Sabbath as Resistance

Who would have thought that the Sabbath could be used as a form of social protest? A quiet, holy way of saying "yes" to the things of God and "no" to the things of this world.

A worldly mindset, which emphasizes production and ever "more, more, more", turns people into competitors. In the worldly mindset, there are only a limited number of resources and all people must compete to see who can amass the most wealth, fame, power, popularity, and so forth.

In God's economy, men and women, made in the image of God, are meant to be companions to one another, not competitors with one another. We are meant to live as neighbors, helping one another. Our resources are meant to bring to joy to all, whether it is our time, our money, our talents or our good character qualities.

In his insightful study of the Jewish Sabbath, Walter Brueggemann compares the world market today to the brick factories of ancient Egypt where Jewish slaves toiled under Pharaoh, to make ever more bricks with ever fewer natural resources. The abuse of power and nature used to amass wealth pits nation against nation and person against person in a competitive economy. And, in the end, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It does not create a society of justice and equality.

"The outcome of such endless striving for more is a social arrangement of the safety and happiness of the few at the expense of the many, a replica of the 'pyramid' of ancient Pharaoh. It is not accidental that the best graphic portrayal of this arrangement is a pyramid, the supreme construction of Pharaoh's system. Those at the top of the pyramid require huge amounts of cheap labor at a parsimonious (stingy) 'minimum wage' to make such a life possible.

"--This limitless pursuit of consumer goods (and the political, cultural, and military requirements that go with it) in the interest of satiation necessitates over-production and abuse of the land, and squandering of limited supplies of oil and water. Thus the environment is savaged by such restlessness; the ordering creation is skewed, perhaps beyond viability. It is long since forgotten that rest is the final marking of creator and creation.

"That violent restlessness makes neighborliness nearly impossible, (turning neighbors into) slaves, threats, rivals, and competitors.

"In that context, we have the exodus narrative that shows those gods of commodity to be powerless and without authority. They are phonies that we should neither fear nor serve nor trust:

They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

they make no sound in their throat. 

Those who make them are like them;

so are all who trust in them. (Ps. 115:5-8)

"They are the ones who champion anxiety and affirm restlessness. The adherents to the gods of restlessness find such a predatory society normal.

"And then into our midst comes this other unexpected voice from outside the Pharonic system: 'Let my people go!' (Exod. 5:1). It is not surprising that Pharaoh does not recognize the commanding voice of YHWH. Pharaoh's system precludes and denies any such commanding voice that emancipates (v. 2). But YHWH persists: Let them go outside the system of restlessness that ends in violence. Let them depart the system of endless production, in order to enter a world of covenantal fidelity. In ancient context, they must depart from the Egyptian system in order to dance and sing freedom.

"The departure from that same system in our time is not geographical. It is rather emotional, liturgical, and economic. It is not an idea but a practical act. Thus the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is an act of trust in the subversive, exodus-causing God of the first commandment, an act of submission to the restful God of commandments one, two, and three. Sabbath is a practical divestment so that neighborly engagement, rather than production and consumption, defines our lives. The departure into restfulness is both urgent and difficult, for our motors are set to run at brick-making speed. To cease, even for a time, the anxious striving for more bricks is to find ourselves with a 'light burden' and an 'easy yoke.' It is now, as then, enough to permit dancing and singing into an alternative life."

Excerpts from Sabbath As Resistance: Saying NO to the CULTURE OF NOW by Walter Brueggemann, Chapter 1: Sabbath and the First Commandment, pp. 15-19. Copyright 2014, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY.

--Posted by Mama O.