Children’s Catechism, week 28
July 12, 2010Q. 86. What is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.
Q. 87. What does the fourth commandment teach us?
A. To keep the Sabbath holy.
Yesterday our church had "strangers within its' gates." We required them, a manservant, his wife, and their sons and daughters to entertain us. They did a robust job. They, sang and played on their instruments and we were entertained. We sat like royalty clapping when appropriate, laughing when we were supposed to, joining in with them in their singing as required. A jolly good time was had by all. At the end we attended to the money changers table in the lobby and either wheedled discount or paid full price for the proffered CD's, t-Shirts and other assorted paraphernalia. As an aside, it wasn't long ago we were collectively chewed out for arguing doctrine in that same lobby.
The Sabbath appears to be a tricky day to observe in our modern world, but I can't find anywhere in Scripture where its observance has been rescinded. I think what has been rescinded is our reverence toward it and the God Who gave us that fourthsuggestion commandment.
We seem to believe that if we can sit still, be quiet and solemn for 1 hour that should pretty much cover all the Sabbath bases for the coming week. In general the only thing we really ask in return is that we get out by noon or shortly thereafter so we can make the heathen wait on us at Bob Evans without our being inconvenienced by waiting in line for very long.
I think we really should consider a return to teaching our children the catechism. At least they, then, should be able to remind us what the Sabbath is supposed to be about. But, of course, that would require the kiddies sit with Mom and Dad leaving their Blackberries and i-Pods in the off position: Without monitoring the kids tend to text - always. I can't envision that happening anytime soon because as I glance around I notice Mom and Dad aren't really there either: They are on their Blackberries. I thought the Stock Market was closed on Sunday. I guess not. Maybe Mom and Dad are reading the on-line Blue Letter Bible.
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.
Q. 87. What does the fourth commandment teach us?
A. To keep the Sabbath holy.
Yesterday our church had "strangers within its' gates." We required them, a manservant, his wife, and their sons and daughters to entertain us. They did a robust job. They, sang and played on their instruments and we were entertained. We sat like royalty clapping when appropriate, laughing when we were supposed to, joining in with them in their singing as required. A jolly good time was had by all. At the end we attended to the money changers table in the lobby and either wheedled discount or paid full price for the proffered CD's, t-Shirts and other assorted paraphernalia. As an aside, it wasn't long ago we were collectively chewed out for arguing doctrine in that same lobby.
The Sabbath appears to be a tricky day to observe in our modern world, but I can't find anywhere in Scripture where its observance has been rescinded. I think what has been rescinded is our reverence toward it and the God Who gave us that fourth
We seem to believe that if we can sit still, be quiet and solemn for 1 hour that should pretty much cover all the Sabbath bases for the coming week. In general the only thing we really ask in return is that we get out by noon or shortly thereafter so we can make the heathen wait on us at Bob Evans without our being inconvenienced by waiting in line for very long.
I think we really should consider a return to teaching our children the catechism. At least they, then, should be able to remind us what the Sabbath is supposed to be about. But, of course, that would require the kiddies sit with Mom and Dad leaving their Blackberries and i-Pods in the off position: Without monitoring the kids tend to text - always. I can't envision that happening anytime soon because as I glance around I notice Mom and Dad aren't really there either: They are on their Blackberries. I thought the Stock Market was closed on Sunday. I guess not. Maybe Mom and Dad are reading the on-line Blue Letter Bible.
