Word for the Week: There’s Work and There’s Work
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick some ears of corn, rub them in their hands and eat the grain. Some of the Pharisees asked, ‘Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?’
Luke 6:1-2
On these long warm summer days, what could be more enjoyable than wandering through the fields with friends you love, eating the grains from the ears of wheat, maybe pulling up an occasional carrot or even searching for wild strawberries. It is exactly what Sabbath is about – rest, reflection, recreation and slowing down the rhythms of life. Right back in Genesis God stopped and rested on the seventh day and admired all he had made, for it was very good.
There have always been Sabbath burdens – some about religious observance and some self-imposed duties and obsessions – that prevent us from hearing just what the seven-day rhythm of life is meant to be about. ‘And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry,’ Jesus said.
The Old Testament laws about Sabbath – whether it’s one day in seven or one year in seven – are about freeing slaves, cancelling debts, leaving fields fallow, not continuing with one’s weekday work. They are about making sure others are not exploited, that those around us enjoy the relaxation of a day without busyness, pressure, stress and hassle. And they are also about time off, holidays and just walking through the fields.
Sunday is a new day – one in seven, but the first day, not the last – the day of resurrection, the day for joyful celebration and worship with other sons and daughters of the King. Yet we still manage to repeat the old mistake of loading the day down with obligation and burden. We do need to reclaim the old Sabbath commitments to justice and righteousness for the workers of the world and leaving the land to recover its fertility, but we also need to reclaim and recreate the joy of Sundays together, eating, drinking, wandering through the fields – and worshipping the Lord of all goodness.
Margaret Killingray
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