Tags
Bucks Central Church, Faith Presbyterian Church, Family of God, Law, Motherhood, Rest, Sabbath Day, Scripture, Ten Commandments, Universal Church, Wisdom
Being a military family for almost 20 years of our married life, we have done our share of moving. We lived in Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, The United Kingdom, and Pennsylvania and were blessed to feel at home in each place. The reason for this was that God always provided us with a Church family. There is a connection between believers that transcends cultural differences and recognizes the commonality of Spirit in each other which allows bonds to develop quickly.
And like the family you were raised in, you share common experiences that bind you, so the connection stays. We were privileged to worship this Sunday with one of our church families from our past. We visited friends and worshiped at Faith Presbyterian Church (formerly Bucks Central Church). It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, mixed in with the new brothers and sisters we hadn’t had the joy of meeting yet. Amazingly, all of the little children who used to be in my children’s programs were all grown up! J I always tend to think of other people’s children as staying the same age, even though mine have grown.
For example, the family whose little boys were thrilled to have our big wooden backyard play set when we moved, now had teenagers that towered over us. Their oldest child was now the age of our oldest child when we moved away. And they were facing some of the same dilemmas we had with our kids in a world which becomes more apathetic and even hostile to Christianity with each passing day. One we could most relate to is what do you do about activities that are scheduled to conflict with worship time on Sunday?
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
When you think of the ten commandments, many are short and seemingly straightforward ( a detailed Biblical Study reveals them all to be complex in their scope, demanding full compliance with whatever the opposite of the prohibition in the command is). But God knew which ones we would struggle with the most, and gave more detailed explanations of those. Here he points out that remembering the Sabbath (Hebrew word Shabbat meaning “to cease”) and keeping it holy, means you shall rest. And not just you, but basically everyone. And why are you to rest?
Here in Exodus, the explanation stems from the days of creation, when God rested and called everything good. We are called to follow the pattern God established and to enjoy the benefits of being His children. Interestingly, in Deuteronomy, God ties keeping the Sabbath to remembering their deliverance from Egypt.
“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 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, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)
As with so many things God shows us, these are pictures of the reality to come in Christ. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” God’s resting after creation, the Israelites resting to remember God’s deliverance, our resting on Sunday are not legal burdens and we are not called to make them so. They are to point us to the complete and utter rest that awaits Christ’s body, the church when he returns.
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10) While some have seen this as speaking of resting in Christ’s finished work of redemption, most reformed commentators agree that this looks forward to the freedom from struggle, trial and persecution that will be ours when Christ returns and recreates the heavens and earth. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”(Revelation 14:13)
This is all fine to think about, but how do we relate it to our Sunday decisions? It used to be much simpler. States had laws that prevented businesses from opening on Sundays. Society recognized the day as set apart. Not so today! We are called again and again to make decisions about what to do with our Sabbath Day and we must wrestle with each one. We are not to be like the Pharisees who set up more and more fences on actions, while not addressing the heart issue involved. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5) But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17)
Soli Deo Gloria,
Diane