Sabbatarianism
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Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27,28
I've not listened to the afternoon talk show for the past two days, owing to circumstances beyond my control. The first being having to share the ride home with my 16-year old daughter on Wed. Just try and win control of the radio dial against her! Yesterday, I worked from home, because I wasn't sure at 6 am if my building had re-opened after the water main break in Pittsburgh on Wed.
So today's subject is borrowed from a show broadcast last week with guest host Sam Siple, and is based on his conversation with Dr. Jerry O'Neill, President of the Pittsburgh Reformed Theological Seminary, on the subject of keeping the Sabbath.
Dr. O'Neill's contention is that we, as Christians, are still obligated to keep a Sabbath observance, setting the whole of every Sunday aside for resting, worshiping, and keeping our thoughts and activities focused on God. Here's what that means in practical terms:
My initial reaction was to poo poo the whole concept, having been involved with the RPCNA during most of my second marriage, and finding them a rather legalistic bunch.1. Aside from gathering in our local fellowships for worship, study and prayer, we are to remain at home.
2. We are not to perform any work related to our occupations or household maintenance. This means that we should avoid doing things around the house like cooking or doing the dishes.
3. We are not to engage in any commerce or business transactions(i.e. - we are not to buy or sell ANYTHING).
4. All activities that are not sleeping should involve some sort of worship, prayer, meditation, teaching or reflection on God.
5. The only exceptions to the above restrictions are to engage in activities of mercy and necessity. You can feed and water your livestock and family, put out a fire, take care of patients, defend your country, property and family against violation by violence.
The typical modern evangelical rebuke to Christian Sabbatarianism usually focuses on the following arguments:
However, there are several reasons why I have decided that Dr. O'Neill was probably right.1. This injunction is part of the Law and invalidated in the New Testament covenant of Christ's Death and Resurrection.
2. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Saturday), while the Christian Lord's Day is on Sunday (the first day).
3. There is no NT ordninance instituting Sunday as the 'new' Sabbath, with the same obligation to keep it holy.
4. Jesus did miracles of healing on the Sabbath, and criticised the Pharisees for their insincere legalism in their Sabbath Observance.
1. The fourth commandment, like all of the commandments, is moral (not ceremonial) law and binding for Christian behavior.
2. The day of rest is a creation ordinance, meaning that its implementation preceded the giving of the Law and points to a universal need for mankind to fully rest one day out of every seven in order to be fully enabled to honor God during the other six.
3. Taking the other two premises into account, it is contrary to Christian love to engage in activities which force others to work on the day of rest (i.e. - eating out, watching TV, going to sporting events, shopping, playing golf, or setting up booths at flea markets).
4. The Christian heritage of our nation has made the Lord's Day a perfect opportunity to engage our families in worship, study and meditation.
5. The observance of a day of rest sends a very strong message to the surrounding culture, which treats Sundays as just another opportunity to make money or get 'stuff' done.
I felt this very keenly when I was a waiter and required to work on Sundays, missing church, time with family and friends, and really refreshing naps. I feel it now, because D will use Sunday to 'catch up' on chores, instead of spending time discussing what she's learned from the sermon or Sunday School with me.
I'm not sure how I'm going to work this out in practical terms. I am already wrestling with wanting to re-instate my TV service for football season, and I love to play golf on Sundays. But I am becoming very convinced in my heart that this is a really good idea, especially as a way to strengthen myself emotionally and spiritually for the challenges of the coming week.
I'd really appreciate reader feedback on this one, as I am facing a real battle at home, should I decide to try and implement this.
- posted by The Drake @ 1:31 PM
Sabbath has had a 'character' change over time, but not a substance change.
Sabbath ALWAYS REPRESENTs rest.
Creation - God rested.
Law (Israel) - God provided rest.
Grace (Church) - All this look forward to future final rest - aka Eternal State (sinless).
For those who promote sabatarianism by quoting OT Law - then ALL the OT Law must be adhered to. Effectively to stay home from work on that day you then cannot: Light a fire! No car, no heat, no hot water, etc.
Does this sound reasonable from the NT Christian perspective? No.
Christ himself plucked ears of corn, healed the sick and did many other things on the sabbath. He is Lord of the Sabbath - to honor him is to keep the sabbath for the believer today. To honor him is to look forward to the unending gloriousness that will be ours when he shares it all with those He gave Himself for!
Israel had a legality with the sabbath - because they proclaimed "All that the Lord Jehovah hath said we will do." They put themselves there - under law. The Christian is not under law - we opperate under grace.
Ask for grace to keep the sabbath in walking the pathway of faith towards the ultimate time when all things will become new and the Godhead will rule in righteousness and perfection.
The Decalogue stands apart, both in the Scriptural account of the giving of the Law and of necessity. The problem is, that most people only look to a few of these commandments as universally applicable to moral practice. Injunctions against murder, lying, stealing, and even adultery are seen as easily translatable across the OT/NT law/grace divide. However, there were ten not 4 or 5. So what are we then to do with the injunctions regarding idolatry, honoring one's parents, lust, and the Sabbath?
Obviously, we no longer live in a society where the force of civil law can be brought to bear on these commandments, except for the four mentioned above. Moreover, there is so little understanding in this culture about godly morality in practice, that it makes no sense to try and prescribe for any group what specific obedience to the Decalogue as a whole should look like.
Considering that Jesus Himself said that He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, I am convinced that to blithely wave off some sort of Sabbath keeping as 'being of the Law, not of grace' risks cheapening the very grace on which we've staked our lives.
Furthermore, taking an approach that God's Laws were (and are) given as a protection, not a burden, keeping the Sabbath -- in my mind -- has at its core the blessing of full rest and restoration as we continue to labor under the curse of the Fall the other six days.
I believe that it the point Jesus was making when saying that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. In attacking the 'burdens' the Pharisees had placed on the common man with their vision of Sabbath-keeping and tithing, etc., Jesus placed the emphasis on God's love for man as the driving force behind the Law.
The fact that we are incapable of keeping the Law to the point of being acceptable to God does not nullify the moral necessity of the Law as providing the standards of behavior and integrity to which all Christians must aspire.
I agree. I believe if we are to outwardly acknowledge the sabbath, then we ought to go to the higher sense of the sabbath and to live in conscious enjoyment of the One who is Lord of the sabbath isn't cheapening grace; it is being enriched by it.
God's grace is His empowering presence in our lives to make us who He wants us to be and to do what He wants us to do.
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