Prohibitions And Invitations In The Third Commandment
Adult study
The Big Ten
Another Look At The Ten Commandments
"What's so special about your Sabbath day?" a young man asked his girlfriend. He was an unbeliever; she a faithful Christian. He did not go to church. She attended each Sunday. "Why do you go to church?" he asked.
She paused for a moment. Then she replied, "God commanded it; therefore I try to do it. Worship meets a deep need in my heart." At the time, he did not accept her answer. Later, when he became a Christian, he understood what she had meant. As a Christian, he described his pre-Christian days like this: "There was a hole in my soul that only God could fill, but before I became a Christian I didn't know that only God could fill that hole." Worship means filling the hole in our souls.
Saint Augustine said, "Restless is my soul until it find rest in thee." Worship is a way we find rest for our restless souls.
Worship is also a way to come before the Lord with awe and love. Martin Luther puts it this way: "We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it."8 The fear of God does not mean that we are afraid of God, but that we have awe for God. In the preaching and the teaching of God's Word and receiving God's sacraments we have an opportunity to be humbled (filled with awe) before God and express our love for him.
In the Exodus and Deuteronomy passages cited at the beginning of this chapter, we hear that we are to remember the one who first loved us. In the Exodus passage, we are urged to remember our loving Creator; in the Deuteronomy passage that we are to remember our loving Redeemer. What is so special about the Sabbath day? It is a day of remembrance and redemption.
Remembrance
In his book The Living Reminder, Henri Nouwen, a Roman Catholic writer about spirituality, says, "To remember is not simply to look back at past events; more importantly, it is to bring these events into the present and celebrate them here and now. For Israel, remembrance means participation."9 He goes on to explain that in the Bible remembrance means to actualize events and persons of the past. Concretely, to remember the Sabbath day means to actualize God's creative work at the beginning of time. It also means to actualize God's creation of each of us.
Let's look at seven ways that remembering God in worship actualizes God for us. First, we worship on the Sabbath day so that we remember that God is God and that we are his created children. Sometimes we forget who God is and act like we are in control of our own lives. In other words, God commanded us to worship him that we might remember who created us and that we belong to him. We are called to behave like the children of our loving Father.
Second, we are called to worship God because God knows that if we do not worship him, we will put something, or someone else, in his place. We do not have a choice of whether or not we will worship; only who will be the object of our worship. In other words, if we don't worship the one true God, we will put someone else or something else in first place in our lives. Nothing but God works as the highest value in our lives. Everything but God disappoints as the ultimate ruler. Without God in first place, we will discover that life is just "sound and fury, signifying nothing," as Shakespeare wrote.
Third, God commanded us to worship him because worship is the way of knowing who we are by discovering whose we are. We are lost children, wandering in the wilderness of life, seeking for meaning and direction. Worshiping God, our Creator, is a way of discovering and rediscovering our created purpose which is to glorify God and enjoy him throughout our lives.
Fourth, we are called to remember and celebrate the Sabbath day so we remember that we had a beginning and that we will have an ending. Whether we live to be 25 or 95, we are limited creatures. Those who do not worship God regularly forget that they have only a short span of life on earth and that eternity is forever. Worship reminds us that this life is a preparation for eternity.
Fifth, God commanded us to remember the Sabbath day so that we can get in touch with the reverence he placed in our hearts at our creation. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the famous jurist, put it this way, "There is a little plant called 'reverence' within me, and it needs to be watered regularly, about one day in seven."
Sixth, to remember God through Sabbath worship is to afford ourselves an opportunity for re-creation. We work in the world that teaches justification by works. If we produce, we are rewarded. We need to be reminded that the opposite is true with God. With God we are justified by what he has done. With God we are not achievers, but receivers. We are called to produce good works for God, not to justify ourselves, but because God has done so much for us. To remember our Creator through worship is to be re-created to face the world and work with a higher perspective on the meaning of life.
Seventh, God gave us the Sabbath day for worship in order that we might see things the way they really are instead of as they seem to be. In Psalm 73 we read about a devout man who was confused by the fact that unrighteous and self-centered people seemed to be prospering and those who loved God seemed to be fools and failures. Then the psalmist went to the sanctuary and got the higher perspective on how things really are.10
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked ... Behold, these are the wicked; always as ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence ... When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God, and perceived their end.
