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Easter Sunday and Christian Values in the Year 2018

Copyright © April 2, 2018 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.

All Scripture Verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.



Introduction

Church Yesterday was Easter (April 1, 2018).

Before our church's normal 11 AM worship service our pastor asked some of the men of the church to please help him move some extra chairs from one of the storage closets into the main worship area and and to put the chairs at the front of the church on the right and left sides. These areas normally contained no seating because these areas were behind the piano and the organ and they were off to each side of the pulpit.

This was not unusual for our church on Easter Sunday, or for many churches throughout the USA. Our church is about 75% to 85% full on a normal Sunday and there are empty seats scattered throughout the worship area. However on Easter Sunday we usually have between 95% to 110% attendance which means that some late arrivals would have to stand unless extra chairs had already been positioned around the worship area for them to sit on.

After the morning worship service was over I casually overheard several people talking about where they were going to eat lunch. And that started me thinking about a topic I have had on my mind for several years. The topic was "What should a Christian do on a Sunday?" If you are interested in knowing my thoughts on this subject then please continue reading.



Discussion

Most Christians observe Sunday, the first day of the week, as a day of rest and worship. In other words, most Christians observe Sunday as a Sabbath day (instead of Saturday). Some of the reasons for this are as follows:

The above scripture verses from the Holy Bible provide some of the reasons why most Christians observe Sunday as their Sabbath day. It was the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and it was the day He showed Himself alive to many of His followers. Over the next few years the newly formed Christian churches gradually began to observe the first day of the week as the day they would meet together and worship God. That practice has continued into the twenty-first century.

If we accept Sunday as being the Sabbath day for Christians, then the next question is: "What should Christians do and not do on Sunday?"

The answer to this question should be based on the Holy Bible.

The above scriptures specifically mention that it is okay to prepare food to eat on the Sabbath, and that is okay to care for the needs of our livestock (or pets), and that is okay to meet the needs of sick people on the Sabbath.

The next question is this: "Who should be allowed the freedom to rest and to worship on a Sunday?"

The above verse says that a believer, and the believer's children, servants, and livestock should all be allowed to rest on the Sabbath. It also says that the "alien" or foreigners who are living among us should be allowed to rest.

The next question is: "What is rest and what is work?"

The above scripture mentions that treading grapes in a winepress, and putting loads on donkeys, and selling food and merchandise, were all being done on the Sabbath day but all these activities were desecrating the Sabbath day.

When I was young in the 1960s the only places that were open for business on a Sunday were restaurants, gas stations, hotels/motels, movie theaters, pharmacies, and hospitals. One Sunday on the way home from church my mother stopped at a pharmacy (drug store) and asked me to go inside and buy her a pair of kitchen gloves so she could do the dishes after we ate lunch on Sunday (her previous pair of kitchen gloves had split open the night before while she was washing dishes by hand -- this was before the invention of automatic dish washers). I went into the drug store, picked up the kitchen gloves, and carried them to the checkout register to pay for them. But the clerk told me he couldn't sell me those gloves on Sunday because of the "blue law" which prohibited the sale of anything "work" related on a Sunday. When I returned to the car I told my mother what had happened and she said she had never thought of kitchen gloves that way because in her mind washing dishes on Sunday was the same thing as cooking meals on a Sunday. It was all part of the normal process of feeding her family.

However in the year 2018 almost all stores are open on Sunday. Some stores are open 24 hours per day seven days per week. But many stores delay opening on Sunday until 12 noon. (I do not know if this is Church related or if is because people sleep late on Sunday.) Grocery stores, department stores, flea markets, clothing stores, and almost every other type of store is now open on Sundays. I am amazed at how things have changed since the 1960s when God was expelled from our public school systems.

However, even in the year 2018 there are exceptions.

For example, automobile repair shops are normally closed on Sundays (and some are also closed on Saturdays) because the people who do the repair work need a day off, and it is difficult to find a part-time person with the necessary repair experience who does not already have a full-time job during the week.

Chick-fil-A Sign Chick-fil-A restaurants are also closed on Sundays. They always have been. It is interesting to note that Chick-fil-A restaurants have the highest average sales per store per year when compared to the 50 largest fast food restaurant chains in the USA. The average Chick-fil-A restaurant has approximately 20% more revenue per store per year when compared to McDonalds (its closest competitor in terms of sales per store per year). Chick-fil-A has approximately 6 times (600%) more revenue per store per year than the average Subway restaurant. Business analysts propose a lot of different reasons why Chick-fil-A is so extremely successful even though it is only open 6 days per week instead of 7 days like everyone else. Business analysts do not mention that God may approve of Chick-fil-A's six-day business model and God intentionally blesses Chick-fil-A restaurants for doing what He asks us to do in the Holy Bible.

