The Third Commandment
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
As an example, we will compare Chemnitz and Gerhard on the Third Commandment.19 In both the Theological Commonplaces and the Schola Pietatis, Gerhard follows Chemnitz’s Loci, but with some changes that are apparent only when the two theologians are compared. They agree that the Sabbath commandment is about doing the work of “hallowing” (or “sanctifying”) by receiving the means of grace and offering prayer and praise to God in public worship, not about slothful idleness.20 But Gerhard says slovenly idleness is forbidden on the other six days of the week, in accord with Exod. 20:9, while Chemnitz does not. Gerhard emphasizes the hallowing of one entire day (not just a few hours) as a moral requirement, so that normal work is not allowed on Sunday, even if there is time for worship. Chemnitz, on the other hand, states that the observance of a full day is unnecessary. All the Third Commandment requires, he says, is “some opportunity to attend the ministry of the Word and the ceremonies,” and so the only works that must be given up are those that hinder public worship.21 Again, “only those works are in conflict with the Third Commandment which are not necessary or are undertaken out of greed, vanity and/or contempt for public worship, which either interfere with public worship or cause a scandal to others so that they are led away from divine worship.”22 Gerhard says hallowing one day out of seven is a moral requirement rooted in creation,23 while Chemnitz certainly does not.
What Gerhard presents on the Third Commandment in the commonplace On the Law of God he expands in chapters 25–30 of book 3 of the Schola Pietatis.24 Chapter 25 is titled “On the hallowing of the Sabbath: what reasons should move us to do so.” Chapter 26 is titled “In what way the Sabbath can and should be celebrated and hallowed by a lover of godliness.” Chapters 27 and 28 are on the “spiritual Sabbath,” that is, the spiritual meaning of the Third Commandment. Chapters 29 and 30, finally, cover the duties of preachers and hearers. In the Schola Pietatis, as in the commonplace On the Law of God, Gerhard distinguishes between the moral and ceremonial aspects of the Third Commandment. Christians are not bound by Old Testament ceremonies. The apostles instituted the celebration of Sunday in place of the Sabbath Day, and it was called “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10). Gerhard explains:
Although now, I say, we in the New Testament are not bound to the ceremonial part of this commandment, nevertheless the moral part still remains, namely, that in every week we use one or even more days for worship, abstain from our domestic and secular activities, come together in the congregation, hear God’s Word, and bring about whatever is necessary for hallowing the Sabbath; in this way the commandment on the hallowing of the festival day is obligatory also for us in the New Testament.25
Here Gerhard affirms the distinction between ceremonial and moral in the Third Commandment, but he sees the “one day in seven” requirement as part of the moral Law instead of the ceremonial. He explains by saying that six days of the week are set aside by God for labor, but one of the seven is to be, even in the New Testament, a day of rest—not primarily for bodily rest but for being instructed in God’s essence and will from the revealed Word and rendering to God our service.26
Besides the external observance of the Third Commandment, Gerhard also knows that there is a “spiritual Sabbath of Christians which is perpetual and should be celebrated every day of our life.” This spiritual Sabbath is a true allegorical interpretation of the Third Commandment.27 There is also the eternal Sabbath and the Sabbath of redemption.28 These other Sabbaths do not, for Gerhard, do away with the moral requirement of a day of the week set aside for Christian worship (for which the apostles designated Sunday as “the Lord’s Day”).29
When discussing what works may be done on the Lord’s Day, Gerhard is clear to say that any works that would hinder divine worship are prohibited. Beyond that, his usual manner is to begin with a strong statement of the kinds of works prohibited, and then to qualify the statement as applying to works that would hinder worship on the Lord’s Day. For example, in the Schola Pietatis he remarks: “Nevertheless, it remains true that only those works and labor are prohibited on the Sabbath that are undertaken without any need, either from greed or from frivolity, or from despising the preaching office, which hinder the exercise of divine worship.”30 The same sort of statement is in the commonplace On the Law of God: “Therefore the following sins conflict with the Third Commandment: … (2) To waste holy days in slothful idleness; to neglect reading, meditating on, and hearing the Word; and to change doctrine according to the feelings and desires of others. … (6) To give no rest to domestic servants; to do works on the Sabbath which hinder and could distract one from hallowing the Sabbath.”31 In these places it might seem unclear whether the relative clause “which hinder…” is to be taken exclusively or inclusively. Other places make it seem that, for Gerhard, all such works would indeed hinder the purpose of the Sabbath—the living encounter of God’s people with His Word and means of grace. “Although the hallowing of the Sabbath does not consist primarily and properly in external rest, this commandment still forbids servile works in clear language because they do hinder the true hallowing of the Sabbath.”32 Again: “One must abstain from manual, servile, and mechanical works, which hinder the public exercise of divine worship.”33 On the other hand, Gerhard says:
Therefore whatever works do not hinder or impede the public exercise of divine worship are not banned in this commandment. … There is a little verse about this that includes the four cases in which one may work on the Sabbath: “small things, necessity, the state, with piety.” … Apart from a case of necessity, the Sabbath is profaned by servile and household works. Therefore we seriously disapprove of what the Jesuit Toletus writes (Instruct., bk. 4, ch. 25): “When these things cannot be done except on a feast day, one may take a trip (having first heard the sacred [Mass]) or may hunt, he may study over litigation for financial reasons, he may sell meat or kill animals to eat for money, he may build places for spectacles on solemnities.”34
According to Gerhard’s view of worship on the Lord’s Day, more is required than attending a one-hour worship service. Besides the fact that services in his day could last much longer than an hour, he explains:
Because God the Lord commands that we should hallow the day of the Sabbath, He intended to teach by doing so that one should rest [feyren] not only a few hours, but the whole day, and not act according to the common custom, in which one spends perhaps one or two hours hearing God’s Word but afterward wastes the rest of the time with idleness, useless chatter, going for walks, carousings, and similar things. Against this, God the Lord commands that we are to hallow the entire day of the Sabbath and pass the time with holy works.35
While this may have been Gerhard’s ideal, his church ordinance (written in the name of his prince, Johann Casimir, 1564–1633) set forth practical measures and regulations related to the observance of Sundays and holidays that are more modest. There were at least two worship services on a Sunday in the lands of Johann Casimir. At the morning service, the customary Gospel pericopes were retained as the preaching texts. In the early afternoon a catechism preaching service was held, which all the youth were to attend. The entire catechism was to be preached through each year.36 The nobility were directed not to demand manual labor from their servants on festival days (including Sundays), nor to keep them away from the sermons and worship services: “Since there are six other days in the week in which such work can be imposed and carried out, as also God’s earnest Commandment commands, that one should hallow the days of rest, the holidays, and even let the cattle, horses, and draft oxen rest on the holiday—how much more should one allow the poor peasant people, who can certainly be used in the week, to have their holiday, on which they hear God’s Word and may draw from the sermon consolation in their consciences.”37 Moreover, before and during the sermon the city officials were to forbid the serving of alcohol and sweets, as well as sports, feasting, secret meetings, and dancing. No court hearings, proceedings, or council meetings (outside a case of emergency) were to be held during the time when sermons were usually taking place. All manual labor and horse labor was to cease on Sundays and holidays. Violators of this rule were fined. Necessary work such as “carrying beer” could be done only after the worship service had ended.38 Market days were not to be held on Sundays, or at least not until after worship.39 During the service, the city gates were to be shut.40 The magistrates were to stop drunkenness on the high feasts. (The custom had been that the peasants would drink all through the night on Christmas Eve and Pentecost Eve, and then they would sleep through the worship service or stumble into church drunk.)41 All of these measures in his church ordinance show that for Gerhard (and his prince, Johann Casimir, in whose name he wrote this church ordinance), resting and avoiding work were not as important as arranging all of society in such a way that the Sunday services could be attended by all, so that all people would be able to hear the Word of God. Anything and everything that would distract from this was to be stopped. Beyond this, there was also consideration for Sabbath rest for manual laborers and livestock, on the basis of the Third Commandment. This excursus on the Third Commandment demonstrates some of the unique contours of Gerhard’s exposition of the Decalogue even as he closely follows Chemnitz’s Loci.
Throughout his discussion of the Law of God, Gerhard never forgets that the Law’s purpose is not for justification. “(6) With respect to our corrupted nature, the Law is a universal judgment which accuses and condemns man. Thus it drives us to Christ, who is ‘the end of the Law for righteousness for all who believe’ [Rom. 10:4]. (7) It is the norm of the good works in which the reborn should walk.”42