When Will The Sabbath End? (Amos 8:5)

 


Thursday, July 25, 2024


Psalms 62; 63

Amos 8:4-14

Romans 2:25-3:8


Observance: James, apostle and martyr


When Will The Sabbath End? (Amos 8:5)


There’s a film about a small village on a little island off the coast of Scotland during the Second World War. Suffering from wartime whisky rations, the people rejoice when a cargo ship founders off the coast, allowing the crew to escape, leaving the ship’s hold full of whisky just off shore, waiting for the villagers to go and claim it. Their stern Calvinist pastor, however, forbids them from carrying out the whisky rescue mission until the next day, as no work is to be done on the Sabbath. Waiting at the docks in the freezing night, the men of the village count down the seconds to the stroke of midnight, at which they then set out and rescue as much of the amber liquid as they can.


As fun as that scene is, it does make one ask the question: what is the purpose of keeping one day of the week set apart as holy?


Amos condemns those who fidget during the Sabbath, those who can’t wait to be able to get back to the business of the marketplace. There seems to be a general attitude amongst these people that the Sabbath is a nuisance, something that gets in the way of the real work of life. And to top it all off, they aren’t even charging fair prices – skimping the measure, boosting the price, cheating with dishonest scales, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.


When we look at this kingdom of heaven, the building of which we have been tasked, one of the things we need to make sure we get right is our attitude towards Sunday worship and, indeed, the whole day.


I, sadly, know of people who talk about going to church early on a Sunday morning so that they can “get it out of the way”. As if the obligation to church attendance is something that intrudes on our day off. Can we please flip this around? In the new heavens and the new earth, worship will be the core of our existence; there is something transcendentally beautiful about worshipping the Lord in the beauty of his holiness. The Sunday service is our glimpse into that future and glorious reality. And it should be shaping the rest of our lives as we live the week around it.


Does your Sunday worship service help you step into the promises of heaven? What might you do to do this better?


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