Sabbath

Most of my friends could probably quote at least seven of the Ten Commandments, and I am sure that a few could quote all ten of them. I am sure that 23.67% of all the people in the USA could quote at least three. Among those that people remember the most are honor your father and mother, thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not kill.

One that most people around the world either don’t know or have forgotten is the fourth one: Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

Growing up there were absolutely no businesses open on Sundays. When I first heard the term “blue law” in reference to Sunday closures of business, I asked what it meant. I do not recall anyone ever having a good response for me, and I later found out that was because there is not a definite explanation for the term. The term dates to the 18th century and historically it has been associated with either Sunday closures of businesses or restricted sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday.

As I became a teenager, we started seeing the first convenience stores and short order cooking places that evolved into the fast-food industry, so we began to see more and more places of business open on Sunday.

By the time we moved overseas for the first time, the proliferation of fast-food restaurants that were open on Sundays forced other restaurants to open also. Then, the big box stores open on Sundays became numerous and discount stores and grocery stores followed suit.

As I was growing up in rural Mississippi, my grandparents and parents put a fear in me that made me emphatically obey some “rules” about what not to do on Sundays. My grandparents thought it was a sin to play cards on Sunday, so I firmly believed that dreadful things would happen to me if I played any kind of game that included cards. Likewise, I would never mention going to the movies on the holy day—I wish that I had been smart enough to ask, “Are Monday through Saturday not holy days?” That would have put me in a conundrum.   Going to the movies on a Sunday—that was a sin!

But the capital sin was going fishing on Sunday. I never understood this one. My elders would drive into me that we were supposed to relax and rest on Sunday. What better way to relax than to throw a baited hook into the pond and bring up a two-pound catfish!?!

This one buffaloed me: it was acceptable to pick blackberries or shell butterbeans or pull corn for the freezer, but pulling weeds from the garden or planting new seed in the garden on Sunday—those were definite no-nos.

In my quiet time I am reading in Mark, and this past week I read chapter 2 verse 27: “Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath’” (NASB). The New Living Translation says, “Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.’”

The purpose of the Sabbath is to benefit man. The true welfare of mankind must not be opposed by rules about what you can and cannot do on Sunday.

The Sabbath was created with man in mind—not for his harm, but for his benefit. On the Sabbath, God intends for men to worship Him both quietly and publicly. He also wanted man to take a break from his work. Other taboos for the Sabbath that are different from taboos for any other day are not described in the Bible.

In summary, lest one of my colleagues persecutes me for sinning in writing about the Sabbath, I would like to add that the Sabbath was created to be a blessing for man, to keep him healthy, to make him happy, and to render him holy. Jesus is teaching us that the Sabbath was made to be a blessing for us, but the plethora of non-biblical rules of the Pharisees had turned the day into a burden.

Today Sundays afford man the opportunity to worship God, to rest and to attend to spiritual needs.

Well, I have to close this epistle as I have my second meeting at the church today—it is Sunday!