Chick-fil-A's six-day business plan is supported in the Holy Bible in the following scripture verses:
In summary, on the Sabbath day it is okay to prepare and eat food, and it is okay to care for the needs of our livestock (or pets), and it is okay to meet the needs of sick people. The Sabbath day is to be a day of worship and a day of rest. Christians, their family members, their servants (or employees), and the foreigners who live among us should be allowed to rest on the Sabbath day.

Christians are not responsible for the activities of people who are not Christians. Non-Christians are accountable to God and God will evaluate the behavior of non-Christians when they stand before God's throne.

The next question is: "What standard should Christians use to evaluate their beliefs and their behavior?
  1. If the government has defined an activity to be a legal activity, then can a Christian engage in that activity with a clear conscious? If the government legalizes and encourages abortion and homosexuality then should Christians engage in these activities because the government has declared them to be legal?
  2. If the Holy Bible says that an activity is wrong, then should a Christian avoid that activity? Since the fourth commandment says, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" then should Christians obey this commandment?
  3. Is it okay for Christians to pick the scriptures in the Holy Bible they want to follow, and to ignore the scriptures they do not wish to obey?
  4. Is it okay for Christians to do something because a lot of other Christians are doing it and their pastor says it is okay?
In the year 2018 most stores can be legally open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Even though stores are open on Sundays, should a Christian do all of his or her shopping during six-days and not do any shopping on Sunday?
Should a Christian eat at a restaurant on Sunday?

Sundays are the busiest day of the week for most restaurants.
Many Christians eat at a restaurant on a Sunday because they believe they "deserve a day of rest."
But if a Christian eats at a restaurant on Sunday then he is requiring the restaurant's servants (employees) to work on Sunday in order to serve him.
Does the Holy Bible say that only Christians deserve a day of rest?
Or does the Holy Bible say that servants and foreigners who live among us also deserve a day of rest?

In the 1960s most Christians agreed on the answers to the above questions.
However, in the year 2018 many Christians disagree on the answers to the above questions.
I wonder what that reveals about Christian ethics in the year 2018?



Conclusion

It is easy for Christians to justify what they do by saying that everyone else is doing it and therefore it won't make any difference if they do it or don't do it.

However, each one of us is accountable to God for what we do and for what we don't do. We will not be judged based on what other people do or don't do.

Chick-fil-A Restaurant Do you believe Chick-fil-A's six-day business strategy is so remarkably successful because of their management decisions, or do you believe that God is blessing Chick-fil-A restaurants for being obedient to His fourth commandment and keeping the Sabbath day holy? (Please remember that Chick-fil-A restaurants are more profitable on a per store basis than all of the other 49 most profitable fast-food chain restaurants in the USA even though those other restaurants are open seven-days per week.)

Do you believe that God is pleased with a Christian who does all of his or her shopping and "eating out" on six-days and who does not shop or go to a restaurant on a Sunday?
Do you believe that God will bless and prosper a Christian who keeps the Sabbath day holy, when compared to a Christian who does not keep the Sabbath day holy as defined by God?

However, sometimes unusual situations happen on a Sunday. Jesus gave an example of an unusual situation when He said: "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?"

Sometimes an unusual event may require us to do something on a Sunday we would not normally do. When my father died several years ago I drove eleven hours on Friday so I could attend his funeral services on Saturday. The services were over at about 6 PM on Saturday evening. I ate supper at a restaurant, filled my gas tank, and spent the night in a motel. On Sunday I drove eleven hours home so I could be at work on Monday morning. On Sunday I filled my gas tank up twice during that drive home, and I ate at a fast-food restaurant twice. This is not something I normally do and I was not pleased with myself for doing it. But it was the most practical way to get home safely and to be at work on Monday morning and be able to do a good day's work without being fatigued and exhausted.

Each Christian will need to make his or her own decision on what he will do or what he will not do on the Lord's Day.
The reason is because one day each one of us will stand alone before God's throne to receive our rewards for the deeds we have done in the flesh.




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