The Sabbath is a funny thing—both for us today and for the ancient world back then. It was so weird to pick one day to not work in a recurring cycle of six days of work and one day of rest. In the Babylonian worldview, for instance, humans were created as no better than slaves for the gods. The whole purpose of existence involved work. But at the beginning of Genesis we are told that one of the first instructions is to “till the land.” While the Babylonians thought of humans as mere tenants of the earth, laborers to make something useful of this big rock, Israelites were given dominion over the earth. Humans in the Israelite understanding are co-owners of this planet. They are responsible for what goes on here.
However, God’s primary purpose for people is not slave labors. Work is a part of our purpose, yes, but it is not all we are. That is why Genesis’ “work as purpose” is checked by Exodus through Deuteronomy’s command of Sabbath. In Exodus 20:8-11, Sabbath is linked back to creation because God rested. In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, the reason for Sabbath is rooted in God’s provision and protection by freeing Israel from their slave labor. Both creation and slavery are times of intense work, but Sabbath in contrast is a time of rest and relaxation. But rest played a bigger role than just the Sabbath. Reading through the book of Numbers recently, I noticed that the list of feasts and offerings in Numbers chapter 28 to 29 included this repeated refrain for each holy celebration: “You shall not do any ordinary work.” In addition to the Sabbath days of rest, every feast and celebration included a mandatory day off.
It seems that sometimes the best way to celebrate is to take a break.
At the time of writing this blog post, the world is in a weird spot. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has disrupted normality and sent most people quarantined at home. Like the Sabbath, stay-at-home orders have broken into our rhythms of work. The pandemic has put a halt to many routines and forced many to occupy their time with something else besides work. Of course, many of the “essentials” still must work and others have transitioned to working at home. Parents are finding it difficult to play teacher—many who also must work from home. So, not everyone has “nothing to do.” Nevertheless, we all are having our movements outside the home restricted.
The stay-at-home orders have also canceled embodied Easter celebrations. For many Christians, this is an incredibly important day where we celebrate the pinnacle event in our faith. For many churches, this is also the biggest attendance day and it represents a time when people are more willing to have spiritual conversations. Thus, it is reasonably a devastating time to cancel services and shuffle everyone off to their homes. While live streaming and videos certainly are bringing the church to the people on the couches, there is still a question of how to celebrate Easter during this pandemic. How can we truly celebrate when all the old ways of celebrating can no longer occur?
Perhaps we should celebrate Easter like the Israelites—we should take a break.
We actually do find the Sabbath in the Easter story. It is right in the middle of the drama, almost forgotten. Between Jesus’ death on Friday (“Good Friday”) and his resurrection on Sunday (“resurrection Sunday)” is the Saturday in the tomb (“Holy Saturday”). Though the Gospel accounts of Passover in relation to Jesus’ final dates on earth are hard to decipher, it seems that Passover might have ended on this Saturday (Cf. John 19:31). According to Numbers 28:16-25, Passover begins and ends with a day of no work. So if it ends on a Sabbath, it is an extra holy day! Even if it didn’t, the Sabbath would still have interrupted the normal time of celebration. Rest is intrinsic into how they celebrate.
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Perfect for this time of pandemic, the Saturday before Easter Sunday is a time of lament, a time of cautious anxiety. We know today what’s coming—Jesus is going to rise from the dead! But in the time of Jesus, the apostles scattered. They didn’t know the end of the story. Surely, they were scared. Today as we await the end of the pandemic, we can probably relate to this anxiety regarding the end of all this turmoil. Collectively, we are all in that “in-between time” ourselves.
So as we cautiously wait for the end of the pandemic and the future glory of Christ’s return, maybe we are in the perfect place to practice Sabbath. Radical as it sounds, celebrate by doing nothing! With churches physically closed for the time being, we have the chance to avoid the hustle and bustle that a holiday season like this can mean. Stuck at home with your family (or just with yourself), we can finally get some good ol’ Easter rest into our schedules! For those that have had a coronavirus-induced extended Sabbath, celebrate by avoiding the temptation to be productive all the time. For those that still have a role to play in the pandemic, celebrate by carving out time to not work, and use it as a distraction-free time to unwind and focus on God. Commemorate Easter and memorial Jesus’ resurrection by not doing any “ordinary work.”
Listen to your local church’s Easter service, partake of communion with your family, pray—whatever your at-home service looks like. But perhaps carve out time, ideally the whole day, to treat the period as holy (holy because of what it celebrates, not that God has specifically set apart this day) by not doing work. Remember, however, that just because it is not hard work doesn’t mean it is good rest—Israelites would probably exchange their earthly productivity with productivity investing in relationships with each other and with God. Also, they were often supposed to use the day offs inherent in feast days to offering sacrifices. You can “sacrifice” to God by giving up what you want to get done or what makes you feel good by doing what’s best for your family or your personal relationship with God. Maybe instead of Netflix and the sometimes-unconstructive messages it brings, rest by reading a book on Christian living. Start a game with your family—maybe even a long-distance virtual one. Laugh together, lament together, play together.
Since we won’t all be physically together worshipping this Easter, it is the perfect time to celebrate through not working. Be thankful for God’s provisions and blessings. Feel free to lament during this free time, but you can also use this time for happy feasting and partying, even if it is in a small group. Use your free time to listen to what God wants to speak to you during this time. God has created us not as creatures to be consumed by work, but people that God has set free. Easter is a day where we are set free from the powers of sin and the systems–like work–that distract us from God. So use this Easter to rest.
