Empty Mansions

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The Lord Almighty has declared, "Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants. A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain" (Isaiah 5:8-10).

These ancient words judge our own culture. Whereas, our rural areas were once occupied by many small family farms, they are now littered with large houses surrounded by manicured lawns and gardens producing nothing of value. Many a retired couple lives in a house much larger than the one they raised their children in.

Our text speaks to greed for bigger houses and more land. The rich buy it, dispossessing the former owners one by one until at last the rich live alone on a vast estate, the former owners reduced to serfdom. This sin was particularly offensive to God because in the covenant the land is his. He gives it in the form of grants to his people, to be maintained in the respective families for all time. This reinforced the idea of dependence on God and a means of subsistence for the small landowner.

Such sins of greed are rooted in a failure to admit that God has the right to establish limits for us. The desire for more is coupled with the failure to recognize that our desires are insatiable and that the only way to control them is a conscious decision to stop. Self-indulgence is possible for all of us when my needs are all-important. Who has the right to tell me enough is enough? Soon, comfort, pleasure, and security become absolute goals, and whatever seems to increase them we seek to acquire.

But God announces a judgement that fits the crime. Just as the rich dispossessed others, they will be dispossessed, and all the land acquired will produce almost nothing. Would God say that same thing about rural displacement and urban gentrification that dislocates the poor and the vulnerable? Such extravagances are unsustainable. Many large and beautiful houses will be destroyed or vacated. The abandoned agricultural land will fail to produce.

What should we do when our own hearts move toward this sin of greed? The answer is simple, "Sabbath." Stop working. Only then do we have time to remember that we do not control our own destiny. During sabbath we learn to rely on God. While at rest, we have time to know that God is able to take care of us.

Today, Christian's need to reacquaint themselves with Sabbath. It's meant to be like a factory reset—putting us back in line with God. It is not a day of drudgery to be endured, but rather a day to celebrate our God who provides. God puts a stop sign before our desires to acquire and warns that ignoring that sign will have dire consequences.

Sabbath also gives us time to see our neighbour, to notice their needs. Then we realize that out our excess God desires to care for that neighbour. That is why an offering is taken during worship services. What will you bring to God this weekend, to bless your neighbour in need?

As you journey on, receive Jesus' invitation into this rest:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).