In a recent study group I was reminded about my Church’s
faith statement about Sunday. It goes
like this:
12.
The
Lord’s Day
We believe that the first day of
the week[1] is
the Lord’s Day[2]
and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and
spiritual exercise.[3]
For all intents and purposes, this is the value statement that
we purport to teach and preach. For all
practical purposes, it is this statement that the membership of the Church
agrees to support and respect. Albeit it should be regarded as a lower tier
doctrine, it is nonetheless a statement summarizing what we believe the Bible
teaches; and a principle that we believe is worthy of our compliance.
The Bible doesn’t use the word “Sunday” but rather uses the
phrase: the first day of the week. Scripture
teaches that the New Testament church gathered to worship on this day, for
example: Acts
20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10. The Jewish Sabbath had typological
significance and found it’s fulfillment in the finished work of Christ in
redemption of His people. To what significance might the early Church have
implied by this day – “The first day of the Week”? It was certainly the day that the Lord rose
from the grave. Parallel to the Genesis
record of creation, Sunday was commemorated as the first day of the New Creation.
It was the inspired Apostle John who named the day, The Lord’s Day, in his
Revelation.
So it is obvious from the Bible that Sunday was the day set
aside by the followers of Jesus to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. First century writers affirmed this. “A
document called the Didache speaks of observing the breaking
of bread on “the Lord’s day” (14:1). Ignatius commented on “no longer observing
the Sabbath but living according to the Lord’s day” on which Christ rose from
the dead (Magnesians 9). The Epistle of Barnabas asserts
that “we [Christians] keep the eighth day for joy on which also Jesus arose
from the dead” (15:8f). Justin Martyr contended that Christians gathered for
worship “on the day called Sunday” (Apology I.67.1ff).”[4]
Today our culture almost unanimously fails to recognize
Sunday as a unique day of worship and rest.
The same spirit has invaded the people of God. The day becomes an opportunity for:
Hockey
Hunting
Housework
Horseplay
with little attention to pursuits of Holiness. It would seem to me that when the priorities
of worship and rest have been adequately exercised, then there may be time for
other pursuits. But when other pursuits
take the place of worship and rest, we have turned The Lord’s Day into “My Day”. The Bible would speak strongly about using
this Day for legalistic reasons and even using this day for simply religious
obedience. Much like the Sabbath in
Israel, we believe that ““If
you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy
day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not
going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you
shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the
heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”” (Isaiah 58:13–14, ESV)
Again, the Lord’s Day is not the Sabbath, but one would
wonder if we “called Sunday a delight” and honoured it by not doing our own
pleasure, perhaps we would be occasioned to have overflowing joy. What did you
do last Sunday?
[1] Matthew
28:1; John 20:19; Acts 2:1-4; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2
[2] Genesis
2:3; Exodus 20:8
[3] 1 Timothy
4:13; 2 Timothy 4:2; Luke 8:18; Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19; Matthew
28:19,20; 1 Corinthians 11:26; Esther
4:16; Joel 2:12; Exodus 15:1-19; Psalm 107
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