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. ;)
I agree in principle about taking a day of rest. However, the Sabbath was part of the Mosaic Covenant (The Law) and I am no longer under the law. There was no sabbath until the Ten Commandments. The New Testament gives no instructions for Gentile believers with regard to the sabbath. I've listened to John MacArthur quite a bit and he does a series of sermons on the Old v. New Covenants for believers. The Sabbath is one of the things he touches on. Below is a link to his statement on the sabbath and one message on the The New Testament And The Mosaic Sabbath.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gty.org/Resources/Questions/QA135
http://www.gty.org/Shop/Audio+Lessons/90-224
Dana, I appreciate your input and work. In the first link, he makes 12 points. After reasoning through them and looking at the context of each quoted passage, I am unconvinced. Under grace I may be free from the law, but that does not redefine sin. I whole-heartedly agree with the replacement of the old covenant when it comes to ceremonial laws and various festivals, but this is one of the ten commandments that we are to obey. I am still digging.
ReplyDeleteIs making beer work? E
ReplyDeleteyou really ought to check out that "ichabod" lesson from ravi if you haven't already. he speak about the depths of what work is as defined by an old testament scholar. it seems pretty ridiculous to me. i recall JESUS' words in saying the the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath. i also know how serious GOD is about the sabbath as is outlined in HIS 40 day speech to MOSES.
ReplyDeletei agree with you that this is the one commandment that everyone just skips over and says "yeah, i go to church on sunday". what can be done to make it right? frankly, the idea of sitting around all day for even part of one day sounds revolting to me, but i'm sure i've done it before when i had a season of lost to watch. is that what the sabbath is supposed to be like? if so, they why do i feel guilty for sitting around? a mystery it is, but one that deserves to be investigated.
Interesting thoughts, Ryan...I'd love to discuss this in person as that's how I best flush out my thoughts and I love discussions like this. However, I'll post a couple of my thoughts...1-The commandment is to remember the Sabbath by keeping it HOLY (or set apart) to the Lord. This means is should be different from the other 6 days. The main way it is to be different is that we are not to work in the same way that we normally do. The example is God resting from His work of creation. 2-Jesus calls Himself "Lord of the Sabbath" right after He quotes an Old Testament verse about God requiring "mercy, not sacrifice". (Mt.12) That phrase is about the HEART of the Law, not the LETTER of the Law. Jesus then goes on to heal a man which was considered "work" according to the letter of the Law.
ReplyDeleteSo, while I completely agree with you that we do not take this commandment as seriously as the others (and I admire your desire to obey God's commandments wholeheartedly), I think I disagree as to the application of it. Setting aside a day as holy to the Lord means resting from the things I normally do in order to make the Sabbath a special day of service to the Lord. Thus, the priests in the temple in the OT were innocent even though they were "working" on the Sabbath. I may do the "work" of getting up and getting my family to worship or teaching Sunday School or leading Bible Study or maybe even sandbagging or shingling a roof or helping a neighbor plant flowers. Or maybe napping, biking with my kids, going on a picnic, studying the Bible, or praying...what I do on the Sabbath should be intentional, disciplined, and Christ-centered. The point is for the day to be set aside specifically to honor the Lord in a different way than I do the other six days of the week. To me, the focus of the Sabbath is on it being holy (or set apart) unto the Lord, not on it being a day of literal rest, but a day of stopping (or resting from) what you normally would do and focusing on the Sabbath-rest (or resting from our own works (Heb. 4:9-10) - Praise God!) we now have in Christ.
Love you, Ryan. You're awesome!