-- Psalm 73:2-17 (RSV)
It was only in the sanctuary of God that the psalmist got the higher perspective that the unrighteous die and will have to face judgment before God. He also learned that in life we sometimes have to say, "Nevertheless." In spite of things that happen, we are called to continue with faith in God.
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand.
-- Psalm 73:21-23 (RSV)
In worship, we can see the way things really are instead of how they seem to be. There we can learn to say, "Nevertheless, I am continually with thee."
Of course, every Sunday in church we do not experience these seven ways God can be actualized for us. Sometimes we hit dry seasons when we seem out of touch with God. Sometimes worship can seem dry or dead.
Two boys were standing in front of a plaque in church. "What is this?" the younger boy asked. "This is a plaque to remember the men who died in the service," said the older boy. The younger boy responded, "Which service -- 8:00, 9:30, or 11:00?"
Sometimes worship may seem that it is a place for the dead instead of the living. Pastors and worship leaders must always seek to make worship services vital and related to the lives of the people who attend worship. Pastors and worship leaders must do all that they can to help worshipers remember the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Redemption
The first giving of the Ten Commandments is recorded in Exodus. There we hear that the reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy is that God is our Creator. In Deuteronomy, when the Ten Commandments are repeated, a second reason to keep the Third Commandment is added. The second reason to worship is to remember that "you were slaves in Egypt and God brought you out of there...." In other words, we are called to celebrate Sabbath day worship because God is our Redeemer as well as our Creator.
God led the chosen people out of Egypt. "Remember that," Moses said from Mount Nebo, "and worship your Redeemer each Sabbath. Once you were slaves. Now you are free. God paid the price. He led you out of bondage."
The early Christians changed the day of worship from Saturday, the seventh day of the week, to Sunday, the first day of the week. The reason is that the resurrection of Jesus was the most important event in history. Easter happened on a Sunday. Easter was the day when Jesus conquered sin, death, and the devil. Therefore, for Christians, each Sunday is a day to remember our redemption. Each Sunday, God offers opportunities for us to leave slavery and enjoy the life of freedom God has prepared for us.
Let me say that again in a different way. The means of grace are available in church for our redemption. The means of grace are the preaching of the Word of God and the holy sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. These are channels from heaven to earth. These are God's ways of redemption. By these means of grace, God intends to give us new life by conquering sin (by offering us forgiveness), death (by promising eternal life to those who believe), and the devil (by giving us strength to resist the temptations of the evil one and to come back to him by repentance when we fail to resist). In other words, every Sunday is a little Easter.
We are called to actualize the Sabbath by remembering our Redeemer. Jesus died on the cross that we might have life and have it in abundance. He has provided the way we can meet him and receive his gifts through the word and sacraments. He promises to come to us through the means of grace.
Isn't it possible that we might meet Jesus at a lake while we are fishing on Sunday? Of course. Isn't it possible that we might meet him on the golf course? Yes. Couldn't we meet God in nature, by a stream, or on a mountaintop? Yes, but we are called to meet God where he has promised to be in his means of grace. God has promised that we will meet him in his word and his sacraments. Since he is going to be there, shouldn't we be there, too? It is when we are gathered together, as in church, that we have the assurance of the presence of the Redeemer. To neglect worshiping God in church is neglecting God's invitation to meet him where he promises to be.
Sunday is the first day of the week. Sunday worship can help us actualize the fact that God is first in our lives. Christians start each week with worship to show that God is their highest priority.
Some churches have made it possible for people to worship God on Saturday night. This is particularly helpful for those who have to work or who are traveling on Sunday. As long as the word and sacraments are available at Saturday night services, these services, like Sunday services, offer Sabbath worship for the people of God.
Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters speak of Sunday as "a holy day of obligation." In a certain sense, that is true. After all, we are commanded to worship. On the other hand, it seems more helpful to speak of worship as an opportunity, not just a duty. The dictionary defines an opportunity as "a favorable conjunction of events and circumstances for doing something." The Sabbath opportunity is the favorable conjunction of your life with God's life. God takes the opportunity to be present with us in worship. We are invited to do the same. Sunday is a holy day of opportunity.
