Introduction
In the United Church of
Christ, our theological home and spiritual center, there is a saying that is
widely shared: No matter who you are – no matter
where you are on life’s journey – you are welcome here. This slogan –
or even what some have called the distillation of our mission – is easily
misunderstood.
Some people have
said that it is too simplistic and without theological depth. Others have worried that it is too broad and
general; without clear Christian bench marks or reference points. And others still have written it off as a
marketing gimmick that has a bit of a buzz to our postmodern sensibilities, but doesn't really mean anything beyond advertising sophistry.
Each critique, in
my opinion, is short-sighted – and here is why I have come to this
conclusion: our catch phrase is actually
a 21st century restatement of an ancient biblical truth that has
shaped and challenged God’s people for at least three thousand years. Even many people
who are biblically and liturgically literate often miss the penetrating
prophetic wisdom of this statement because they want to hear God’s truth
proclaimed in the old words, the old music, and the old creeds. To which the
prophet Isaiah – discerning the will of the Lord 300 years before Jesus –
writes: “Thus sayeth the Lord our God,
who gathers in the former outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them, too
besides the ones I have already called.” (Isaiah 56: 8)
Now on the surface these
words don’t mean much to us; in fact, if you were doing a quick review of the
Bible you might even skim over this portion of Isaiah without giving it much
thought. But, if you were to let Professor Walter Brueggemann of Columbia Theological
Seminary, the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament
studies, guide you, you would come to a profoundly different conclusion. In
fact, I suggest to you that you too would come to see how the wisdom of Isaiah not
only gives shape and form to the ministry of Jesus but also the word of the
United Church of Christ.
Further, I would
be willing to wager that you would also come to see yet another reason why
Sabbath keeping is essential for us to reclaim. So what I propose
to do this morning is offer you a quick survey of the two fundamental Biblical
understandings of community membership – how Israel used to define who was in
and who was out of the covenant – and then lift up Isaiah’s startling inclusive
corrective.
Because the way I get it,
Isaiah tells us that there came a time in ancient Israel when the requirements
of God’s covenant changed – they were broadened and altered to be wildly
inclusive – and Sabbath keeping became the new normal: Thus sayeth the Lord our
God, who gathers in the former outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to
them, too besides the ones I have already called… and blessed are those who
keep the Sabbath and do not profane it.
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Insights
So let’s start with the
background and see how the Spirit of the Lord makes a corrective through the
prophet Isaiah. To do this we have to
know that the Old Testament tells us the story of how God’s love transforms a
scattered group of nobodies into a unique and blessed people. Brueggemann
writes: “The formation of Israel is narrated as a process whereby YHWH’s power
transformed “no people” into “this people.”
The
Hebrews, as forerunners of Israel, were treated according to tradition as
marginal, objectionable people… according to the Joseph narrative they were regarded
as a threat to social propriety and kept separated from those who managed
social power… during the exodus they are known as a mixed multitude… and it was
only at Sinai (where the Ten Commandments are handed down) that this disparate
population was formed and transformed by God’s love into an identifiable,
intentional community.
Are you still with me? At its core, the Biblical story begins by
telling us that the people who came to be known as Israel started off as a
bunch of wild, mixed up and very different souls who didn't know anything of
God’s love and had to be trained and transformed by God’s grace. At the core of this training was Torah – a
spirituality shaped by keeping the commandments – and only those who kept the
commandments were considered “the legitimate members of God’s community.”
In time there developed two
distinct understandings of what it meant to keep and honor Torah: the path of Leviticus and the path of
Deuteronomy. In Leviticus, the great
tradition of Israel’s priests is celebrated. And as you might imagine, their
emphasis is on “cultic purity.” Brueggemann writes that keeping Torah for this
group meant: "Staying clear of all that is
profane and worldly – that which is common – because such exposures would
contaminate Israel and drive out the presence of the Lord… (Consequently)
Leviticus provides guidelines for every phase of life to be sure that
membership in Israel consists only in those who sustain purity.”
+ Is that
clear? This definition of who was in and
who was out of membership was born of a deep love and concern that the impure
would jeopardize the whole community.
+ Modern Christians
sometimes minimize the grace of this tradition and ridicule it as harsh but the Priests loved the
Lord and God’s people and offered them clear and grace-filled guidelines for
right living. That is one tradition.
The second “great
interpretive tradition, Deuteronomy, takes the Sinai commandments in a
somewhat different direction: it places accent on justice questions and is
preoccupied with the vulnerable who need protection by the community… the poor
alongside widows, orphans and immigrants.” Here purity and membership within
Israel is predicated upon loving God and doing justice. And Deuteronomy makes very clear, in a series
of lists ascribed to Moses, who is considered both pure and just and who is
considered outside the embrace of God’s love in Israel.
+ All those with
distorted genitalia – including eunuchs and bastard – are to be considered
outside the community of God’s love in Israel because only those who practice
right sexual relations are honoring the covenant.
