A holy Sabbath mindset

David Hammond on the day of rest

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy… for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth…but rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

“You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy… celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant” (Exodus 31:12, 16).

In my lifetime, I have witnessed the transformation of Sunday from the holy day to a holiday. The spirit of the world has cast its dark mantel over The Lord’s Day. One walk through any mall on any Sunday witnesses to this reality.

My parents taught me to make a clear distinction between Sunday and every other day. Some of their habits seem antiquated to our twenty-first century ears: the shoes were always polished and the potatoes peeled on Saturday night. No Sunday swimming! It was a day for intense, non-stop activity at the Army - with no room of the secular pursuits of pleasure.

From morning till night, Sunday was a special day set apart for God: Holiness meeting in the morning; Sunday school in the afternoon, the salvation meeting at night - with the addition of at least two open-airs. Mother specialized in homemade “fast foods.” Yet life was neither joyless nor tedious. We were materially poor, but spiritually enriched.

I remember getting into an argument with my brother over a game of marbles. We sought out our mother for her adjudication only to be greeted with a stern look and forbidding words: “My boys, in this house we do not play marbles on Sunday!”

Well do I remember Toronto in the early fifties; one could not even window shop at the famous downtown Eaton’s. All the blinds were drawn on Saturday night. The Methodist influence was very much alive fifty years ago.

Times changed however, and so did we. Many of these old puritanical practices we did not seek to pass on to our children; we were challenged to find more creative ways to make the Lord’s Day sacred and different amid ever increasing secularization.

It is probably because of my early childhood that I am uncomfortable in a shopping mall on Sunday. How could things have changed so quickly? Gone is the sense of awe that once accompanied the Sabbath day, and in its place we have a frenzied pursuit of the material.

The holy day has been taken over by sports and entertainment. The media reflects new desires and pursuits that our fathers knew nothing about. Venues for baseball, hockey, basketball, golf are the new temples of worship with their own rituals, prophets and traditions. No room here for the God of the Old Testament and His laws from Sinai. New gods have arisen so that now our children can hardly remember there was a day when the commandments of Moses were cherished, honoured and obeyed.

William Wordsworth wrote:

“The world is too much with us; late and soon
Letting and spending, we lay waste our powers
Little we see in nature that is ours
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Moses said that the Sabbath was to be a sign of faith between the God of Abraham and His people. As went the Sabbath, so went their relationship with God. And it was to be an everlasting covenant between them for generations to come. Anyone familiar with the story of the Israelites, however, knows that this decree was a commandment more observed in the breach than in the observance.

What can we, the children of the twenty-first century, do about this secularization of Sunday? Or, are we kicking a dead horse? I refuse to despair; there is something everyone can do to actualize what God has made sacred. I want to suggest some positive possibilities for people of all faiths.

1. Read again the biblical record of the institution of the Sabbath. Read it slowly, carefully, deliberately and with an open mind. Genesis seems to indicate that the Sabbath was the pinnacle of God’s creative genius, superseding even the creation of humankind.
2. Ask yourself if there is not some merit in making Sunday different - six days for making a living, the seventh for rest and worship. Could not that Sabbath-rhythm be the secret for adding purpose and meaning to life? Or has life lost its sacred significance? Is it “but a walking shadow - a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more”? (William Shakespeare, Macbeth).
3. Arising out of the biblical text, think about some practical ways in which we can teach our children to call the Sabbath a delight and His holy day honourable. Develop your own personal convictions, even though it may mean swimming against the tide of secularism. One thing I have personally decided is to make a habit of excluding professional sports from my Sunday entertainment diet, even though I love baseball and hockey and golf. I do not make judgments for others. In a free society, we all have the right to make our own choices, but we must also take responsibility for the choices we make. In the end, we are all accountable. Do some creative thinking about where our feet take us on the Sabbath (see Isaiah 58:13).
4. Make a habit of being in your Church, Synagogue or Mosque on whatever day you choose to make holy. Teach your children that to put the God of Abraham first in their lives is the healthiest lifestyle they can choose and will bring pleasure to the heart of God. We honour our God by honouring his holy day.

I salute all businesses (a glorious minority) that have the courage to hang this sign on their doors: “Closed on Sunday.”

God made plain to the children of Israel that the Sabbath was a benchmark. Our attitude towards the Sabbath determines our attitude towards God. Jesus said it most succinctly: “One cannot serve God and Mammon.”

I would like to know what you think about making Sunday sacred!

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel David Hammond has been an officer in The Salvation Army for fifty-seven years.  He was married to Margaret for fifty-three years and has two children, both of whom are Salvation Army corps officers in the Toronto area (Canada).  He began writing more than forty years ago, and has contributed articles for the Officer magazine, the War Cry and other Army periodicals. He continues to maintain an interest in writing about subject matter which touches the Kingdom through the Army.

