How Do You Keep the Sabbath Holy?
As Adventists, it's a question that bothers us early and often.
How does one keep the Sabbath?
We have vague notions, snippets and remnants from our childhood days--not buying or selling, not watching TV;
taking walks with family or afternoon naps.
For many of us, such is the extent of our understanding regarding Sabbath keeping.
Refraining from certain activities, is that keeping the Sabbath holy?
Notion of proper Sabbath keeping used to bother us early and often
because for many of us, it's not even an issue anymore.
Or, more specifically--it's become passé.
Sabbath is no longer in our regard.
For many, it's come down to life-style issue.
Years ago, failing to keep the Sabbath a certain way used to prick our conscience, as eating bacon used to
--we are also supposed to refrain from eating pig's meat, remember?
Personally, regarding bacon I would borrow a line from a movie:
pig is a filthy animal--I wouldn't eat anything that does not disregard its own feces.
Something like that.
But eating bacon, shellfish and other "condemned" food does not bother us as Adventist anymore
--as plethora of Facebook pics testify--
because as another movie character quips, bacon "tastes good."
I am guessing.
Point is, Adventist diet has become a lifestyle issue--a personal choice.
It's no longer a question borne of our faith fabric--I am not advocating the issue should be.
But Sabbath-keeping also has gone down along that path--a lifestyle issue.
Moreover, postmodernism has dictated the question to be, how do YOU keep the Sabbath?
How do you keep the Sabbath holy?
I remember hearing a speaker on this topic at the East Coast Korean campmeeting.
(Forgive me if my memory is incorrect, or as Roger Clemens may say, "misremember.")
The speaker spoke about going on a Sabbath hike with his family.
At one point of the hike, he turned toward the ocean and caught a moment of the sun setting,
and in that glorious moment, he felt the enveloping presence of God.
He was on a hike with his loved ones, feeling the presence of God.
That, he presented, is how you keep the Sabbath holy.
(At least that is how I remember his message. As I said, my memory is vague.)
Sabbath afternoon hikes with the family and sensing the presence of God.
Is that how we keep the Sabbath holy?
It may be.
I am really unsure.
...but there are only so many Sabbath afternoon hikes you can hike.
We used to visit nursing homes.
We also visited hospitals.
Some churches used to go feed the homeless.
Some us visited prisons.
Does these activities define Sabbath keeping?
In keeping the Sabbath, God asks us to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy.
(“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." The Lord said also to them, "Ye shall be holy men unto Me." Ex. 20:8; 22:31)
Many of us "remember" the Sabbath.
It's really a question of how do we remember it.
Meaning, the crux of how to keep the Sabbath holy is really a question regarding "holiness."
To define holiness, let's start with God.
Simply, God is holy. (Revelation 4:8).
What is it about God that makes Him holy?
To define God's physical presence Himself as holy may not be appropriate,
since Jesus takes on different forms and is still holy.
The Holy Spirit may not have a form at all, yet is still holy.
So, God's holiness is not necessarily in the physical make up of His being; at least I do not read it from the Bible thus.
What makes God holy, if not His physical make up?
It may be His powers and abilities.
But we do not have such things and yet He still asks us to emulate His holiness. (Be holy as I am holy. 1Peter 1:16).
If God's holiness is from His powers, He should not ask us to be holy without creating us at least with some of His powers.
It may be His character which makes him holy.
What is God's character?
Among other things, most pronounced attributes of God's character are:
God is love. (1 John 4:8).
God is merciful. (Acts 17:11).
God is just. (1John 1:9).
These characteristics, love, mercy and justice are characters of our holy God.
And God demands such characteristics from us, to the point of perfection.
Matthew 5:48 says therefore be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.
In the parallel verse Luke 6:36, God says, therefore be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful.
If we were to look at Matthew 5:48, we see Jesus speaks of perfection in terms of love.
Luke 6:36 is in perfect alliance with Matthew 5:48.
To be holy is to be like God.
And God is mercy.
God is love.
God is justice.
Whatever takes us away from selfishness and brings us closer to mercy, justice and love is holy.
Whatever we do on the Sabbath, if that activity portrays selfishness, it is unholy.
If we can practice love in action, that is holy.
If our activity on Sabbath can portray the love of God, that is holy.
If our Sabbath hikes are only edifying to ourselves, that is not holy.
If our time spent together with church friends, on a Sabbath afternoon, serves only to give us pleasure, that is not holy.
Holiness is not defined by physical exertion on a particular day.
Holiness is not defined by what we may be able to purchase or not, on a certain day.
It is certainly not defined by what we eat on that day.
Whatever we do on Sabbath, even if it meant visiting the sick, if it is not the practice of love in action, it cannot be holy.
God looks upon the motive. (Proverbs 16:2).
How do we keep the Sabbath holy?
By practicing mercy, justice and love.