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The Sabbath and the LORD'S DAY

BY Robert Bruce Clapp, MPS

Too often in Masonic practice the word
Sabbath is used inaccurately and im-
properly, causing embarrassment to
Jewish and Christian brethren alike.
Many times the name ofthe weekly Jew-
ish holy day is misapplied to the weekly
Christian holy day. The purpose of this
article is to affirm and clarify that the two
are not the same. Each in itself is an
important day. Each is a key to the
proper observance of religious faith by
Jews and by Christians.

Let us look to the origins of each day, the
purpose of each day, and the celebration of
each by our Jewish and our Christian
brethren .

I. The Sabbath

Historically, the first of the two is the
Sabbath.

The name comes from the Hebrew
noun (shabbath), which appears to root
out of the verb (shabath), meaning to
rest. The Greek of both the Septuagint
and the New Testament simply translit-
erates the noun as (shabbath).

The Sabbath is the Jewish holy day each
week. It is always the seventh day of the
week, never the first. Following ancient
Jewish custom of reckoning time, the
Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday
evening and continues to sundown on
Saturday. This stands in sharp contrast
to the Christian practice of reckoning
time from midnight to midnight.

The origin of the celebration of the
Sabbath and many of the rules governing
its observance are found in the Torah
(Law, Way of Life), the first five (Penta-
teuch) Books of the Hebrew Bible.

The first chapter of the "Book of Gen-
esis" (Origins, Beginnings) provides an
account of God's original acts of cre-
ation; an explanation of what the Lord
did during the first six days of recorded
time .

In the second chapter we read: "Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them. And on the
seventh day God finished His work
which He had done, and He rested on
the seventh day from all His work which
He had done. So God blessed the seventh
day and hallowed it, because on it God
rested from all His work, which He had
done on creation. " (Genesis 2 :1-
3)(R.S.V.)

This became the origin of one of the
basic laws for life, The Ten Commandments
(Decalogue), given by God to Moses on
Mount Sinai.

In "The Book of the Exodus" we read:
"Remember the sabbath day to keep it
holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all
your work; but the seventh day is a sab-
bath to the Lord your God, in it you shall
not do any work, you, or your son, or
your daughter, your manservant, or
your maidservant or your cattle, or the
sojourner who is within your gates; for
in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested the seventh day and hallowed it. "
(Exodus 20:8-ll)(R.S.V.)

The words in Deuteronomy 5 :12-14
are very similar, but add: "You shall
remember that you were a servant in the
land of Egypt, and the Lord your God
brought you out thence with a mighty
hand and an outstretched arm, therefore
the Lord your God commanded you to
keep the sabbath day." (v.15)(R.S.V.)

Thus the Lord through Moses gave the
children of Israel this basic command-
ment to observe the Sabbath each week.
Depending on our religious tradition to-
day, it counted as either the Fourth Com-
mandment or the Third Commandment
in the list of Ten.

The origin and intent are clear; if God
rested on the seventh day, so shou}d peo-
ple. The Sabbath is God's gift to His
children, meant to be a time of rest from
our labors for one day each week, the
seventh day, beginning at sundown each
Friday. Thus it is observed by ourJewish
brethren from the time of Moses to this
day.

Let us now look at the weekly Christian
holy day.

II. The Lord's Day

The Lord's Day, the weekly Christian
holy day stands in sharp contrast to the
Sabbath in its origins, its purpose, and
its celebration. Historically, it centers
around the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Our principle source of information
about Jesus is the four canonical Gospels
(Good news), Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. All four were most probably
written in Greek, even though Jesus and
His earliest followers spoke Aramaic in
their daily lives and read the Sacred
Scriptures in Hebrew.

The four Gospels remind us that Jesus
and His Disciples were all devout Jews,
and as such, observed the Sabbath each
week. While Jesus was occasionally crit-
icized for allowing certain practices on
this day, He apparently always observed
the Sabbath. Clearly it was for Him a
holy day and a day of rest each week.

Why, then, did His later followers
change the practice? Why did they no
longer keep the Sabbath? Why was their
holy day moved to Sunday, from the
seventh day to the first day of the week?
Why was the observance changed from
a day of rest to an occasion for joyful
celebration?

The four Gospels agree that Jesus was
crucified by the Romans on Friday of
Holy Week, the day Christians now call
" Good Friday . " His execution was most
carefully timed by them to occur before
the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.
Jesus was killed on the Cross of Calvary.
He expired on Friday afternoon. His
broken body was claimed by a secret
follower (Joseph of Aramethia, a re-
spected member of the Sanhedrin), hast-
ily washed and buried in the man's own
personal rock-hewn tomb. Then the
Sabbath began.

