Nuggets of insight or truth sometimes falls on our lap at the most unexpected times and through the most ordinary of events. I forget the exact reason for the phone call, but I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with her. We have known each other for years. I had officiated at her wedding and we have stayed in touch since. And, as friends so often do when they are catching up with each other, we talked about children and family, and about the joys and stresses of everyday life. That is when it happened. “You know,” she said, “sometimes the name of God is Enough.”
Think about it with me for a few moments this morning. We live in a culture of consumption which is always focused on the next best thing. We are being told constantly…
That we must have this;
That we must buy that;
That love is measured by a piece of jewelry;
That success is measured by the type of car we drive.
And many of us live in that relentless rush from one moment to the next doing our best to keep up with everyone around us. Somehow tricked into believing that being busy all the time is an indication that what we are doing is important or that we are useful or that busy is just the way life is meant to be. And, we believe that not just for ourselves, but for our children, as well. We think that if our children are not busy all the time, participating in this program and that activity they will be left behind or suffer in some way.
But, I want to tell you…
Sometimes the name of God is Enough.
Here is where all of this connects to something in the Bible.
Every year we offer a program for 9th grade students. It is an opportunity to meet with Kathy DiBiasi and myself and with a group of peers to talk about what they believe and what they don’t believe and what questions they have. And to rethink their ideas and images of that which we know and name as God. Somewhere along the line I usually have the opportunity to ask, “What do you think you have to believe if you are going to be a part of a Christian community?” One of the responses I often get is, “The 10 Commandments.”
“Great,” I say. “What are they?”
Long pause. Blank looks.
The second question is often harder than the first, isn’t it?
I don’t want to put you on the spot like I do them so here they are…at least several of them. See how you do with them.
Do not lie.
Do not steal.
Do not murder.
Respect your parents.
Most of us are doing pretty well so far, right?
Do not covet.
That may be a bit harder.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
GULP.
I don’t know about you…
Well, in fact at least with this and at least this morning, I think I do know about you. But speaking only for myself, I can pat myself on the back for keeping most of the other commandments, but on this one I fail…and sometimes fail miserably.
When I was young the commandment Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy was awful.
It meant all the stores were closed.
It meant I could not ride my bike to my friend’s house.
It meant my brothers and I could not go to the park and play baseball or football.
It often meant that we had to go to our grandparent’s house and be quiet because my grandmother was not well and could not handle very well the energy of three young boys.
But, as I have gotten older or maybe grown up a bit more, I have come to realize that is NOT what this commandment is about.
Here is the background to those words from the Bible that may help us make sense of Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. When this commandment was written and codified as a religious law to be observed by one and all, most of the people for whom it was intended were illiterate. Most were extremely poor, often living hand to mouth; one day to the next. Most could be and, in fact, were forced to work sun up to sun down seven days a week. Quite literally, forced to work themselves to death. The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was a religious response to an abusive practice that destroyed lives. It mandated a day of rest. A day off. A day to stop and to allow one’s strength to be renewed and one’s spirit restored.
Today, for most, if not all of us, our economic circumstances are much different.
But the reality is strikingly similar.
How many of us…
How many of you…
Go from work to errands to sports fields to dance classes to dinner to homework to bed seven days a week? Always feeling a bit behind? Never feeling quite caught up?
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
How many of us with smartphones or Ipads or tablets of some sort find ourselves responding to work emails or online requests long after work hours are over or on our days off? It is only a couple of minutes we tell ourselves, but, in those few minutes, we are pulled away from our children, our partner, our nap, our walk and pushed back into work and the demands that come with it. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
A number of years ago, before international cell phones became easy and affordable, an executive from Citibank went with me on one of our trips to Nicaragua. He wanted to share the experience with his son who had been on a trip with us before. It was the usual week of mixing cement and carry cement blocks, of being dusty and getting dirty and of playing with the children when we were not working. At the end of the week, he sought me out to say thank you for including him on the trip. And then he said, “This is the first time in 15 years when I have not been available 7 days a week/24 hours a day to those with whom I work. I had forgotten what it was like.”
Does your life sometimes feel like that? Always on call?
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
And, Sabbath is not just about time, but also about things.
Do we need to take a Sabbath from buying the next best thing especially when what we have is still fine?
Do we need to take a Sabbath from buying newest, must have car on the market when the car in our driveway still runs fine?
Do we need to take a Sabbath from having our children participate in every program and every event and be one every team so they can learn to take a deep breath themselves?
Do we need to practice contentment?
Not just being satisfied with what we have, but grateful for what we have?
Which, after all, is so much more than what most of our sisters and brothers will ever enjoy.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
I can’t tell you what to do or how to do it.
I am still trying to figure it out for myself.
Remember, I said I am doing okay with Do not murder, but with Remember the Sabbath…not so well. But, I would be glad to talk with you about it as we try to figure it out together.
She was right, you know.
My friend on the phone.
Sometimes the name of God is Enough.
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