Work on the Sabbath

Luke 13:10-17 describes Jesus healing a woman on the Sabbath, which is the second occurrence we've read where people were upset that Jesus was dishonoring the Sabbath. About a year ago, I went to a meeting in Des Moines with a woman who described how some of her friends honored Sunday by not participating in anything that requires anyone to work on Sunday. This meant no TV (someone has to man the production booths), obviously no sports of any kind, no shopping, etc. I asked her two questions:

1. Was this some kind of pronouncement of those people's religion (no)

2. Did they not go to church since that would make the pastor work on Sunday (she laughed at that)

I won't belabor a point I've made previously (if YOU wish to belabor it, you can view that post here), but Christ's message was the simple one of mercy over adherence to the law. Having said that, while I don't want the blue laws of old brought back, I do wonder if we've debased Sundays and what they're supposed to mean. As a former K-mart manager, it was not unusual for me to work Sundays, but since I left that company in 1992, things have gotten much worse. Stores that used to close at 6:00 pm now stay open until 8:00 pm or longer and open earlier. Children's sports activities, once almost verboten on Sundays, now seem to begin as soon as the sun rises. Have we gone too far?

When Christ healed the woman, he was fulfilling what we're supposed to remember on Sunday--kindness and mercy to our brethren. What's the point of reflecting and contemplating service when we walk right past an opportunity to serve? The Pharisees were all about strict observance, and Christ was about repentance and throwing off the old ways. It wasn't an easy change (what significant change is), but it would prove to be a life-changing one, one that we need to remember EVERY day, and not just on Sunday.

Scott