This may have been answered already in a previous post but I just felt like I need an answer to this question. I work at a job where I let them know up front before they hired me that I was not comfortable working Sundays for religious reasons. My schedule does not conflict with my Church attendance but I am still required to work Sundays and I cant really get out of working so I just don't know what to do I cant quit because then I have no income (outside of social Security Disability) so I don't know what to do related question also is buying a sandwich and a cup of Coffee which is essentially your dinner for the night wrong? Unrelated most everybody at my Church holds to a NCT view of The Sabbath so I don't know how to relate my concerns about violating The Sabbath to them seeing as they mostly believe it is a type of belief in Christ.

__________________
Aaron
Independent Baptist
Holland MI

From J.R. Miller's "Practical Lessons from the Story of Joseph"

"How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God!" Genesis 39:9

"After hearing his wife's story, Potiphar was furious! He took Joseph and threw him into the prison!" Genesis 39:19-20

Sometimes it costs very dearly to be true to God. Joseph lay now in a dungeon. But his loss through doing right, was nothing in comparison with what he would have lost had he done the wickedness to which he was tempted. His prison gloom, deep as it was was as noonday, compared with what would have been the darkness of his soul under the blight of evil, and the bitterness of remorse. The chains that hung upon him in his dungeon, were but like feathers in comparison with the heavy chains which would have bound his soul, had he yielded to the temptation. Though in a prison, his feet hurt by the fetters he was a free man because his conscience was free, and his heart was pure!

No fear of consequences should ever drive us to do a wrong thing.

It is better to suffer any loss, any cost, any sacrifice than be eaten up by remorse!

Better be hurled down from a high place for doing right than win worldly honor by doing wrong.

Better lose our right hand than lose our purity of soul.

Better to rot in prison than to sin against God!

It was the prayer of a young queen, which she wrote with a diamond point on her castle window, "Keep me pure; make others great." That is the lesson of Joseph's victory over temptation; dishonor, loss, dungeon, death anything before sin!

__________________
Dave
Attendee Chilliwack Heritage Reformed
Abbotsford, Canadia

"God does not love us the way we are! God loves us so that we can become what He wants us to be." - George Grant

I will pray for you. Stand firm and remember God loves to vindicate the confidence of His children.

__________________
Ewen
1689 LBCF
Assemblies of God Bible College
Singapore

You didn't say what kind of job you have, so it's hard for any thoughtful Reformed person to answer the question.

__________________
Tim Vaughan
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian, OPC,
Santa Maria
California

Although the OP stated plainly that they are uncomfortable working on the Sabbath.
"One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." Rom 14. 5

This is really the test though? Every man needs to earn a living, so if at least at this moment a person may be required by his employer to work on Sundays why wouldn't it count as a matter of necessity no different from helping your ox out of a ditch?

Wouldn't the real consideration be whether the work on Sundays was done out of necessity to keep a job or out of preference and desire in order to chase financial advancement?

__________________
Mark
Independent baptist
Singapore

You are to be commended for being conscious of the fourth commandment.

Remember, regardless of what God calls you to do, God blesses obedience.

__________________
Scott
PCA
North Carolina


"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)"
Hebrews 10:23

Aaron,

May God bless you as you search His Word for answers.

An important question you might ask is whether your job is a work of mercy (such as hospital) or necessity (such as police). I think most or all Reformed-thinking people would say that working jobs such as these are appropriate on the Sabbath.

Something else I would include for you to consider is this verse,
and this:
You mentioned buying dinner. These are key verses with regard to 'buying and selling' on the Lord's Day. I think the first verse is listed as a reference in the relevant section of both the Westminster Confession and the London 1689 Confession.

__________________
Tim Lindsay
member, Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, Halifax, NS, Canada
Living in Cape Town, South Africa
"under the Southern Cross, at the foot of Table Mountain, not far from the Cape of Good Hope"

I retrive shopping carts at a Supermarket make sure they have enough carts in the store .