The prohibitions related to the Third Commandment are clear. We are told that Sunday is a holy day for worship. When we neglect regular worship, we break this Commandment. But the Third Commandment is also a clear invitation to keep God's Sabbath day holy by worshiping him. That's why I like the concept of a holy day of opportunity.
We began this chapter with the story of a young man and young woman. At the time of their initial conversation about worship he cynically asked, "What's so special about the Sabbath? Why do you worship?" She responded, "God commanded it and it meets a deep need in my heart." Later when he became a Christian, he could see that in his early life he had had a hole in his soul that only God could fill. Worship fills that hole.
I know. I am the former cynic who asked, "What's so special about the Sabbath?"
Questions For Your Personal Consideration And/Or Group Discussion
1.
Saint Augustine said, "Restless is my soul until it find rest in thee." What does this mean?
2.
Discuss this statement about worship:
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God;
To feed the mind with the truth of God;
To purge the imagination by the purity of God;
To open the heart to the love of God;
To devote the will to the purpose of God.
3.
Discuss the meaning of remembrance as explained by Henri Nouwen in this chapter.
4.
What does it mean to actualize God's creative and redemptive work?
5.
What can be said to the person who claims to be too busy to go to church?
6.
If you were planning a worship service, what would you want to be sure to include? What would you not include?
7.
Some churches have dropped confession from their worship services. Do you agree or disagree with this practice? Why?
8.
Read and consider John 9:13-41. This passage describes the Sabbath day controversy between Jesus and the spiritually blind Pharisees.
Digging Deeper
1.
Consider the meaning of Acts 2:42-43, "They [the early Christians] devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles."
2.
Read Psalm 73 and consider again the words of the psalmist, "Nevertheless, I am continually with thee."
3.
Worship includes recognition, repentance, and redemption.
Recognition means that we are aware of our condition as sinners. We can't lift ourselves out of ourselves by ourselves because we ourselves are the problem. Recognition means that we become aware of God as our only hope since we cannot achieve what needs to be done for our salvation. Recognition means that we confess Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives and as our Savior.
Repentance means turning back to God. We are so easily led in the wrong directions. We know that we have hurt our Father by our thoughts and behavior. We want to return home to the Father.
Redemption means that Jesus' work on the cross has accomplished what needs to be done for us. Our role is to appropriate what has been accomplished. We appropriate what has been accomplished by faith in Christ.
She paused for a moment. Then she replied, "God commanded it; therefore I try to do it. Worship meets a deep need in my heart." At the time, he did not accept her answer. Later, when he became a Christian, he understood what she had meant. As a Christian, he described his pre-Christian days like this: "There was a hole in my soul that only God could fill, but before I became a Christian I didn't know that only God could fill that hole." Worship means filling the hole in our souls.
Saint Augustine said, "Restless is my soul until it find rest in thee." Worship is a way we find rest for our restless souls.
Worship is also a way to come before the Lord with awe and love. Martin Luther puts it this way: "We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it."8 The fear of God does not mean that we are afraid of God, but that we have awe for God. In the preaching and the teaching of God's Word and receiving God's sacraments we have an opportunity to be humbled (filled with awe) before God and express our love for him.
In the Exodus and Deuteronomy passages cited at the beginning of this chapter, we hear that we are to remember the one who first loved us. In the Exodus passage, we are urged to remember our loving Creator; in the Deuteronomy passage that we are to remember our loving Redeemer. What is so special about the Sabbath day? It is a day of remembrance and redemption.
Remembrance
In his book The Living Reminder, Henri Nouwen, a Roman Catholic writer about spirituality, says, "To remember is not simply to look back at past events; more importantly, it is to bring these events into the present and celebrate them here and now. For Israel, remembrance means participation."9 He goes on to explain that in the Bible remembrance means to actualize events and persons of the past. Concretely, to remember the Sabbath day means to actualize God's creative work at the beginning of time. It also means to actualize God's creation of each of us.
Let's look at seven ways that remembering God in worship actualizes God for us. First, we worship on the Sabbath day so that we remember that God is God and that we are his created children. Sometimes we forget who God is and act like we are in control of our own lives. In other words, God commanded us to worship him that we might remember who created us and that we belong to him. We are called to behave like the children of our loving Father.
