Question:  Dear Greg,

            I recently had a discussion with a Christian friend of mine concerning the proper observance of the Sabbath.  Both of us set aside Sunday to honor our Lord and Savior.  Is work around the house—i.e. gardening, washing the car, mowing the lawn, etc. acceptable or should the day be primarily reserved for meditating on God’s word and spending time with loved ones?

            Rich

Answer:  Dear Rich,

            It is difficult to read the books of Romans, Galatians, Colossians and Hebrews (for starters) and decide that there are lists of acceptable and unacceptable activities for the Sabbath.  Whatever we individually decide to do or not do something on any day of the week to honor God is good and acceptable before God (see the entire chapter of Romans 14).  But God does not require any specific activities as evidence of us “keeping” the Sabbath or “breaking” the Sabbath.  For Christians the Sabbath is the person of Jesus Christ, the divine rest into which we enter by his grace, as opposed to a day.  What we choose to do or not to do in terms of when we worship is generally fine with God, as long as we do not seek to impose the same standards on another Christian or to call or esteem that Christian as inferior (in terms of righteousness) to the choices and commitments we have made.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht