Sometimes between worship services on a Sunday, Trudy and I will go for a walk down Pako St for some relaxing exercise. And it saddens us that for some people, the Sunday has become a little like the other six days of the week, just another working day. Now I realize that some staff who are working on the Sunday may have other times when they can have a day off. I also realize that the cows need to be milked and the sick need to be cared for and other essential services need to happen on the Lord’s Day.
However, as Christians coming to enjoy worship, we need to give some careful thought as to how we spend the Lord’s Day and also how we allow other Christians to spend the Lord’s Day. When I am allowed to take a ‘Sunday off’ and worship elsewhere, the last thing I need is for someone to come along and dump all their ‘church’ issues on my lap as though I am the ‘fix-it’ man. I am not the ‘fix-it’ man and that is not why I came to worship. I came to worship to hear the Lord’s word being expounded; to delight in what God has done for me in Christ and hopefully to ‘rest’ in the day the Lord has given me.
Now I know we can chat about all sorts of things to each other on a Sunday after church. That’s good and it is part of the fellowship of the saints. However, I just wonder sometimes whether we don’t cross the line too often with others and don’t allow them to ‘rest in the Lord?’ It’s not just ministers who sometimes get bombarded about ‘work’ things, it can also be people in other professions. The Lord has given us six days to be busy with our daily work and in His wisdom has set one day aside to allow us to worship and to rest in Him. Please, don’t rob fellow worshippers of that privilege. Allow your busyness and their busyness of the previous six days to remain behind them. Let us give each other the opportunity to take a break from our usual labours and to just rest and delight in the Lord on His day.
Now you may be wondering if we shouldn’t talk about our daily ‘work’ after worship, what can we talk about? Allow me to give you some ideas. You could ask how someone’s week has been. You could ask about their health or their families well-being if you know there has been sickness. You may even offer to make someone a meal or do their washing if you know they are struggling. You could invite someone around for a further chat over lunch. You could chat about your recent week away and the holiday you enjoyed. You could even chat about the good news of Jesus Christ that you heard from God’s word that morning – (wow that’s new). You could chat about how you shared the good news of Jesus Christ with your neighbour. You could even quietly take them aside and offer them a word of prayer if you know they are doing it tough.
Our Creator knew what He was doing when He set aside one day a week when we can just delight in Him and all His blessings on us, not least the blessing of being known by Him in Christ. Have a blessed day of worship and fellowship this coming Sunday and hopefully every Sunday. JZ