Second, we are called to worship God because God knows that if we do not worship him, we will put something, or someone else, in his place. We do not have a choice of whether or not we will worship; only who will be the object of our worship. In other words, if we don't worship the one true God, we will put someone else or something else in first place in our lives. Nothing but God works as the highest value in our lives. Everything but God disappoints as the ultimate ruler. Without God in first place, we will discover that life is just "sound and fury, signifying nothing," as Shakespeare wrote.
Third, God commanded us to worship him because worship is the way of knowing who we are by discovering whose we are. We are lost children, wandering in the wilderness of life, seeking for meaning and direction. Worshiping God, our Creator, is a way of discovering and rediscovering our created purpose which is to glorify God and enjoy him throughout our lives.
Fourth, we are called to remember and celebrate the Sabbath day so we remember that we had a beginning and that we will have an ending. Whether we live to be 25 or 95, we are limited creatures. Those who do not worship God regularly forget that they have only a short span of life on earth and that eternity is forever. Worship reminds us that this life is a preparation for eternity.
Fifth, God commanded us to remember the Sabbath day so that we can get in touch with the reverence he placed in our hearts at our creation. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the famous jurist, put it this way, "There is a little plant called 'reverence' within me, and it needs to be watered regularly, about one day in seven."
Sixth, to remember God through Sabbath worship is to afford ourselves an opportunity for re-creation. We work in the world that teaches justification by works. If we produce, we are rewarded. We need to be reminded that the opposite is true with God. With God we are justified by what he has done. With God we are not achievers, but receivers. We are called to produce good works for God, not to justify ourselves, but because God has done so much for us. To remember our Creator through worship is to be re-created to face the world and work with a higher perspective on the meaning of life.
Seventh, God gave us the Sabbath day for worship in order that we might see things the way they really are instead of as they seem to be. In Psalm 73 we read about a devout man who was confused by the fact that unrighteous and self-centered people seemed to be prospering and those who loved God seemed to be fools and failures. Then the psalmist went to the sanctuary and got the higher perspective on how things really are.10
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked ... Behold, these are the wicked; always as ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence ... When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God, and perceived their end.
-- Psalm 73:2-17 (RSV)
It was only in the sanctuary of God that the psalmist got the higher perspective that the unrighteous die and will have to face judgment before God. He also learned that in life we sometimes have to say, "Nevertheless." In spite of things that happen, we are called to continue with faith in God.
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand.
-- Psalm 73:21-23 (RSV)
In worship, we can see the way things really are instead of how they seem to be. There we can learn to say, "Nevertheless, I am continually with thee."
Of course, every Sunday in church we do not experience these seven ways God can be actualized for us. Sometimes we hit dry seasons when we seem out of touch with God. Sometimes worship can seem dry or dead.
Two boys were standing in front of a plaque in church. "What is this?" the younger boy asked. "This is a plaque to remember the men who died in the service," said the older boy. The younger boy responded, "Which service -- 8:00, 9:30, or 11:00?"
Sometimes worship may seem that it is a place for the dead instead of the living. Pastors and worship leaders must always seek to make worship services vital and related to the lives of the people who attend worship. Pastors and worship leaders must do all that they can to help worshipers remember the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Redemption
The first giving of the Ten Commandments is recorded in Exodus. There we hear that the reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy is that God is our Creator. In Deuteronomy, when the Ten Commandments are repeated, a second reason to keep the Third Commandment is added. The second reason to worship is to remember that "you were slaves in Egypt and God brought you out of there...." In other words, we are called to celebrate Sabbath day worship because God is our Redeemer as well as our Creator.
God led the chosen people out of Egypt. "Remember that," Moses said from Mount Nebo, "and worship your Redeemer each Sabbath. Once you were slaves. Now you are free. God paid the price. He led you out of bondage."
The early Christians changed the day of worship from Saturday, the seventh day of the week, to Sunday, the first day of the week. The reason is that the resurrection of Jesus was the most important event in history. Easter happened on a Sunday. Easter was the day when Jesus conquered sin, death, and the devil. Therefore, for Christians, each Sunday is a day to remember our redemption. Each Sunday, God offers opportunities for us to leave slavery and enjoy the life of freedom God has prepared for us.
