How Are We Supposed to Rest on Sunday?

Rest with the Lord’s People

Late in his life, the apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos. Nevertheless, he wrote, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). In a situation in which every day may have seemed like a repeat of the day before, John set aside one day for worship. He also remembered his connection to all God’s people, calling himself the “brother” and “partner” of the seven churches to whom he wrote (Rev. 1:9). While John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day on Patmos, he knew his brothers and sisters throughout Asia were likewise worshiping. And the Lord graciously ministered to John by giving him a vision not of solitary communion with Christ but of the corporate worship of “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation” (Rev. 7:9). Seeing John spending the Sabbath alone, the Lord called to him, “Come up here” (Rev. 4:1), and invited him to join a vast company of saints and angels worshiping before his throne (Rev. 4:1–11).

Likewise, the Lord calls to us on the Lord’s Day, draws us out of our spiritual solitude, and brings us among not only his people on earth but also “innumerable angels in festal gathering,” “the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven,” God, “the spirits of the righteous made perfect,” and Jesus (Heb. 12:22–24). Sabbath rest isn’t merely for resting alone in the Lord. It’s for resting with all who also belong to him. It’s for resting with the church.

Sabbath Rest

Megan Hill, Winfree Brisley

This volume of TGC's Disciplines of Devotion series invites women to stir their affections for God by cultivating the biblical practice of Sabbath rest.

Ways to Rest

Consider several ways to rest with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day.

Worship

Puritan David Clarkson reflected on the blessing of worshiping with the church, explaining, “Public worship is more edifying than private. In private you provide for your own good, but in public you do good both to yourselves and others.”¹ When we sing in corporate worship, it points others to Christ (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). When we pray, we bring one another to the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). When we hear God’s word read and preached, we learn together from our gracious Lord (1 Thess. 2:13). As a member of the body of Christ, each person’s worship is indispensable to the others, and the others’ worship is necessary for each person (1 Cor. 12:12–31).

On Sundays, God’s people do good to one another’s souls:

Gather with the church for worship, even if you are on vacation.
Sit close to your fellow church members during the service, and rejoice in the privilege of singing, praying, and hearing from God in the company of his people.
Take a group to visit a church member who is unable to come to worship; read Scripture, sing, and pray together.

Encouragement

Some of my sweetest memories of Sabbath rest are from my time as a college student. Some fellow students and I committed ourselves to setting apart the day—closing our books and laptops and opening our hearts to the Lord and his people. After church, we would often spend Sundays in the homes of hospitable church members. Other times, we gathered in someone’s dorm room to listen to and discuss a recorded sermon. It’s quite possible that our grades and our social lives suffered as a result. It’s certain that our souls did not.

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,” wrote the author of Hebrews, “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). Gathering with God’s people is a vital means of stirring one another up in the life of faith. And though our weekdays are often filled with other obligations, the Lord gives us one day in seven to encourage one another.

Learn the names of people in your church (even the children!) and greet them with a smile.
Invite church members for Sunday lunch; as you eat, retell your Christian testimony and ask the people around your table to tell theirs. Rejoice together in the work God has done in your lives.
Send an email to some missionaries you support, encouraging them that you are coming alongside them in prayer.

Gathering with God’s people is a vital means of stirring one another up in the life of faith.

Mercy

Jesus is our greatest example of what it means to pursue rest on the Sabbath. As we’ve already noted, he made participation in corporate worship his habit (Luke 4:16). He spent time with his disciples, encouraging them in the faith (Luke 4:31–32). And he often used some of the day to feed and heal those who were in need (e.g., Matt. 12:1–14). In a day set apart to honor the Lord, we too welcome opportunities to show mercy.

Give generously when the offering plate is passed, asking God to use your money to help those in need.
Look for someone in the congregation to ask, “What can I do for you this week?”
Take a meal or send a card to a church member who is lonely, grieving, or sick.

Put on Your Mittens

In a society increasingly marked by isolation and loneliness, Sabbath rest provides an opportunity for us to gather with other believers for our spiritual good. I love the illustration from one writer who used the example of a woolen mitten. Throughout the week, believers are like the separated fingers in a glove—working independently but prone to growing cold. On the Sabbath, though, we come together, and the vitality of each one makes the others warm.²

“I was glad,” the psalmist sang, “when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Ps. 122:1). Week after week, this corporate invitation is our joy too. On the Lord’s Day, we rest with the Lord’s people.

Notes:

David Clarkson, “Public Worship to Be Preferred Before Private,” in The Practical Works of David Clarkson (Edinburgh, 1865), 3:192.
Lewis O. Thompson, The Prayer Meeting and Its Improvement, 5th ed. (Chicago, 1878), 231.

This article is adapted from Sabbath Rest by Megan Hill.

Megan Hill (BA, Grove City College) is the author of several books, including Praying Together; A Place to Belong; and Meg Is Not Alone. She also serves as the managing editor for the Gospel Coalition. A pastor’s wife and a pastor’s daughter, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and four children, where they belong to West Springfield Covenant Community Church (PCA).

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