The Sabbath Is Not A Weekend Event

What is a week-end?

That was the honest question that the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley asked once in an episode of Downton Abbey. She was confused because, as someone from the aristocracy, the idea of a work week and then a weekend of days off was foreign to her.

Yet I also have a similar question. Our culture typically thinks of the week beginning on Monday and ending on Sunday. This same attitude toward Sunday has worked its way into the church, treating Sunday like it’s just another day off.

By God’s grace, Christians are waking up to a high view of The LORD’s Day, the Christian Sabbath.

The Second London Baptist Confession (1689) states this about The LORD’s Day:

“As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s Day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished” (ch.22.7)

I could not come up with a more concise and clear way to state this critical truth. Our gracious God set out the principle of one day in seven to be a day of rest. That principle has stood ever since He completed His perfect work of creation. Jesus Christ established the true Sabbath at His resurrection, forever making the first day of the week (not the seventh as previously required) the Christian Sabbath (or The LORD’s Day) until He returns.

Jesus has a high view of the Sabbath, and we should as well. The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include Jesus’ clear teaching that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. He has the right to set the parameters and cut down the unlawful rules that the Pharisees had tacked onto this important gift of YHWH (Yahweh) to His people.

Believers do not merely have a duty to observe The LORD’s Day; it is our privilege to gather for corporate worship and take solid rest on the first day of the week. This day is not merely the last day of our “week-end.” It’s the beginning of the week, a feast day, a weekly holiday, the “market day of the soul,” to quote a common Puritan saying. Sunday is categorically different from every other day of the week.

It is centered on corporate worship primarily, then giving rest to the body after putting away our common affairs. Our entire life is one of worship, but worship on The LORD’s Day is still different in a couple of ways.

It is the only day we are commanded to gather with the saints and to not forsake that gathering (Hebrews 10:25). Gathering with the rest of your local congregation on Sunday is a special blessing. We are not meant to live in isolation, and blessed fellowship with other believers aids us in our sanctification.

A key part of that gathering is observing the Ordinary Means of Grace together. This consists of hearing the Word read and preached, praying together, singing together, taking the Lord’s Supper, and observing baptism as that event occurs. These marks of the church have persisted since the very beginning, and they are powerful means by which the Holy Spirit feeds and nurtures our faith.

So The LORD’s Day isn’t a weekend activity. It’s not at the week’s end…it’s the week’s start! Furthermore, it’s not merely an activity, something to cross off the to-do list as you walk out of the meetinghouse. The LORD’s Day is the market day of the soul, a weekly holiday, and a time of sweet fellowship with our sovereign God. So let’s enjoy it as we glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

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