Following the Sabbath, early on the
first day of the week, a small band of
women went to the tomb to complete the
burial procedures. They found the tomb
empty and the Body gone.

The Christian religion teaches that on
that day long ago, God raised Jesus from
the dead, to be the living, ruling, victo-
rious Lord and Savior. Starting that day
the Risen Christ was seen by many peo-
ple as He continued to teach and give
them encouragement.

The Day of Resurrection is called Eas-
ter, celebrated early each Spring and is
the most holy day of the Christian reli-
gion. It is always on a Sunday. The other
Sundays of the year are meant to be
"little Easters," celebrated weekly by
Christians as a witness to eternal life,
God's forgiveness, God's redeeming
grace so treely given in Christ.

Easter never occurs on the Sabbath. It
is always on the first day of the week.
Easter itself, and the weekly ' little
Easters," far from being a time of rest

is a day of celebration, the affirmation
that Jesus was dead and is alive again; an
invitation from people to be ''born
again" into a new life of hope; baptized
in the waters of forgiveness and in the fire
of the Holy Spirit.

Worship services in church on the
Lord's Day are a joyful celebration.
They include the singing of hymns and
anthems, the offering of prayers, the re-
commitment of life and material gifts,
the welcoming of new members into the
Body of Christ (the Church), and the
sharing in the blessed Sacraments of the
Faith .

Church historians tell us that the earli-
est followers ofthe Risen Lord celebrated
both holy days each week, the Sabbath
and the Lord's Day. Gradually they no
longer felt the need to keep both and
ceased to observe the Sabbath. For al-
most two thousand years, Christians
have celebrated the Lord's Day each
week.

III. Historical Revenue

I hope this brief historical review will
help clarify some of the basic differences
between these two important holy days,
between the Sabbath and the Lord's
Day. The Spanish language itself recog-
nizes the difference: the seventh day of
the week, Saturday is called Sabado, the
first day of the week, Sunday, is Domin,eo.
Here they are agam; the Sabbath and the
Lord's Day.

In religious practice today the first, the
Sabbath is observed by our Jewish breth-
ren. The other, the Lord's Day is ob-
served by our Christian brethren. Chris-
tians do not observe the Sabbath. Jews do
not observe the Lord's Day.

What does this mean for Masonic prac-
tices? Masons should always be most
clear in their thinking about the two dif-
ferent religious holy days. We should not
otfend our Christian brethren by refer-
ences to the observance of the Sabbath.
Nor should we offend our Jewish breth-
ren with reference to the Lord's Day or
by calling it the Sabbath. To avoid con-
fusion let us simply use the names of the
three specific days of the week: Friday,
Saturday or Sunday.

For example, a recent "communica-
tion " read in my lodge included the
words: "No Masonic activities shall be
scheduled on the Sabbath until after 2:30
P.M.

Literally such a statement is absurd.
No devout Jew would think of scheduling
any Masonic observances on the Sab-
bath; whether before or after 2:30 p.m.
It simply is not done; for to do so would
violate the Sabbath.

Christians, however, frequently sched-
ule Masonic activities Friday evenings
and on Saturdays. They are perfectly
free to do so. But, they would be offended
if such activities were to be scheduled on
the Lord's Day at a time when worship
services are held.

Listening to the 'communication," I
assumed that its authors were not actu-
ally referring to the Sabbath, but to the
Lord's Day. How much more accurate,
less offensive, and simpler it would have
beer if they had simply wrltten: "No
Masonic activities shall be scheduled on
Sundays until after 2:30 p.m."

Frequently honestY, truth, and sim-
plicity go hand in hand. There Is no
logical reason why these cannot apply to
Masonic practices.

The Rev. Robert Bruce Clapp is Pastor
Emeritus (1950-1990) of the Boulevard
Presbyterian Church of Euclid Ohio. He
iS d graduate of Adelbert College of
Case-Western Reserve University in
Cleveland Ohio, where he was a member
of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.
He is also a graduate of McCormick
(Presbyterian) Theological Seminary in
Chicago Illinois. His entire ministry was
spent with organizing and serving one
congregation .

W.B. Clapp is also an active Mason.
He is a Past Master of Meridian Lodge
610, under the Grand Lodge of Ohio
Mount Olive Chapter 189 of Royal Arch
Masons of Ohio; Windermere Council
113 of Royal and Select Masons of Ohio;
Eagle Commandery No. 29 Knights
Templar; The Valley of Cleveland of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; Al
Koran Temple A . A . O . N . M . S . and
Shannon.Council No. 128 Knight Ma-
sons of Ireland.
