2004-05-16 Easter 6C - Come Sunday - Page 2 of 3
did good things on the Sabbath - like healing sick people or feeding hungry people - and it was terribly
threatening to their identity. But what Jesus is really doing is honoring the Sabbath by reclaiming its
meaning and the Shalom that comes with it.
Life has changed a lot since those days, but reclaiming the Sabbath is something we also might
want to do, especially since we live in a world in which so much is beyond our understanding and
control. We long for lives that have meaning and balance - (Uncle Joe: all I want is a little peace) and
yet we wonder how we could ever get there, given all of the demands on our time. So perhaps we
should look at those demands.
There is either a song or a saying that goes like this: “I want what I want when I want it, and I
want it right now.” Wanting what we want and right now is a song most of us live.
According to an editorial in Christian Century, Christian Family Stores, North America’s
largest Christian retail chain, recently began opening its stores on Sunday afternoons because it feels a
“calling to provide . . . Bibles, books and other Christian resources to meet their [customers’] needs -
when their needs arise. When challenged by the media with comparisons with other Christian-owned
businesses (like Chik-fil-A restaurants and Lifeway Christian stores) that don’t open on Sundays, the
company’s president couldn’t see the parallels, telling the Dallas Morning News, “No one is going to
hell if they don’t eat a chicken sandwich on a Sunday.” In other words, for this man, it seems that souls
might hang in the balance if folks can’t get to their Christian retailer on a Sunday afternoon for the latest
of the “Left Behind” books or a copy of The Purpose Driven Life.
But maybe our souls really do hang in the balance because of the endless rat race we find
ourselves in. Perhaps it’s time to reclaim God’s gift of Sabbath rest because our souls, along with the
soul of our nation - really do hang in the balance.
Many of us are so pressed for time. We have to earn a living, fulfill a vocation, care for children,
care for parents, get some exercise, clean the house - and grow in our faith as loving and faithful people.
Juliet Schor, in her best selling book The Overworked American, reports that for all classes of
employed Americans work hours and stress are up, while sleep and family time are down. Even the Girl
Scouts offer a merit badge for learning to deal with stress. And still we are bombarded by media
messages to spend more, have more, do more, and improve ourselves as lovers, investors, parents,
athletes, and Christians. Stores stay open 24/7 help to make it all possible.
That is the picture for employed Americans. The same economy that asks too much of many
also casts others aside without enough work or work that doesn’t pay enough to make a living wage at
least in part because we, in our endless search for more things for less money, insist on shopping
wherever prices, along with the wages of the employees, are rock bottom - and watch with fear and
dismay while jobs that pay a living wage are outsourced to cheaper labor markets and replaced with
lower paying jobs with fewer benefits - and wonder who is really safe.
Some claim that market forces will take care of it - in time, of course. After all, capitalism is
God’s way of providing for the needs of the human family. If you must spend less time with your family
and friends, just make sure it’s quality time. If you’re stressed, buy some expensive home exercise
equipment and spend 20 minutes a day, three days a week. Live in a gated community with private
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