Sabbath Divorce
On the first Sabbath in heaven, I wonder how we’ll be worshipping God? Will the youth and young adult groups go to a special separate mini-sanctuary while the adults occupy the “main” sanctuary with most of the “traditional” worshippers? Maybe the youth worship will have a little more lively music, including the use of percussion instruments. The main worship, of course, will only use the piano and organ.
All of heaven will understand that such separate worship is only temporary. Until the young people catch up and grow to be the “permanent” age of maturity, they will be allowed to have a transitional form of worship with like-minded youth. But with time, they will be expected to fill in the seats at the main sanctuary and become productive members of the redeemed. Meanwhile, the angel Gabriel will assign a “junior” angel to the youth worship to make sure that things are done properly. Gabriel will have recruited leagues of assistant angels just to coordinate the kindergarten through earliteen programming because those children will be too young to understand the significance of the main worship. Besides, the small children will be a distraction to the regular worshippers.
Nevertheless, in each of the separate heavenly worships, we will celebrate the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophetic words that before the great day of the Lord, the hearts of the fathers will be turned to their children and hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6).
Day of Segregation
Everyone would agree that healthy family relationships are paramount. Our present society however, limits the time that the family spends together to work on that relationship. During the week, the children attend school, then to some after-school activity such as sports, music and tutoring academies. In the evening, time is spent doing homework or watching TV. This cycle begins again the next day until we come to the Sabbath—the day of healing and family intimacy.
Unfortunately, instead of intimacy, the typical Sabbath morning is a day of more segregation for the family. Sabbath is meant to draw the family together, yet in many of our churches, the family is split into age categories and language divisions. The family enters the church grounds and the children go in one direction while the parents’ proceed to another. They don’t see each other again until the worship is over. This less-than-ideal condition is what I call the Sabbath divorce.
I understand that the Sabbath divorce is a result of an attempt at solving difficult problems: The language barriers make it necessary for older and younger people to worship separately. The cultural differences are too great for the first and second generations to enjoy and gain a blessing from the same worship service. The needs of worshippers are varied and to meet those needs, alternative programs must be offered. I must admit that I do not have solutions to the above problems. Still, I feel that what we are doing in our churches loses the emphasis on the family. Hence, the Sabbath does not provide a whole family experience.
Often, when we say, “Our family went to church together,” it only means that mother, father, brother and sister were at the same general location on Saturday. They do not experience a Sabbath event together, as a family. It’s like a family who goes to Disneyland for a vacation and as soon as they enter the park, everyone goes their separate ways to separate rides. At the end of the day, they meet back at the car and drive home saying, “That was a great family vacation.”
It may be that a Sabbath family experience is not as important as the need to give youth their own worship experience; but I believe that without it, we cannot expect young people to ever want to take ownership of the present church. Why would they want to assume leadership responsibilities or make personal sacrifices for a church whose worship experience is foreign to them? It would make more sense for the young adults to leave and start their own church, modeled after the worship that they identified with as youth.
Family Redemption
Paul and Silas’ experience with the jailer and his family (Acts 16) is a beautiful example of a whole family redemption. The jailer has a life changing experience. He then invites Paul and Silas to his home where the whole family gathers and listens to the missionaries. Immediately afterward, the whole family is baptized.
Did the father arbitrarily make the decision for everyone in the household? “You are getting baptized whether you like it or not!” Was it a cultural custom that made family members follow whatever the father decided? Maybe. I believe, however, that the Holy Spirit can work in mighty ways within our families if given the opportunity. I can imagine the jailer sharing his remarkable story to his spouse and children. The family realized that they could have lost their father if it wasn’t for the grace shown him by Paul and Silas. The family learns together that Christ’s grace saved them from eternal death. As a family, they experience vividly the love of God, and with rejoicing the family is baptized together.
I believe the jailer’s experience can be the experience of our individual families. I consider the redemption of my family as the greatest responsibility that God entrusted to me, and I am grateful that the same Holy Spirit that drew the jailer’s family together is at work in mine. There is no greater intimacy that a family can share than in the work of being redeemed together. So, my prayer is that our churches will give more opportunities for such whole family redemptions.
Previously published on June 2004.
D. David Kim is the pastor of Good Hope Adventist Church, the second generation ministry of the Washington-Spencerville Korean church.