Opus 2012-165, Sabbath Observations: Roots of the Weekend, Part 5, Keeping the Blessing

Do you enjoy having a day off?  Do you use it to cruise the mall?  Then you are contributing to losing the day of rest that God has prescribed.  Most kids starting out must take jobs at minimum wage and those jobs are often tied to a requirement to work weekends.  It forces young people to choose between working or going to church.  Is this the direction we want things to go?

I don’t think we need a return to the “blue laws” of the past.  This is not something that we need the government to get involved in.  All we would need to do to protect young believers from being pulled out of church on Sunday is to stop shopping on Sunday.  How many restaurants do their biggest business on Sunday because the church crowd wants to go out to eat?  If Christians would extend hospitality and eat at home then many of these restaurants would close up on Sunday because they could not make any money. 

This is not a new problem.  Saint Augustine preached about a similar issue back in the fourth century.  The issue was the negative contribution of the theaters to the culture.  Many felt like the theaters were destroying the moral fiber of society.  Does that sound familiar?  Listen to what Augustine had to say:

“Ah! indeed, if Christians went not to the theaters, there would be so few people there that they would go away for very shame.”

What is he saying?  If the people complaining would change their behavior they could change the culture.  He was talking to his congregation.  He is talking to us today.

So enjoy your weekend.  Thank God for it.  Live in such a way that you do not contribute to the destruction of the blessing He has given us.

Augustine.  “The Recovery of Sight by the Blind.”  The World’s Great Sermons, Volume 01
   /Basil to Calvin.  Gutenberg Project, Kindle Highlight Loc. 650-51.

homo unius libri