Sister Joy asked "Why is rest important on the Sabbath?
Answers that were given ~
- We don't seem to get enough [rest] during the week with all that we have to do. It's a chance to recharge.
- To pause and ponder. To feel the promptings of the Spirit that we may not get on other days.
- The Lord rested on the seventh day and we need to follow His example.
Elder James E. Faust said, "Why has God asked us to honor the Sabbath day? The first has to do with the physical need for rest and renewing. Obviously God, who created us, would know more than we do of the limits of our physical and nervous energy and strength.
The second reason is, in my opinion, of far greater significance. It has to do with the need to for regeneration and the strengthening of our spiritual being. God knows that, left completely to our own devices without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate into the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites. This need for physical, mental and spiritual regeneration is met in large measure by faithful observance of the Sabbath day."
Rest on the Sabbath day rejuvenates our bodys and our souls.
The next question, question #2: Why do we dedicate All day on the Sabbath to the Lord?
Answers ~
- It is a commandment.
- If we only go to church for the 3-hours and then go about regular activities, it doesn't have as great a meaning in our lives.
- During the week we are living in chaos and when we dedicate one day to the Lord, He will bless us.
- There are a lot of good things we can do to make it the Lord's day. We can journal, visit the sick, rest, read scriptures, do family history work, etc.
- Even when we are on vacation we can dedicate that day to the Lord.
Sister Warren talked about how when her father would take them camping or on vacation, he always had them make sure that the Sabbath was still honored. He would make it different than other vacation days.
Dedicating the Sabbath day, all day to the Lord helps keep us unspotted from the world.
Question 3: Why is it important to take the sacrament every week?
Answers ~
- We need to renew our baptismal covenants.
- Each time we partake it is a sign to Heavenly Father that we want Him to be a part of our lives.
Sister Tammy Jensen told of a time when she attended a Jewish passover with some friends. She was so touched by the symbolism and the words read from the Torah. She said it was interesting to her how beautiful the words were, however she noticed that people weren't really paying attention and they were almost taking it for granted. When she told a friend of the experience, Sister Jensen's friend said to her, "I wonder what they would think of how we treat taking the Sacrament?" Isn't it sad that we as Latter-day Saints tend to take for granted the beautiful opportunity that we are given weekly, and the lack of reverence we show.
Elder Melvin J. Ballard said, "We want every Latter-day Saint to come to the sacrament table because it is the place for self-investigation, for self-inspection, where we may learn to rectify our course and make right our own lives, bringing ourselves into harmony with the teachings of the Church and with our brethren and sisters."
Sister Neill F. Marriott of the Young Women general presidency said, "With our symbolic action we are saying to God and man that we reach out to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, take into our souls, and desire His atoning blood to be applied in our lives. In this holy moment we acknowledge our constant need of the Redeemer, our desire for His forgiveness and blessing, and our commitment to live our covenants."
We partake of the sacrament each week to become sanctified.
Question #4: Why is the EXAMPLE we set on the Sabbath important?
Answers ~
- Others watch, and we need to be aware so that they know it is a special day to us.
- Some people aren't raised in the church and by our example they can be shown that it is a special day to us.
- Doing family things on the Sabbath day is important. It teaches our children that it is a special (different) day.
Elder L. Tom Perry said, "Brothers and sisters, in the latter days the adversary succeeds when we relax our commitment to the Savior, ignore His teachings in the New Testament and other scripture, and cease to follow Him. Parents, now is the time to teach our children to be examples of the believers by attending sacrament meeting. When Sunday morning arrives, help them to be well rested, properly dressed and spiritually prepared to partake of the emblems of the sacrament and receive the enlightening, edifying, ennobling power of the Holy Ghost. Let your family be filled with love as you honor the Sabbath all day long and experience its spiritual blessings throughout the week. Invite your sons and daughters to "arise and shine forth" by keeping the Sabbath day holy, that "{their} light may be a standard for the nations."
The example we set on Sunday shows that we are believers.
Question #5: Why does the way that we dress on the Sabbath matter?
Answers ~
- Sunday Best was instilled in Sister Joy in her youth.
- Does dressing modest help us feel the Spirit better? It shows a reverence of ourselves and of God.
- One of the sisters told of how she had studied women in the south and how they prepare for Sunday. She said that the women there prepare on Saturday what they will wear down to their shoes and hats. She said that she was told that they feel that when they get dressed for Sunday, they are preparing to go and be with Jesus.
