good Sundays

When I was a young man, my denomination was seriously debating what we could do on Sunday. We were emerging from a period of strict observance, when the Sabbath was a day for worship, naps and visiting relatives but not much else. People were pushing back a bit, wanting enjoy recreation and leisure as part of their day of rest. These days this isn’t much of a topic anymore, and things that would have made my grandparents cringe are commonplace.

I was prompted to think again about these things by this short passage from Matthew 12:9-13: “Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him,‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’
“He said to them,‘If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’
“Then he said to the man,‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”

Note how the Pharisees in this passage really weren’t concerned about the crippled man, or about doing good, or about pleasing God. Their Sabbaths were legalistic rule-following, and the best rule-followers were deemed the most godly. In fact, Matthew states a clear motive: they wanted to trip Jesus up.

It makes me remember all the arguments about Sunday activity that were and are grounded mostly in personal preference. I remember one person who was very vocal about the inappropriateness of church meetings on Sunday, for example, but who spent most of her Sunday afternoons at the mall.

Matthew suggests a pretty simple test for Sundays: what things are good? What things are focused on helping others with their needs, or helping them be better Jesus-followers? Instead of thinking about what would make a nice day for me, Sunday should probably be the day I think about myself the least.