Why Sabbath?

Mark 2:23-3:6

One sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

In Simon Sinek’s book, “Start with Why”, he points out a common pattern of great leaders.  While many of us start with “what” we do, great leaders begin with “why” we do it.  For him, the key, is to begin everything with WHY.  Marketing, advertising, product development, a political campaign or a movement to change the world; to really connect with people, leaders must begin with WHY.  It turns out that beginning with WHY makes connections in our brains at the deepest and most lasting levels.  From that deep beginning in WHY, then you can talk about HOW you want to do something and then talk about WHAT doing something might look like. 

In this Gospel lesson, the Pharisees were focused on WHAT people did on the Sabbath.  Was Jesus harvesting grain on the Sabbath?  Was Jesus traveling on the Sabbath?  WHAT was Jesus doing on the Sabbath?  When Jesus got to the Synagogue, he saw the man with the withered hand and he tried to get the Pharisees to go deeper.  He wanted them to consider WHY they did Sabbath.  Is the Sabbath something that gives life or takes it?  Jesus wanted them to really think about the Sabbath and not just do what they’ve always done.  Their silence left Jesus angry.  They wouldn’t even try to go deeper.  This is the only time in the Bible we read that Jesus is angry.  Even the cleansing of the Temple was not done out of anger.  

The Pharisees were stuck.  The rules God had given them to help them better connect with God and one another… the rules themselves had become their god.  Jesus asking WHY was seen as Jesus questioning god.  They were worshiping the Law rather than the One who gave the law.  Jesus knew that they were stuck in their fear of Jesus’ power and out of a fear of the wrath of the Roman Empire crashing down on them.  All that fear caused them to be unable to even talk about HOW we do Sabbath, let alone WHY.  

But you and I… we don’t have to be stuck that way.  We can think about the question the Pharisees refused to engage. So, WHY do we do Sabbath… or maybe a better question is WHY does God think Sabbath is a thing we humans should keep?  I think a bunch of ancient and modern day Pharisee types believe we need to do the Sabbath “because God says so”.  But “because I say so” has never been a satisfactory answer from anyone and it’s also not a real answer to WHY, is it?  So, WHY does God think a Sabbath is a good idea for us?  Well, it’s not to boost God’s self esteem.  God did perfectly well for all that time before humans showed up on the scene, thank you very much, so I’m sure God is just fine without us stroking the Divine Ego.  Keeping the Sabbath is also not some sort of a rung on a ladder that will help us climb up closer to God.  Ever since God breathed life into the lump of clay that became humanity, God’s been deeply and intimately connected to you and me and all of creation.  We certainly can’t get any closer to God than God has already gotten to us and every other molecule of all of creation.  So then WHY Sabbath?  

When Jesus said to the folks gathered in the Synagogue, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath” he hit the WHY of doing Sabbath, right on the head.  God has told us to do Sabbath… to take one seventh of our lives as off-time… time apart… down-time… battery-charging time… God asks us to do that, because the One who designed us… the One who created us… the One who loved us into being… is also the One who best knows how we tick as human beings.  God didn’t just create us… God also wrote the instruction manual for us!  

And this one-seventh time off thing isn’t just meant to be for us humans.  God, it turns out, has designed all of creation to work that way.  Donkeys, oxen, livestock, migrant labor, men, women, boys and girls… everyone and every living thing needs one seventh of their lives spent in Sabbath time… a time of rest… a time of renewal.  

Folks often think of the ten commandments and all of God’s Law as something put in place to get in the way of us having fun… either that or a set of random rules sent by a god who just likes rules for rule’s sake.  But that isn’t the WHY of the ten commandments… that isn’t the WHY of the Law.  The best way I have heard to think about God’s Law is that God’s Law defines the playing field for being human.  Following the law keeps us on the field… it keeps us in play… it keeps us being fully human.  When we break the Law we go off the field, out of bounds, into foul territory… and when we do that, we are operating as LESS than the human being God created us to be.  

Playing by the rules.  Following the commandments was never about God setting traps for humans.  It was always about God, the One who made us, sharing with us how our human machine runs best.  God’s desire for us, and for all of creation, is for us to live an abundant, joy-filled and purpose-filled life.  The WHY of Sabbath is that Sabbath is a necessary component of experiencing that abundant life!  May we take steps toward that Abundant life, looking to the One who made us and loved us into being to guide us toward that goal, by taking Sabbath, by doing Justice, by loving Kindness and walking humbly in this world in love.  Amen.