We need Sabbath. Peter Scazzero remarked, “Without the Sabbath, we easily find ourselves lost and unsure of the larger picture of God in our lives.”[1] Our human nature prioritizes tasks over relationships, activity over rest. It favors constant stimulation through electronics and an overall rejection of the rhythm God ordained for human flourishing. Scazzero continues his vivid description of the human need for Sabbath, saying, “Sabbath is a gift from God we are invited to receive.”[2] It is time to reclaim Sabbath observance as part of God’s creation mandate without reverting to legalism.
Sabbath observance is an overlooked aspect of ordinary Biblical spirituality that meets the needs of the total personality and must be reclaimed today. The term Sabbath historically has held a more prominent place in the Judeo-Christian tradition. God prioritizes the Sabbath throughout Scripture and so should contemporary believers.[3] Evangelical Christians must revisit the Biblical teaching on Sabbath observance and find ways to implement God’s design back into the rhythms of life.
Sabbath observance has been neglected far too long to the detriment of human flourishing. Worse, even believers often fail to practice a Biblical Sabbath. Even though Christians gather with others to worship on the Lord’s Day, the activities that consume the hours following the morning worship service are the opposite of stopping, resting, and delighting in God. A rejection of God’s Sabbath sets us up for failure—spiritually, morally, and emotionally. Sabbath is one of God’s gifts to humanity, for Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, NASB95).
This essay will not treat the concept of Sabbath exegetically but will offer reflections on it. Here, the aim is to urge the reader to reclaim and reprioritize a regular Sabbath as a component of adherence to the ordinary means of grace for Biblical Christian spirituality.
The Biblical Mandate
Although the Old Testament mentions Sabbath observance in several instances, Exodus 20:8–11 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15 give special attention to its observance in distinct ways. The Exodus passage points to the creation account whereas the passage in Deuteronomy reflects on Yahweh’s deliverance of His people from Egypt. God’s Holy Spirit inspired both texts, and both texts merit interpretive reflection, even though we will focus on the Exodus passage here. The Exodus passage emphasizes the creation mandate. God established certain expectations in the creation mandate that have lasting implications for the covenant people of God. Exodus 20:8–11 reads:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do anywork, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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.
Sabbath Day was to be consecrated or set apart from the other days in the week. Scholars debate the origins of Sabbath observance, but, as R. Alan Cole remarks, “It is highly likely that the origins of sabbath (like the origins of tithing and circumcision) go back well beyond the law, even though there is no direct Biblical evidence for its observance.”[4]
Sabbath observance is connected to Yahweh’s creative activity and His work of delivering His people from Egyptian bondage. Since this command to observe Sabbath is included among the Ten Commandments, it is appropriate to consider the difference in ceremonial and moral law.
God’s Law: Moral and Ceremonial
A sound hermeneutic requires consideration of how God’s law or Torah was intended to function among the covenant community. This point is especially true in the present context that is significantly different from the Biblical context. Some laws of God were intended to be binding on all people everywhere, namely the moral laws, whereas the ceremonial laws were directed primarily toward Old Covenant believers.
Scholars normally describe the differing types of laws as either moral or ceremonial. Moral laws are given by God to promote human flourishing for everyone everywhere. Ceremonial laws were given exclusively to the Hebrew people that foreshadowed Messianic fulfillment. The early church did not generally understandd the ceremonial laws as being perpetual, whereas they retained the moral laws.
The commandment to observe Sabbath is directly connected to God’s “sanctifying” of the day in the creation narrative. Sabbath observance has a moral component and, therefore, continues to have implications for the New Testament people of God.
Benefits of Sabbath Observance for the Total Person
Sabbath observance meets the needs of the total person in an ordinary-means-of-grace fashion. It creates space for our minds to be renewed and hearts refreshed, and it restores motivation in our wills. Reformed Arminian theologian F. Leroy Forlines emphasizes the total personality, remarking, “The basic needs of human beings are determined by knowing the design of human beings as they came from the hand of their creator.”[5] Since each aspect of our personalities were crafted by God, we should serve the needs of the whole man.
One benefit of Sabbath observance is added margin, which promotes human flourishing. Richard Swenson described margin as “having breath left at the top of the staircase, money left at the end of the month, and sanity left at the end of adolescence.”[6] Additionally, Sabbath observance implies a rhythm. Peter Scazzero posits that “at the heart of original sin is the refusal to accept God’s rhythm for us.”[7] Margin and rhythm are interwoven in the Biblical Sabbath. These are but two benefits of Sabbath observance. It is only fitting to reflect now on some key ways to implement Sabbath observance.
Implementing God’s Design for Sabbath Observance
Sabbath observance is yet another reminder that the Christian faith is counter cultural. Implementation of this sacred practice will not come naturally because the practice has been undermined for so long, even among church leaders. Sabbath observance must be a priority for the individual Christian and for the church as a worshipping community. Here are three considerations for implementing Sabbath observance.
(1) Prioritize the Spiritual Disciplines.
God has provided His people with the spiritual disciplines so they might grow in godliness, as Donald Whitney argues in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. The spiritual disciplines enable the Christian to cultivate rhythm and margin. Regular observance of the spiritual disciplines throughout the week promotes regular observance of the Sabbath. Humans intuitively make time for what they value. One who values the spiritual disciplines will have fewer difficulties valuing a regular Sabbath observance than one who neglects the spiritual disciplines.
(2) Take Small Steps.
