Sabbath

More on Exodus 31

Secondly, we have a reiteration of the Sabbath command:
"Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you thorughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you." (v. 13)

Abraham Joshua Heschel has called the Sabbath a "sanctuary in time" (in "The Sabbath" - great book!). It is for the Jewish people a sign that they are his people, and a time to be his people - to remember who they are and whose they are, the work of God's hands and the object of his choice, delight, and redeeming.

The Sabbath is the only command of the 10 Commandments that is not reiterated in the New Covenant that Gentile Christians. are to observe. However, while not a moral command we are conform our behavior to (such as not committing adultery, stealing, or murdering) - it is an invitation that is rooted in the creation account itself, long before there was a called out people of Israel. The seventh day is the first thing God ever sanctified. This one day in seven is the first thing God set apart to be holy, and he set the example by resting that day. (It is also a scientific fact that human beings function best by resting one day in seven...)

I would simply appeal to the busy people of Church of the Apostles to somehow find a way to observe the principle of the Sabbath. Find a way to set substantial time aside each week for God, for re-creation - beyond coming to church. This is just as important for young, busy families as it is for anyone else. It does require thoughtfulness, and preparation. Mark it with special things: special foods, activities, and prayers. I know very well that participating in "select" soccer, for example, can seem to make it impossible to "observe the Sabbath." But I think we can find ways of engaging the world around us while not being conformed to it. The poignancy of Eric Liddell's decision not to run in the 1924 Olympics brings the cost of discipleship into sharp focus.

While I'm not saying we should have as strict a Sabbath observance as Liddell's Presbyterianism called for (the whole discussion of 1st Day or 7th Day is also then raised...), I am saying that the Restoration and Formation in Christ that we believe God has called us to does involve this invitation to the "principle" of Sabbath rest - or the Stewardship of time - and therefore each of us really ought to think and pray it through for ourselves and our families.