Subversive Sabbatical

"The Spirit of YHWH is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of God’s favor.” ~ Luke 4:18-19

Just three weeks ago, I wrote about a Northern Pintail surprising me as I attempted to chase other species. Quite possibly the same bird became the object of my chasing a little over five miles away but now in Kennebec county and as part of a newly minted year list. This time, rather than appearing unannounced, it found a way to disappear in the crowd. I saw it first in flight with numerous Mallards but later was surprised to find it huddled in with the flock on the ice on the near shore not more than a dozen yards away. Surprisingly, the disappearing act required little more than tucking a head, an act of radical resting. Yes, hunkering down on a frozen strip of river with dozens of strangers may not sound particularly restful, but under the circumstances it was essential and oh so necessary. Survival would not be possible in these brutal conditions without associating with “the other” and doing as little as possible. Come to think of it, that’s not bad survival advise for all of us during troubling times.

Associating with your extended kin, some of whom not only are not inclined to welcome you, but might actively oppose your inclusion is no mean feat. Jesus’ first sermon demonstrated that there is no promise of safety even among your own kin, even when the message is about rest. Yes, “the year of God’s favor” is about rest, the rest of sabbath. He was referring to the year of jubilee. A little bit of math may help: a sabbath of sabbath years (7x7=49) plus one (the mega sabbath year) is the Jubilee. So what is so radical about sabbath rest that people didn’t want to hear it? It is challenge to economic principles we rarely question. We think that we can own and accumulate wealth ignoring the cost extracted from others and the land itself. Over time this can lead to great inequality, debt, and indentured servitude. God’s plan is that every fifty year the slate is wiped clean and in a great reboot everyone starts over. You can see how God’s justice sometimes runs counter to what we might call fair.

Perhaps a more direct connection to rest is the challenge of not working one day in seven (or one year in seven!) and resting in divine hands, trusting that God will care for us. When we work without stopping in order to live beyond our means we are exposing a severe lack of trust in God with our blatant disobedience. Investing is effectively expecting our money to work without any rest and effectively denying divine mandates, ignoring must how subversive sabbath actually is.

Prayer: Creator and Liberator, forgive our mistrust of your required rest, teach us again the radical power of sabbath. Amen.