Why are CHRISTIANS not working to take back the SABBATH DAY in this COUNTRY!? GOD DOES NOT APPROVE!!!!!!!?

Question

Yesterday, the PASTOR had a sermon about how this country needs to TAKE BACK SUNDAY for the GOD! I agree with him!

For TOO LONG this country has not recognized the SABBATH DAY as a HOLY DAY of REST where we HONOR GOD and spend time with our FAMILIES!

As CHRISTIANS, we need to FIGHT against these HEATHEN BUSINESSES that remain open on SUNDAY! We need to BOYCOTT WALMART, TARGET, GROCERY STORES, GAS STATIONS (Except for MARATHON!!! THEY ARE A GOOD CHRISTIAN GAS STATION!).

Why aren't we FIGHTING to TAKE BACK THE SABBATH!?

Answer 1

Thank you all for taking the time to come to a talk about how we have no more time in our culture! Have you ever noticed, when you greet friends, they invariably tell you how busy they are? Busy-ness and lack of time is a fact of modern life. We have no more time in our culture.


Many social observers wring their hands over the numerous time-poverty disorders of our modern society: workaholism (the “respectable” addiction), stress, depression, road rage, attention deficit disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, and many stress-related illnesses. We might even add failed marriages of people who just didn't have enough time for each other.


Various sociological studies provide us with the “hard facts” of numbers to prove to us what we already know and feel in contemporary culture: we have no time; we are all stressed out. For example, how much time does the average married couple spend talking to each other each day? 12 minutes (Cecile Andrews, “The Simple Solution” in Take Back Your Time, 141). And how much time do parents have for their children? Even less. One study indicated that American parents spend an average of 5.5 minutes per day (38.5 minutes per week) in "meaningful conversation" with their children (from No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life by Heather Menzies, 168)





Despite all the time and labour saving devices promised by our technological world, and despite all those pious predictions of a 30-hour work week and the leisure society, most people are such busy bees in our economic machine, that they have less time than ever. What can be done? I propose, very simply, that we take back our time by taking back the Sabbath.



SUMMARY OF MAIN ARGUMENT


In the beginning, God gave human beings all the time they needed when he created the Sabbath, a whole day off per week -- no work, shopping, or organized sports, but simply time for God and family. Once upon a time, (back in the 20th century), civil law in Canada supported the divine law expressed in the third commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."


Not so anymore. Officially in Canada, Sunday is now a working day like all the rest, for most people indistinguishable from Saturday (it's all the "weekend") and for many who work in retail, Sunday's not much different from Monday. The loss of Sunday as a universal day of rest, less than a blip on the radar screen of most Canadians, is a social crisis with unforeseen and far-reaching consequences.


We cannot turn back the clock and re-impose laws inspired by the timeless wisdom of Christianity. But if we love our families, our health and sanity, then we must make the firm resolution, as Christians did in the early Roman Empire, to defy the reigning spirit of the times, and keep the Sabbath holy.




In fact, the only effective way that we can find and even create more time for ourselves and our families is to religiously observe the discipline of Sunday -- to worship the Lord in Church, and to dedicate the rest of the day to enjoying time with family and friends. Without the grace of God communicated to us through Sunday observance and the sacraments, we will be unable to resist the idolatries of our time, such as materialism, consumerism and workaholism.


HISTORY


It is worth considering the legislative history behind the tragic loss of Sunday as a universal day of rest. In his Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, John Paul II reminds us that legislation to keep Sunday holy, as a day for God and rest, traces its origin back to 321 A.D. under Constantine the Great (#64). Canada adopted this tradition through English law, most recently enshrined in the Lord’s Day Act of 1906, which prohibited activities on Sunday such as buying or selling goods, and carrying out any business for gain.


Canada entered an enlightened brave new world in 1982 with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which set us free from the oppressive wisdom of 16 centuries of western culture. Empowered by the Charter, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Lord’s Day Act as unconstitutional in 1985. It declared that the Act failed to respect the Charter guarantee of freedom of religion, since it obliged all Canadians to keep the Christian Sabbath. (The Court did concede that it would be acceptable to legislate a day of rest for secular purposes).




By 2006, Canadians have unfortunately grown accustomed to the radicalism of the Supreme Court and our secular elites, on issues ranging from abortion to same-sex marriage.

But few have remarked upon the complete annihilation of Sunday as a common day of rest free from work and shopping.


Unfortunately, none of the experts can connect the dots linking stress, workaholism, consumerism, and lack of time for our families with the loss of Sunday. If a catastrophic earthquake in the Atlantic were to swallow the entire province of Nova Scotia, surely Canadians would notice we were missing a province. But when foolish legislation eliminates a whole day from our week, a day once consecrated to God, rest, and family, we don’t notice what we’re missing; we fail to raise our eyebrows, let alone sound the alarm.


