Our Rest

A guy I was talking to at work mentioned that we were to keep the "Sabbath Day" holy. He said, "That's why people go to church on Sundays." I responded by telling him, "Well, Saturday is actually the 'Sabbath'. Sunday is the 'Lord's Day.' We meet on Sunday to worship because traditionally that's when the early church met, and because it's the day He rose from the dead." He expressed surprise at my statement. As it happened, we got interrupted and we were unable to continue talking. I hope what I said made him curious enough to investigate for himself what we spoke about.

I realize that I simplified what I said to him as anyone who has ever carefully studied this issue would know. It is not a very simple issue, at least not for me. There are many Christians who go through soul-searching periods of time trying to reconcile this issue biblically and in their hearts. The 4th Commandment rings with a finality for them that makes them feel as if they are being disobedient by fellowshipping and worshipping on Sunday instead of Saturday.There is a danger of approaching the issue from a legalistic standpoint that could direct a person to a wrong conclusion about it. The legalistic fervor of Seventh Day Adventism, and their insistence that only 'true' Sabbath (Saturday) keepers will go to Heaven is a good, though extreme example of what can happen.

As Christians we're free from the weight of the law and its demands and there is no basis for compelling us to observe the Saturday Sabbath. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for the Christian to fulfill the will of God in his or her life apart from the external observances, or the "letter" of the law. Galatians 4:9 and 10 tells us that observance of certain "days and months and seasons and years" is akin to turning "to the weak and beggarly elements" spiritually speaking, which places a person once again into a type of bondage to the law.

There are tons of different views in regard to keeping Sunday as our day of rest and worship in the Christian church, as well as those who adhere strongly to the traditional Saturday Sabbath. The heart of the matter though, theologically, is not whether Saturday or Sunday is the biblically "correct" Sabbath day. The crucial theological issues are the role that the Law plays in our lives and our liberty in Jesus Christ. Those are what is being talked about here.

If you read Paul's Epistles to the Galatian, the Colossian and the Roman churches you can see that they eclipse any specific cultural customs or ritualistic observances. In his letters, Paul also emphasizes that our freedom from the Law is the key to what the good news in Jesus is all about. In Galatians 2:16 and 17 Paul states; "So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ."

My pastor teaches at two services on Sunday morning, soon to be three. He also teaches at a Sunday evening service. It may be his calling and his pleasure to teach, but it's also his job. I've seen him stay after ten and even eleven o' clock at night on Sunday evenings, answering people's questions about the Bible or sharing Christ with seekers. We have a Wednesday night service too. One can't say that he's actually 'resting', or can they? I believe, and this is my opinion, that a reading of Hebrews 4:1-10 makes it clear that as believers, who have trusted their hearts to Christ, and that are clinging to and relying on Him, we have entered His 'rest'.

On the first day (Sunday) of the month of Tishrei, at the rebuilding of the city walls of Jerusalem, when Nehemiah, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites presented words from the Book of the Law to the people, the people wept. They told the people not to mourn or weep at the hearing of the words of the Law, because that day (a Sunday) was holy to God. An argument could be made that it was the specific occurrences on that particular Sunday which made it a holy day, or that it was because it was the beginning of the Feast of Booths, which lasted the next seven days. I won't argue the point.

I will say though, that as believers whose sins have been nailed to the Cross that there is always a reason for every day to be consecrated to God. They should all be made holy in service to the Lord, because every day of every week we have our rest in Him.The way I see it, in the Old Testament, the Sabbath was made for man as Jesus said. It was a blessing. Along with our salvation, Jesus expanded that blessing as He always does, running our cups to overflowing.

I have no problem with anyone who chooses to avail themselves of God's intended blessing by observing the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. I don't judge them for that and neither should they judge me for availing myself of His intended blessing, each and every day of the week.