, last week’s spiritual practice fit in well with our current culture. Work, is after all, an American virtue and we take pride in a good job well done. Even if it is a messy or dirty or unpleasant job, we still take pride in the idea that we have accomplished something. We have earned our worth and that is an important thing for us.
We are a culture that prides ourselves on what we produce, on what we make. On how much we accomplish. We believe being busy is an ideal to strive for. How many of you when asked how you are doing, reply busy? Sometimes with a laugh, sometimes with a roll of our eyes, that has become the acceptable answer.
As Barbara Brown Taylor puts it: "If you have more to do than you can do, and the list never gets done but only longer, then you must be very fine, because . . . successful people are busy people. Effective people are busy people. Religious people are busy people. For millions and millions of people, busy-ness is "The Way of Life."
So this week, we’re going to run distinctly counter culture to this ideal. This week we’re going to work on saying no to offers and invitations and jobs. We are going to work instead on practicing the Sabbath. Yes, Sabbath, which actually has nothing to do with church services, per say, but instead with resting.
The word comes from the Hebrew sabat which means to stop, to cease. It’s a day when we don’t work. A day when we don’t run errands. A day when we don’t produce anything. It is a day for doing nothing.
In many ways, this will be the most difficult practice for many people. As Taylor puts it, "Limiting my activity does not help me feel holy. Doing more feels holy, which is why I stay so intrigued by the fourth commandment." We want to do something in order to feel holier: say a prayer, sing a hymn, participate in worship. Saying no, doing less, feels like laziness. Feels like giving up.
But, then there is fourth commandment. Remember the Sabbath and keeping it holy. It is a command that God gives to a people who are freshly out of slavery. Rest one day in seven. This comes before murder, lying and adultery in God’s instructions, so it has to be pretty important. It’s so important, even God rests after six days of work.
Taylor writes. "God worked hard for six days and then God rested, performing the consummate act of divine freedom by doing nothing at all. Furthermore, the rest was so delicious that God did not call it good or even very good. Instead, God blessed the seventh day and called it holy, making Sabbath the first sacred thing in all creation. Resting every seventh day, God’s people remember their divine creation." When we take time to rest, we remind ourselves that even God rested. If our creator needed to take time to rest, why on earth would we think we don’t?
Sabbath is saying no to business as usual and deliberately creating regular moments of rest, recreation, and reflection that celebrate God’s abundance and grace so that when the hard winds of adversity blow down your door and sweep through your hallways, you will be able to remember, picture, and believe that Sabbath peace is real, possible, and even bound to be our future, for we live into an eternal Sabbath.
Now, I realize that all of this sounds great in theory. But when it comes to actually bringing it into our own lives, its a different story. When was the last time you took an entire day to rest? I’m willing to bet for many of us it was not in the last week. I am also willing to bet it isn’t a practice many of us are in the habit of doing weekly.
There’s just so much to get done! Resting sounds like a luxury, an extravagance that only the very wealthy or the very idle can afford. How can we possibly make it a priority when there is just so much to do in our lives? In the world?
Because it’s a reminder that we are more than what we produce. That we have worth beyond our use. Taylor recommends: "At least one day in every seven, pull off the road and park the car in the garage. Close the door to the toolshed and turn off the computer. Stay home not because you are sick, but because you are well. Talk someone you love into being well with you. Take a nap, a walk, an hour for lunch. Test the premise that you are worth more than what you can produce - that even if you spent one whole day being good for nothing you would still be precious in God’s sight - and when you get anxious because you are convinced that this is not so, remember that your own conviction is not required. This is a commandment. Your worth has already been established, even when you are not working. The purpose of the commandment is to woo you to the same truth."
You don’t have to being doing something all the time! You get to rest. Really. It’s a harder practice for some people than they might think. And the attempt itself might seem like torture to begin with.
"Anyone who practices Sabbath for even an afternoon, usually suffers a little spell of Sabbath sickness. Try it and you too may be amazed by how quickly your welcome rest begins to feel like something closer to a bad cold. Okay, that was nice. Okay, you are ready to get back to work now. Yes, you know you said you wanted this, but now you have had just the right amount of rest - maybe even a touch too much - so that you are beginning to feel sluggish. What if your energy level drops and never comes back up again? What if you get used to this and want never to go back to work? Plus, how will you ever catch up after taking a whole day off? Just thinking about it makes you tired." I am sure some of you have been thinking that from the beginning. That this might sound like a great idea in theory, but the execution is just unfeasible.
For those of you who think that attempting to take Sabbath time is just an impossibility, I have an exercise for you. Make two lists, one with all of the things you know you love, things to do that renew you that you never seem to get around to doing. Then list all of the reasons why you think you can’t do those things. Be sure to put the list somewhere you can’t help but see it, preferably daily. Being reminded of what our soul is really longing for is a good first step to taking our own Sabbaths.
If a day sounds too daunting to begin with, and it does for many people, try setting aside an afternoon, or even an hour to do nothing. Rest. Read. Nap if you’d like. Go for a walk or color a picture. Get someone else to take a Sabbath with you; it always helps to have someone else to say no with.
But taking this time does matter, and it affects more than we realize. According to the rabbis, those who observe Sabbath observe all the other commandments. Taking time to say no, to rest, helps us to follow God better. It really is holy.
So this week, take Sabbath time. Block out a couple of hours when you aren’t doing anything. When you are just being yourself. It may be hard to set aside the electronics and the to-do list and the chores. But give yourself a chance to truly rest in holy time and see what comes of saying no.
