The Lord's Day as Devotion

The Lord’s Day (secular. Sunday) is an elementary act of Christian devotion. It is the chief public means of grace that is oft neglect, misunderstood and even despised in contemporary church culture. A means of grace is something we do in faith that is the channel for experiencing God’s undeserved favour in our lives. When we pause from our regular routine to worship God is pleased to bless.

Our national statement of faith on the subject says:[1]

We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.
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How are we to understand “unique”? The statement was crafted in 1953, a time when the classic Creation Ordinance (Sabbatarian) view[2] was eroding and a view that it was a New Covenant ordinance was gaining an ascendency. Here are the two possible ways “unique” could be understood:


[1] Sadly, in our present national review of this item, it has been suggested removing it. This is a case in point to my first paragraph. The LD is such a basic tenant of the Christian faith it is unfathomable why we wouldn’t declare it.

[2] C.f. the 1689 and New Hampshire Baptist confessions.

However, while different, devotionally the end of both is very similar. Let’s consider the positive and negative aspects of the LD as a means of grace that any Christian should cherish:
Positive

• It is the highest expression of faith in and love for God. It shows He is greater than anything else.
• We remember the basis of our new creation in Christ
• The Lord’s day is our great appointment, something to look forward to.
• Since it is His day and we delight in Him we enjoy honouring Him through it.
• Is an expression that our life/week is rooted in Him; our lives are ordered around Him.
• It is an expression of our humble dependence; life is not all about us or work or family or play.
• It is how we experience the Lord’s special presence amongst His people; how we spend time with Christ.
• We access other means of grace such as public worship, preaching, communal prayer, the ordinances, fellowship, etc.
• We remember that God’s commands are for our good always; we ascend to that which is good when we obey.
• It is a form of witness (non-believers watch how we spend our time)
• We set a positive example for others to follow in doing what is right.

Negative (Creation-an absolute; New Covenant- to persist in)

1. It exposes our idols (i.e. what we are worshipping/serving other than the Lord).
   • If you could pause to worship but decide to do ______ instead there is your idol.
     • E.g. my mother’s family gathering always used to be held on Sunday at lunch time. The Christians in the family were always late because we prioritized the Lord before family.
2. To disobey a command does not demonstrate faith for to believe is to obey.
   • Sometimes people fear what family might think or loosing a job by saying you are unavailable because of worship. We ought to care what the Lord thinks and trust He will provide something better (besides, in Canada Christians are legally protected in the workplace to practice our faith, as unbelieving Jews are [Saturday] and Muslims [Friday]).
3. Disobedience, or sin, has consequences.
4. It has a deadening effect upon our heart.
5. It cuts us off from other means of grace that develop our spiritual life.
6. Our example can lead others astray, whether people in the community or in our own family.
7. It robs the church of the blessing of your presence and even causes them to be concerned for you.
8. It hampers witness (non-Christians know Christians are supposed to worship on the LD).

Let us not neglect this great means of grace, this great act of devotion called the Lord’s Day. Let us say with Ignatius it is “the queen of the days” and with Wilberforce that to him it has been “invaluable.”