Hebrews 10:24-25
Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
As a child growing up in the American South it was fairly easy for my family and I to keep the Sabbath. So called “blue laws” were in effect which prevented the opening of most stores. Going to church, socializing with friends, and possibly eating lunch with them afterwards were the most appealing options for Sunday morning and afternoon activities. Since everyone else was in the same boat we had no real sense of sacrifice or special piety that set us apart from the rest of society. How things have changed.
Now many stores are open 24/7/365 – or 366 if it happens to be a leap year like 2012. We are confronted with many choices and opportunities as we consider how to spend our Sunday mornings and afternoons. There are youth sports, golfing, shopping and dining to consider. For many around us Sunday is merely another day of the week. It is arguably harder to keep the Sabbath today than in the past, and doing so sets us apart from the secular society around us.
We know that the ancient Hebrews believed that the concept of Sabbath was important to God. In fact keeping the Sabbath was among the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses atop Mt. Sinai. What many persons are less aware of is the rationale behind the commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
When persons hear the word “commandment” many associate it with an arbitrary rule. While there are persons of deep faith who obey God simply because God has commanded them to do so, others struggle with such obedience. Such persons often find it helpful to understand the rationale behind God’s commandments.
Basically God wants what is best for us, God’s children. God’s commandments guide us towards full, mutually interdependent and joyous life. Imagine a society in which none of the Ten Commandments were observed – a morally rudderless society without a common core of values, in which children no longer respected their parents and persons commit adultery, stole, bear false witness, and murder as they pleased. Perhaps this doesn’t take much imagination for you. Maybe the society in which you live is already moving in this direction. Either way, I think that is is easy to see that it is difficult for everyone to live a full, mutually interdependent and joyous life without such a set of commonly accepted values. Certainly, there may be fulfilled and happy individuals in such a culture but the society as a whole is less functional, less healthy than one united by shared principle. Without ethical norms the weak and less fortunate suffer.
Like God’s other commandments the commandment to keep the Sabbath is not an arbitrary rule; it is intended for our well-being and for the good of society. When we keep the Sabbath and set aside a day of our week on which we do no work we find time for those things which give meaning and depth to our lives – things like worship, fellowship and quality family time. These same things strengthen society as a whole.
It is both an article of faith and a finding of psychology that persons do better when they are not alone and isolated. Yet modern society is plagued by loneliness and isolation. According to a joint study by sociologists from Duke University and the University of Arizona nearly a quarter of respondents lacked a close confidant. Another survey found that in 2008 families in the United States spend an average of just 18 hours per month together as opposed to nearly 26 hours per month in the first decade of the 21st Century. Yet government funded studies have revealed that quality time spent with family – especially around the dinner table – is strongly associated with lower risk among children for alcohol and drug abuse, early sexual activity, better academic performance, and a lower incidence of suicide. Keeping the Sabbath may not fix all societies ills, but having a day set aside for worship, family time and fellowship certainly can’t hurt either.
For the sake of yourself and your neighbor, for the well-being your children or your grandchildren, to enrich your life and the life of your friends and family, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Gather together with other persons of faith to encounter the Risen Christ, to give and receive encouragement, and to consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. Remember God gave the commandment for our own good. As Jesus said, ”The sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the sabbath …”