23Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"
25But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"
27And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."
The third commandment is to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. I was brought up with the understanding that you go to church on Sundays and no one should have to go to work on Sunday. I was taught that Sunday is the Lord's day. But where is the fine line that divides work and rest? What about other needs that arise on Sundays?
God has always watched out for our needs. Some needs he recognizes and takes care of before we even realize they are needs. One of those needs he has fulfilled is through the weekly day of rest on the Sabbath. Here it says God created the Sabbath for man. This was provided to meet only one of man's needs - weekly rest. There may be times when other needs outweigh the need for rest, such as hunger. Since the Sabbath was made by God rather than by man, God is Lord of the Sabbath and He decides what can or can't be done on the Sabbath. Man shouldn't add his own rules of what should or shouldn't be done because of the Sabbath.
So if man was not created for the Sabbath, why do we worship on Sundays? The Sabbath was created as a day of rest. And what more restful way to spend a day than in the renewal of Spirit through worship and hearing God's word? It is only natural that we find time and want to worship on our day of rest. Since many people are taking that same time off from work, it is a convenient time for gathering for community worship. Therefore it could be that the regular Sunday worship is a result of the weekly Sabbath, not the weekly Sabbath because of the Sunday worship.
Also, if it was never intended that Sabbath necessarily be the worship day, when does God want us to worship? From what I read here, there is nothing that is supposed to make Sunday a more Godly day than any other day of the week. God is at work in our lives every day of the week. We should be keeping God in the forefront of our thoughts every day of the week too. There is never a time or place that worship and prayer wouldn't be appropriate.
Finally, where is the fine line that divides work and rest? What if one person's rest creates work for another? Should a mother have to cook on Sunday or should she have a day of rest and take the family out to eat? But then someone would have to work at the restaurant. I was a lifeguard for 5 years. I worked on Sundays so many people could go to the swimming pool on Sunday as part of their day of rest. Should the husband watch football on Sunday? But the athletes are not getting the day off for rest then either. Some of the family outings that many would enjoy on the day the entire family has off from work might include shopping, visiting a zoo, going to a movie, etc. But then someone would need to be working on those days in order for those facilities to be open.
I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but here is my perspective. First of all, the Sabbath was created for man so man would have a day of rest every week. It is a gift that He wants everyone to take advantage of. But God also made it clear that there may be other needs that arise that override taking the day completely in rest. He made it clear that needing to work on the Sabbath is not breaking any laws. Jesus knew what lay ahead. He could have easily had his disciples gather food ahead of time if He really didn't want them to work on the Sabbath.
Hopefully you will do what you can to take advantage of this gift from God, to have a day of rest on the Sabbath. But if you are not able to take the day that God gave you for rest, you should try to take a different day as rest. God knows you need it. Pray that those who must work on Sundays are only working then because they need to work then, and that they still get a different day of rest and find time and place to refresh their spirits.
But what about the commandment to remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy? Is this instead referring to whatever day/time you take as rest? Is it simply saying to keep holy whatever you do at rest? Luther's Small Catechism interprets this commandment as "We are to love and fear God so that we do not neglect his word and the preaching of it, but gladly regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it." He emphasizes our enrichment in God's Word, not what activities we should or shouldn't do on a particular day.
So the message I finally get from all of this is remember to take a time of rest. Do good not evil when you take that time of rest. The natural way to really rest and renew your spirit is through worship and studying God's Word. When you worship and study God's Word, do so joyfully, for this is something we should all look forward to. Thank God for these opportunities. And while you're at it, thank God for watching out for our well being so carefully by insisting that we take time to rest!