Bad Ideas, Good Ideas
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Exodus 16:13-30
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer per person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.” The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it became wormy and rotten. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed, but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” So they put it aside until morning, just as Moses commanded them, and it did not rot, and there were no maggots in it. Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”
On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.
Sermon
The sabbath was a bad idea.
It was a terrible idea for a group of people who were nomads — people who were living hand to mouth, paycheck-to-paycheck, of sorts. These migrant Hebrews were in the most desperate of circumstances. The wilderness was harsh and inhospitable to them; there was nothing in the way of food, and there was little water to sustain them. And when the Hebrew people found themselves frustrated by their circumstances, it went from bad to worse: cue the poisonous serpents.
So given the desperate reality of the Hebrews’ lives, it was anything but prudent to observe the sabbath. They need to get out of here! They need to gather all they can, store it in their caravan, keep on moving, and double-time it out of the wilderness.
To make it an even worse idea to observe the sabbath, the Hebrew people find out at first that manna has a shelf life of less than 24 hours. They go through five days of gathering, and on each of those five days, their manna is bad by the following morning. What do you mean we should take a sabbath? And what do you mean we should gather twice as much beforehand?
This is a terrible, terrible, terrible idea!
But despite it being a terrible, imprudent, foolish idea, they nevertheless were dragged along into it. That’s when the unimaginable happened. Their doubt—thinking the sabbath was an impossible pipe dream—their doubt was proven wrong. Kicking and screaming, they witnessed God’s provision. God stepped in to transform them inwardly, offering the Hebrew people the opportunity to imagine the unimaginable. God strengthened them to imagine a sabbath in the midst of totalizing restlessness.
There were plenty of reasons for the Hebrews to wriggle their way out of a sabbath. Though we might be tempted to cast judgment on them, the reasons they had were good ones. They were existential ones, even. We could try to blame them for having a scarcity mindset, but I don’t think this was a mere mindset shift — they did live within overwhelming scarcity. We could try to blame them for trying to horde manna, but if we saw our loved ones struggling, hurting with pangs of hunger, I think we’d be trying to save a little extra manna, too.
I don’t know that this text is really about getting the Hebrews to look on the bright side of things. And I don’t know that it’s really about them being grateful or even practicing stewardship.
Because at the heart of this is a command to remember the sabbath and keep it holy. And it matters that it is a command.
This sabbath-keeping becomes a hallmark of the Hebrews’ religious and cultural practice. It is an essential rhythm of their communal life, and a foundational aspect of their identity as a people, just like Sunday becomes an identifier of the early Christian community. Not only is the sabbath a signifier of religious and cultural identity, but in practicing it, the wandering Hebrews are knitted together even closer. They are stuck with each other for a day, without work to distract them. Their only work on this day becomes the work of community and the work of cultural observance.
So sabbath-keeping is both a measuring stick of this community, and the means by which the community is knitted together into one body.
“Kicking and screaming, they encountered God’s provision.”
Perhaps God isn’t kicking the Hebrew people in the butt, telling them to be a little more grateful. Rather, it might be that despite their grim circumstances, God is commanding the Hebrew people to place their identity and communal life first. Even when the walls are closing in, and even when the bread starts running out, don’t forget who you are, and who God has called you to be. Even when there are dozens of reasons to not, keep this community and its connection to God preeminent.
This commandment is what reorients the Hebrew people, turning them right-side-up. Because the sabbath is only a bad idea when other values are placed above it. If escape from the wilderness is the ultimate objective of the Hebrew people, the sabbath is indeed a terrible idea. If security in material resources is the ultimate objective of the Hebrew people, the sabbath is indeed a terrible idea. But if those values are reoriented—if the Hebrew people place their community and its connection to God first, above all else—then the sabbath starts looking a little more wise. If their connection to one another, and their capacity to trust God is a primary objective, then the sabbath starts looking like a good idea.
Some words of Jesus might come to mind. In the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, he says this: “For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
What will it profit the Hebrews if they escape the wilderness, only to find their hearts and spirits destroyed by despair? What will it benefit them if they reach Canaan, only to find their community splintered by infighting? Who cares if there is in fact a land of promise, if the Hebrews collapse on its banks, spiritually destitute and utterly exhausted?
“So sabbath-keeping is both a measuring stick of this community, and the means by which the community is knitted together into one body”
We might ask ourselves the same questions.
Sabbath rest is a bad idea, if we have made productivity our golden calf. Sabbath rest is a bad idea, if we place our comfort over community. Sabbath rest is a bad idea, if we believe church is a place we go, or set of programs, or a building we maintain.
Sabbath rest if we believe ministry is what we hire pastors or staff for.
And then we hear Jesus: “For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
If God and God’s calling in our lives are second to anything else, we won’t make it out of the wilderness. Buildings, programs, staff, pastors—you name it—don’t tend to make it to Canaan.
In fact, it’s an exhausting proposition to make our communion with God anything but preeminent. Keeping buildings standing is expensive and exhausting. Maintaining programs takes constant energy. Navigating HR and benefits and compensation and personnel conflicts will weigh on you, sooner or later. Valuing productivity, and institutions, and buildings will not save us from the wilderness — in fact, it might be what keeps us there to begin with.
“If God and God’s calling in our lives are second to anything else, we won’t make it out of the wilderness. Buildings, programs, staff, pastors—you name it—none of those tend to make it to Canaan.”
But what do we hear from Jesus? “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
When God reorients us right-side-up, and we realize that God and God’s beloved community are our overriding values, we find ourselves with a lighter load. Sabbath starts looking like a good idea, and like one of the few things we can do to set down our burdens.
Sabbath rest is a good idea if we want God to steer our caravan towards love and justice.
Sabbath rest is a good idea if we believe that our souls are more valuable than a life of comfort.
Sabbath rest is a good idea if we believe church is a calling.
Sabbath rest is a good idea if we believe that ministry is the responsibility of every single person at every single age and ability.
So congratulations — you are the folks who put sabbath rest above modern meteorology! You decided a soggy hot dog with friends is better than a sandwich in isolation.
But today, our holy manna begins with the company of one another — the company of the church, and our communion with Jesus Christ.
For justice, for love, for ministry, for calling, for the fellowship of saints alive and predeceased — today is a good idea, indeed.
