A Different Time, A Different Place

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” [1]

Allowing my mind to drift back to a Sunday morning in the halcyon days in which I spent my childhood, I recall a world that was far different from the one in which we now live. And your memory of life in that distant day undoubtedly differs from what now exists if your days on earth exceed five decades. In those delightful distant days, Sunday morning saw families dressed in their finest clothing walking together to church. After the morning service they would spend time together, perhaps on a picnic, or visiting grandparents, or more likely simply spending time together as a family. Parents could read Sunday newspapers at a leisurely pace while the children played with neighbourhood friends in the yard. No stores were open, except for perhaps an occasional corner store or a gas station.

Fast forward to the present day. If a merchant plans a sale, it will assuredly include a Sunday opening since that is a day most people will be shopping. Sporting events are routinely scheduled for Sundays. Dance recitals, youth hockey tournaments, softball games, or pickup basketball are all planned for Sundays. Dads and moms are kept busy on Sundays, if not attending some professional sporting event or focused on a televised sporting event beamed into the home via television, they are busy transporting children to multiple activities. And we justify our investment in these activities by arguing that we are tired and need to rest if we are plunked down in our easy chair watching the game of the week, or by arguing that the children need these supervised activities so they can have a chance at really making it in the adult world.

Instead of a restful day, our lives as Canadians are marked by frenetic activities that force us to rush about until we barely have time to catch our breath. Sunday is time for recovery from late night Saturday parties; Sunday is when we arise late in the morning due to the sleep deficit following frenzied Saturday evenings. No church is able to compete with football, hockey, basketball, softball, or baseball; and consequently, many churches now rearrange their schedules to avoid making parishioners choose between church and the true love of their lives.

Shopping malls attract far more shoppers than does any church service. Thus, some innovative saints, in an effort to reach the unchurched, schedule services in the mall. Perhaps some unsuspecting soul will wander into the service after grabbing their “grande half-caf three pump tiramisu mocha shaken with five pumps of vanilla,” having mistaken the service of worship for a place to rest between hitting the various shops.

I recall a message delivered by my pastor, Doctor W. A. Criswell, in which he spoke of being in India on a Sunday during one mission journey on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was astonished that Sunday was just another day, a day in which to conduct business, a day in which to be busy about the affairs of life, but there was no sense of rest or refreshment, no sense of pausing to worship the Lord God. What I remember as I review that message in my mind is how the culture in Dallas was even then changing. Football fever ensured that people might miss church if the Cowboys were playing, or they would at least hustle away from the service so they would not have to miss the kickoff. It hadn’t always been that way, but things were changing. Now the full flower of change has arrived, and Sunday is just another day.

IS THE SABBATH MANDATORY? OR IS THE SABBATH GIVEN FOR OUR BENEFIT? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates” [EXODUS 20:8-10].

This is the fourth of ten commandments given to Israel. Numerous groups, usually on the fringes of the Faith of Christ the Lord, see this commandment as incumbent upon worshippers of the Risen Saviour. At the extreme opposite are those who claim to be Christians but ignore obedience to the Word of God. Somewhere between these two extremes is where most conscientious followers of Christ find themselves. Effectively, the issue before us is whether this particular commandment is mandatory for followers of the Christ, or whether this is ceremonial law.