Lectionary for Aug. 24, 2025
11th Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8;
Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17
I co-teach a class at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in the ancestral home of the Myaamia people, called “Introduction to Faith and Entrepreneurship.” In this class, we prepare students to work in a religiously pluralistic marketplace; explore what their faith traditions (or non-faith traditions) have to say about work, business and entrepreneurship; and explore different faith and non-faith practices for cultivating sustainability and resilience in a difficult world. As a public institution we aren’t seeking to proselytize but to prepare students to live their values, lead and thrive in a hectic, globally connected workplace. It might not be a surprise, but the students are drawn to classes that address burnout, isolation and the need for sabbath practices. Humans need rest, but hustle culture demands constant sacrifices.
This week, we look at what the lectionary passages have to say about sabbath rest.
In Isaiah 58, there is much work to be done! Reconstituting Jewish life in the Holy Land after exile is a difficult, frustrating task, as the scroll of Isaiah depicts. Human bondage needs to be prohibited (removing the yoke). Accusations and blaming should be silenced. The needs of the poor must be met. And, of course, ancient Jewish structures like houses, walls and streets need to be rebuilt (9-12). That work could go on all day, every day and last for years and years.
But God makes an intervention into the list of tasks. God promises to bless those who desist from their own ways and call the sabbath a pleasure. God knows we can be like children who want to play late into the summer nights but end up cranky and obstinate due to lack of sleep. Sometimes we exhaust ourselves to our own detriment. We need a restful break!
Sabbath is a matter of justice for humans who all deserve regular, predictable rest. And, for that matter, sabbath is a matter of justice for animals (Exodus 20:10) and the land (Leviticus 25:1-22). But to rest, and to provide rest for those who depend on us and for the land upon which we depend, we must resist our inclinations to keep going, going, going. Resting is holy work, and it is both commandment and gift.
Sabbath is supposed to be good and restorative for humans, not an excuse to let suffering continue.
While sabbath rest is given and commanded, it is not a license to avoid loving our neighbors. Jesus, while teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, healed a woman who had been physically and spiritually bound for 18 years (Luke 13:10-13). The synagogue leader could not abide this act of healing, because Jesus framed it as work—releasing or freeing that which was bound (12). The leader told the people who had come to be healed by Jesus that they had to return another day. The Sabbath, in his mind, was only for preaching and learning. I believe this sentiment is a far too common expectation in our own day. I’m grateful for experiences such as “God’s work. Our hands.” that integrate work within Christian assembly. Jesus says that just as no one would insist that animals suffer because of Sabbath prohibitions, certainly no human’s suffering should be prolonged for another minute when healing is available on the Sabbath.
It was taken for granted in Jesus’ day, at least among most Pharisees, that obedience to God’s commands must lead to human thriving and minimize suffering. Taking Leviticus 18:5 seriously (“You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord”), most Jewish leaders, but apparently not this synagogue leader, insisted that a proper ordering and understanding of commandments would lead to abundant life, not suffering. Paul, also trained as a Pharisee, brought up this principle repeatedly (Romans 10:5 and Galatians 3:12, albeit for other rhetorical points). So, of course, a woman could be healed on the Sabbath! Far from being dismayed or offended, the entire crowd rejoiced over the glorious thing Jesus had done (Luke 13:17). Sabbath is supposed to be good and restorative for humans, not an excuse to let suffering continue.
In two versions of the commandments, the motivations for sabbath are different. In Exodus 20, the sabbath is commanded because God ceased action during creation. Humans should imitate this godly ceasing. In Deuteronomy 5, sabbath was commanded because the Israelites and those who left Egypt with them had left a culture of perpetual slavery behind. Ceasing work is resistance to dehumanization and wealth/power inequality. God’s sabbath is a good thing! But at the same time, even the devil can quote Scripture (Luke 4:10). God’s words can be twisted to support evil and anti-human practices, such as a sabbath that binds rather than frees. Ultimately, Jesus reminds us of God’s grace: “The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
