Remember the Sabbath

Somehow the fourth commandment (3rd for Catholics and Lutherans) has come to mean "go to church on Sunday". Most of us may think there is a little more to it--like taking it easy on Sunday. But in practice, it seems that most of Christendom acts as if a literal obedience to the other 9 is a good idea, but we can stretch this one all we want.

This dilemma was brought to my attention by Stephanie's uncle while we visited him in San Diego last week. We discussed it briefly. Yesterday, it was the topic of Sunday School and after inspecting Exodus, I have come to a couple of conclusions:

1.) Remembering the Sabbath day and church don't have anything to do with one another.
-Don't get me wrong, worshipping is an important part of Christian life. Many Scriptures support this notion, but it seems to me that it is unrelated to honoring the Sabbath.

2.) The Sabbath day is a day or rest; pure and simple.
-Defining rest very well may be a grey area, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it. It also does not mean that we should be like the Pharisees and turn it into a strict black and white code.

If you take the time to read the original text, you will see that it is one of only two commandments God takes the time to explain. It is as if He anticipates the question, "How am I supposed to keep it holy?" The text makes it very clear that it is to be a day of rest. The very word, "sabbath" means "cease".

Yesterday, as Earl, Bethany and I worked through this we tended to read our own desires into the text, but they don't seem to be there... One common objection is that "it is not work if it is something I enjoy is it?" I ought to consult a Hebrew scholar for this one, but our day of rest is to be modeled after God's day of rest. I know two things about that. God didn't need a day of rest, and creating the universe wasn't exactly work for him. He did not sweat once in the whole process, and I cannot imagine that it was anything but enjoyable for Him. The idea, I believe, is to rest--not to switch over to work that you enjoy.

No one will argue the practical (as opposed to spiritual or moral) value of the ten commandments. After all, the world would be a better place if no one stole, lied, murdered, or coveted. I am willing to bet that we would all be better off if we truly rested on the Sabbath as well.

So, Stephanie has agreed to move forward and we are committing our Saturdays to rest. I doubt the day upon which we rest is too important, but I work on Sundays--delivering the paper and teaching Sunday school. Those two things aside, getting up and going to church any day is too much like work for my sabbath. Getting a family of three out the door is tough, I cannot imagine having a bigger one!

From now on, we will work (hard) Sunday through Monday and rest all day Saturday. I don't imagine this to be easy, but we are committed to holding to this commandment with as much devotion as we hold to the rest.

Please comment, I look forward to a discussion on the topic. I would love to be wrong. ;)