Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. – John 9:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 23, 2017): John 9

The fight over the idea of the Sabbath continues. I grew up in an era when Sunday laws meant that most stores were closed on Sunday, a decision that was based on the idea of Sabbath. But, for various reasons, that law slowly began to change. Today, it is almost the reverse of what it was like a short fifty years ago. In many malls, the contract between the various stores and the owner of the shopping space specifies, not that it is permissible to open on Sundays, but rather that you must be open on Sundays.

In the church, our argument is whether we have the day right for the celebration of the Sabbath. The legalists who walk among us, and I am not trying to be unkind, insist that the Sabbath of the Christian Church must match the Sabbath of Judaism – Saturday, not Sunday. On the other side of the argument, there is an understanding that of the Ten Commandments, the Commandment regarding the Sabbath was the only one that Jesus did not reinforce. And maybe we should take a level of comfort from the fact that the charge against Jesus is the same one that is leveled against this part of his Church, he (they) do not keep the Sabbath.

I need to stress that the reason that Jesus did not keep the Sabbath was not that the Sabbath was unimportant. We need the Sabbath. It is not a rule that is arbitrary to our existence. We are created in such a way that we need to a day of rest. But the religious establishment of Jesus day had changed the focus of the Sabbath from rest to obligation. And in doing so, they had broken the Sabbath away from the day that God had imagined when he commanded us to take a Sabbath.

For the Christian church, early on the Sabbath was exchanged for the Lord’s Day and a weekly celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. It is still a day of rest, the day that our health requires. But it is also a celebration of the risen Christ.

And maybe the question that we need to ask is similar to the one that was asked of Jesus. Is the Spirit of God moving today in the church that celebrates its Sabbath on Saturday or one that celebrates the Lord’s Day on Sunday? And I think that the surprising answer to the question is both. Because Sabbath was never about the day, but about the presence of God. And where two or three are gathered, he is here in our midst. And today, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, every day is holy and worthy of worship.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 10