honoring the Sunday Sabbath
Webster, 2009

As the Scottish runner Eric Liddell prepared to run the 400m race in the 1924 Olympics, an American masseur slipped a piece of paper with this quotation in his hands, “Those who honor me, I will honor.” (1 Samuel 2:30). And Liddell ran the race holding that paper in his hand, winning the gold medal and breaking the existing world record.

“Those who honor me, I will honor,” says the Lord.

The amazing part of this story, that some of you may remember from the movie “Chariots of Fire,” is that the 400m race wasn’t Liddell’s best race. He was the fastest man in the world in the 100m, yet he refused to run the 100m in the 1924 Olympics because the race was scheduled for Sunday morning. He also gave up a chance to win a medal in the 4x100 m and the 4x400 m because they also were on a Sunday. He would have been the first person from Scotland to win an Olympic medal, but he refused to run his best race. Imagine an athlete of today, like Michael Phelps, refusing to swim a race in the Olympics simply because the heat would be run on a Sunday morning!

In our contemporary world, can any of us even imagine sticking with our beliefs and morals at the expense of trying to win a gold medal at the Olympics? Obviously, Liddell’s faith wasn’t simply something he carried with him when it was convenient. It identified who he was, and therefore, he wasn’t willing to sacrifice or compromise what was so central to his self-understanding. His identity as a follower of Jesus Christ came before his identity as an Olympic champion in the 100m.

It isn’t surprising that Liddell was the son of missionaries, having been born and raised in China, and following his athletic career, he became an ordained minister and returned to China as a missionary. He even ended up sacrificing his life as a martyr by staying in China during WWII, when most expatriates had a chance to leave, and dying in a Japanese internment camp at the age of 43.

In 2008, The Scotsman Newspaper named Eric Liddell the most popular sportsman in the history of Scotland. Liddell was the first Scotsman to be the fastest person in the world and to win an Olympic medal, yet his legacy had much more to do with his devout faith, uncompromising morals and standards, and a life of martyrdom.

 “Those who honor me,” God says, “I will honor.”

In our day of being politically correct, unfortunately we don’t think too much about honoring God. In fact, too often we are more conscious of not offending others, than we are about honoring God. A recent example is with the statement that you can read in our weekly bulletin. (at the end of this sermon) I wrote this statement, “Reclaiming the Sabbath,” which 17 clergy from the Webster, Dudley and Oxford churches signed. It’s a simple statement, that was published in the Webster Times and in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, and it reminds the faithful about the importance of honoring Sunday mornings as a time for God, while also reminding our secular society that we all need a time of rest free from other activities.

As different people have read or heard this statement, I have had interesting discussions. Some people wholeheartedly agree with this stance and are encouraged by it. Others are unsure of how to react. When I asked one parent if they would make a stand with their child’s coach who holds practices on Sunday mornings, they said how they didn’t want to offend the coach. It’s interesting how in today’s world, we seem so careful not to offend our child’s coach who holds practices on Sunday mornings, yet we don’t think too much about dishonoring God and disobeying His commandment.

Look at how contemporary Christians have watered down our faith commitment, and compromised our Christian beliefs – all for the sake of being politically correct, or simply because our Christian faith is no longer the central, directing force in our lives. Our children’s sports and activities, our passion for golf, our desire to sleep in on Sundays, and many other reasons take precedence over honoring God on the Lord’s Day, and placing Him first in our lives.

“Those who honor me,” God says, “I will honor.”

God’s fourth commandment to Moses was quite clear – “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” For Jews, the Sabbath was Saturday, a day of complete rest. The early Church transferred this Lord’s Day of rest to Sunday, marking our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead. Then, in the year 321 Saint Constantine the Roman Emperor, declared Sunday, the Lord’s Day, as a day of rest for the entire Roman Empire, a practice that was adopted by our Western Civilization for approximately the next 1650 years, or basically up until our present generation!

Older parishioners surely remember a time when no stores were open on Sunday morning; when Sunday was a day for families to gather together after Church for a special meal. Sunday was something different than the other six days of the week. Our society will probably never go back to those days, and Christians may not impose our beliefs on our secular society. We can, however, control our own actions and make decisions that go in line with our faith and fundamental tenets. The Lord commanded us from the beginning of time to keep one out of seven days holy – a day not only of rest, but of worship; a day when we don’t participate in our usual activities, but when we focus on God. We worship Him in His temple. We take the time to study His Holy Word. We try to create time in our busy and hectic schedules to focus on what is holy and eternal. “Our years on earth are so short,” Archbishop Anastasios would say to us, “Keep your eyes on eternity.”

