The Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The Sabbath is to be
sanctified by a holy resting all that day,[1]
even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days;[2]
and spending the whole time in the public
and private exercises of God’s worship,[3]
except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.[4]
[1]
Exodus 20:8, 10; 16:25–28; [2] Nehemiah
13:15–22; [3] Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7;
Psalm 92 title; Isaiah 66:23; [4]
Matthew 12:1–31.
The Sabbath is sanctified by God, in His appointing it to be holy, but it is to be sanctified by man, in his observing and keeping it as holy, i.e., as a day that belongs to God. Thomas Vincent has rightly observed that there are two parts to observing and keeping the Sabbath holy, namely: (1) by a holy resting; (2) by holy exercises.
Holy resting refers, not only, to ceasing from activities that are in
themselves sinful, but also from worldly engagements, recreations and thoughts
which on the other six days of the week are lawful and may even be our duty. In
other words, we are not to find our own pleasure, do what we want, or speak as
we like on the Sabbath Day (Isa 58:13).
There are some works in our particular callings which may seem to be most
timely and advantageous on the Sabbath day, such as the operating of a retail
shop or restaurant, for which business is especially ‘good’ on Sunday. Yet, it
is our duty to rest from them, and to wholly refrain from them (cf. Neh 13:15–18).
This is especially so if they are works for our own advantage, in which case
whatever loss we may seem to sustain by such forbearance, we may “be sure it is
not comparable to the loss of God’s favour, the wounding of our conscience and
the loss of our souls forever, which will be the fruit of living in the breach
of God’s law” (Thomas Vincent). We should however apply judicious judgement in
the cases of the modern society where there are certain works that cannot be
done on any other days without unbearable hardship to our employers, to those
we work with, or to those we provide service for, as in the case of essential
services such as medical care, emergency services and electricity generation.
We may even add public transport in a city such as Singapore where private
transportation is practically unaffordable for the average citizen. A rule of
thumb is to distinguish between ‘want to’ and ‘have to.’
Holy exercises refer to participation in public and private acts of worship, as
well as activities designed for the increase of our own or our brethren’s faith
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, such as Bible studies, singing of
Psalms, reading of the Scripture and Christian literature, fellowship with the
saints, writing of edifying letters, etc. These things are especially enjoined.
Besides all these, the Lord’s exposition of the Sabbath principle in Matthew
12:1–12; and Luke 13:14–16, etc., teaches us that works of emergency, necessity
and mercy, such as: eating, drinking, defending ourselves from enemies,
quenching the fire of houses, visiting the sick, relieving the poor, feeding
cattle and the like, are also allowable.