- Another sister talked of how when she visited the BYU campus some of the young women there were wearing very tight clothing. She asked one of the advisors there why they didn't say anything to these young women about it. The advisor told her that they "teach correct principles and then the clothing corrects itself."
- Sister Simmons talked about working at the temple and how once there was a semi-truck driver that came to the temple. He entered wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The workers there didn't know if they should turn him away or not. When he got to the recommend desk, he was told he could go no further dressed like he was. The man then told the temple worker, "This is the only place that I can park my semi and come and attend an endowment session. He didn't have the appropriate clothing, but desired to do a session. The worker then admitted the man and he was able to enter the Temple and do an endowment session. Sister Simmons made the point that from then on if someone had a current recommend they were allowed to enter, even in street clothes. We cannot judge others, we need to let the Lord do that.
- When we dress differently, we behave differently. Our attitudes change and we are more willing to be taught when we dress appropriately.
Elder D. Todd Christoffersen said, "Our temples and meetinghouses are dedicated to the Lord as sacred space. On each temple is found the words "Holiness to the Lord - the House of the Lord". A sense of the sacred should lead us to act and speak with reverence in and around these buildings. It would lead us to dress a certain way when we are there.
It offends God when we come into His house, especially on His holy day, not groomed and dressed in the most careful and modest manner that our circumstances permit.
Some say dress and hair don't matter - they say it's what's inside that counts. I believe that it is what's inside a person that truly counts, but that's what worries me. Casual dress at holy places and events is a message about what is inside a person. It may be pride or rebellion or something else, but at a minimum it says, "I don't get it. I don't understand the difference between the sacred and the profane."
In what condition people are easily drawn away from the Lord. They do not appreciate the value of what they have. I worry about them. Unless they can gain some understanding and capture some feelings for sacred things, they are at risk of eventually losing all that matters most. You are a Saint of the great latter-day dispensation - look the part."
By dressing appropriately on the Sabbath we show our reverence and respect.
Question #6: Why are we commanded to meet together on the Sabbath?
Answers ~
- It builds our testimony and helps them to grow.
- You might not feel you need to be there, but there is someone that needs you to be there.
- I told of how I had been ill and unable to attend and how Satan began to work on me telling me that I didn't have any friends here at church and how no-one would miss me anyway. Then I was blessed with the feeling that even if I didn't have any friends at church (of which I know I do), I need to go because I love my Savior and I need to show Him that I do.
Elder Orson F. Whitney said, "His commandments have in view the salvation of the body as well as the spirit, for it is the soul that will be redeemed from the grave and glorified. God has commanded us to care for the spirit, as well as for the body, and give it food in due season, and He set aside the Sabbath day that man might rest from his temporal labors and go to the house of the Lord and be fed with that holy influence which nourishes the spirit of man. That is why we meet together on the Sabbath day. Our spirits need their food, the same as do our bodies and if we neglect them, they will starve and dwindle and die upon the same principle that the body will die when deprived of its proper nourishment."
When we meet together on the Sabbath day, we build unity and strengthen one another.
Question #7: Why is what we do on the Sabbath so important?
Answers ~
- It gives us time to do things that we aren't able to sometimes do during the week. One family makes sure that this is the day that they visit family.
Because this was covered in so many of the previous questions, Sister Joy finished by giving this quote by President Spencer W. Kimball. "The Sabbath is a holy day in which to do worthy and holy things. Abstinence from work and recreation is important but insufficient. The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts, and if one merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath, he is breaking it. To observe it, one will be on his knees in prayer, preparing lessons, studying the gospel, meditating, visiting the ill and distressed, sleeping, reading wholesome material, and attending all the meetings of that day to which he is expected. To fail to do these proper things is a transgression on the omission side."
Maybe we need to be asking ourselves, "Is what I am doing today a sign of my devotion to Him?"
What we do on the Sabbath day is a sign of our devotion.
James E Faust (continued from his comment above), The third reason may be the most important of the three. It has to do with obedience to commandments as an expression of our love for God. Blessed are those who need no reasons other than their love for the Savior to keep his commandments. The response of Adam to the angel who asked Adam why he made a sacrifice unto the Lord is a model for all. Responded Adam, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." (Moses 5:6)
The greatest answer to all of these questions is that we LOVE the Lord and are willing to do what He asks.
Thanks to Sister Joy for this beautiful topic of discussion.
