The Sabbath

Over the last few weeks I have had some pretty heated and long discussions about “The Sabbath” and the 3rd Commandment of “Honor the Lord’s Day” with several people.

I am aware that the Old Testament day for the Sabbath is the 7th day of the week, from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. This is the day that the Jewish and I believe the Muslims still follow as the Sabbath. Somewhere between 75AD and 321AD Christians began celebrating the Sabbath (which translates to “day of rest”, not 7th Day, etc.) on Sunday in memory of the day Christ rose from the dead. So, for at least 1700 years now, Christians, under the Bishop or Rome (now called Pope) and the head of the Christian faith in 321AD, Christians have their Sabbath (day of rest and prayer to God) on Sunday.

Those that follow the Christian faith mostly have Sunday as their “Holy” day. There are of course exceptions, by some sects (all religions are sects in my reading of the word sect) that claim Christianity, that are on a Saturday Sabbath.

This leads to the point of honoring God’s commandment of resting 1 in 7, which for “main line” Christians is Sunday.

I can remember when I was younger that almost every store was closed on Sunday, by law, and those few that were open, mainly grocery stores, couldn’t sell some items. I’m not a big fan of having laws made by our government saying that we can’t be open on a certain day and certain items can’t be sold on that day, but I do think that ALL Christians that own a business should close on Sunday, the “official” Sabbath for most Christian faith systems. I also think that all Christians that wish to follow their faith fully should stop going to business on Sunday. Buy your groceries and gas on Saturday, go to a park and enjoy God’s creations after Church/Mass/Services instead of going to the mall and shopping or…. Go up into the mountains and enjoy the day. Sit on your porch and get to know your family again. Slow down and enjoy the life God gave us and find Him again through your faith community and His creations.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION (July 9th, 2009): I was corrected on the Muslim Holy Day. It is Friday.

???What to do…???

Well, in my post a couple days ago (here), I posted the 10 Commandments as given to us by God in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:2-17 [show]Exodus 20:2-17 [2]"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [3]"You shall have no other gods before(1) me. [4]"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5]You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, [6]but showing steadfast love to thousands(2) of those who love me and keep my commandments. [7]"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11]For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. [12]"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. [13]"You shall not murder.(3) [14]"You shall not commit adultery. [15]"You shall not steal. [16]"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. [17]"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (ESV) Footnotes 1. [20:3] Or 'besides' 2. [20:6] Or 'to the thousandth generation' 3. [20:13] The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
), and made reference under the 3rd Commandment (Exodus 20:8-10 [show]Exodus 20:8-10 [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. (ESV)
) about some issues I was having at work.

Today those issues blew up in my face (so to say). Our week at Crisp’s Dairy Treat (where I am cook, Ice Cream Man, Cleaner with the rest of the crew) goes from Thursday through Wednesday, and we get our schedules for the next week late on Wednesday. Today we got our schedule for tomorrow through next Wednesday. Each Monday, before 16:30 hours (4:30PM), we are required to post a note stating what time we need off. We do this weekly for the next weeks schedule.

At my interview, I informed the owners (Crisp be their last name) that I was a very devout Christian and that I tried to live by the Bible and Christian faith, which includes the aforementioned 3rd Commandment (as well as the rest), and that I also went to Church from 9 to 12 each Sunday (first to a Catholic Church, then to my wife’s Nazarene Church), but IF I had to, I could work in the evenings if really needed. Each Monday I turn in a note stating that I am requesting off Sunday for Religious beliefs and Religious reasons. So far, I had gotten them off.

Not this coming week. I work Sunday day… This does not have me happy and is against my belief system. I was told by Mr. Crisp that today’s society doesn’t allow for “not working on Sunday”. My response is, “that’s why there are problems in today’s society”. I was further told that he had wanted Sundays off for years after he converted to Christianity but that his company laughed at him and made him work on Sundays. This is a bad reason to make others work on Sunday if it is against their beliefs. (And what gets me is he is a Nazarene which is a Church that is trying to take their people back to Christ in a very pure way, and their by-laws very clear state, on page 41 of their manual dated 2005-2009, section 27.2.2 “Profaning of the Lord’s Day by participation in unnecessary secular activities, thereby indulging in practices that deny it’s sanctity.”) Mr. Crisp further went on to say that they stayed open because his son, who owns part of the business needed the money to pay off debt and Sunday was a busy day so they were going to stay open for that day.

Now, if I were Jewish or Muslim (and the day was Saturday) and I was told I had to work, there would be recourse. I feel that right now there is no recourse. Why is that?

I REALLY feel that I should not be made to work Sunday days. (Or evenings, but will give him that per our agreement at our initial interview.) I REALLY feel it is God’s wish that we not be working on the Sabbath, and I very much want to follow his ways.

What should I do about this issue? Sigh…