September 20, 2008
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Sabbath: Part 1, The Marketplace
In our family, we celebrate Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. For us, that means putting aside our six days’ labor. We make it a priority to attend worship with other believers, to spend time with others, to do acts of mercy, and to get rest. Our goal is to celebrate the Sabbath out of love for God and out of our desire for His best for us. Personally, I have found it a blessing to my health—spiritual, mental, and physical.
Getting legalistic about the Sabbath is not the point. Different families use their six days differently, so when it comes to their Sabbaths, rest, hows and whys, and spiritual pursuits are going to differ. Our circumstances will create different boundaries. We know that Jesus rocked the Sabbath boat on more than one occasion, particularly for reasons of mercy or necessity. The question for us is what does it mean to make the day “holy”?
Sabbath and the Marketplace
When I was a teen, I had a few jobs in fast food. Asking off for the Sabbath was always difficult. Managers were quick to offer some flexibility so I could attend church, but they were cynical about my request to have the whole day off. One manager had all the employees vote (in front of me) whether they would be willing to cover me so that I would never have to work on Sunday. They all voted yes!After going to all this embarrassment and trouble, I realized that it would not be cool to show up at these restaurants and have fellow employees wait on me. If I didn’t believe in working on Sunday, it would be hypocritical for me to patronize that place and require others to serve me.
This was not a big issue because, at that time, my parents would not normally buy anything, let alone convenience food, on their Sabbath. But it became a small issue because I had a Sunday school teacher who liked to walk down with our class to meet over a coke while we discussed our lessons. Ironically, one of the places our class liked to go to was the place where I got my first job. This situation made me check my convictions and my pride.
The longer I worked, the more I began to think past the embarrassment. I began to realize that part of the problem was that it was human nature to be greedy to make money all seven days. The Blue Laws of yesteryear had made recreational shopping and dining on Sunday a non-issue—but now, who would want to miss the income and good customer service reputation of being open for business all seven days?
This realization took away my desire to even be part of the system. Besides needing a rest from my own consumerism, I no longer wanted to be part of the reason for businesses staying open on Sundays. It became easy for me not to shop or dine out unnecessarily.
Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel, who wrote The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man referred to the Jewish Sabbath as “a palace in time.” I like this image for the Christian Sabbath, too. It’s a special place I can enter at the beginning of the week, ideally in a state of awe, to rest, refuel, and admire the Creator. (OK, the awe doesn’t always work; sometimes I just crawl into the palace…)
Do you view Sunday ( or another day) as your Sabbath? If so, how do you celebrate it, guard it, and observe it?
|||||| lynard
