A Lord's Day Example

Over the past number of weeks I have been spending some time thinking about the Lord's Day, what the Westminster Confession of Faith calls the "Christian Sabbath". I've been wondering how Christians treat the Lord's Day when they are on vacation, how we generally view Sunday, etc. Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach a sermon on worship and the Christian Sabbath, using, not only Is. 58:13-14 and Matthew 12:1-8, but also the WCF Chapter 25. I am giving 4 afternoon sermons and reading the WCF publicly and then evaluating it with the Word of God. This has gotten my thoughts going on this subject. 

However, once in awhile, I have a fear that as a minister, I might view things in terms of applying the Word of God to the lives of God's people unrealistically. Here is a reminder for ministers of the Word to be intimately involved in the lives of the congregation. This is why I asked my friend, Jonathan Gelderman to write his thoughts on how Sunday observance effects him as a realtor in light of the plethora of OPEN HOUSE signs I see on Sundays as I drive to worship. Here is his email to me.

Hi Rev. Swets,

You asked me to write you about my opinion on open houses on Sunday.

I suppose the heart of the answer is tied directly to how you determine a Sunday to be observed. The Reformed interpretation of Sunday observance has its roots in the Old Testament Sabbath laws, the key one being the fourth commandment. The ten commandments to this day are observed to their fullest extent and read from the pulpit each and every week. You won’t find any Reformer who says the fourth commandment doesn’t apply today:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to 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; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

Therefore in my business I take the fourth commandment and, in keeping with the Reformed faith, I apply that to my observance of Sunday. God not only calls me to not do any work, but I may not have my man servant or maid servant work either. We also understand that to mean people should not work for us on a Sunday. For me, the observance is pretty simple: I do not have appointments on Sunday and return no work calls or emails (excepting emergencies of which there are few).

For a seller, virtually all my Reformed clients say the same thing: no Sunday showings please! And this is a very common occurance with numerous listings thru Chilliwack especially. Open houses are the same thing, perhaps even worse: as a seller requesting or allowing an open house on a Sunday, you are causing your agent to work on Sunday—which is strictly forbidden by God! Your realtor is either a manservant/maidservant or a sojourner; either way you are not to cause them to work on Sunday.

I suppose if virtually all houses sold via open houses on Sundays this would perhaps be a much longer conversation, however given the fact that fewer than 1% of listings sell via an open house, it has nothing to do with the success of a sale. It is then that much worse to have your realtor hold an open house and cause them to work for you on a Sunday.

Just my thoughts!


Jonathan Gelderman, PREC*
RE/MAX Aldercenter Realty
www.Gelderman.ca
 

This email highlights how a businessman in the congregation has to take the word of God and apply it to his life. As it says in Isaiah 58:13-14, when we are obedient to God, then the Sabbath is a delight. I never want to fall into a form of legalism dealing with this issue, but on the other hand, I never want to personally, or for those I am called to shepherd, to fall into a spiritual laziness which ends up making the Lord's Day into "My Day."