Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
During a recent trip down the C concourse at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., I saw a young woman wearing a hip-looking black T-shirt with the words “Taking Back Sunday” written in gold gothic scrip across the front. I immediately started thinking about the idea and began checking the internet for information about what I expected to be a movement among Christians to reclaim the Sabbath. Well, I admit to great surprise when I discovered that “Taking Back Sunday” has nothing to do with religion at all. It is an alternative rock band from Long Island, New York.
As we begin a new year, however, the idea of “taking back Sunday” offers much to think about. We have, I think, lost the concept of the Sabbath in our 21st century world, and I am convinced that we would benefit both as individuals and as a collective people by reclaiming it.
The observance of the Sabbath was initiated by God at the beginning of time. In the book of Genesis, we read that after God had completed six days of work creating the earth and all living things, God rested on the seventh day. “So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation.” This setting apart of the seventh day as a day different from the others is lifted up in the Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.” Within the Jewish community the Sabbath is observed from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. Christian practice has the Sabbath on Sunday, the day of the Resurrection.
In earlier days “blue laws” enforced the practice of the Sabbath. Few people worked on Sunday; most stores and businesses were closed on Sunday. Nowadays, though, we live in a 24/7 world. Supermarkets promote themselves as being open 24 hours a day, everyday. Shopping malls do some of their best business on Sundays. Children’s sports teams schedule games on Sundays—in the morning, no less. All of this leaves us with choices. To whom does Sunday belong—God or mammon?
When a parent says that their children cannot participate in Sunday School or sing in the children’s choir because they have soccer games on Sunday morning, when a church member says that they are spending Sunday afternoon at the office catching up on a backlog of work, when someone says they cannot be at worship because their employer has scheduled them to work on Sunday, all of us should be concerned. In each of these situations, people have made choices to disregard the Sabbath.
Sabbath time is essential to our formation in faith and our personal well-being. Disregard of Sabbath keeping equates with neglect of our spiritual and emotional health. We need spaces for quiet and reflection, time to learn and grow in our faith and relationship with Christ, places where the cares and demands of the world can be examined, if not set aside.
When you make resolutions for the new year, why not resolve to remember the Sabbath day? Let your child’s soccer coach know that your family reserves Sunday for church and family activities. Plan your work load during the week so that you can keep Sunday free. Before your boss makes up the schedule, tell him/her that you aren’t available to work on Sunday. Get the shopping done on other days.
Certainly, we do not want to return to the grim Sabbaths of our Puritan ancestors. We want a Sabbath that nurtures mind, body, and soul, a day of rest, renewal, and re-creation. We can "take back Sunday” in a way that adds meaning to our lives.
Faithfully yours,
Emma Moore-Kochlacs