Remembering Walter Brueggemann: Sabbath as Resistance, Saying NO to the CULTURE OF NOW

Last week, Walter Brueggemann, a theologian who has written 50+ books, passed away at the age of 92.  A group of DML leaders just finished reading his book, Sabbath as Resistance, Saying NO to the CULTURE OF NOW, the day before he died.  We were reading this book in our leadership self-care group (where we hold each other accountable for sleep, eating, exercise, tech use/abuse, and Sabbath), challenging ourselves and each other to honor the fourth commandment.  In honor of his passing and a life well-lived, I would like to share what we learned from this book.

Most Christians can recite the Ten Commandments fairly easily, and many would say that they try (imperfectly) to follow them.  But the fourth commandment, to rest, is one that many Christians almost brag about breaking.  We say that we are too busy, too needed, too compelled by others to take a Sabbath.  We don't usually directly say it, but it is implied in our excuses that we are too important, too critical in our circles of influence, to take a Sabbath.  

In this book, Brueggemann argues that the fourth commandment is a BRIDGE between the first three commands to love God and the last six commands to love our neighbors.  He states that for me to love God and love my neighbor, a Sabbath must be taken.

There are more words used for this command to rest than for any of the other nine commands.  Inside this command, everyone was to rest - people and animals.  Sabbath is the great day of equality.  Not all are equal in production or consumption, but on this day, all are equal in rest.

There was no Sabbath while the Israelites were in Egypt.  They were to work seven days a week, in an anxiety-ridden situation.  Through this command, God nullifies anxiety-ridden production and emphasizes committed neighborliness.  A system of rest counters a system of anxiety.  As someone who has struggled with anxiety, I know that I am not at my best when I am anxious.  I don't love well.  I don't listen well.  I don't focus well. I need rest to remember how to love God and love my neighbor. 

Our world behaves like Egypt during the Pharaoh's time of Israelite captivity.  Anxiety-driven connectivity without rest.  

God shows us that after creating a world that was new, young, and unproven to take care of itself, He rested.  He trusted that it was good.  He stopped.  He enjoyed.  

Can I trust my little influence in my little world to operate without me?  Do I have the courage to disconnect?

My personal Sabbath is from 6:00 p.m. on Saturday to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.  I have found that this rhythm works best for me, and I have someone in the DML team who holds me accountable for this.  (It doesn't often work when I'm on the road, but when I'm home, I can do it.)  I love my Sabbath time.  But I'm learning now that unchecked rest is not good enough.  It's not enough to nap, read, and stay off technology.  

It's not just a pause.  It's a pause for transformation. 

It's an occasion to reimagine all society "away from coercion and competition to compassionate solidarity.  Such solidarity is imaginable and capable of performance only when the drivenness of acquisitiveness is broken."

"The economy is not just a rat race in which people remain exhausted from coercive goals; it is, rather, a covenantal enterprise for the sake of the whole community."

I still have a lot to learn about taking a Sabbath.

It's interesting to note that there is no command to work.  Working is what we have been created to do.  There's no command to breathe or to sleep.  It's also what we naturally do.  But there is a command to rest.  As we preach a theology of work, we also need to remember to teach a theology of Sabbath and rest, to help people maintain balance.

Thank you for your work, Dr. Brueggemann!  Rest in peace!