Covenant Presbyterian Church

The children are acting up more than usual. Draconian disciplinary measures are introduced; they last three days. The mirror reveals flab. Diet books are consulted; fasting ensues. Three days. Gas prices temporarily spike; the pumps are flooded with worried drivers. Prices rise again. Iran is fiddling with uranium; bomb Tehran. Panic. This is the fruit of secularism: too much information, no objective standard for judgment, a shattered inner identity. There is no god, no providence, no future beyond what we create for ourselves. Every new "crisis" brings an exaggerated response, more problems, more crises, more panic.

Sunday arrives. We rush around, getting ready for church, putting on a pretty face, nice clothes, our best spiritual air, maybe feigned piety. We rush out of the service. Company is coming. The game starts in an hour. Our budding Mozart has a recital at four o’clock. No time for the evening service. No real rest. Monday morning comes. Panic begins again.

Where can we find strength in such times? How can we sustain peace and perspective? Where is rest? How can we really know God and walk with him in the midst of such a hectic pace, job deadlines, and children? His promises seem less real than traffic, the spiraling cost of living, deteriorating health, national problems.

The Lord’s Day. You hear the preacher say "One day in the courts of the Lord is better than a thousand days any where else." You pause and think. Yes. The courts of the Lord. Worship. Remembering God. Meeting with his people. No panic. Rest in his providence, revel in his love. But.... No buts. In every age, God’s people are given a refuge and a test. Will we avail ourselves of his promise and presence, uniquely enjoyed, powerfully revealed, personally refreshing, each Lord’s Day?

You cannot lead a holy life if you do not keep the Lord’s Day holy. The church cannot be strong unless it returns to its God, its foundation, one day in seven. God has decreed this. He rules this world by this decree. He governs our lives by this decree. He raised Jesus on the Lord’s Day to testify publicly to this decree. Only by resting in him and the finished work of Jesus Christ, the whole day, sincerely, hungrily, faithfully, can panic be replaced with peace, weakness with strength, darkness with light.

Evidence of our desperate need for the Lord’s Day is everywhere around us. Negatively, the impotence of the church and individual believers is directly the result of not keeping the Lord’s Day holy. We do not trust in providence as once did. Our worship tastes resemble third graders at a birthday party. Our knowledge of the English Bible is pathetic. We have lost the appetite for strong preaching, biblical proclamation. We are materialistic, lack a sense of the holiness of God, do not appreciate his presence in our lives, and are engulfed by panic, frustration at life’s problems that leads to knee-jerk reactions, which in turn produce more problems. We have little concrete impact upon the broader culture. We have lost the ability to relate meaningfully to others. We are as relativistic in our ethical convictions as the world, have as many divorces, as much fornication and adultery, probably as many suicides.

Returning to faithful Lord’s Day observance would bring strength. Observing the Lord’s Day by ceasing from our labors and recreations completely would recognize and submit to God’s providence, personally and governmentally, over our lives. If we had a high regard for Christ and the resurrection, wonder and awe rather than circus and show would shape our worship tastes. Spending one-hour each Lord’s Day afternoon reading and meditation upon the Bible would have a monumental impact upon our lives; will watching three hours of football produce anything but spiritual impotence? And our appetite for preaching would return because knowledge of Scripture would make our faith manly, desirous of strong meat, hostile toward the effeminate, psycho-drivel that passes for preaching in many circles. We would not panic. God’s presence ends panic. Life lived in the light of the Lord’s Day gives calmness, confidence, and strength, for by experience we would learn that our lives are hidden with Christ in him, and are therefore secure. And in his light, we would enjoy the light that dispels panic, worry, and anxiety. And we would celebrate life with our covenant family, those who with us are co-heirs of the grace of life.

Observing the Lord’s Day, keeping it holy, will require significant changes in our perspectives and priorities. I am persuaded, however, that these changes are more positive than negative, require greater piety than more lists. If we believe that Jesus proclaims the name of the Father in the midst of his church (Heb. 2:12), that in God’s presence is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11), that everyone who waits upon the Lord in his church goes from strength to strength (Ps. 84:7), we will be motivated to observe the Lord’s Day by faithfully worshipping with his people, in his church, which is his temple. For the believer, no guilt manipulation should be required to encourage being with God. The problem, therefore, with our current observance of the Lord’s Day is a lack of piety, love for God, faith in his promises, appreciation of our identity as his temple, in which he reveals his glory. It is not that we lack "do’s and don’ts," it is that we lack a heart in which the love of God is being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We do not believe that God is our greatest good, his word our most precious possession, his people our true family. And we panic because we lack piety, for our lack of piety leads us away from the Lord’s Day, our weekly renewal, enjoyment of Christ, and participation in the forerunner of the eternal Sabbath.

Other changes are more practical. First, we must get a good night’s rest on Saturday. In fact, we must sleep more in general lest we are sluggish on Sunday morning due to more sleep than usual. Second, parents with young children must establish the habit of attending both services on Sunday. No one ever became tired of church and God because they worshipped and learned too much. I have found that parents who habitually use young children as their excuse for not attending the Sunday evening service rarely observe the Lord’s Day well and do not change this bad habit when children grow older. Third, make Sunday a "no television day." It is not edifying and does not celebrate our Savior’s resurrection. Use the afternoon to meditate and pray upon God’s glory and word, minister to your children through catechisms, talking, listening, and resting. Fourth, do not think about your work, your family problems, or your finances, except to seek God’s grace, wisdom, and power.

The Lord’s Day ends panic. Our Savior has risen from the dead. Life’s greatest enemies, sin, Satan, and death, have been defeated. Resting in Christ enables us to achieve victory over them in our lives. Our Savior reigns at the Father’s right hand. There is thus quiet and confidence to be enjoyed in worship, dependence upon his power and intercession, and simple trust in his shepherding. Your life is hidden with him in God. Before his throne is a sea of glass: God’s sovereign, providential rule over history. We are sailing through life on this sea; he has everything under control. When we rest in him, we rest in his sovereignty, his salvation, his victory. This is the reality. This is our strength. Here there is no panic.