Once again to Nehemiah, who has been on my mind lately, chapter 13, verses 15-22:
161718In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food. Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah and said to them, ‘What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day? Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath.’
When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day. 20
Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21But I warned them and said to them, ‘Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.’ From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. 22
And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favour, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
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OK, I have to confess that I hadn’t figured out it was my turn to offer the reading until this morning so in a panic, I turned to the lesson I preached from on Sunday (incidentally, I’ve started the New Year with a Sabbath Sermon Series with the congregations).
But reading the lesson again, and taking deliberate care not to resort to my previous preaching reflections, I was particularly struck by how heinous the crime of Sabbath-breaking is. Nehemiah directly attributes the downfall of the Judean kingdom to the lack of Sabbath observance, cautioning that similar disaster will strike if the current trends continue.
Not saying that Sunday shopping has doomed our society to invasion, devastation and the absence of God in our lives, but we are feeling the pinch of too much work and too little time. The use of the word “burden” in the text is particularly noteworthy. When we, as individuals and a society, heap burden upon burden on ourselves, our economic systems, our social safety net and our fatigued natural resources, is it any doubt that burnout of all kinds is inevitable?
Keeping the Sabbath requires vigilance and discipline, especially in when such a practice is so countercultural. Nehemiah had the luxury of political power and might to enforce Sabbath upon the city, adopting a siege mentality against the forces of the profane. We don’t have that presence in our world, someone to legislate and administer Sabbath. Which means we have to rely on ourselves to do this; yes, it’s more personally significant this way, but it’s that much more difficult.
And the poor Levites, stationed to enforce and defend the Sabbath. When does they get theirs? Leading to the question, when do I get mine? And that maybe is the purpose of our Year of Sabbath: when/how do we find Sabbath, when we work for the church?
Apologies for the second sermon; although I think it would have fit well with what I offered on Sunday. I’ll be posting the liturgy and sermon material through this blog and the Facebook in a couple weeks.
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