The subject of the Lord's Day (or the Christian Sabbath) has been one of my long time ponderings of which I rarely get through to a satisfying answer. The purpose of this article is not to question the historic Reformed view of the Lord's Day. I assume and take it at face value that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath and that it was established by Scripture. My goal is not to argue this assertion or prove it. I simply agree with it.

Now, with that said, what often brings me the greatest difficulty as I explore and examine this topic is the practical means upon which we are to be obedient to this directive:

Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. (Exodus 20.9, 10, ESV)

The prohibition against work is very obvious from this passage. However, the Church has often accepted that work of necessity and mercy are allowable under various circumstances. For instance, people get sick and often need to seek medical attention on Sunday. Yet, what about those people who are in a job that really cannot be classified as "works of necessity or mercy"? What do these employees do if they find themselves in this job and are in danger of losing thier job because their employer forces them to work on Sunday? How should a Christian respond to this problem? Sure, the Christian can seek employment elsewhere but this is no guarentee that the new company will not change their views at some point and require the employee to work on Sunday. I am sure there are numerous stories of a person who was very careful when applying for a job to indicate that they were not available on Sunday yet found themselves forced into working on Sunday anyhow. We live in a world that places no stock in the Lord's Day at all. If you tell an employer that you want Sunday off because of your religious convictions over this matter you are looked at like you are some kind of nut. The general atititudes that I have seen are "Well, if I have to work on Sunday then so do you"; or, "Your religious reason is only an excuse for wanting the day off". Well, for some this may be true and we certainly need to live a life of holiness before our employers in order to remove this excuse from their minds.

Our society is not geared towards honoring the Lord's Day. There was a time in this country when businesses would close on Sunday but that is a thing of the past. The attraction of the mighty dollar drives people to run their businesses on Sunday which, in turn, forces them to schedule their employees to work on that day. The Christian is finding it harder and harder to honor his convictions over this matter. The box is getting smaller and there is little room to move.

Let me go back to the "work of necessity" aspect for a moment. Certainly there are legitimate aspects to this category yet I think many people rationalize their jobs as a work of necessity when it really isn't. Something to think about.

The Westminster Confession states:

This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations,[38] but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy. (Chapter 21.8)

Some elements seem pretty clear to me:

1. God's people should give due preparation of their hearts and their daily affairs as to not allow them to distract them from worshipping God on the Lord's Day.
2. God's people should observe a holy rest all day long from their jobs and normal recreations.
3. God's people should be about the business of studying, meditating and seeking God's face on the Lord's Day.

Now, let me address some questions that I often have over these points:

God's people should give due preparation of their hearts and their daily affairs as to not allow them to distract them from worshipping God on the Lord's Day.

Generally speaking I think this admonition is accurate and, if practiced, can produce good fruit. Practically speaking, however, what does that look like? I guess if you asked one hundred people what this actually looks like you would get one-hundred answers. I believe the admonition means simple things like fueling your car on Saturday; setting aside time for meditation on the worship service that will commence on Sunday; ordering your household affairs so that life is as simple as possible on Sunday morning. Stuff like that.

God's people should observe a holy rest all day long from their jobs and normal recreations.

This is the part of the admonition found in the Confession that starts to grate on my mind and my soul. What exactly does this mean, practically speaking? Is it unlawful for a child of God to watch football on Sunday? What about watching movies or other such activities that are a part of the "normal routine" of our day? I find it very difficult to nail down something concrete as a "rule of order" on this point. Perhaps that is my problem -- I want a hard and fast rule (and my mind tends to work that way). Tell me what to do and I will do it but tell me how at the same time.

God's people should be about the business of studying, meditating and seeking God's face on the Lord's Day.

Now this part of the admonition is even harder to deal with than the previous one. For many people studying God's word each day is an exercise in futility. The tyranny of the urgent often sets in and it never happens. The life we all live tends to rob us of this pleasure. God has given us this one day in seven to focus on Him, His Word and His people. Yet, I wonder how often we actually engage in this? I wonder how often I engage in this? Perhaps it is due to the fact that we do not follow point #2 and since we don't we have little time for point #3.

All in all I think our attitudes about the Lord's Day is an attitude of the heart. Fact is, we are a sinful people and often act in lazy ways in many things, especially when we approach the Lord's Day.

Sadly, I often find myself seeing the Lord's Day as a chore and not a blessing. I guess I really do not believe what the Scriptures teach on this subject although I am certainly willing to argue the correctness of the theology. For me, however, it boils down to the "how-to's" of the matter as well as the matter of the heart. Certainly if my heart attitude were better I guess so would my actions. I just have too many questions running around in my head over this issue.