In the fourth sermon of our Etched series, we come across the 4th commandment:  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…

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Of the 7 days we get each week, clearly, one of these days is not like the others.

We discovered that this commandment is rooted in God’s call on our lives for rich relationships – with Him and with others.  So, to fully love God and to fully love others, we MUST set aside some dedicated time for these relationships.   A sabbath day is meant to Provide Refreshment, Protect our Priorities and Point to our Redemption.  All of this helps us build relationships with God and others.

But a lingering question exists which didn’t get answered in the sermon.  I thought I would take a minute to address it.  Why do Christians not practice a sabbath on Saturday any more?  Did Jesus rewrite this commandment to be for Sunday?  Well…kinda, but not really.

By the time Jesus got on the scene, the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world, and weren’t following the 4th commandment properly anyway.  So, when Jesus rose from the grave on a Sunday…the followers of Jesus found this to be a great time to reinstate the principles of Sabbath on the first day of the week.

Throughout the book of Acts, we see the church gathered for worship on Sunday.  The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) was on a Sunday, which is also the day that Christ ‘launched’ his church.    (See also Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2)

But the point is not THE day.  Jesus said in Mark 2:27:  “The Sabbath was made for man…NOT man for the Sabbath”.  In other words, follow the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law.  Find the underlying reasons that God wrote this commandment, then chase after that with all your heart.

That’s why Paul urged the church at Colossae to be flexible:  “No one is to act as your judge in regard to…a Sabbath day” (Colossians 2:16).  Some religious systems have turned this commandment into legalism, and have forgotten the point.  I like the way scholar John Eadie says it:

“The new religion [Christianity] is too free and exuberant to be trained down to ‘times and seasons’ like its tame and rudimental predecessor [Judaism]. Its feast is daily, for every day is holy; its moon never wanes, and its serene tranquility is an unbroken Sabbath.”

The point of Sabbath is to celebrate and recalibrate.  We celebrate God for who He is and what He does.  And we recalibrate ourselves relationally, physically and spiritually.

Enjoy and practice the Sabbath – and do it with the people you love.  Rest.  Rejoice.  Play.  Worship.  Read.  Converse.  Feast.  Recreate.

Remember: One of these days is not like the other.