Holy Restraint (or) Sabbath, part XXV
Richard M. Wright
Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the LORD. – Leviticus 25:3-4
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. – Numbers 15:32
Most unusually NBC Nightly News led with the price of gasoline as their top story last night (May 05). This week on NPR radio I heard a report how the price of gasoline in less than one year has moved from one of the least to one of if not the most important issue for voters in deciding which candidate they will vote for in this year’s presidential election. If nothing else Americans have been forced to examine and reconsider how they consume natural resources. A recent editorial noted:
Yes, higher gas prices are tough on our personal and collective budgets. Then again, higher gas prices strengthen motivation for fuel conservation, alternative-energy development and mass transit (“Gas Tax ‘Holiday’ From Reality”, Charleston Post and Courier; May 04, 2008)
What does this have to do with Sabbath keeping?
Part of Sabbath keeping is the idea of rest even for the land. On the Sabbath do not gather natural resources to burn as fuel. For one year in seven do not work the land to produce crops. Do not gather more than you need. Give creation a break – even a Sabbath.
Tilden Edwards in Sabbath Time writes on the social (I would add environmental) implications of Sabbath:
As we taste the fruits of authentic Sabbath rest, perhaps we can appreciate the value of rest for others as well as for ourselves, and for the earth, and even for machines. We can allow the world to happen a little bit more easily, and loosen our grip on trying to force it to produce life artificially for us. (101)
I would add “force it to produce fuel for us”.
Granted biblical teaching on Sabbath keeping focuses on gathering rather than consuming. But surely if we consume less… we would need to gather less.
Next week I will discuss more fully the relationship between conservation and Sabbath keeping.