4 Comments to A holy Sabbath mindset

1. Years ago in our second appointment, our oldest son (then 11 or 12 years old) complained to us that Sunday was the worst day of the week. When we asked him why he felt this way, his reply reflected the frenetic pace of the day and the way it seemed that it was a day devoid of any rest or enjoyment. We vowed to reverse this feeling quickly.

   We began to observe a period of 24 hours that has become a sacred SABBATH for our family. Beginning at 6pm on Saturday evening all “busy work” ceases. Laundry and house-cleaning is done, shirts are ironed and uniforms are prepared for the next day. Homework, if it has not been finished is paused for 24 hours and most importantly, all preparations for Sunday at the corps are to be taken care of - this included sermon prep, bulletin printing and folding, corps cleaning and straightening. Promptly at 6pm, we celebrate the commencement of SABBATH with a wonderful family meal. As the years progressed, others have been invited to join us in this celebration. After dinner, family activities ensued that included board games, reading or even a movie at times.

   The biggest change came on Sunday itself. No longer was the day stressful and rushed. We awoke on Sunday morning and enjoyed breakfast together knowing all our clothes were ready to be worn. We arrived at the corps knowing it was clean and the classrooms and sanctuary were ready for worship and Sunday School. There was virtually no stress involved. My wife and I arrived at the corps and were able to actually greet people and converse with them rather than quickly say hello as we were running to get things ready. Fairly soon, our children began to once again enjoy the at the corps. Preaching and leading the meetings no longer felt like work - we were able to enjoy the worship and fellowship.

   This is just our experience and I can testify to the fact that it has worked. Observing SABBATH has given back much more spiritually than we’ve ever put into with personal preparation.
Rob on February 18th, 2009

2. Thank you for this article, Colonel. Though from a younger generation, I too have vivid memories of my grandparents and parents setting aside Sunday as a day of serious focus on “the things of God”. As Rob has mentioned, there was sometimes a frenetic pace to those Sundays.

   I am reminded of what Jesus said, “Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.” God’s command to rest is meant for our benefit, not tedious duty. Jesus is our Sabbath rest.

   As a corps musician, Sunday sometimes has been the LEAST restful day of the week. Other times there have been rewarding worship experiences filled with what Bill Himes calls “meaningful moments”. Those times are precious.

   In an age which does not have the commonly-held appreciation for Christianity that marked previous generations, perhaps it is time to EXPAND our understanding of what Sabbath could really mean today. I spent last evening - Wednesday night where I am - sitting around couches with a group of new friends, talking about the things of God, relaxing in each other’s presence, dreaming about the future with God’s heart in mind and just… resting.

   It was a great Sabbath experience for me, one I hope to make a regular occurrence, perhaps even more than just once a week.

   Thanks, again.

   Grace,
   Phil
Phil on February 18th, 2009

3. Colonel Hammond,

   I appreciate your article. As explained by my husband Rob , above, Sabbath observance is very important to our family. It is one of the ten commandments and we consider it to be obligatory - though the interpretation of proper Sabbath observance in the 21st century can be a little tricky.

   Something in your article, however, caused me considerable concern. You recommended regular participation in a “church, synagogue or mosque.” In so saying, it seems as though you regard each of the three major faiths - Christianity, Islam and Judaism - as valid paths to God.

   You spent many years as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and as such I would have assumed that you regard Jesus as the Son of God and sole means of restoration to the one true God, Yahweh. Were you publishing an article in the local paper, I might understand you giving a nod to other faiths. And I realize that there are readers of theRubicon who are not Christian. I welcome them and enjoy them. But I do believe this webzine aligns itself with the tennets of the gospel.

   Though it may not be a popular position to take in this age, it must be maintained that Christ, and Christ alone, is “the way, the truth and the life” and that no man comes to the Father except through him. Subtle comments like the one in your article seem to put other faiths on equal footing. As much as I’d like to believe that you can embrace whatever faith you want and still be saved, the message of the Bible is to the contrary. I, for one, will continue to encourage my Jewish and Islamic friends to seek Christ because I would like to see them saved, too. I would rather risk offending them than denying them the earthly and eternal salvation that comes through Christ.
Amy Reardon on February 19th, 2009

4. Colonel Hammond:

   You are right that this has changed within a generation (and a bit). You are right about the roots of this sacred practice.

   But you are especially right that this resonates beyond Christianity. In my hometown some decades ago just before City Council repealed the Sunday shopping law, the last Council holdout against this move was a long-time, labour lawyer City Alderman, definitely not a Christian (thought I have to say that he acted a lot more like one than many Christians.) He knew his history well (religious and secular) and talked about the way a day of rest benefited all and argued that. There were no petitions in churches or anything of that sort. And the parking lots of the maverick suburban malls that dishonoured the law by not observing it were filled with cars with fish on the bumper stickers.

   We used to have family day every Sunday. Now where I live these is one Family Day per year which employers are quite grudging about respecting.

   This is not so much about Salvation, Amy (though it is related) as it is about fostering the sacred on earth through a specific discipline. And frankly, we need all the allies we can get on this.

   Andrea
Andrea614Regent on March 6th, 2009

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