Aaron, are you at liberty to say where you work? I am in Grand Rapids, but know some Christian business people in Holland.

__________________
Jeff Wyman
Man Under Care
Little Farms Chapel OPC, Coopersville, MI
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." - Isaiah 45:22 (ESV)

Thanks to everybody for being so conscientious the thing with my job is I have had to practically beg them to give me less hours. So I don't loose my Social Security Disability. On the Availability form I filled out the only days that are absolutely mandatory that you be available to work are Saturday and Sunday which is a pretty sad testament to the state of Holland MI. So it's not like I make a ton money it's basically minimum wage and I get less of a Social Security payment because I work. Basically if I wasn't living at home right now I would be on Government Assistance (no shame in that but it's a fact). SO it's just weird and when this was first brought up after I told them I would not work Sundays my manager at Mijer basically gave this whole sepal about how the company is very "religious" and to even get to where I am now abel to attend Church Services I had to down play my real motivation for not working Sunday mornings and make it all about a transportation issue (which is true seeing as I don't have a car) it's just frustrating your up front with people about your beliefs they say they understand then go right around change it on you it's exasperating.

-----Added 11/4/2009 at 07:51:46 EST-----

I work at Meijer

Aaron -

I'm guessing from your post(s) that you have a handicap or disability that severely limits your work options.

First, I want to encourage you to not get trapped by a defeated, hopeless attitude. I encounter many folks who remain in not-very-good circumstances because they've allowed themselves to be convinced that they can't do any better, there isn't anything else out there, etc. Be sure to truly avail yourself to exhaust all your options... you may be surprised at what you can accomplish.

That said, in regards to your present job - praise God that you have gainful employment. And praise God that your employer is mindful to allow you time off to worship. Certainly try to take the Lord's Day off in it's entirety. However, don't just quit. God honors faithfulness,yes... but He seldom honors folly. (And to be clear, I do believe it would be foolish to quit an honorable job without something else lined up to pay the bills.)

Remember that slaves in the NT era didn't get to tell their masters, "Sorry, I'm not going to work."

To the best of your ability, try to take Sunday off. But please don't think that you're sinning by working at the only place of honorable employment you can find given your providentially dealt circumstances if your boss demands you come to work before or after worship. Instead, rejoice that your boss is trying to accomodate you at least that much... because believe me, there are many supervisors who would sooner fire you than give you time off to go worship.

__________________
Ben
Chaplain, US Army
Ft. Riley, KS
TE Ohio Valley Presbytery, PCA

Thanks I am just trying to make the best of a bad situatioun I know it wouldbe alot easer to just chuck the Sabbath under foot and come up with some conveniant excuse as towhyit's "o.k" but I figure there are otherways tokeepthe Sabbath holy by not working it'sjust a hand I have been delt I like my job this is really the only real complaintI have other then this it's a great job. So I guess I can rest a little easier now it's just that I am so new andthe whole thing about keeping Sabbath holy was for the longist time a running "joke" among me and my other Christian friends becuse I was and they still are under the sway of New Covenant Theology. I just hopethis doesnt turn into some sort of pendulum swing where I visciltate wildlly from one extreme to the other. Iguessif any thing pray that I'll just be able to have balance about this whole thing. thanks in advnace

If you're getting disability through Social Security, you can only work a few hours a week, right?

If you can only work, like 15 hours a week, there might be a supermarket, convenience store, restaurant, etc. that would be sensitive to your beliefs and be willing to give you a chance.

I live near Holland.

How about Russ' Restaurant...or one of the businesses on 8th Street?

Most of those downtown stores are closed on Sunday anyway.

I'm not trying to be insensitive.

Michigan's economy stinks. Sooo many people out of work. I can totally understand what a dilemma you must be in. Grateful for a job, struggling with the fact that there just may be nothing else out there right now and wanting to honor God.