So, Is Sabbath a Justice Issue?
This afternoon, as I'm hunkered down at home surrounded by books about Sabbath, a woman I've met before rings my doorbell to see if there's any way I can help her out with money for baby formula. I know from limited experience with her that she has 4 kids, works two jobs and still regularly falls short on basics like gas, food, etc.
I told her that we have deacons at the church on Sundays who can help her with her request. She seemed disappointed but understanding and I was satisfied that I'd held the party-line (a party-line I believe in, by the way.) I even invited her to the potluck at church on Sunday, I thought, straining my elbow to pat my own back, as I shut the door behind me.
I sat back down amid my Sabbath books and it hit me -- how the heck do I know she doesn't work on Sundays?
Most of us work -- at least in part -- because we have financial obligations to meet. For some that means funds for elite prep school for the kids or a car that won't overheat in DC traffic or a nest egg suitable for early retirement. But for others "financial obligation" is far more rudimentary. How many people in this country (and LORD have mercy if we extend this thought globally) work at least two jobs or excessive hours and still don't have enough to make rent, pay for health care, groceries, transportation, let alone anything that would give them the whatever-it-is that will help them take a step forward?
We don't live in a world that values everybody's time equally (If time is money, then I submit for evidence the salary of a public school teacher and the salary of the president of the United States. Oh, and the salary of the stay-at-home parent, come to that.)
Should I just end my sermon about the difficulty and importance of celebrating Sabbath with a giant hashtag:
#firstworldproblems or
#invisibleprivilege
Sabbath teaches us that time does not own us. Likewise, we do not own time. We do not make/create/waste time as we are fond of saying. Sabbath teaches us, as the Psalmist wrote: "My times are in Your hands." God owns time. And God gives us time, held in trust with the expectation that we will steward this resource, along with all others, as our participation in the Kingdom of God. The Sabbath is a Transforming Time because it re-orients us to God's Kingdom. Then, as God's Kingdom People, we are sent into the world to engage in the work of Transforming Time (see what I did there?)
In the Kingdom of God, time -- not simply our own but everyone's time -- belongs to God. And is intended to serve eternal purposes (six days & on the seventh day.) If we believe this, then shouldn't we be advocating our brains out for things like: fair labor practices, living wages, generous family leave policies. We should know the practices of the companies we frequent in terms of the hours they require and the benefits they provide. If you are a Democrat, you should lobby congress. If you are a Republican, you should take it to the CEO. I don't much care except for this: If you are a Christian, you should do something.
Because, if time is sacred,
then EVERYBODY's time is sacred.
And Sabbath becomes a Justice Issue.
The President's salary, without considering his extravagant Fringe Benefits, is comparable to that of the Superintendent of a major metropolitan school district. Compare those with just the salary of a CEO at even a mid-sized corporation, and then you'll be impressed.
ReplyDeleteyou make an interesting political point but I fear it gets us no closer to the original moral theological/ethical question: is Sabbath a justice issue? I'd be interested in hearing commentary on that point too. (& having you sign your name. please and thank you.)
ReplyDeleteI agree that time is a justice issue. However, we can say that about so many things: money or the environment or prison conditions or consumerism, or....
ReplyDeleteI think there are two dangers in calling another topic a justice issue: 1. we advocate haphazardly/about everything, until we are in a state of total exhaustion (and ripe pickings for many more sins and temptations, I might add) or 2. we convince ourselves that feeling guilty about everything is equivalent to action.
If Sabbath is rightly labeled a justice issue, I think it's fair to ask, 'is it my advocacy issue', and if not, what can I do on a smaller scale that is faithful today?
Good point, Sara! As Christians with an eye toward all thing justice, it is easy to get overwhelmed and burnt out. I have felt that way just grocery shopping? Am I going to be a good steward financially or ecologically this week? Is the right course of action to spend less or to spend more on what we deem justly-produced food?
ReplyDeleteI think the distinction between something being a justice issue and being MY justice issue is an important one. And I think it causes us to rely more fully on the whole Christian community. I can't advocate for everything. Vegetarianism, for example, isn't my justice issue. But because I share Christian community with those for whom it is their justice issue, I am influenced to at least think more critically about my engagement with carnivorous living. ;-)
But, for all that, this Sabbath thing COULD be an advocacy issue for me -- I think especially of family leave policies. And to discern this, I ask my community's prayers.
I was thinking about this on Metro the other day and was also wondering about the implications for what we *do*, not just what we ask others to do. So, while advocacy is crucial, is there something also incumbent upon us as a Christian community in the way we gather and fellowship? Is there something about the way we organize church life to be so focused around Sunday mornings that privileges a certain kind of lifestyle and weekly routine at the expense of others?
ReplyDeleteHuh. I think you might be on to something. Tell me more about that, Matt. Is there a way to schedule worship and invest time in community more justly?
ReplyDeleteBut at the same time, I highly regard the church's calling to be counter-witness/counter-narrative (I'm a closet Anabaptist in that regard. I blame Stanley Hauerwas.) So that some of the things we do as Christians are meant to fit awkwardly into the world and the culture as it is in order to demonstrate the Kingdom as it will be one day.
I don't those things need to be in conflict. I just need to understand more -- an example would help -- of what you are thinking.
I'm not sure exactly and it probably needs to be different depending on the context and the actual needs. Two immediate thoughts that come to mind are neighborhood community groups and a Saturday night service--ways to participate in communal church life when/if Sunday morning isn't possible. I realize this isn't always practical and I take the point about being counter-narrative, just something I've been wondering about.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonder worth having. I will tuck it away for a later date when I'm in need of some extra wonderment.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for joining in on the blog fun. So far Matt, Sara and Marj are my favorites. ;-) The rest of you should get in on the action!