After the Supreme Court abolished the Lord’s Day Act in 1985, only one province chose to pass and maintain legislation to keep Sunday as a common day of rest and prohibit the opening of retail businesses. Thank God Nova Scotia was not cast into the sea, since the lighthouse province is now a light to the rest of the country, the only place that has maintained a vestige of the wisdom contained in the third commandment. Nova Scotia’s Retail Business Uniform Closing Act, remains in effect to this day thanks to a referendum on October 16th, 2004, in which 55% of Nova Scotians voted “NO” to the proposal to introduce Sunday shopping.


Deacon Bob Britton of Halifax commented on the success of the ecumenical coalition behind the “NO” campaign: “our appeal was to the needs of all Nova Scotians and not only those who valued a Christian understanding of the Lord’s Day . . . all those who coalesced around this issue shared a common vision that we human beings are more than consumers” (Catholic Register October 31st, 2004).

In a pastoral letter preceding the referendum, Archbishop Pendergast wrote, “any supposed ‘right’ to shop on Sundays needs to be balanced with the rights of retail workers - their right to a day of rest, their right to a ‘common day’ when friends can come together, their right to a day with family for recreation, family gatherings, common activities, and worship together” (Catholic Register, September 26th, 2004).


It is curious that highly educated members of the Supreme Court lack the common sense of Nova Scotians. The Lord’s Day Act was deemed unconstitutional because it infringed on the right to religious freedom of non-Christians (all of whom apparently were marching in the streets for the right to shop and work on Sundays). Our secular intelligentsia seem unaware of the need to balance rights. What about the right of retail workers to a “common day” of rest? Is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms indifferent to these rights of workers?


And did the Lord’s Day Act truly discriminate against non-Christians, or did it actually help safeguard their human dignity by providing them with a common day of rest? As Deacon Britton remarked, many non-Christian or non-practicing Nova Scotians supported the ban on Sunday shopping because of their vision of human beings as more than consumers, human beings who require a day of rest. I wonder how truly offended were non-Christians by the tradition of Sunday as a holiday.


All human beings - Christians and non-Christians - need a weekly day of rest. The Supreme Court acknowledged as much in 1985 when it decided that it would be acceptable to legislate a day of rest for secular purposes -- any day but Sunday, apparently. Sunday as a religious holiday was already fulfilling the secular and universal need for a weekly day of rest. Why get rid of it? Did the Supreme Court seriously think that we were going to pick another day - let’s say Monday - as a universal day of rest from work and shopping?



PART II: SPIRITUAL CAUSES OF LOSS OF SUNDAY


What are the deeper reasons for our loss of Sunday and the lack of time in our culture? The causes of the disease are many, and we could name a few: practical atheism and the loss of the sense of the sacred, (thus rendering a day consecrated to God totally irrelevant), and the idolatry of the economy -- of materialism, consumerism and work.


I use the term "idolatry" to suggest that our obsession with work and consumerism amounts to another religion that has displaced Christianity for many otherwise decent people. For believing Christians, this "idolatry" or "other religion" can also be termed a "heresy."


It is such an unpopular word nowadays, and I only employ it because it best communicates the truth! Those Christians who think nothing of skipping Church on Sunday morning, while dutifully lining up at Walmart or Home Depot, such Christians may be the nicest neighbours in the world, but that doesn't change the fact that they have unconsciously fallen prey to the spiritual power of a heresy. If I were to give a name to this heresy, I would label it neo-Pelagianism.


Pelagius and his followers denied the reality of original sin, and the necessity of grace for the human person to attain virtue and holiness. It is an exaltation of the human will, a form of practical atheism at the level of the will. Neo-Pelagianism does not deny the existence of God, but simply our need for his grace in our daily activities. It believes that through our own work, effort, and busyness, we can successfully create a pleasurable and fulfilling life.


Neo-Pelagians do not believe in "wasting" time with God or family, either for an hour in a pew on Sunday morning, or with the kids in the sandbox, or just listening to one's spouse. These modern, unconscious heretics tend to see only work as holy and meaningful


These neo-Pelagians, found in every social class and denomination, are the type who would have voted "YES" to Sunday shopping in Nova Scotia's referendum. They would not have objected in the least to the Supreme Court decision in 1985 to abolish the Lord's Day Act (what Lord?). In so far as our formerly Christian society has been leavened for decades with various heresis such as materialism and neo-Pelagianism, the abolition of Sunday is logical and unsurprising. It is nonetheless disastrous.


