The first day

BUT SUNDAY IS THE DAY ON WHICH WE ALL HOLD our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.

Justin Martyr

(taken from Credenda Agenda Vol 12 No. 2)

Sabbath Keeping

What Jesus was doing on the Sabbath was certainly in conflict with the Jewish interpretation of the law, even as we find it in the so-called halacha. . . . But Jesus’ actions were not in conflict with the law itself. On the contrary, what He did on the Sabbath and what He said about the Sabbath corresponded completely to that joy and restoration characterizing the Sabbath day prescribed in the Old Testament.

J. Douma

[taken from Credenda Agenda Vol 12 No. 2]

What colour is your Sunday?

At what event must we not laugh, not run, not talk, not play, not work, and “not do anything else”? At a funeral. For the longest time, traditional Protestant expressions of the Sabbath have been expressions of pure funeral behavior.

The Sabbath is supposed to be the best day of the week. It is supposed to give us a glimpse of peace and paradise, a glimpse back to Eden and forward to heaven. It is supposed to capture all the color and harmony of the Christian faith. And notice what we do. We turn to our children and show them a funeral. This is the faith, we say. This is how the gospel inspires you. No wonder they abandon the faith in apathy. Who has ever moved mountains by delighting in a funeral?

Worship itself is a renewal of our bond with God. He calls us to meet Him at worship; we confess our sins; He embraces us in forgiveness, changes us, and sends us forth again to conquer. So how does Scripture picture that bond with God? It’s certainly not a funeral. It’s a wedding. 

[Douglas Jones in Credenda Agenda Vol 12 No 2]