Where will you be on Sunday?

One day of the week.

How can one day of the week become so crowded with so MANY things to do? On Sunday, we feel the demands of a rapidly approaching Monday flying our way full throttle. There are also tasks left undone from last week still breathing down our necks and we all too easily get caught in a vortex of competing time demands on Sunday.

A day of worship, a day of rest, a day to reflect and remember has become anything but what it can and should be. It seems to be a thin thread stretched to the snapping point between what wasn't done last week and what must be done in the coming week.

We feel as if we can never catch up if we don't at least try to catch up on Sunday. And what are the results? We never catch up and we move breathlessly from one week into the next and wonder why we feel so frazzled.

Could it be that we have forgotten what the one who knows us better than we know ourselves has said?

Exodus 16:26 (ESV)
²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none."

Exodus 20:9 (ESV)
⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,

Exodus 20:11 (ESV)
¹¹ For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:15 (ESV)
¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 

I can hear it now, "But that is the law and we are under grace." Is it not a grace for our creator to tell us we need a day of rest? Are we not killing ourselves; are we not being "put to death" by our own hands because we will not receive the grace of rest that He has offered us from His hands?

It seems to me that along with taking a break from the routine of life we should also refresh and revive ourselves by joining together in corporate worship on a day that can become our day of "Sabbath." We rest from our labors and worship the risen Lord on the First Day of the week - on Sunday.

So now, we have to decide; will we take God at His Word and enjoy all that a day of worship and rest will give to us or will we frantically try to crowd everything in on this day between weeks while crowding out that which is most important?

May I ask you again, Where will you be on Sunday?"

If you want to read more about this here is the start of a great article that I trust will capture your attention.

"As a natural-born sinner, I'm allergic to worshiping the Lord in all things at all times.

As a supernaturally born-again saint, I'm prone to love the God who loved me first.

Praise God that when the dust settles from the war with my flesh that he has the victory!
God's Word instructs us: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Heb. 10:24-25).

Here are just ten of the things I remind myself of when I'm tempted to downplay the importance of corporate worship and ecclesiology in my life: (Continue Reading)

Let's meet for worship this Sunday and then let's rest and reflect on what He has said through the Word and the Sacraments and see if our week won't be better when we honor the Lord on Sunday.

Worshiping and resting because I need it more than working and rushing,
Pastor Mike