I have found the Fourth Commandment (Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy) to be one of the most divisive and emotionally charged issues one can face in Christian circles (at least in the United States) today. I grew up in a Missionary Baptist Church, spent my late teens and early twenties in a non-denominational church, then returned to the Baptist Church in my thirties (first Southern Baptist, then Primitive Baptist). We also attend a Methodist Church once a month. This traveling amongst denominations wasn't "searching" in a sense, most changes were due to geographic moves (although we have left a couple of churches based on scriptural differences). We always chose a church based on if the Word of God was preached. However, in all my years as a Christian I have yet to hear one sermon on the keeping of the Fourth Commandment.
When we moved to Alabama, we didn't realize we were moving to the "Seventh Day Adventist Capital of the World". For those unaware, Seventh Day Adventist take honoring the Sabbath as one of the primary foundations of their faith - they are very serious about this commandment. While finding such good friends who were practicing Adventist didn't lead me to want to abandon my faith, it did lead me to ask questions of why this Commandment was so ignored in larger Christian circles. I also began a journey of exploring the basic foundations of my Christian faith. Never questioning my Lord the Christ, but questioning what I believed about the Bible, about being a Christian, about what salvation meant. Most of this was in an effort to teach my children our faith (how can one teach what one doesn't intimately understand!) and also because I felt I wasn't walking a strong Christian life - mainly because I didn't really know what that meant.
Now, I have heard and read the contemporary reasons for why many Christians in America don't honor the Sabbath. Some of the most commons things I heard were:
1. Jesus was our Sabbath, our rest, so every day is the Sabbath
2. Honoring the Sabbath is legalism and should be avoided
3. After the death of Jesus we were no longer bound by the "law", thus we didn't need to honor the Sabbath anymore
4. Are you trying to be a Jew or something? Make sure you don't get into error!
The first thing I did was examined each of these answers. Dealing with answer number one I looked to see if Jesus really was considered our Sabbath. What I found was Jesus is our Savior. He is the ultimate sacrifice that allows us to get back into right relationship with God the Father. We could never on our own be good enough to stand before God. Animal sacrifices were good for a time, but always limited. They could only last for a time. Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice was enough for all humanity for all of our time on earth before His return. While we are to cast our cares upon the Lord because He cares for us, this really has nothing to do with the Sabbath. This answer just didn't bear up scrutiny.
The second answer always made me laugh - avoid legalism. Legalism is thinking that one is made right and whole by performing certain tasks, including following the Ten Commandments. A person can follow Commandments 2 - 10 with perfection, but even through works one can never follow the First without first looking to Jesus Christ. He is the only way to God. However, saying Commandment Four leads to legalism is as silly as saying Commandment Nine or Ten does! While any Christian act of obedience can lead one to "legalism", that doesn't mean we wallow in disobedience! Can you imagine standing before God saying "well Father, I know you said not to steal; I chose to life life as a bank robber so I wouldn't get into legalism!" Again, this argument doesn't stand up!
Answer Three I call the mixing up of scripture answer. Yes, Jesus came to fulfill the law, but that doesn't mean we get to disobey the Commandments of God. Those Christians that tell me we no longer need to honor the Sabbath will also tell me that my kids should Obey me because of the Commandments and that we shouldn't murder or commit adultery. Oh really, I thought the Law was fulfilled and we didn't have to Honor it?
The Fourth answer actually lead me to the true reason why many Christians don't honor the Sabbath! The first thing we should deal with is that the first time the Commandment of Honoring the Sabbath was given - it wasn't to the Jews! It was to Adam in the Garden of Eden. This isn't a Commandment about religion, it is a Commandment acknowledging God as the Creator of the universe! As I heard a preacher say (funny, not talking about us Honoring the Sabbath, but the magnificence of God) God didn't rest because He was tired, He rested because He was finished! We are to rest on the Seventh day as a constant reminder of who our Creator is, what our Creator did, and that God is always in charge and never man.
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