"The Gracious Gift of Sabbath"        

Exodus 5:1-9          Luke 12:13-21

 

Exodus 5:1-9  (NRSV)          Bricks without Straw

Afterwards Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.” ’ 2But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.’ 3Then they said, ‘The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.’ 4But the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!’ 5Pharaoh continued, ‘Now they are more numerous than the people of the land * and yet you want them to stop working!’ 6That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, 7‘You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, “Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.” 9Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.’

 

Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)          The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ 14But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ 16Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 18Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

 

   A friend recently told me about holding an estate sale

            in which a lifetime of his mother's accumulations were sold;

                for far less than    she knew they were really worth.

 

                 Just before Kathy and I moved to Las Cruces,

                        we got rid of some of our accumulated stuff in a yard sale …

… and I remember selling the lawn mower I wouldn't need in New Mexico

            for less  than I had recently paid to have it repaired.

 

* Discerning true value and worth can be a very tricky business.

 

 

In Luke 12, Jesus makes a declaration and statement

            about true value and worth which he explains by telling

                        a parable about how easily we can confuse value and worth.

vs. 15-17

            And he (Jesus) said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."  Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'

 

This was a very wealthy land owner,

            whose fields and workers had produced a huge windfall;

                    so much so, that he didn't have enough room to store it all.

 

In the context of the Middle East,

            such a plentiful harvest would involve the whole village;

                        with everyone in the community celebrating

                                    their shared good fortune and bountiful blessings

    -- the rich abundance to be shared by all who had worked the land.

 

But rather than a grateful response toward God who blessed him,

            or toward those who had so successfully worked his fields,

                        selfishness and greed leads him to hoard his good fortune.

 

This attitude highlighted by his "I" and "my" statements of vs. 18-19.

            Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.   And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'

 

This is a greedy man, focused only on his own selfish desires

            and providing for his own pleasure and merry-making;

                        with no intention of sharing this bounty with others.

                                                He assumes that it is his prosperity alone,à

 

and we should pity such a man,   who can imagine no greater good

            than to use it    only for his own pleasure and delight; à

                                    with no thought or concern for anyone else,à

                        or the good that by his generosity,  he might accomplish.

 

And it's not that he has been a thief, or has cheated anyone.

            He has simply been very successful,    and so he makes plans

                        to use his good fortune and excess to retire early & well;

                                      essentially, fulfilling the American dream.

           

However in vs. 20, God, calls this man,   a  fool.

            But God said to him, 'You fool!  This very night your life is being demanded of you.   And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'

 

This very night your life is being demanded of you.      "demanded of you",  

  specifically a banking term that refers to the repayment of a loan…

            … as a reminder that this mortal life and all that it contains

                        are entrusted to us   only for a mortal season…

 

                                    … and all the stuff   we accomplish and acquire, à

                                                we're not taking any of it with us.

            We won't be needing pockets in the suit we are buried in,

                    and the hearse that carries us, won't be pulling a U-Haul.

 

vs. 20  And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

            This rich man has acquired more wealth and more possessions

                        than he could spend or use during his lifetime …

                                                                   … and so God calls this man, a fool.

Why is he a fool? 

 

 Because he trusted his future, his life & security to possessions,

            by hoarding wealth far in excess of what he could possibly use,

                        and walking away from an opportunity to accomplish good…

                                                … perhaps fearful that he might run out of money.

 

This fearful hoarding of excess, beyond the needs of his lifetime

            come from measuring life and value

                        by the accomplishment and accumulation of possessionsà

 

à and is driven by the same fear and greed as Pharaoh in Exodus …

            … who is afraid that there won't be enough bricks,  

                        if the people are allowed to stop production

                                    and celebrate Sabbath rest in the wilderness.

 

The Exodus 5 passage is about

            two distinct  and opposing   world-views and perspectives,

                as a sharp competition between Pharaoh and the God of Israel.

 

The Lord God ruler of all Creation is about abundance & liberation

            while Pharaoh is ruled by greed and by his fear of scarcity,

                        which demands, ever more work and endless production.

vs. 5:4~9

            But the king of Egypt said … why are you taking the people away from their work?  Get to your labors!"   Pharaoh continued, "… no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.  But require the same quantity of bricks  for they are lazy; that is why they cry, 'Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.'   Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words."

 

By Pharaoh's reckoning,

            the people had value   only as objects useful for production,

                        and he wanted their endless labor to break their spirits

                           causing them to forget they were loved & precious to God.