We have no more time in our post-Christian culture. Recall some of the time-poverty disorders of our society listed above (workaholism, stress, depression, road rage, attention deficit disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, and many stress-related illnesses). We thought we could take time from God and keep it to ourselves. Seduced by the glamour of following our own will apart from God, we thought that by skipping Sunday we would have more time to do what we wanted. Alas, we have tragically discovered the opposite.


What is the solution? Secular strategies abound. A national movement in the States called "Take Back Your Time" has produced its own website, book and celebrates its own "Tack Back Your Time Day" on October 24th. But the Sabbath is rarely mentioned. These "take back your timers" sound eerily like neo-Pelagians . "We can take back our time without a word about God! Through our own work and effort we can make more time and successfully create a pleasurable and fulfilling life!" .



The solution is simple, obvious and unpopular, for it requires repentance. The Sabbath has been profaned. We have forgotten the Sabbath day, and failed to keep it holy. We have wasted and lost our time. If we want to "take back our time," we must repent and return to the author of time, who alone can create out of nothing. Let us "take back our time" by "taking back the Sabbath," by keeping the Sabbath holy.



JOHN PAUL II DIES DOMINI



In Dies Domini, John Paul II reminds us that we keep Sunday holy by committing our time to sharing in the Eucharist, and by relaxing in a spirit of Christian joy and fraternity (#7). Some people think we can have one without the other: we can relax just fine without going to Church; we can enjoy our time apart from God; we do not need the grace of God in our daily activities.


How vain the neo-Pelagian denial of grace! All the unconscious neo-Pelagians, feverish workaholics and despairing insomniacs, will not be cured with a warm glass of milk and a pat on the head with the idle admonition, "just relax." Those who are victims of the spiritual power of a heresy need divine intervention, the Holy Spirit, the saving grace of God -- the grace communicated to us through sharing in the Eucharist. Let Wisdom cry out in the streets to those flocking to the gym or dietician, and tell them the true secret to health and wellness -- keep the Sabbath holy, and come to the Eucharist, then you will learn how to truly relax and enjoy life as God intended!





The Eucharist will teach us the true meaning of rest, how to "be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46). We recall that God himself "rested" on the seventh day. John Paul explains the deeper meaning of God’s “rest”as a contemplative gaze full of joyous delight in his very good work, “a gaze which does not look to new accomplishments, but that enjoys the beauty of what has been achieved (#11). On Sunday, through the Eucharist and relaxation, we are meant to gratefully enjoy the beauty of what we already have, both what God has given us, and what we have achieved with his help.


Sunday relaxation has another beneficial effect. As John Paul writes: “Rest is something ‘sacred’ - man’s way of withdrawing from the sometimes excessively demanding cycle of earthly tasks to renew his awareness that everything is the work of God.”

Rest reminds us that all is grace. In this way, Sunday rest can deliver us from the demon of Pelagianism and slavery to our own restless self-will.


The Sabbath rest will also renew our relationships:“through Sunday rest, daily concerns and tasks can find their proper perspective - material things about which we worry give way to spiritual values . . . we see the true face of the people with whom we live” (#67). Remember those married couples who have no time for each other, and parents who have no time for their children? If only we would take back the Sabbath and keep it holy, we would have the time and grace to see the true face of the people with whom we live, and appreciate them and love them all the more.


There is much more wisdom we could extract from the Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, but I leave it to you all to read in your copious free time.


On the question of the Christian Sabbath, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (as interpreted by the Supreme Court) has turned back the clock in Canada to the pre-Christian era. As in the early Roman Empire, Sunday is neither a public holy day nor a universal day of rest. Yet Christians can still keep it holy, if we are willing to imitate some of the heroic virtues of our ancestors.


John Paul II recalls that during the Diocletian persecution, some Christians accepted death rather than miss the Eucharist and profane the Sabbath (#46). Could Christians today not accept a little inconvenience by waiting to shop until Monday, and could they not devote one hour on Sunday to the public worship of God?


Let us respond to the prophetic invitation of John Paul the Great, which has been echoed already in the pontificate of Benedict XVI: "I would strongly urge everyone to re-discover Sunday: Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ! . . . Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human" (Dies Domini, #7).

Answer 2

Yeah, and maybe the Jews and the 7th Day'ers can work together to seal up Saturday. Does anyone else have a different day of the week we can close up?

Myself, I am in the habit of meeting together with my fellow believers on the first day of the week. It's worked pretty well for a couple of millenia, regardless of what the rest of the world did or didn't do.