Let me say that again in a different way. The means of grace are available in church for our redemption. The means of grace are the preaching of the Word of God and the holy sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. These are channels from heaven to earth. These are God's ways of redemption. By these means of grace, God intends to give us new life by conquering sin (by offering us forgiveness), death (by promising eternal life to those who believe), and the devil (by giving us strength to resist the temptations of the evil one and to come back to him by repentance when we fail to resist). In other words, every Sunday is a little Easter.
We are called to actualize the Sabbath by remembering our Redeemer. Jesus died on the cross that we might have life and have it in abundance. He has provided the way we can meet him and receive his gifts through the word and sacraments. He promises to come to us through the means of grace.
Isn't it possible that we might meet Jesus at a lake while we are fishing on Sunday? Of course. Isn't it possible that we might meet him on the golf course? Yes. Couldn't we meet God in nature, by a stream, or on a mountaintop? Yes, but we are called to meet God where he has promised to be in his means of grace. God has promised that we will meet him in his word and his sacraments. Since he is going to be there, shouldn't we be there, too? It is when we are gathered together, as in church, that we have the assurance of the presence of the Redeemer. To neglect worshiping God in church is neglecting God's invitation to meet him where he promises to be.
Sunday is the first day of the week. Sunday worship can help us actualize the fact that God is first in our lives. Christians start each week with worship to show that God is their highest priority.
Some churches have made it possible for people to worship God on Saturday night. This is particularly helpful for those who have to work or who are traveling on Sunday. As long as the word and sacraments are available at Saturday night services, these services, like Sunday services, offer Sabbath worship for the people of God.
Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters speak of Sunday as "a holy day of obligation." In a certain sense, that is true. After all, we are commanded to worship. On the other hand, it seems more helpful to speak of worship as an opportunity, not just a duty. The dictionary defines an opportunity as "a favorable conjunction of events and circumstances for doing something." The Sabbath opportunity is the favorable conjunction of your life with God's life. God takes the opportunity to be present with us in worship. We are invited to do the same. Sunday is a holy day of opportunity.
The prohibitions related to the Third Commandment are clear. We are told that Sunday is a holy day for worship. When we neglect regular worship, we break this Commandment. But the Third Commandment is also a clear invitation to keep God's Sabbath day holy by worshiping him. That's why I like the concept of a holy day of opportunity.
We began this chapter with the story of a young man and young woman. At the time of their initial conversation about worship he cynically asked, "What's so special about the Sabbath? Why do you worship?" She responded, "God commanded it and it meets a deep need in my heart." Later when he became a Christian, he could see that in his early life he had had a hole in his soul that only God could fill. Worship fills that hole.
I know. I am the former cynic who asked, "What's so special about the Sabbath?"
Questions For Your Personal Consideration And/Or Group Discussion
1.
Saint Augustine said, "Restless is my soul until it find rest in thee." What does this mean?
2.
Discuss this statement about worship:
To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God;
To feed the mind with the truth of God;
To purge the imagination by the purity of God;
To open the heart to the love of God;
To devote the will to the purpose of God.
3.
Discuss the meaning of remembrance as explained by Henri Nouwen in this chapter.
4.
What does it mean to actualize God's creative and redemptive work?
5.
What can be said to the person who claims to be too busy to go to church?
6.
If you were planning a worship service, what would you want to be sure to include? What would you not include?
7.
Some churches have dropped confession from their worship services. Do you agree or disagree with this practice? Why?
8.
Read and consider John 9:13-41. This passage describes the Sabbath day controversy between Jesus and the spiritually blind Pharisees.
Digging Deeper
1.
Consider the meaning of Acts 2:42-43, "They [the early Christians] devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles."
2.
Read Psalm 73 and consider again the words of the psalmist, "Nevertheless, I am continually with thee."
3.
Worship includes recognition, repentance, and redemption.
Recognition means that we are aware of our condition as sinners. We can't lift ourselves out of ourselves by ourselves because we ourselves are the problem. Recognition means that we become aware of God as our only hope since we cannot achieve what needs to be done for our salvation. Recognition means that we confess Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives and as our Savior.
Repentance means turning back to God. We are so easily led in the wrong directions. We know that we have hurt our Father by our thoughts and behavior. We want to return home to the Father.
Redemption means that Jesus' work on the cross has accomplished what needs to be done for us. Our role is to appropriate what has been accomplished. We appropriate what has been accomplished by faith in Christ.