How can we keep our eyes on eternity when we don’t carve out time in the week to think about such things? We live in a society that keeps us busy, keeps us focusing on what is superficial and fleeting – whether money, power, fame, or entertainment, like our own golf games, or our kids soccer and baseball games. It’s interesting why Hollywood made the movie Chariots of Fire, a movie about Eric Liddell – was it because he won a gold medal? Of course not, many have done that. Or was it because he sacrificed a gold medal for something more important? And if Hollywood came to such a conclusion about what is significant, think about all of this from God’s perspective.

“Those who honor me, I will honor” says the Lord. Let us think about these words the next time we plan on sleeping in on Sunday, or hitting the golf course, or skipping our worship service for a kid’s sporting event

Reclaiming the Sabbath:

Sunday Morning Youth Activities and a Time of Rest

This is a statement that was signed by 17 clergy and read in their churches  of the Webster, Dudley and Oxford areas. It was printed in the Webster Times and an article was written about it in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Life in 21^st century America is busy. Many people complain of hectic schedules, unending demands, and never-ending “to do lists”. The stressful spirit of going 24/7 has become the norm for too many, even starting from a young age.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition that helped form our Western and American society, the idea of a “Sabbath,” or day of rest, has always played a significant role that positively affected our lifestyles. Our faith traditions reminded us that one day a week was supposed to be different from the others. Specifically, Sunday was the traditional day that people reserved for a time of rest and reprieve from a busy week, with Christian worship primarily taking place on this morning. Over the past few decades, however, more and more activities have crept into the Sunday morning schedule – from school programs to school and town sporting events and leagues – turning an opportunity for peace and rest into just another busy and stressful day like every other.

This scheduling of events has forced our young people into the sometimes difficult dilemma of choosing between playing on a sports team or going to Church. Parents, also, must deal with the predicament of transporting their children to and supporting them at these events, or resting and/or attending their churches for worship. This quandary is quite pervasive.

The Massachusetts Council of Churches highlighted another aspect of this problem. In their Statement of Concern on “Youth Sports and Public Activities on Sunday Mornings,” they noted: “A pattern of public insensitivity to the religious traditions of our churches has emerged, while at the same time many community leaders are talking about the importance of supporting “family values” by providing moral education of youth through family and religious life.

For the health and well-being of our society, as well as taking into consideration the many people who desire to worship in our Churches on Sunday mornings, we would like to appeal to all public officials, leaders of public and private sporting leagues and events, and townspeople in general, to keep at least Sunday mornings free from various activities. Leagues, games and practices can all begin after 12:00 noon. This simple gesture would offer all of our people a time of community rest, as well as show a certain solidarity with the countless people who hold Sunday mornings as their primary time of worship.

Signed by:

Rev. Luke A. Veronis

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, Webster

Rev. Paul Campbell

St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church, Dudley

Msgr. Anthony S. Czarnecki

St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Webster

Rev. Paula Fletcher

Oxford United Methodist Church, Oxford

Rev. Janice Ford

Church of the Reconciliation, Webster

Rev. Renee Kaufman

First Baptist Church, Oxford

Rev. Deborah Lafond

United Church of Christ Federated, Webster

Rev. Sue Lynch

Tabernacle of Praise Church, Oxford

Rev. Joseph Marcotte and Rev. Edwin Gomez

St. Louis Roman Catholic Church, Webster

Rev. Patrick O’Louglin

Calvary Assembly of God Church, Dudley

Msgr. Louis R. Piermarini

St. Roch Roman Catholic Church, Oxford

Rev. Glen M. Rice

Oak Hill Bible Church, Oxford

Rev. Michael Roy

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Webster

Rev. Joseph F. Szwach

St. Andrew Bobola Roman Catholic Church, Dudley

Rev. John White

First Congregational Church UCC, Dudley

Rev. Sam Young,

First Congregational Church, Oxford

Rev. Alfred Zadig

Grace Episcopal Church, Oxford