A Sabbath rest

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2: 2 – 3

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour 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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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

It is very interesting how much attitudes towards Sunday have changed.  Fifty or more years ago in Britain, Sunday was a very quiet day with some Christians not permitting their families to go out or do anything including watching what little television there was, going to the cinema or even reading books.

Attitudes loosened in all areas of society during the sixties and gradually the matter of Sunday trading became more and more prominent in the UK. This led to various battles between government and big stores. In 1994 everything came to a head between mainly the big supermarkets and the Keep Sunday Special campaign. Finally a law was passed enabling big stores to open for six hours on a Sunday and smaller convenience stores opening for much longer. One interesting little addendum is that big stores cannot open at all on Easter Sunday.

This was definitely the opening of Pandora’s box as far as Sunday being a day of rest is concerned. Sunday is now another shopping day and life in Britain has fundamentally shifted. Now it is not just shops open all week but builders and others working every day. Instead of having a day a week to rest and spend time with family and friends, Sunday has become a day to catch up on the chores and do the weekly shopping.

The question is: should this matter to us as Christians?  I think the answer is ‘Yes’.  Many Christians have absolutely no problem with working or shopping on a Sunday. They go to church and then they go shopping. However the Bible is quite clear that God has a definite view about this.  When God created the universe he worked for six days and rested on the seventh.

This was long before the Ten Commandments where God reiterated his desire for his people to rest on the Sabbath (and the word Sabbath has its roots in the word rest) and do no work so that even their servants and the animals could also rest. The reason for keeping the seventh day special, set apart or holy was because God himself rested on the seventh day from his labours. This is the example he set.

Society needs basic and emergency services manned seven days a week but I believe it is vital that everyone gets one rest day a week.  We need one day that is different from the other six to rest and re-charge our batteries.

In Russia some years ago they changed to a ten-day working week to boost productivity. The result was disastrous. People could not cope with it at any level; physical or emotional. Our bodies and minds are programmed to the rhythm of a seven-day week. However I also believe we are programmed to have one day a week of rest because that is what our Creator did and we are made in his image.

Somehow a subtle lie seems to have infiltrated the Church that because we are under grace not law we can pick and choose which commandments we keep. We don’t stone people caught in adultery though the Bible is quite clear that adultery is wrong and some of the health and hygiene laws in Leviticus are no longer appropriate but the Ten Commandments where God gave the instruction about the Sabbath is a basic set of laws appropriate to any society. We need to see them not as shackles but as liberators for good healthy living and relationships - for all.

In our work obsessed societies, the word rest has become almost synonymous with lazy. This is the greatest lie of all. Now it is not just shops and garden centres that are open on Sunday but builders, plumbers, carpet fitters and so on like to fit in an extra day of work. We had an extension recently and our builder wanted to work on Sunday. We declined. This was not from a deep religious conviction but because firstly we don’t want people working in our house when we are resting and secondly we don’t want to be the cause of someone else working on a rest day. If they choose to work elsewhere that is their prerogative.

Personally I think churches and Christians need to look again at the whole issue of Sundays.  Family life is seriously undermined on all sides and I think we should do all we can to protect and promote it. Some people have to work but how much are our lifestyle choices undermining other people’s need for a day of rest with family and friends?

As Christians I believe it is time we stopped fitting into the culture and instead created a culture based on what the Bible teaches. God has a very definite view of the Sabbath day of rest – maybe we should too?