“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Exodus 20:8
We keep the Sabbath day holy.
The commandments God gave His people were intended to:
- tell them how to behave towards Him and towards each other to be blessed;
- make them understand that He was different from the other people around them and protect them from outside influences.
Israel had to keep the Sabbath day holy because God rested on the seventh day of creation and sanctified that day (Ex 20:8-11). But also, to commemorate their liberation from the yoke of the Egyptians (Deut 5:15). Christians took this commandment and applied it to Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection.
For us, the best way to keep the Sabbath day holy is to participate in the divine service (CNAC 5.3.4). There are many aspects to this sanctification. Here are seven of them.
Worship and praise
We worship God, the Almighty, who created heaven and earth out of nothing. Everything He makes is perfect. We thank God for the care with which He watches over His creation.
Focusing on fellowship with God
The almighty Creator did not need to rest to regain His strength. His “rest” underlines the perfection of His work: there was nothing to add or correct. The Sabbath day refers to the time when the first people were in perfect fellowship with God, with the creation and each other. By keeping the Sabbath day holy, we express our longing for perfect fellowship with God and humankind, and to enter into the rest that God reserves for His people (Heb 4:4-11).
Commemorating our liberation
On the Sabbath day, Israel was to remember that the Lord had delivered them from the yoke of slavery. We keep Sunday holy by commemorating Christ’s resurrection. We celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death, through which we can be freed from the yoke of sin.
Exercising our freedom
Free in Christ, we let ourselves be enslaved neither by earthly things nor by people. Determined to give priority to our relationship with Christ, we act accordingly by dedicating the Sabbath day to Him.
Our thankfulness for grace and blessing
We owe what we have to our work and merits. But also, to God’s grace and blessing. We thank God for His goodness by devoting time to Him on the Sabbath day. And we trust God: if we do not work to be with Him in His house, we will not be harmed. God can do for us what He did for Israel. On the sixth day, He provided them with manna for two days, so that they would not want for anything by keeping the Sabbath day (Ex 16:21-30).
Our need for fellowship
We are one people. As members of the same body, the body of Christ, we feel the need to be together. On the Sabbath, we gather in the name of Christ, to be in fellowship with Him and with one another (Mt 18:20).
The desire to serve
Master of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ gave it a new meaning by healing the sick (Mk 1:21-31; 2:27-28; Lk 13:10-13; Jn 5:1-11). We do not just attend divine service for ourselves. We also do it for others. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to provide our neighbors with daily bread and to forgive their sins. And our neighbour can hear it. We help the divine service go smoothly so that our neighbor can access the blessing. We use our time in church to show them our affection.
With regards to the third commandment, let us remember this: the importance we give to keeping the Sabbath day holy testifies to our commitment to Christ.
We keep the Sabbath day holy by worshipping and praising God, devoting time to Him, seeking fellowship with Christ and doing good to others.