“How can I determine how to keep the Sabbath day holy?” New Era, May 1984, 12–13
“How can I determine if a particular activity is compatible with the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy?”
Answer/Ben E. Lewis
When I received the invitation to respond to this question there immediately flashed through my mind the recollection of a teenage experience of many years ago. In the stake where I lived, the young people were planning a week-long camping trip that would extend through a Monday holiday. This involved being in the mountains on Sunday. The general policy guideline was for Church groups to avoid Sunday camping, but those responsible for the planning of this camping trip felt that by carefully working out a program to include the regular Sunday meetings at the campsite they could overcome any objections that might be raised. Approval to go forward was sought from the stake president. The young lady serving as the spokesman for the group explained what was being planned and concluded by saying, “We feel that by getting close to nature we can get closer to the Lord and can increase our spirituality.”
The stake president listened patiently and then in a kindly tone replied, “I agree with you that these things can happen, but my observation is that they usually don’t. I have no concern about the outcome of the Church meetings being planned. It’s what happens before and after. The minute church is out, the young folks are back in their grubbies and ready for play.”
The stake president was identifying a problem common to many of us, where we rationalize that attendance at church qualifies us for Sabbath day observance, and that this can be followed with activities not always in keeping with the spirit of the Sabbath.
Most of us would like to have our Sabbath dos and don’ts spelled out in black and white; then we could be relieved from having to make decisions. But with the Sabbath, as with many other things, there are many gray areas, and one of our great opportunities is to learn how to make the right choices. Ancient Israel allowed itself to get into a “no win” situation when its leaders attempted to spell out the Sabbath prohibitions. Before long they became entangled in a web of conflicting rules and regulations that emphasized the letter of the law rather than the spirit. Jesus found them “straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel” when they complained about his breaking the Sabbath because he healed a man on that day. His pertinent question to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?” left them without response. He followed by observing that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (see Mark 3:1–5; Mark 2:27).
When the Prophet Joseph Smith was once asked how he governed his people, he responded by saying that he taught them correct principles and then let them govern themselves. A similar approach can be meaningful for each of us in determining whether a particular activity is compatible with the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. By first identifying the principles, we can then evaluate whether a given activity conforms to the spirit of keeping the Sabbath holy. The principles are contained in holy writ, and are worthy of our review:
First, the injunction of the Lord is to “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). There are some things that are obviously unholy, and there is general consensus that they should be avoided. We should have no trouble making our decision about these.
Next, we are admonished to use the Sabbath as a day to rest from our labors and to pay our devotions to the Most High (Ex. 20:10; D&C 59:10). This means we should do our work on other days and avoid, insofar as possible, any Sunday work.
The word of the Lord is, that to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, we should go to the house of prayer and offer up our sacraments upon his holy day (D&C 59:9). This puts the obligation on us to attend the regularly scheduled Church meetings, firesides, family meetings, group gospel study meetings, or other religiously centered meetings.
Jesus made it plain that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:12). This provides opportunity to visit the sick, the afflicted, the widows, our loved ones, all whose lives we can bless. We can visit our home teaching families. We can study the scriptures and our lesson manuals. We can perform missionary service and teach the gospel to others. We can meet as families to strengthen family ties and to build ourselves spiritually.
The Lord indicates the Sabbath is a proper day to confess our sins to our brethren and before the Lord (D&C 59:12). This provides opportunity for interviews, a time for reflection and meditation, and certainly a time for prayer and supplication.
Sunday is a day when we are counseled by the Lord to prepare our food “with singleness of heart” (D&C 59:13). This suggests we not spend long hours in preparation of sumptuous meals, but it does not discount enjoying each other’s company at the dinner table as an appropriate Sunday activity.
To the above I add another basic principle. In the Book of Mormon, Moroni instructs us how we might know with a surety good from evil: “Every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ … is of God,” while that which “persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God … is of the devil” (Moro. 7:16–17). We can apply these same criteria to determine which activities are or are not compatible with the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. It is quite possible we may not all come up with the same answers in applying the principles enumerated above to a given situation, but if we have a sincere desire to do the right thing and will keep our hearts in tune with the will of the Lord, we will learn to choose rightly and receive the blessing and promise of the Lord to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.