Question 1May we work on Sundays and do any activity we want? Or, are Sundays sacred where working is to be avoided and our activities are limited to only certain things?
And, if we believe a Sunday is sacred, may we justify this by stating it as God's will?
Didn't God rest on the last, on the seventh day of creation? Hasn't he also asked his people do do likewise, take a day of rest from work every week (see the 10 commandments)?
But the bible also reads that ...
Jesus did many things which the people of the day considered 'work'. He healed. He picked corn. Indeed Jesus even chastised people for their hypocrisy for they too would do things considered 'work' if they needed to (e.g. Luke 13:15).
But that is different to earning an income on Sundays. Is it? Yes, the examples Jesus was involved in were not about income earning. They were simply about doing stuff. But, just because income earning is not among the examples doesn't mean it is not on the avoid doing list. Maybe. But the point is, these examples reveal work is not directly connected to income. And thus earning an income on a Sunday cannot be put into a special category.
Question 2
What is work? By definition work is exerting effort to produce or accomplish something. So, is work what we physically do? Or can work also be something else? For example, have you heard someone say they, for example, they are "making an effort to change their attitude" or "making arrangements to go on holidays"? Indeed they may say it in other ways, 'trying to' or indeed 'working at'. The point is the same ... effort is being given to achieve something.
Work.
So should we avoid trying to change our attitudes on Sundays? Is that even possible? Would trying to stop, itself, be a type of effort or work to achieve? Are priests and ministers making an effort, working, to teach us Sunday morning?
Question 3
So, if avoiding work is impossible, let alone on Sundays, then surely we should minimise it? That is a good thought but whose list will be followed? And will they create boundaries between people? What does God say about what worship is, about living harmoniously, about favouritism? (read Acts 10; Romans 2; Galatians 2; Colossians 3; Ephesians 6 and also ... James 2)
One more question:
If God chose to have a rest on the seventh day of creation, are we still in it, or did he go back to work?
- Do we still live in God's day of rest? Anyone who has a full time job and also rests on Sundays, works for at least 85% of the week (and this only accounts for income earning income). So, does God ask us to work while he is resting and for how long will this continue?
- Has God returned to work? And if so are we to apply it to a 7 day weekly calendar or something different? If God's calendar is synchronised with our Sundays off, will he then heal or forgive on the Sunday? Yes? Then surely God is working on the very day we suggest is designated, by him, for rest. Are our requests therefore falling on deaf ears on that day, because he is resting? Should we even therefore bother about church attendance on Sundays? Indeed, why would people claim to be healed while at church on Sundays?
Conclusion
Either God asks us to live one way and he another, or he intends his actions and ours, though imperfect, to be the same. My suggestion is that if it is the first way, then we may continue living the way we are. However, if he indeed intends his and our actions to align then we must reassess how we approach Sundays, rest and his will.
