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'So God blessed the seventh day and
hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that
he had done in creation.' (Genesis 2:3 NRSV)
What are we to make of this at the start
of the 21st century? Many of us live in a frenetic, 24/7 urban
society where our participation in the work-hard, play-hard
culture give us our very identity. By producing and consuming
we gain inclusion in our social economy. How then shall we
'Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.' (Exodus 20:8)?
What is the purpose of the sabbath, and how should Christian
sabbath observance look?
The biblical origins of the sabbath are found in two key passages.
Karl Barth understands Genesis 2:3 as demonstrating 'the institution
of the Sabbath as the goal… of creation' (1).
It is to be achieved by the explicit command in Exodus 20:8-11
to abstain from the activity of work.
Many of the later Old Testament writings
are indictments of the Israelites' desecration of the sabbath
by continuing business as usual (Nehemiah 13:15-18). However,
the Sabbath is not solely orientated to the abstention from
work: Leviticus 23:3 describes the sabbath as a day for 'holy
convocation'. As well as a worshipping assembly, sacrifices
were also increased for the sabbath day (Numbers 28:9-10).
As a community day of holy devotion, the sabbath was rigorously
protected by Jewish law.
The Gospel reports of Jesus' words
and actions suggest that by his time, the sabbath had become
a paragon of legalism and pious condemnation of those who
did not observe its stringent regulations. Marcus Borg's seminal
work on Jesus' teaching (2)
claims that the legalism surrounding the sabbath was a result
of a Pharisaic understanding of God's command to the Israelites:
'Be holy, because I am holy' (Leviticus 11:44). With the continual
threat that Roman occupation posed towards faithful Jewish
life, Borg argues that a regime of exclusivity and strict
separation from non-Jewish influences was instituted by the
Pharisees to protect Jewish ordinances from syncretism.
There are several stories which indicate that Jesus undermined
this agenda by his words and actions regarding the sabbath.
In Matthew 12:1-14, Luke 6:1-11 and Mark 2:23-3:6 we see the
same story told of Jesus' disciples plucking corn to eat when
they were hungry, and of Jesus healing a man with a shrivelled
hand. In the former, the actions of the disciples was perceived
as harvesting - and therefore forbidden on the sabbath; in
the latter, it seems that although there is no explicit command
not to heal, Jesus' critics viewed it as work - especially
as the ailment was not life-threatening (See Luke 13:14).
In Mark's account, these two stories hinge on the enigmatic
saying 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath'
(Mark 2:27). Jesus' message is that acts of mercy must take
priority over regulations which inhibit the restoration of
God's order among his people.
His attitude towards healing is elaborated
in Luke 13:10-17. Jesus confronts his critics by accusing
them of meeting their own needs (by caring for livestock)
while condemning those who meet the needs of God's children.
In Matthew 12:7, Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 'For I desire mercy,
not sacrifices' against the complaints of his detractors.
The sabbath that Jesus advocates is one on which God's people
may be restored both individually and in community to their
proper praise of God. Borg summarizes Jesus' attitude to the
sabbath thus: 'The sabbath was a day for works of compassion…
it was [to be] subordinated to deeds of mercy rather than
to the quest for holiness.'(3)
Given this model, what should a sabbath day look like at the
start of the 21st century? Given the attitude Jesus displayed,
it seems important to avoid any forms of petty legalism and
false piety towards contemporary sabbath observance. The priorities
of the sabbath - mercy, compassion and community - are certainly
not bound to any one particular day. However, the Old Testament
view of sabbath emphasises the importance of abstention from
the normal daily duties of sustenance and self-provision.
Periods of rest - or restoration - should be commonplace in
our routines. The early church set aside the first day of
the week to meet together and share communion (Acts 20:7).
Our Christian heritage has accordingly
set aside Sunday (rather than the Jewish seventh day) as the
sabbath day. This offers two further sabbath precepts: Firstly,
rather than being an afterthought to the working week, we
should view the sabbath as the essential preparation for the
following days; secondly, our sabbath begins with Eucharistic
thanksgiving - our restored relations with God provide the
appropriate context from which to restore relations with others.
On a practical level, Sunday is still
protected in the English legal system for many workers (we'll
come to this below). Essentially we are dealing with an ethical
question: how may we imitate Christ in our sabbath observance?
Inevitably, this issue raises more questions than can be answered
here, but there are three ways in which we are initially challenged
in our deliberations.
Firstly, are we setting time aside
for our relationship with God and others? As a day of holy
assembly, do we prioritise our individual and community thanksgiving,
repentance and devotion? Secondly, are we salt and light in
our community? (Matthew 5:13-16)
The issue of Sunday trading is contentious: avoiding false
piety and petty legalism (see Colossians 2:16-17), we should
not allow our attitude to condemn those who work or shop on
a Sunday. Many people are forced to shop on Sundays due to
the demands of their working week. Similarly, some forms of
work are dedicated to acts of mercy entirely appropriate for
the sabbath - the obvious example is those in the medical
profession where shift system necessitate work on Sundays,
but we might also view pub landlords as facilitators of community.
However, we may choose not to legitimate
the self-interested, capitalist society in which we live by
not visiting Virgin Megastore to buy CDs on a Sunday, but
waiting until Monday instead. Certain workers are also legally
protected from working on Sundays by the Employment Rights
Act of 1996. Any shop worker may submit a written statement
to their employer requesting that they do not work on a Sunday.
Should they suffer any redress in the form of discrimination
or redundancy, they may take their employer to a tribunal(4).
Sadly, not many employers bring this to the attention of their
workforce!
Thirdly, does our sabbath demonstrate
mercy? Family Sunday lunch offers a great opportunity to invite
people to share a meal who would otherwise have no place to
enjoy fellowship. Sunday can be used to visit those who are
homeless, sick, imprisoned or excluded from society in other
ways. Jesus' table fellowship and acts of healing demonstrate
that far from contaminating or defiling a person's holiness,
to be merciful to others brings healing and increases holiness.
Careful consideration of the sabbath raises more questions
than answers. It seems though that there is a balance to be
found: the sabbath observance endorsed by Jesus should not
be confined to any single day, it should be part of our daily
lives; and yet the routine of sabbath observance on a particular
day may be a highly visible testimony to the purposes of God.
It is clear that this is not a matter appropriate for rigid,
legalistic discussion, but rather a paradox to be enjoyed
and worked out over time. We should adopt a joyful approach
towards sabbath observance - as one songwriter says, we can
be 'easy like Sunday morning'!
Graham Hunter is on the staff of St Stephens,
Westbourne Park
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Footnotes
1 Barth, Karl, Dogmatics
in Outline, SCM: London, 2001, p43
2 Borg, Marcus, Conflict,
Holiness and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus, Edward Mellin
Press: New York,
1984.
3 Ibid. , p151
4 For
full details of Sunday Trading rules and worker definitions
in the Employment Rights Act 1996 please seek legal advice.
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