The fall was a busy season. We were back into school. Ministry activities were up and running. The leaves were just beginning to turn, and nights were drawing in. Tiredness seemed to be ever present and increasing. In a city like London, that can be heightened with people having to commute and long hours. How do we keep fresh?
One of the main answers the Bible gives us is this: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8; Deut. 5:12). There are feasts in the Old Testament, but no holidays. There are no weekends in the Bible. The rhythm of life was “Six days you shall labor, and one day you shall rest.” It is hardwired into creation and humanity. God took the Sabbath day as a pattern for ours (Gen. 2:1–3).
Of course, rest in Scripture is a rich biblical theme. To truly keep the Sabbath means believing and trusting the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ (Matt. 12:1; Mark 2:23; Luke 6:1). It means resting from our own works and trusting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus. It means recognizing that rest can truly be found only in Christ, by Christ, through Christ. The offer of the gospel is “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Ultimately, we look forward to that eternal rest, the Sabbath that is still to come. We mustn’t be content with outward conformity, but rather have hearts that receive God’s Word, so that we enter into His rest (Heb. 4:6–7).
That new age that Christ ushered in when He rose from the dead has begun, but we’re not there in its entirety yet. This life is still one where painful toil is present, a fallen world of thorns and thistles, of commuting delays and difficult bosses, overwhelming workloads and deadlines, challenging children and housework, and frustration with life.
Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week changes the Sabbath day. We no longer work during the week looking forward to rest. We work out of the rest that Christ has won for us. We look back to creation and God’s redemption in history but now rejoice in Christ’s resurrection, the completion of His work. Christ rose on the first day of the week (John 20:19). He appeared to His disciples on the first day of the week (John 20:26). The early Christians met on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). They laid aside their money to give on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1–2), and by the time we come to Revelation, John finds himself describing it as the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). It seems that the emphasis moves from rest to worship with the transition from Sabbath to Lord’s Day; however, both must be present.
One of the helps that God has given us to deal with the pressures of life and tiredness is to take a Sabbath day. We live in a city that never stops, where people live at an unsustainable pace. The most consistent answer to the question “How are you?” is “Tired.” It has become our gut reaction, even when it’s not true. In fact, some of us feel guilty when we’re not tired.
I want to really encourage us to make use of the Lord’s Day, to be determined in making the most of it. That is going to mean preparing for it. I have found that if I can think through what needs to be done on a Saturday to enable me to not have to work on a Sunday, it frees me up. If I want to make the most of Sundays, I’ll go to bed earlier on a Saturday.
In a world where weekends away are sacrosanct, as Christians we’ll be different because there’s a day that we want to spend with God’s people, worshiping together. That’s our priority.
There is no command in Scripture about how long we’re supposed to be at church or how often we meet on Sundays, but I think framing the Lord’s Day by gathering for worship in the morning and the evening with the Lord’s people is for both our and the church’s good. It has certainly been the wisdom of the church for centuries.
We try to encourage people to visit each other’s homes. Build community. Invest in relationships. Care for the lonely and spend time with the people with whom God has knitted you together. Eat food you love. Read books that help you love the Lord. Enjoy the creation that God has given. Welcome strangers. Put aside your work.
There are challenges for families, but making Sunday the best day of the week is really important. It’s a day to show our children what really matters in life. I would argue that how we spend our Sundays reveals what our priorities are. It is what we are excited about that our children will see as they grow up, not just what we teach them.
I want to plead for two things. The first: Put sports in their place. We live in a culture that thinks athletics are far too important. Sports are a good gift from God, but they are to be enjoyed and not worshiped. The reality is that for many of us, sports have become an idol. Worshiping God with God’s people is infinitely more important than sports. Some of us may need to ask ourselves the question, Why am I so reluctant to have my devotion to sports questioned?
The second thing would be to put work, and particularly schoolwork, in its place. God has given us a day when we don’t have to feel guilty about not doing work. Learn the lesson that we are not defined by our work. Refuse to believe that we must disregard God’s command to prosper. It’s a damaging lie. Sunday is to be a day when the pressure of work is off.
I remember a discussion with students once where this truth that God has given us a day when we don’t have to study and we can rest was being applied. The response from a couple of the students was, “We don’t want to be legalistic about that.” The Bible leader again stated the great blessing that it is not to have to work, but we can rest and not have to feel guilty about it. The sad response was, “We don’t want to be legalistic about that.” The offer of gracious, refreshing rest was missed.
I don’t have (and I hope you don’t have) any interest in morbid, miserable Sabbaths. Jesus certainly didn’t. There are things that we shouldn’t do because it’s the Lord’s Day—of that there’s no doubt—but our mindset must be that we get to worship with God’s people. We get to rest from our work. We get to remember creation, redemption, and salvation and to long for that eternal rest.
Sundays are like a trailer for a film or a taster for a menu. One day, every day will be like Sunday taken up with Jesus and His praise.