earth is our mother, that time is money and profit our mate. Te seventh day is a reminder that God is our father, that time is life and the spirit our mate.”5 Tat reminder transforms not just Sabbath, but every day of
the week. 3. Te Sabbath experience reminds us each day that it is wrong
to denigrate any other human being or class of human beings. Immigrants, refugees, homeless persons, and addicts are all God’s children, who deserve the same rest and are part of our loving concern. Equality and justice are integral to the Sabbath
“Tis is my Father’s world, And to my listening ears, All nature sings, and round me rings Te music of the spheres. Tis is my Father’s world I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.”6 Remembering our Creator should attune our ears to hear the
music of the spheres and inspire us to protect and respect the many natural resources he created. Experiencing Sabbath makes exploitation of God’s creation wrong every day of the week. 5. Could it be that the Sabbath experience might make a
Remembering our Creator should attune our ears to hear the music of the spheres and inspire us to protect and respect the many natural resources God created.
experience. Tat is why God spells out so carefully who gets to rest on Sabbath: the adults, the kids, the male slaves, the female slaves, the strangers, and the foreigners. All of his children. And they are not his children on Sabbath only. Sabbath teaches us that every act of prejudice and injustice on any day of the week is wrong. Sabbath becomes an act of resistance against any society that excludes and denigrates even the least of God’s children. 4. Te Sabbath experience reminds us that our concern goes
beyond the world of human life. Even the animals get to rest. Over the years the land gets to rest, as well. Our entire world is God’s creation and continues to be God’s concern. Care for nature goes hand-in-hand with Sabbath. Much of the world’s concern for the environment is a
pragmatic concern. We are destroying our home. It doesn’t make sense to burn down the only place you have to live. But the experience of Sabbath pushes us beyond pragmatism to principle. We care for creation not only because it makes good sense, which it does, but because:
difference in how we act on those recurring Tuesdays that allow us the opportunity to vote? We should abhor the idea of a religious country, Christian or otherwise. Adventists have not only believed in but fought for the separation of church and state. Yet, even as we preserve this separation, might the values of the Sabbath experience guide us in choosing to vote for specific people and policies—those that uphold the dignity of all people and care for the creation? Maybe Sabbath should even guide our election-Tuesday behavior. “What is right and wrong to do on Sabbath?” is the wrong
question. “How do we experience the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28) through worship, ceasing our normal work, participating in community, doing good—and, in the process, transforming our lives—in ways that make a difference every day?” Tat is the right question.
1 “Fundamental Principles,” A Declaration of the Fundamental Principles Taught and Practiced by the Seventh-day Adventists (1872), p. 7.
2 “What Do Adventists Believe?” Belief No. 20, online at
https://adventist.org/ beliefs#belief-20.
3 Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying NO to the Culture of Now (2014), p. 40. 4 I want to make it clear that Sabbath-keeping Christians are not immune to traumas, grief, and depression that might need treatment. Part of a humble confidence includes recognizing the need for appropriate physical and mental health care.
5 Abraham Joshua Heschel, Te Sabbath (FSG Classics edition, 2005), p. 65. 6 Maltbie D. Babcock, “Tis Is My Father’s World,” Te Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal (1985), Hymn No. 92.
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