Keeping the Sabbath

Most of us are aware that the sign of God’s covenant with Noah is the rainbow, but I was surprised to learn in my class on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) that the sign of God’s covenant with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai is keeping the Sabbath. Here is what God says in Exodus 31: 12-14, 17:

The Lord said to Moses: “You must also tell the Israelites: Keep my Sabbaths, 

for that is to be the sign between you and me throughout the generations,

 to show that it is I, the Lord, who makes you holy. Therefore, you must keep 

the Sabbath for it is holiness for you…. If anyone does work on that day, 

that person must be cut off from the people…. Between me and the Israelites

it is to be an everlasting sign; for in six days the Lord made the heavens 

and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested at his ease.”

Why is keeping the Sabbath so important? First, this practice reminds us that it is not through our own efforts that we have life and holiness; rather, God is the sustainer and sanctifier of life. God says that remembering this truth by keeping the Sabbath is holiness for us. Why? Because knowing that God is God and we are not is the beginning of humility, which leads to holiness. When we do not keep the Sabbath, we are thus cutting ourselves off from the source of holiness. We also cut ourselves off from other people by putting our work ahead of being with our family and friends.

Keeping the Sabbath is also important because doing so is a way of participating in God’s way of life. God worked for six days, and on the seventh day, God rested. Is our work more important than God’s, that we need to work seven days whereas God worked only six days?

Unlike in my youth, when stores were closed on Sundays and only a handful of people worked that day, our society no longer distinguishes Sunday from any other day of the week. In fact, society actively discourages us from keeping the Sabbath by equating the amount of work we do and the amount we consume with our worth. To keep the Sabbath today requires courage, discipline, and, as Sr. Bridget Haase notes, trust that God will complete the work begun in us. To maintain our part of the covenant, God asks us not to perform some task, but to rest—not to do but to be.  It’s a surprising request, and the fact that we find it so difficult to honor is food for Lenten reflection.