Book Review: "Sabbath as Resistance" by Walter Brueggemann
Walter Brueggemann
Westminster John Knox Press
100
Witherspoon Street
Louisville,
KY 40202-1396
ISBN: 9780664239282; $14.00; 2014
Reviewed by
Rev. Dr. Michael Philliber for Deus
Misereatur.
Stimulating
Study - 4 stars out of 5
Almost no one talks about it anymore. Once it used to be
a significant issue, especially in the Christian Church in England, Scotland
and North America. But the whole subject of Sabbath has fallen to the wayside
in all the rush for prominence, peace and prosperity. Nevertheless the matter
of the Sabbath has significant implications for Church and society. Walter
Brueggemann has taken up the topic in his newest 108 page paperback, “Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the
Culture of Now” and takes the reader in an unexpected, but substantive, direction.
“Sabbath as Resistance” is written to be grasped, comprehended and reflected on
by both clergy and laity.
Brueggemann spends the first two chapters unpacking the Ten
Commandments, showing how they were given by Israel’s God as a way of being a
people who can enjoy rest. Pharaoh and his production-affirming gods, were
confiscatory, demanding “endless produce and who authorize endless systems of
production that are, in principle, insatiable” (2). In contrast, Israel’s God “is
on a collision course with the gods of insatiable productivity” (Ibid.). Into this conflict God steps in
and delivers his people from the restless, anxiety-ridden world of Pharaoh. He
brings them to Sinai and gives them his Ten Commandments. As Brueggemann works
it out, the first three commandments are about exclusive devotion to YHWH and
the last six are about loving our neighbor. The hub of these commandments is
found in the one commandment that is the longest and most detailed: The
Sabbath. It’s here, in the place of rest, that Israel finds it can breathe. And
in being able to finally have room to breathe, Israel can love God (exclusively)
and actually begin to love their neighbor. Sabbath is an act of trusting
resistance to the constant, anxiety fueling demand to produce more, accomplish
more, acquire more!
In chapters three through five, the author goes to three
other portions of Scripture, Deuteronomy 5:12-14, Isaiah 56:3-8, and Amos
8:4-8. Simply put, Brueggemann lays out how Sabbath is resistance to coercion, exclusivism,
and multitasking. These three chapters become drive-by glances at multiple
passages (far more than the three listed) as the author attempts to show the
social consequences of observing the Sabbath. Most times his case is made, at
other times the reader is only left with invalidated assertions. Nevertheless, there
is plenty of silage to chew over, and muse
on for days!
The final
chapter connects the tenth commandment with the Sabbath. It seemed to me that
this chapter was the target Brueggemann was primarily shooting at. Here the
author draws the connection that genuine Sabbath keeping and contentment go
hand-in-glove. And, inversely, not recognizing Sabbath breeds avarice, “( . . .
) Sabbath is a school for our desires, an expose and critique of the false
desires that focus on idolatry and greed that have immense power for us. When
we do not pause for Sabbath, these false desires take power over us. But
Sabbath is the chance for self-embrace of our true identity” (88).
“Sabbath as Resistance”
builds a solid rationale for the social, ecclesial and individual value of
Sabbath observance. There are weaknesses as well. The author’s acceptance of
the documentary hypothesis, as well as conflict between Biblical books is
disappointing. Also his section on inclusiveness (versus exclusiveness) seemed
problematic simply because he appears to make unfounded leaps from the prophets
to issues in the 21st Century. The biggest weakness I saw comes
through in the lack of connecting the Sabbath observance of the Hebrew Scriptures,
and Jesus' declaration in places like Mark 2:27-28, “The Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
If Brueggemann had spent time teasing out the connections, I believe the book
would have been stronger, and the case sturdier.
All told, “Sabbath
as Resistance” is an exceptional book. Bible study groups, pastors, elder
boards, and denominational study committees need to work through Brueggemann’s
material and wrestle with it. The author rightly maintains, “In our own contemporary
context of the rat race of anxiety, the celebration of Sabbath is an act of
both resistance and alternative” (xiii). This is a book I strongly recommend.
(Thanks to Net Galley
and Westminster John Knox Press for the free electronic version provided for
this review. Mike)
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