The Sabbath — Saturday or Sunday?

When you write a letter in response to one of my columns, I sit and think about it more than you think. This past week I received a very sincere letter from someone who reproved me for seeming inaccuracies in columns of the last two weeks concerning the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is controversial I suppose because of its demand that we stop and change our behavior one day a week. And for a world driven by money and greed, to tell it to stop is like slapping your mama.

The point the reader made was that the Sabbath was the seventh day of creation and God rested on the seventh day, sanctifying it as the day of rest. And he was so right. Read all about it in Genesis 2:1-3.

Jesus, the star of the Bible, observed the Sabbath. He attended Temple and held to the precepts concerning the Sabbath. According to the creation account in Genesis, the Sabbath begins at sundown Friday and concludes at sundown Saturday. If you read the creation narrative you’ll discover that God begins a new day at sunset whereas our thinking that a new day begins at sunrise.

So, there’s a huge body of evidence that points to the seventh day as the day of rest, worship, and service. It’s the seventh called the Sabbath.

Followers of Jesus Christ called Seventh Day Adventist worship and observe on what we call Saturday, in keeping with Biblical tradition. So, why do most Christians conduct worship and observe Sunday, the first day of the week? Two big reasons.

First, the resurrection took place on the first day of the week. Jesus was crucified and buried before Sundown Friday. He rose from the dead Sunday. So many Christians prefer to observe Sunday as their day of rest and worship because the resurrection took place on that day.

Second, the official birthday of the church, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the followers of Christ, took place on Sunday. It happened on the Day of Pentecost, which was observed 50 days after the resurrection.

Therefore I would suggest that many Christians began worshipping God and holding services on the first day of the week instead of the Sabbath. Right or wrong.

The main thing God was trying to impress upon all of us was we need a break in our week of seven days. Nobody was wired by the Creator to keep going 24/7. The Sabbath and the first day of the week provide opportunity to shut down business and ponder the might and majesty of the Almighty. It allows us to tune our lives with the perfect note of God’s wonder.

So, whatever, take a break!