Ángel
Manuel Rodríguez
Some
members in my church believe it is appropriate to eat at restaurants
during the Sabbath. I'm not sure how to react. Is there any guidance
from the Bible?
The
recent emphasis on righteousness by faith has resulted in a de-emphasis
on obedience to the law and a tendency to resist specific instruction
concerning Sabbath observance. Consequently, many church members do not
even consult the Bible on this subject.
The
Bible gives us little specific information on the issue of Sabbath observance,
making it necessary for us to make some personal decisions. However, the
Bible does identify some principles that can be used to determine how
to observe the Sabbath.
1.
The Sabbath Is Holy: The Sabbath was sanctified by the Lord, and
He expects us to keep it holy (Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:8). The concept of holiness
is almost unknown in Western societies. We do not have holy places, holy
rivers, holy objects. We know that God is holy, but He is not a visible
object localized at a particular holy place. Consequently, we do not seem
to know how to relate to the holy. That lack of knowledge has resulted
in a secularization or misappropriation of that which is holy.
The
holy is by nature that which inundates our space and time from the outside,
from the sphere of the divine. God selected particular things within creation
and separated them from the rest of creation by making them holy, by appropriating
them and placing them outside the realm of human manipulation and exploitation.
For
instance, tithe and the Sabbath are holy; they belong exclusively to God.
Both of them are located within our sphere of existence, but they are
unique in that God claimed them as His particular possessions. We keep
them holy by acknowledging that they belong to God and by treating them
as holy.
2.
Keeping the Sabbath Holy: Our awareness of the holiness of the Sabbath
is not the result of scientific analysis, but of divine revelation. The
Sabbath is a period of 24 hours, and our natural tendency is to treat
it like a common day. To keep it holy means to use it in a way that is
compatible with God's holiness. Only a holy person can keep the Sabbath
holy, and that holiness is mediated to us through God's revealed will.
God
has informed us that during the Sabbath we must rest. Rest means first
that no work is to be done that will contribute to our self-preservation.
This would include plowing and harvesting (Ex. 34:21) or engaging in commercial
transactions that would enrich us or provide for our own needs
(Neh. 13:15-21; Amos 8:5; Jer. 17:21, 22). Second, rest means that God
is responsible for our food during the Sabbath (Ex. 16:23; 35:3; Num.
15:32-36). We prepare it before sunset, and we trust that He will preserve
it for us to enjoy during the holy hours. We are relieved from the burden
of self-preservation on the Sabbath. It is, therefore, necessary to plan
during the week how we are going to keep the Sabbath holy.
3.
Sabbath Holiness Is Dynamic: The Sabbath hours are emptied of human
concern for self-preservation in order to fill them with the power of
holiness. When the holy invades the Sabbath, it becomes a day of healing
(Luke 14:1-6), a day for saving or preserving the lives of others (Mark
3:4; Matt. 12:12), a day of liberation for the family, the poor, the servants,
even the animals (Ex. 20:10). Above all it is a day to come into deep
contact with our Creator, to praise Him, and rejoice before Him (Isa.
58:13, 14). The Sabbath isn't merely a "family day" (that would be a secular
understanding of it), but a day when a family places itself in the hands
of a loving God in worship and in service to Him and to others.
We
witness with great concern an erosion of proper Sabbath observance in
the church. It is time to call God's people to revival and reformation
on the observance of the fourth commandment.
Although
there may be cases in which it may be necessary to go to a restaurant
during the Sabbath, it is a violation of the holiness of the Sabbath to
make that a regular practice.
1/11/01
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