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The
Sabbath from a Gentile Perspective
Summer 2000 Issue 209
I
want to begin by asking some of the older members of the Alliance for
forgiveness. To do that I need to tell you the context. It was my first Hebrew
Christian Alliance meeting and, as I remember, it took place in Chislehurst.
In the afternoon the topic for discussion was “Keeping the Sabbath”. Various
members talked of the different meanings the Sabbath had for them. Towards the
end of the discussions I spoke out: “You all sound like Gentiles!”
Looking back, I now realise that the shocked silence that followed was
more likely due to my audacity and insensitivity than to the veracity of my
statement. I have since learnt that unity in the Spirit is not achieved by
agreeing on doctrines or a joint courses of action. Rather, it is the acceptance
that we are all sinners saved by grace, and that alone. Our position in society
or the church, our achievements or lack of them, do not determine the measure of
favour that we receive from God, since “where sin abounds there grace much
more abounds”. I am often reminded that the Bible teaches me that I must learn
to “speak the truth in love”.
So what of this issue about which I was so adamant--and maybe the word adamant
is somehow fitting as it suggests “the old man”--and how did I come to have
such strong convictions?
In the summer of ’72 I was invited to go to America as a gospel singer,
to take part in a special gathering of 80, 000 young people in Dallas. I had
hopes of becoming a professional singer and prayed that God would lead me to a
Christian manager in the music business. I was unsuccessful, so I returned to
England and gave up my ambition. That autumn, I went to a special event in
London’s Hyde Park called The Festival of Light and was introduced to the
speaker, David McInnes. After the meeting was over, David and I were walking
across the park when a young man came up to us and asked how he could become a
Christian. When we had talked and prayed with him we went on our way. David
turned to me and said, “You know, that’s very interesting. I’ll tell you
why. That young man was Jewish. I was brought up in Jerusalem as my father was
the Archbishop of Jerusalem. It is only recently that I have noticed the verse
in Romans, ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew
first and also to the Greek’.”
I remember my reaction was one of anger and indignation. I had always
believed passionately that the gospel was for all men equally and that there was
no distinction. As I read over Romans 1:16, God began to show me that there was
much that I did not understand. I
began to study the Old and New Testaments to try to grasp the purposes of God.
As I did, I became aware that I had missed so much and that God was calling me
to
pray
not only for the “Revival” of the Jewish people but also for their return to
the land.
For me this was like a conversion experience. Others around me began to
view me with suspicion and some questioned whether I was moving away from
“sound” Christian teaching. In 1974 God brought an Israeli girl to my church
in Buckinghamshire. She asked many questions and was surprised by my interest in
Israel and my knowledge of the Old
Testament.
When she came to visit me, she told me that she wanted to know more about
Christianity. She asked if she could become a Christian and prayed to receive
Jesus into her life. I was also able to share the gospel with her brother when I
visited him in Tel Aviv. This experience encouraged me to pursue my studies,
which led to the painful realisation that much that I had been brought up to
believe about the Church and Israel was not based on the truth of God’s word.
I realised the history of the church was far from perfect and that the church,
like Israel, suffered from many shortcomings.
My faith was rocked and my beliefs severely challenged, not least when I
read a book by the Jewish scholar Geza Vermes, Jesus
the Jew. As I reread and studied the Bible, and read the few books available
at the time, I saw things from a new perspective. I noticed that God had given
some instructions that were to last for ever; in particular this applied to
keeping the Sabbath. This was not a case of some ritual law for the Israelites
or a sacrifice that was no longer possible since the destruction of the temple,
but an eternal law. Not only that, it was also one of the ten commandments that
we read aloud in my Christian church. So why didn’t we follow the example of
Jesus, his disciples and the New Testament church, who never questioned it but
observed it as God intended.
I remember those many years ago in Chislehurst, I was touched by Eric
Lipson’s testimony of how he made the Sabbath a special day as well as
observing the Christian Sunday of the Anglican church. I did not explain how or
why I had come to the conclusion that we should still keep the Sabbath and it
would be understandable if you viewed me with the same suspicion as my gentile
friends. I respect the witness and commitment of Christians who have made Sunday
a special day for God. However, I remain unconvinced that the New Testament
teaches anywhere that God intended that the day named after the god of the sun
should become “The Sabbath”. Some time later, I had a discussion with a
member of the Alliance, who quoted the Scripture that mentions the early church
meeting on the “first day of the week”. I told him I had been struck by the
passage in Genesis where it said “the evening and morning were the first
day”. I suggested that since the Sabbath ends at sunset on Saturday, if the
believers met late into the night, they would be meeting on the first day of the
week or Motza’ei Shabbat.
My belief continues to be viewed with some suspicion and, at times,
fierce opposition but it is not one that I try to impose on others.
Nevertheless, it is understood by my friends that, beginning at our Friday
evening meal, the busy-ness of the week ceases so that this can be a special day
of refreshing for us and an opportunity to spend time with the Lord.
(John
Clark)
John
is married to Yvonne and they have four children. John is a retired teacher, but
currently self-employed. They live in Wellington, Somerset.
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