Keeping the Sabbath is good for families

When I became a mother, I began dreaming about the kind of family home I wanted to build with my husband.

As I was working out the details of this dream in my mind, I talked to and observed other parents. One woman who had raised two happy and healthy children to adulthood repeatedly emphasized family traditions. She advised us to establish rituals that would define and bind our families over time.

Later my husband and I had the opportunity to study Sabbath keeping at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. There we learned that Sabbath keeping is not only a biblical command for the honour of God and the benefit of people, it is a tradition that has sustained the Jewish nation and individual families.

Keeping the Sabbath establishes a weekly, protected space in time for adults and children to experience the transforming power of God. It is especially good for families because it teaches abstract concepts to young children.

In Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, Marva Dawn discusses four aspects of keeping the Sabbath as Christians: ceasing, resting, embracing, and feasting. First, we cease from our work and the need to produce. Second, we rest. Just as God was satisfied with His creation and rested, so we are satisfied with God’s provision and creation. We can rest, knowing God secures our future. Third, we embrace what it means to be a follower of Christ. We worship corporately and withdraw from our culture as an alternative community. Fourth, we feast: with food, beauty and affection.

When families cease from working, both children and parents see each other apart from what they produce or how they perform. In withdrawing from secular culture once every week, children learn to stand back from their culture with a critical eye. They learn the importance of establishing a healthy rhythm of work and rest. Celebrating with other families opens a new world of relationships.

Young children can also be involved in preparation for the Sabbath day by picking flowers, cleaning up toys, setting the table, or helping with other chores. We have enjoyed welcoming the Sabbath on Saturday evening by lighting candles and praying the traditional Jewish Kiddush. Our young son participates by blowing out the candles and matches.

Another way children realize the significance of the Sabbath is in eating special foods. Even a variation in routine is a way to celebrate: if every other morning you eat cereal, have pancakes on Sunday. If every other morning is self-serve, make it a point to have breakfast together on the Sabbath. Have a picnic or take supper into a tent in the backyard.

Children are naturally geared to playing. Allow them to set the agenda for Sunday afternoon and draw you into their playtime.

Another important aspect of the Sabbath is corporate worship. Sabbath is also a good occasion for a time of family worship. Martha Zimmerman (Celebrate the Feasts) suggests reciting the 23rd Psalm as a family. Making entries in a spiritual journal together every week creates a lasting witness of God’s work in the life of each family member.

Some families may feel strongly about their public witness as Christians and adopt stances on what they will and will not do. For a family with school age children, refusing to be involved in sporting events and pop culture might mean a day of miserable rule-keeping. Encouraging them to get their homework done by Saturday, however, lets them enjoy Sunday and also reminds them that their true identity is not tied to what they produce as “workers” in school.

The temptation to make the Sabbath into a legalistic observation will never go away; this is a tension we live and wrestle with. What is important is that we honour the Sabbath joyfully.

Then, like the aroma of a fine spice, the Sabbath will pervade the rest of the week. Families will remember the experiences of that day and, as the week progresses, begin to look forward to the Sabbath ahead.

Dayna Dueck is a homemaker, mother and student presently living near Heidelberg, Germany. This article is adapted from a paper she wrote for a course on Sabbath keeping through Regent College, Vancouver.