Why are we commanded to keep Sabbath?

[GordW]

In the list we call the 10 Commandments (both in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5) we find a commandment to honour the SAbbath day. It is not a suggestion, it is a commandment. I have heard it described as the commandment that people like to brag about ignoring.

Later Jesus will run afoul of some of his neighbours because he does not honour Sabbath in the way that they think is proper.

WHy is it important to take one day a week to do nothing -- not just a day off work when we get caught up on laundry and cleaning but something deeper?
WHat might Sabbath keeping look like in 2024?
How do we create a world where people are encouraged and allowed to do it? How do we create a world where everybody has the chance to do it?

THese are some of the question I carry into my sermon prep this week. My early thoughts are here

I don't think the debate about Sabbath time needs to be about rules and "what is allowed". I don't think it need to be about "what day is best", no one day will ever work for everyone. The debate needs to be about "why is this important" and "how do we make it possible and acceptable".


We live in a world that has largely forgotten the importance of Sabbath time. It could be argued that in some circles the idea of Sabbath time, of down "non-productive" time is in fact denigrated. We need to get back to taking that time, for the better health of all of us.

 

[Mendalla]

One thing to keep in mind when you say "How do we create a world where everybody has the chance to do it?" is that not every culture has the concept of a weekly "day off" and some who have it today, got it via colonialism. Most of the Eastern traditions are more focussed on festivals and/or ongoing daily observance without an actual "Sabbath" as we know it. My Chinese wife hated Sunday shopping laws when she arrived and was cheering the end of them. Why? No such thing back home. You could shop any day of the week. So I think we need to recognize that the idea of Sabbath as a weekly pause from life is to some degree a Judaeo-Christian thing and may not be found in the form we expect and are used to in all cultures.

 

[GordW]

One thing to keep in mind when you say "How do we create a world where everybody has the chance to do it?" is that not every culture has the concept of a weekly "day off" and some who have it today, got it via colonialism. Most of the Eastern traditions are more focussed on festivals and/or ongoing daily observance without an actual "Sabbath" as we know it. My Chinese wife hated Sunday shopping laws when she arrived and was cheering the end of them. Why? No such thing back home. You could shop any day of the week. So I think we need to recognize that the idea of Sabbath as a weekly pause from life is to some degree a Judaeo-Christian thing and may not be found in the form we expect and are used to in all cultures.

Indeed. However I am thinking beyond just a religious basis for why Sabbath time is needed. In a world where any sort of down time is denigrate as non productive (which leads to poorer mental, physical and emotional health) we need to find a new balance. It may be that the way to that is not a day by itself but portions of the day. But a culture with no down time is not healthy. A culture that makes it really hard for people to take down time is not caring for itself.

 

[Mendalla]

Indeed. However I am thinking beyond just a religious basis for why Sabbath time is needed. In a world where any sort of down time is denigrate as non productive (which leads to poorer mental, physical and emotional health) we need to find a new balance. It may be that the way to that is not a day by itself but portions of the day. But a culture with no down time is not healthy. A culture that makes it really hard for people to take down time is not caring for itself.

All cultures have down time, of course, even if our own needs some work on that front. But framing that as "Sabbath" is going to raise hackles in some sectors (atheists, for instance) so perhaps framing Sabbath as an example of downtime from a particular culture rather than as "making Sabbath available to everyone" is a better way to put it.

 

[Waterfall]

Well I agree to a certain extent, except what one person calls downtown others call exhausting. And vice versa. Personally meditation and prayer ground me but for others it may be something else.
I have a feeling that even mandating a day of rest won't prevent someone from playing video games or force someone to get themselves centered with the universe or God.
Yesterday I went for a walk and walked past some picnic tables with a checker/chess board painted on them....nobody was using the board....they were placed where people walk, run or bicycle. It seems that crowd doesn't want to sit down for long periods of time...at least there.
I personally wish businesses were shut down on Sundays...l love the sound of less traffic, a stall in commercialism, visiting, etc....but the world has changed and those who need what I need will find it, IMO

 

[Mendalla]

I have a feeling that even mandating a day of rest won't prevent someone from playing video games

Why should it? For some people, that is rest. Not everybody needs to be on a spiritual journey in their downtime. In fact, dictating what people do with their "Sabbath" kind of defeats the purpose of having downtime. It needs to be the time when they, not an employer or school or whatever, calls the shots. If the church becomes the "boss" and calls the shots, then it is no longer a "day of rest" IMHO.

 

[Luce NDs]

Shabba' is another way to look at how we wear folks out with stress of constant work ... the fabric of the universe needs holes and breaks ... for reason unspoken! Sane -ite!

 

[jimkenney12]

Would 'restoring and exploring time for connections' be a possible title? Genesis said God rested, or paused being busy or task oriented. Ideally sabbath time includes some of the following: seeking answers to questions like how am I? Where do I hurt? Who am I? What should I celebrate? For what am I grateful? How are my connections with......? Where do I seem to be going? Where do I want to be going?

It can be a time for just being with no agenda or tasks or exp.ectations

 

[Luce NDs]

Would 'restoring and exploring time for connections' be a possible title? Genesis said God rested, or paused being busy or task oriented. Ideally sabbath time includes some of the following: seeking answers to questions like how am I? Where do I hurt? Who am I? What should I celebrate? For what am I grateful? How are my connections with......? Where do I seem to be going? Where do I want to be going?

It can be a time for just being with no agenda or tasks or exp.ectations

If god comes out of rest is the concept WOKE ... explaining what the harder sorts dislike as WOKE in Nin? What's a Nin? ... ji unknown! The drift of cloudy psyche events ...

 

[Waterfall]

Why should it? For some people, that is rest. Not everybody needs to be on a spiritual journey in their downtime. In fact, dictating what people do with their "Sabbath" kind of defeats the purpose of having downtime. It needs to be the time when they, not an employer or school or whatever, calls the shots. If the church becomes the "boss" and calls the shots, then it is no longer a "day of rest" IMHO.

That was kinda the "gist" of my post, I thought.

 

[paradox3]

Does the biblical command about the Sabbath even apply to us? We have switched the traditional Sabbath to a day to commemorate the resurrection AFAIK.

 

[Luce NDs]

That was kinda the "gist" of my post, I thought.

Never on Sunday ... know-how is selective ... Selene! For every bureaucratic directive ... expect exceptions ... especially as it regards the bureaucrat and their attitude towards common and de mos 'tive folks ...

What's a "t've" that yet to be grasp out of the ultimate field , or Wahl ... yet sacred to mortal view! Maybe að 've? Fallacy ... like Gabriel! MS Taque! Lost point ... nihilism ...

 

[BetteTheRed]

I like to celebrate Sunday as a special day. Start with church, which I often get dressed up for. A dress or a shalwar kameez. Then we make brunch, have people over sometimes, or go out for brunch. Often plan a nice Sunday dinner - bbq or a roast, for as many friends as we can gather. OR, more privately, we go for a Sunday drive/visit, and end up home to an intimate dinner. I like Sunday.

 

[Luce NDs]

I like to celebrate Sunday as a special day. Start with church, which I often get dressed up for. A dress or a shalwar kameez. Then we make brunch, have people over sometimes, or go out for brunch. Often plan a nice Sunday dinner - bbq or a roast, for as many friends as we can gather. OR, more privately, we go for a Sunday drive/visit, and end up home to an intimate dinner. I like Sunday.

Is the social sense of Shabbat imes lost when people push for more competition and other collision curses? Thus CONTACT the tome ... imp lickations?

 

[GordW]

In the low chance that people are interested, here is what I ended up saying...