on the subversiveness of sabbath

The practice of biblical Sabbath is, as Walter Brueggemann has suggested, a resistance to the principalities and powers of the world.  If you give up on the capitalistic and consumerist "rat race", in order to nurture the physical and psychological resources to fuel further resistance, making us increasingly available for both community and prophetic ministry, I guarantee you'll get noticed in our culture.

Because you'll feel the shame involved in not keeping up. 

Make no doubt about it, Sabbath is spiritual warfare.  With the rise of capitalism our culture has been infected by what Alain de Botton has called "status anxiety".  Which is to say, shame is the fuel of capitalism.   Capitalism feeds off of this neurotic anxiety, using fear to create wealth and abundance but leaving us physically exhausted, psychologically broken and spiritually depleted.  Which is why we call it the "rat race".

Conservative Christians like to think that spiritual warfare is about the spiritual (which is to say, other-worldly) realm.  Liberals like to think of spiritual warfare as being about the political realm (which is to say, social justice).  Both, I think, are missing the point.  Because the powers want to keep us missing the point.

Here's the thing for Christians:  If we want to be serious about the spiritual warfare to which we've been called, we'll have to be serious about keeping Sabbath.  And if we're going to keep Sabbath, we have to let go of the shame that our culture places on us (and we internalize) for having kept Sabbath.

Otherwise, we'll all just keep on being rats in a rat race.