Reading: Sabbath

November 29, 2006 · Posted in Reflections · 1 Comment 


“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…”

-Exodus 20:9-10

Visitors to Jerusalem staying in a hotel will not be surprised to find the usual number of elevators they might expect to find in a hotel in Chicago, Paris, or London. Hotels in major cities all seem to be made on the same hotel assembly line located somewhere in Eastern Europe or Indonesia. If they look a little closer at the elevators, however, they will find that one of them has a label plate next to it that reads ‘Shabbat’ in both Hebrew and English. This is the Shabbat, or Sabbath elevator.

From sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, observant Jews observe the Sabbath as mentioned in Torah, the books of Moses (Genesis—Deuteronomy). For Jews, elaborate commentary further detailing rules for observing the Sabbath are found in the Talmud, a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law and history. Depending on which rabbi’s teachings a Jew follows, he or she will observe particular rules of the law.

For example, in order to be certain they meet the letter of the law surrounding what constitutes ‘no work’ on the Sabbath, some observant Jews go so far as to identify turning electricity on or off as work. Hence, were they to stay in a hotel on the 20th floor, they would be violating a Sabbath law prohibiting any form of work simply by stepping in the elevator and pressing a button. A pressure-sensitive switch completes an electrical circuit, activating a light marked ‘20th floor’, a circuit to shut the elevator door, and a circuit to start the elevator motor moving up to the 20th floor.

Electric work[i].

Hence, the elevator marked ‘Shabbat’ from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday stops automatically on every floor. No button-mashing and Sabbath-breaking required.

What does Sabbath mean to you?

My understanding of Sabbath and why on earth it might be valuable for a present-day apprentice of Jesus has had a profound impact on my life. I find that my practice of Sabbath is a good barometer for other areas of my spiritual life, because it is so much more than simply action (or inaction)—God’s intention behind Sabbath has the power to transform many other areas of my life.

What is Sabbath? Biblically, Sabbath is largely a day, once a week, when we do no work (Ex 20:9-10). For the agrarian Jews of ancient Israel, it was also a year, once every seven years, when God’s covenant people did not sow seed, prune vines, or store up harvest (Lev 25:4-7). When asked, ‘How are we going to eat in the seventh year?’, God replied, ‘I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years (Lev 25:21).’

For us 21st century, mostly non-agrarian people, the moral principle is the same, although practicing it will challenge our faith greatly. Very simply, Sabbath is ‘casting all your anxiety on Him’, in order to realize that contrary to our worst fears, in actual fact ‘He cares for you’ (1 Pet 5:7, also Ps 37:3-8). Sabbath is a way of life (Heb 4:3, 9-11), and has the power to set us free from bondage to our own efforts. As we release the outcomes of our lives to the One who cares even for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air (Matt 6:26-27), we learn to see the hand of God in what we are and what we do.[ii]

Dallas Willard, in his essay “The Key to the Keys of the Kingdom”, describes what Sabbath means for followers of Jesus of Nazareth:

“We strongly need to see the hand of God in what we are and what we do. We need to be sure He is pulling the load, bearing the burden—which we are all too ready to assume is up to us alone. We must understand that He is in charge of the outcome of our efforts, that the outcome will be good, right. And all this is encompassed in one biblical term, ‘Sabbath’. The Sabbath, Jesus said, was made for humankind (Mark 2:27). Without it, life cannot be what it should be. That is why it is given in the Ten Commandments, at the heart of the moral law. It is not something we have to do because God has arbitrarily required it of us, a pointless hoop he would have us jump through. It is His gift to us.” [iii]

Do you see? The Lord has made Sabbath for us, and has designed it so that we, by periodically doing no work, learn to rely on Him for the outcomes of our efforts.

I find three spiritual disciplines to be useful in making Sabbath real in the midst of a busy life: solitude, silence, and fasting. These three disciplines, which have been practiced by Christians for centuries, enable us to find ‘a footing in the Kingdom that cannot be moved—in the midst of a busy and productive life, or even life of trial, conflict, and frustration.’[iv]

The interweaving of Sabbath rest throughout the whole of our lives has the effect of freeing us from the tyranny of always having to get our own way. We release to our Creator control of things turning out the way we expect them to. We learn to really trust Him to do what is best, and to rest in the reality that He orders our days and nights.

This month, make sure you spend a day a week where you do no work. Resist the urge to catch up on bill payment, yard work, house work, or homework. Spend the day resting and rejoicing that you are in the care of the Creator, who cares even for the flowers and birds. Prepare for the day by asking the Lord to show you how you might do in order to relinquish control of the outcomes of your life and allow him to take the lead and guide you to whatever end. Rejoice that the outcome will good and right, whatever it is, because we can trust Him with the things that matter most.

For further study/meditation: Ex 20:9-1, Lev 25:4-7, Mark 2:27, 1 Pet 5:7, also Ps 37:3-8, Heb 4:3, 9-11, Matt 6:26-27

Resource/Book of the Week: Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, by N.T. Wright. A good resource in the vein of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and John Stott’s Basic Christianity. From the inside jacket:

“Not since C.S. Lewis’ classic summary of the faith, Mere Christianity, has such a wise and thorough scholar taken the time to explain to anyone who wants to know what Christianity really is and how it is practiced. Wright makes the case for Christian faith from the ground up, assuming that the reader has no knowledge of (and perhaps even some aversion to) religion in general and Christianity in particular. Simply Christian walks the reader through the Christian faith step by step and question by question. With simple yet exciting and accessible prose, Wright challenges skeptics by offering explanations for even the toughest doubt-filled dilemmas, leaving believers with a reason for renewed faith.”

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[i] Interestingly, from a purely physical standpoint, this definition of ‘work’ as it relates to the movement of electrons is precisely correct. The electrical definition of ‘work’ is charge multiplied both by the strength of the electric field it passes through and how far it travels (W=q*E*r), and hence the movement of electrons through any sort of electric field (as they would in the circuits of an elevator control board), does in fact constitute work, by the physics definition.

[ii] Much of my thoughts and words here were greatly influenced by reading the essay on Sabbath by Dallas Willard referenced below.

[iii]From The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship, p. 35.

[iv]Willard, p. 36.

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