+ Certain races and
tribes were also excluded from the community, notably the Ammonites and
Moabites, and Moses offers a long list of others who should be purged from the
protection of the community because they offend the Lord: false prophets, murderers, those who defy the
priests, rebellious children, prostitutes, adulterers and kidnappers.
This is the second great
tradition concerning Torah keeping in ancient Israel: one is shaped by right
worship and law-keeping, Leviticus, the other by acts of justice and purity in
social relations, Deuteronomy. This
background is essential for how we understand and wrestle with the radical
shift of emphasis that takes place in Isaiah 56. Scholars note that chapters
56-66 in Isaiah come from a much later time in Israel’s history than
Deuteronomy.
+ In fact, they
believe that these passages come from that time when Israel returned to their
land after being taken into captivity and bondage in Babylon in about 587
BCE. Remember that the essence of
Deuteronomy was written about 800 years before Jesus and our text from Isaiah
came into being at least 250 years later.
+ It seems as if
our “text reflects a recovery program for Jews who had returned from Babylonian
deportation and were now determined to get it right (with God and one another…
and no more urgent issue was before them than membership.”
You see, not everyone had
been deported to Babylon. Some had been left behind so Jewish leaders had to
discern what to do “… with those who had cooperated with imperial authorities
and those who had not cooperated… “Those who had remained pure and those who
had become corrupted. And what Isaiah 56
tells us is that God led the leadership of Israel to embrace “a principle or
inclusiveness against the ancient exclusivity… first by welcoming foreigners…
and then eunuchs!” Listen to this:
+ Isaiah 56: 3/6: Do
not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
‘The Lord will surely separate me from his
people’; And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the
name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath, and do not profane it and hold fast my
covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my
house of prayer!
+ Isaiah 56: 4-5: And
do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: To the
eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my
walls, a monument and a name better
than sons and daughters; I will give them
an everlasting name that shall not be cut
off.
Do you hear the change in this proclamation?
“The admission of foreigners clearly contradicts the older exclusion of
Moabites and Ammonites in Deuteronomy” as does the embrace of eunuchs. Professor Breuggemann concludes: “A picture
is presented of a community of faith that is generously expansive and
welcoming, quite unlike the initial prescription of Moses…and most remarkably,
the conditions of admission clearly do not concern ethnic qualifications or
any other criterion of purity. (Rather) there is (only) the quite generic
requirement of the new recruit simply to keep Torah… but not as spelled out in
Deuteronomy… now there is only one condition spelled out: keep Sabbath!”
In this new reworking of who
is in and who is out, Israel might as well have shouted from the rooftops: no matter who you are – no matter where you
are on life’s journey – you are welcome here! Sabbath, you see, more than just
a well-deserved rest, embraces the conditions necessary for justice keeping.
“Sabbath represents a radical disengagement from the producer-consumer rate
race of empire.” To quote the good professor one last time:
(Now) the
community welcomes members of any race or nation, any gender or social
condition, so long as that person is defined by justice, mercy and compassion
and not competition, achievement, production or acquisition. And there is no
mention or purity, only work stoppage with a neighborly pause for human
(kindness.)
Thus sayeth the Lord our God, who gathers in the
former outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them, too besides the ones I
have already called…and I will
bring (them all) to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.
Conclusion
Sabbath keeping – and
the commitment to equality, compassion, rest and joy that forms the foundation
of Sabbath – “deconstruct all qualifications” for deciding who is in and who is
out. Sabbath challenges all the ways we try
to fence some people out of God’s love and honor those who are just mostly just
like us. And if we read the Biblical story of Jesus through the eyes of a
radical Sabbath, we will see why this is crucial for us, too.
+ What did John the Baptist say to those who objected to
his ministry of radical hospitality? Do not presume to say to yourselves we have Father
Abraham as our ancestor for God is able to raise up children to Abraham from
these very stones! In other words,
no more bragging about your race or how long you’ve been a member or your
pedigree; the only thing now that matters is whether or not you bear the fruit
of the Sabbath.
+ And what does
Sabbath fruit look like? What does the Holy Spirit offer to those who live into
the blessings of the Sabbath? St. Paul is explicit: the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.
The way of Jesus – the path
of compassion and justice – cannot be made flesh if we are trapped or addicted
to rat-race living and values. Keeping the Sabbath empowers us to bear the
fruit of the Spirit and gives us the rest and perspective we need. Indeed,
“Sabbath keeping is a requirement if we are to bear the fruits of the kingdom.”
So once again I implore you
to take this invitation seriously: honor
the Sabbath and find new ways to keep it holy so that you – and those all around
you – might experience the welcome and blessing of God’s love. We teach and practice that everyone is
welcome at Christ’s table of grace. As
you come to Eucharist, you are promising to rest and share this rest at the
core of your soul. Lord, may it be so
within and among us now…
credits:
1) Old Man Carrying Sticks - www.independentsbiennial.org
2) Rainbow Shabbat - www.brooklynmuseum.org
3) Shabbat Made Easy - www.interfaithfamily.com
4) Shabbat Table -www.abitoffthetop.com
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