 

In sharp contrast to the endless production demands of Pharaoh,

            the story of manna is a good example of God's gift of abundance.

Every day, God provided abundant manna for all the people to eat.

            They didn't plant it or cultivate it, but it was freely given

                        to be gathered as a sign of God's blessings and abundance…

… except for the day of Sabbath rest, as a further sign

            of God's blessing and gift of bountiful abundance,

                                    so that on the Sabbath, no need to gather,   just rest.

 

In contrast, Pharaoh's slaves there were no days of Sabbath rest;

            but always endless work and production   of making more bricks.

Under Pharaoh's system, you are worth only as much as you produce,

            and your value is determined by your accomplishment and work.

 

**  But God's love, God's promise of abundance,

            like manna in the desert   just appears as a gift of God's grace.

Its grace freely given, simply because our God loves us,

            and has promised to provide enough,   all that we’ll ever need.

 

In Pharaoh's world   of fear,   exploitation,   scarcity   and greed,

            no amount of brick production is ever going to be enough,

                        and so the required quota of bricks will always increase.

            Enough is always   just a little more than however much I have.         

Our Pharaohs will never be satisfied or pleased by our work & effort

            but are always disappointed that we couldn't accomplish more.

The voices of the Pharaohs of this world

            echo and complain that we've never done enough or well enough,

                        and that even our best efforts are never good enough.

 

  But that fear of scarcity that results in greed and hoarding

            is not how our loving Lord intends for us to live.

 

In contrast to Pharaoh's way of fear, exploitation, scarcity & greed

            consider this story about God's abundance in feeding the 5000

                        when Jesus tells the disciples

                                    to feed the crowd listening to him in the desert.

Matt. 15:33  

            The disciples said to him, "Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?"

      Do you hear the echo of Pharaoh's fear, & assumption of scarcity?

 

Well, as it turns out that there was   more than enough for all;

            from just a little bread and the few fish of a boy's lunch,

               the whole crowd was fed  everyone all that they wanted to eat,

                 even gathering baskets of excess, a sign of God's abundance.

 

The fear of scarcity is a very powerful and pervasive force,

            to the disciples, as it was to Pharaoh, and even to us.

We live surrounded by the untruth of Pharaoh's fear of scarcity.

            But God's cure and solution to that fear   is Sabbath rest

                  that breaks the enslaving bondage of this world's Pharaohs.

 

The Pharaohs of this world constantly and fearfully tell us,

      we must make more bricks and build bigger barns to store reserve;

                        but God's gift of the Sabbath is our reminder

                                    that we are much loved, we are precious and valued,  à

                            and we do matter more  than our work or our possessions.

 

Sabbath is space and time   for rest and quiet before God,

            for our creaturely  need    to refresh, restore and revive

                        back to our creaturely relationships and blessings,

                                    reminding us that we do belong to our God who loves us

                                                and in whose care we can truly and surely rely.

 

Sabbath rest means to we stop our busy production and accomplishing

            in order to simply be present with God in faith and in trust.

 It is when we reclaim God's truth, promise and purpose,

            rather than trying to satisfy Pharaoh with yet more bricks,

                  or building a bigger barn to store excess beyond our needs.

 

Our Sabbath allows us to more fully enjoy, to experience delight,

            and to celebrate God's great power and presence in our world;

                        that God loves us,

                                        not just for what we do, but simply because we are…

 

Sabbath is our reminder that there is enough   because God loves us,

            and that we don't have hustle & produce every day of our lives;

                        for in pausing and taking time off for Sabbath rest,

                                    we reclaim the truth of God's love, grace & promise,

                                                by refocusing on our relationships

                                                            with God, with creation, family and friends.

 

Sabbath is about breaking our need to be always busy & productive,

            by making time and space for relationships

                  rather than all the other stuff that we cram into our lives.

 

We are reminded by Sabbath's labor stoppage and rest,

            that we work     in order to live,

                        and that its only slaves      who live    in order to work.

 

When I was in grade school learning to play the trumpet,

            I remember our band teacher always stressing and insisting

                        that the rest notes  when we didn't make any sound

                                    were just as important as the musical notes we played.

 

So too our Sabbath rest is just as spiritually important

            as being productive

                 and whatever work or good service that we might accomplish.

 

Perhaps the questions to ask,

    as we approach the Lord's Table of grace:

          who & what are the Pharaoh's who drive us to make more bricks?,

                    who and what is it that demands our endless productivity?,

… and how can we honor and glorify God

            by both,  our faithful labor   as well as  our Sabbath rest?