A twenty-four-hour period of Sabbath rest best reflects God’s intentions even though it may take time to adjust to this commitment. Taking small steps toward Sabbath observance is empowering whereas trying to give up a whole day feels overwhelming. Small steps toward Sabbath observance include refraining from checking email and social media accounts on the day we set aside for Sabbath.[8] Scazzero said, “Sabbath observance can be rich and beautiful, but we have to be willing to create the protective container—the boundaries—that make it possible.”[9]
(3) Center Church Programming on God’s Rhythm.
Sabbath implementation necessarily requires planning and hard work on the other six days. This fact is especially true for local church and other ministry leaders, including those who lead Christian institutions that serve the community in various forms of benevolence or education. Programming must honor a regular human rhythm that serves God’s people rather than working against flourishing.
Ministry leaders must evaluate whether some things need to be eliminated from the church calendar. These changes must be approached with prayer and under consultation of the church body and with a deep respect for the programmed events that have historically characterized the congregation. Overprogramming by church leadership prevents the people from observing Sabbath just as family decisions about extracurricular activities such as sporting activities every night of the week do. We already have enough that competes for congregants’ attention. Good leaders cannot overlook their roles in developing programs and processes more conducive for Sabbath observance.
A Word of Caution
Sabbath observance is an important component of the creation mandate that must be revisited, but a word of caution is in order. A Biblical Sabbath is not the same thing as a secular day off, even though there are similarities. The key difference is that Scripture portrays Sabbath as an act of worship.[10] Biblical Sabbath is more extensive in its scope than the secular day off is. Both are needed in the human person; perhaps a better path forward is one that reclaims the weekend, allowing for a day off to do chores, errands, and shopping, and a separate day devoted to the worshipful and life-giving activities.
Sabbath observance does not necessarily lead to Puritan Sabbatarianism. The issue of Sabbatarianism was debated by a group of English clergymen in the sixteenth century. Some of the clergymen had Puritan sympathies while others leaned more Presbyterian. John Primus described Sabbatarianism as a theological defense for strict Sabbath observance containing innovative ideas.[11] Primus listed three key considerations of the debate: the importance of a certain day for Sabbath observance, the length of the Sabbath, and the nature of rest and proper activities for the Sabbath.[12]
Conclusion
Donald Whitney remarked, “Far from being a day to dread because of its restrictions, God designed the Sabbath to be a delightful day, the best day of the week.”[13] A renewed commitment to Christian Sabbath observance is for this generation. God’s Word and His Spirit have already given us all we need for life and godliness including the rhythms we need to thrive as His image bearers. Scazzero provides a helpful summary of Sabbath that serves as a fitting conclusion here: “Sabbath, when lived, is our means as the people of God to bear witness to the way we understand life, its rhythms, its gifts, its meaning, and its ultimate purpose in God.”[14]
Pastors and church leaders today must intentionally strive to equip God’s people to live within their created rhythm, and they must be mindful of overcommitting God’s people with a multiplicity of events on the Lord’s Day. People need the Sabbath, and Christian leaders should not work against God’s created rhythm, which was given for the good of His image bearers.
[1] Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 151.
[2] Ibid.
[3] “The relationship between the noun šabbāt and the Hebrew verb šābat, ‘to stop, cease, keep (sabbath)’ in the Qal, ‘to disappear, be brought to a stop’ in the Niphal, ‘to put to an end, bring to a stop’ in the Hiphil, remains disputed. Some scholars have argued that the noun derives from the verb, while others argue that the verb derives from the noun. While there is no conclusive answer, it seems certain that the noun šabbāt cannot be derived from the Akkadian term šab/pattu (m).” Gerhard F. Hasel, “Sabbath,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 849.
[4] R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 166.
[5] F. Leroy Forlines, The Quest for Truth: Theology for a Postmodern World (Nashville: Randall House, 2006), 136. While Forlines does not provide a theology of Sabbath observance per se, his understanding of personality impacts how we understand the human need for Sabbath. While the human person is one unified being, it is helpful to reflect on how Sabbath observance strengthens the mind, moves the heart, and motivates the will.
[6] Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2004), 13.
[7] See Scazzero, 143. He interacts with the Roman Catholic Robert Barron’s work, And Now I See (New York: Herder and Herder, 1998).
[8] Normally Christians celebrate Sabbath on Sunday because it was on the first day of the week that Christ arose. Vocational ministers, first responders, and others whose vocation prohibits them from observing Sabbath on Sunday should consider alternate days of the week.
[9] Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Your Team, and the World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 166.
[10] Scazzero’s descriptions are helpful, especially his articulation of the category of “delight.” The Christian Sabbath is different from a secular day off in that it points the Christian to the object of his or her delight, the Triune God. See Scazzero, 154–59.
[11] John H Primus, “The Dedham Sabbath Debate: More Light on English Sabbatarianism,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 17, no. 1 (1986): 87. https://doi.org/10.2307/2541357. Primus outlines the key issues in the debate that resulted from the Deadham Conference between Richard Crick and Henry Sandes. Crick was the only Oxford educated member of the Deadham Conference and his perspective was consulted because the Conference decided to reach out to Oxford during the meeting of June 15, 1583. These clergymen were not as interested in changing the day of the Sabbath as they were for the freedom for churches to make their own governing decisions.
[12] Ibid., 91–99.
[13] Donald S. Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2003), 167.
[14] Scazzero, 153.
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