“And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
When I initially read the lessons and the gospel, I thought, “what a contradiction.” Much like the leaders of the synagogue in the Gospel, I thought, “well, didn’t the scriptures tell us to keep the sabbath and that it was supposed to be a day of no work?” Yet Jesus by example showed the work of God on the Sabbath and that God’s work of freeing a woman from bondage should be done even on the Sabbath or especially on the Sabbath.
The ox and donkey back in those days were untied and not made to labor, in part because the people were not laboring as they would on the other days. The labor, I am assuming, had to do with farming or carrying goods from one place to another for presumably sales or other things to enable the people to continue living. It was the day to day work, work that served the interest of the individual or their family or their employer. It was most likely work that benefited themselves.
Going back to work this week after my trip to France, the contrast was fairly apparent in how we approach our work in the United States versus how the French or Europeans approach it. This is the second time I visited France in the summer and one of the things that Mariah pointed out and friends who have lived in France also note is that many people take the whole month of August off. Restaurants shut down, offices are empty, people are away and resting. This is the norm. Whereas I know it was a struggle for me to take even ten days away from my job in order to take that trip. And I am not the only one.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from March 2024, in the initial year in the Private sector people receive 11 paid vacation days and those in State and local government receive 13 days. After 20 years of service, those in the Private Sector on average receive 20 paid vacation days and those in State and local government receive 22 paid vacation days a year. That is after 20 years of service. Seems like a long time to have to work to be able to enjoy some extended time off. And oftentimes I think people do not actually take all their paid vacation days, which is why there is a limit on the number of vacation days you can earn and keep in any given year – I have seen multiple people in my current and previous organization regularly reach their maximum vacation days.
Work is necessary though since most of us need to earn wages in order to support our ability to have homes and food, in part because we are no longer growing our own food or building our own homes. Even within my work and our schools, there is an outlook to the future and a career. The Leadership Public Schools vision statement is, “Our vision is that all students enter adulthood with pride in themselves, a commitment to social justice, a plan for success in college and career, and the perseverance to see it through.” We seek to provide foundations so that our students will be successful afterwards which includes a career – which inevitably is work.
Yet what are we truly working for six days out of the seven when we are not holding the sabbath day for the Lord? What does it mean to “refrain from trampling the sabbath” that would cause Jesus to call the leaders of the synagogue hypocrites. What work are we being called to do or not do?
“If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”
Seems fairly straightforward. Yet it isn’t. Our yokes are what we work for – the ability to live life comfortably, or to enjoy our pleasures. It is in our own interests. For some their work is to feed the hungry and serve the afflicted, yet in order to be able to do it they must often seek the support of others – a different kind of work to enable them to continue their own.
What of rest? While traveling, I stayed up late spending time with family and friends and got up early to start the day and experience the new places I was in. And then I flew back and was busy celebrating my great-nephew’s birthday and went back into the office. One night at dinner I couldn’t deny that my body was tired, my brain was foggy and I just needed sleep. I needed rest. Often taking the time to rest can be hard when I feel like there’s constantly something to be done, either at the office, at home, for my family, or my community. It seems sometimes there’s always more that can be done – especially when our communities and democracy feels like it’s under attack. There is always more work.
That rest, holding the sabbath for rest is work. It is a different kind of work. One of the reasons I know I come to morning prayer and services on Sundays is because this is where I work on God’s affairs. That’s where some of the hardest work takes place, to set aside my own interest and honor the lord. This is where we are challenged to reconsider what work looks like. To focus on our relationship with God, to pause and reassess on a weekly basis where we are according to the words of the lord. How has our week’s work aligned with God’s priorities versus our own.
God knows though that we will get distracted, focused on our own interests. So then the sabbath is our built-in, scheduled day, a reminder that there are things greater than our own interest. It is in these moments when we pause to listen to the readings that we keep our faith in God and affirm our hope. It is when we listen to what may seem like contradictions become an expansion of our understanding. This is the opportunity when we can stop and see that we do not refuse the one who is speaking.
It is also when together we will affirm our faith in God the creator and receive the strength to continue in the days ahead. It is in this rest from the outside influences that we are able to take stock of our own commitments to God’s love and to take that love with us to share with others. Because it is God’s love that blesses us and calls us. And because we need to be reminded of that love, we are asked to set aside the day, to rest and rebuild our strength through God’s continued messages. It is a constant rebuilding, in the same ways that our bodies need rest to be able to function, so too does our faith. It allows us to remember God’s work throughout the week and purposely set aside the Sabbath to build that time in so that we can identify how God leads us. It is when we reflect on how we show kindness to our neighbors and ourselves. How those in our Parish strive to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and ways we can continue to support that. That is part of work that we can do to keep the Sabbath holy.
It is a lifelong work to balance our own physical needs and interests with our spiritual health and well being. To not only work to continue to live but also work to spread God’s love. And as the days, weeks, months, and years cycle, we must be intentional in giving space to rest from our own interests and ensure we have the openness to hear, rebuild, and strengthen our faith so that we can do God’s work everyday. Especially on the Sabbath though we take the time to honor our Lord by listening, opening our hearts, rebuilding our spirits and affirming our faith, together.
