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Text Box: Dear Congregation of God: Recently one of the elders asked me about my understanding of the fourth commandment and the practice of Sabbath-keeping. That question led to some thoughts I would like to share with you, as well as issue a challenge. God says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” I believe this is ancient wisdom for our modern world of frenzied madness. I know that some of us consider the Sabbath no longer valid in any sense, and I can see why. It is legislated old covenant culture (Exodus 20:8). But more deeply, it is embedded in the very creation (Genesis 2:2-3). And in the creation account the seventh day is the only one that doesn’t close out with “And there was evening and there was morning, the nth day.” The Sabbath remains open. It’s not written on our calendars as much as we are built into its calendar. It’s simply part of the God-created rhythm for weekly human life.
Pastor Ray Ortlund Jr. recently made a great point in his blog Christ is Deeper Still. He said, “Do you realize that if we did set apart as holy one day each week, we would add to every year, for the rest of our lives, over seven weeks of vacation? Yes, seven and a half weeks of paid vacation with Jesus!” Consider the spiritual impact that could have upon you and your family. Or, negatively, consider the opportunity lost for our lives to be nourished and strengthened by focused attention upon our relationship with Christ. If we would rediscover Sunday as The Lord's Day, focusing on him for one day each week, we will have spent 52 whole days given over to Jesus. Again, I know the objections to the Sabbath. But raising hermeneutical objections to the Sabbath principle doesn’t necessarily discount the potential benefits of the Sabbath itself.
Ortlund takes it even further. He contends that the very concept of “the weekend” is unbiblical, for it turns Sunday into a second Saturday. “Lowes and soccer leagues may gain, but we lose. It turns Sunday into the day we catch up on the stuff we were too lazy or disorganized to do on Saturday. It also turns Sunday into a day to ramp up for work or school on Monday. It hollows out not only Sunday but our whole week, because it marginalizes God and church and sermons and all the other vital things that happen in our lives only when we make the vital things also the central things. If we accept the world’s concept of “the weekend,” we inevitably end up “fitting God in” rather than centering the practical reality of our every week around him. We trivialize him, even as we allow secondary things to hijack the sacred place of centrality, we live soul-exhausted lives, and then we wonder why God isn’t more real to us, why church isn’t “working” for us, why we're grumpy, and so forth.”
While these words might sting a bit personally, I believe that they are true and helpful words. As we enjoy the last few weeks of summer, readying ourselves for the fall and all of its busyness, I challenge you to examine and to possibly reconsider your understanding and practice of Sabbath-keeping and church attendance. If we desire to see renewal individually and corporately, the first step might be simple. Bold, but simple. In Christ’s service,