For the sake
of honoring God in everything that we do, and for the benefit of those who
might be wrestling with this very issue this week, and for our general
instruction, I thought it would be good to ask the following question for
reflection and prayer before this coming Lord’s Day.
Here is the question:
“Sunday is the Super Bowl in Atlanta. And I like watching the Super Bowl. But I
also know that the game will be played on a Sunday. And part of me wants to
stay home and watch the game and another part of me is still conscious of the
Christian’s duty to sanctify the day by going to Church for the Worship of God.
Like in the time of Elijah (1 Kings 18:21) I am limping between these two
opinions. What should I do? Is it okay
to miss Sabbath worship once in a year to watch the great event of the Super Bowl
or it is still an act of breaking the Fourth Commandment?”
If any one of
you is wrestling with this very issue this week, I will first let the Prophet
Isaiah speak to you from Isaiah 58: 13-14, and then share my Pastoral challenge
and encouragement with you all.
But first,
let’s let Scripture speak through Isaiah. “If you turn back your foot from the
Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a
delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going
your own ways , or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly, then you
shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth,
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the
Lord has spoken.”
So according to
Isaiah (the Scripture), the first danger that you need to be aware of as you
wrestle with the dilemma of either using your Sunday for watching the Super
Bowl or worshiping the Lord in His house is, if you end up staying home to
watch the game than going to the public gathering of God’s people for worship,
your act will be “going your own ways”, not the way that the Lord wants you go,
especially regarding the fourth Commandment. It will be you seeking your own pleasure than
seeking for the greener pastures that are promised for you in Psalm 23:1. Have
you noticed how Isaiah echoes the same promise that we have in Psalm 23:1 when
we forsake everything that this world would offer for us in order to take us
away from our spiritual nourishment? In Verse 14, Isaiah said, “Then… you shall
take delight in the Lord and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.”
Hence, the
implication that the preference of watching the Super Bowl on a Sunday over the
worship of God has is that we forfeit the very spiritual food and refreshment
that the Lord prepares for us in His house through the ministry of the Word and
Sacrament. These were both the promises
and warnings that Isaiah expresses to us in Isaiah 58. But what is sad about this important section
of the Book of Isaiah on the Sabbath is, many people, including believers, tend
to disregard it as an instruction and reminder that was given only to the
people in the Old Testament but not to believers in the New Testament time.
People even
argue that the Fourth Commandment is not applicable today and Christians in the
New Testament era are no more bound by this Commandment. If you happen to be one of those people, I
encourage you to just remember two things.
First, what Jesus said concerning His relationship to the Ten
Commandments and then, what James said about the relevance of the moral law in
the New Testament time.
“Do not think
that I have come to abolish Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish
them but to fulfil them.” (Matthew 5:17)
Now does this
mean that because Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us we are no more obligated
to keep the Law of God? No! Because James also said, “For whoever keeps the
whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James
2:10)
What does
this mean? Jesus kept the Law for us because all our efforts to keep the law
for ourselves in order to be justified in the sight of God failed, and Jesus kept
the Law for us and justified us by faith in His death and perfect obedience on
the Cross. He then requires us to keep the commandments, not for justification,
but to express our ultimate loyalty and love for Him. Remember what Jesus said in John 14:15, “If
you love me, you will keep my Commandments.”
To put it
simply then, to make a brave determination to be in the house of the Lord to worship
God, to be fed by His Word and the Sacrament, rather than choosing to be
entertained by a temporal enjoyment of a Super Bowl event is to express your
greater love to God rather than to another god. Not to do this means you do the
exact thing that the first Commandment forbids you to do: to have another god
before the Lord God who brought you out from the slavery of Sin.
And I know
that people always makes this excuse in order to do what they want to do on a
Sunday: It is just one day in a year. I still love God and He would understand
if I miss Church just for this Sunday to watch the Super Bowl. Just one Sunday
in a year… not a big deal… is it? Well, is it okay to steal once in a year? Is
it okay to take another man’s wife once in a year? I don’t expect any one of
you to say yes. I am sure you are saying OF COURSE NOT. If that is the case, don’t you think it is
biblical and fitting to say “no” to the notion that says it is okay
to miss Sunday worship once in a year to enjoy the Super Bowl?
In the love
of Christ I encourage you all to be like Mary this coming Lord’s Day. To choose
the best part, of sitting under the feeding of God’s Word morning and evening
and even partaking on the double blessing of being nourished by the Sacrament
of the Lord Supper during the Evening Worship, rather than Watching Football
which is not heavenly manna and the recording of which can be watched on a
Monday.
“But one
thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be
taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42) Choose that good portion this Sunday!
In the love
of the good Shepherd!
Your friend
and Pastor,
Zecharias