If you regard Sunday as too holy to shop, then do like the Jews. Observe the "Sabbath" on your own.

I remember having lunch on a Saturday with some Jewish friends, as it was the only day we would be able to meet. They were traveling through, but we went to their hotel room because they could not travel very far on the Sabbath. They had prepared some food the evening before and kept it refrigerated. The lights and the TV were off. By the light of the sun coming in through the windows we ate and talked. It really seemed like the world had stopped and their devotion, though unspoken, shone through the way they conducted themselves.

Why do you want the unbelieving world to validate your religion, and your relationship with Christ? Live as Christ would have you, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Answer 3

I agree that the Sabbath is meant to be kept holy. It is one of the Ten Commandments. However, Sunday is not the Sabbath. The Sabbath is properly observed from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. The Sabbath day was replaced with the Lord's day (or Sunday) by the council of Nicea in AD 325. This was done at the strong request (some say coercion) of the bishop of Rome, who later became the pope. Thank the Roman emporer Constantine for creating this confusion and for our collective failure to honor the Sabbath.

Answer 4

Listen here killer, just because your pastor says that Sunday applies as a day of rest for EVERYONE isn't true. I'm not a Christian anymore because I couldn't understand views like this and people like you! Where is it in your power to say what god approves of or not? Sorry but the world doesn't run on the Christian schedule. Also why can Christian businesses stay open on Sunday and "heathen" ones can't? Stay in your phew and shut the hell up. Oh yeah, I'm a heathen and proud of it.

Answer 5

... why does Marathon get the exception? If they're good and Christian, shouldn't they have to not be open on the Sabatth just like everyone else? Obviously, they have to be open on sunday, or else you might not have the gas to get to church. And then you'd have to walk there. And how can you rest if you have to walk? So it's not observing the sabbath, but only so we can observe the sabbath. But if you make an exception for gas, why not make an exception for everything that makes life easier? It sounds like the world just needs to make a bunch of "sunday robots" that do all their work on sunday. so no one works, but if you need a new tire to get to Church, you can just go to the robot operated gas station!

Go ahead and boycott the places that are open on Sundays. You'll just end up driving the places that AREN'T open on sundays but whose competition is out of business.

Answer 6

No, you don't need to force the world to honor the Sabbath. If you feel God convicting you of not keeping the Sabbath, then YOU need to honor the Sabbath. God will ask you to answer for how you respond to the truth He reveals to you. Why would a "heathen" business need to be closed to honor God? If shopping on the Sabbath goes against your conscience, then don't shop on the Sabbath. There's no need to start a war over what non-believers (or even other believers) can do on the Sabbath.

Answer 7

Is Sunday the Sabbath? The Jewish people think Friday- Sundown to Saturday sundown.
How do we know that God said Sunday must be your Sabbath. What about the people who have to work on Sunday and they make Tuesday their Sabath?
Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not the other way around.
Boycott all the businesses you want. But make it your decision to do so.

Answer 8

People need to make a living you know! It's what makes the world keep spinning.

It is NOT up to YOU or ANY other Christians JUST because they participate in a certain religion to make these decisions.

No, you don't need to boycott Wal-Mart and grocery stores and gas stations. For some people this is their only free time and they need to take advantage of it.

If YOU don't want to participate like the non-Christians then be my guest, but what about all the people who aren't? Spending time with our families is fine, and I'm sorry hun but it's not exactly interrupted by a trip to the grocery store. For the people who don't participate in the religion, that is completely unfair. And your attempt to make your point is not only offensive, but you're giving Christians a bad name.

Answer 9

The Sabbath was created for Man not Man for the Sabbath. God doesn't care what day you take to rest and reflect on him. Don't become a modern-day Pharasee.

I work in healthcare, you know what would happen if we closed the ER on Sunday? People would die. Even Jesus healed on the Sabbath. If you own a business and chose to close it on the Sabbath that you chose, do so. God bless you.

Focus what is most important: your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and following the Spirit.

Answer 10

The sabbath, moron, is from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Why do you care if heathen business are open on a day devoted to the sun god? You don't even know why you go to church on Sunday, do you? Here's a clue: every time you do it, you're bowing the knee to the pope. How do you like that?
Why don't you read the' Big book of Grim Fairy Tales' for yourself, or better yet, have a thought of your own.
BTW--no one cares what your pastor says.

Answer 11

Are these the same christians that elect people that support the death penalty. Heathen businesses? Holy Wars fought in the name of religon? Have you always been this bigotted or is that part of your Bible teachings as well. You can't pick and choose the parts of the Bible you agree with but you can choose to shop on Sunday or not. Get a life....