Rest or Stress?
Until a couple of years ago, the terms “Sabbath” and “Lord’s Day” stressed me out. I would either hear them used to make me feel bad about eating lunch at a restaurant on Sundays, supposedly against the instruction of the Puritans who I loved, or used to denounce the legalistic Sabbatarianism of the Puritans. The former was from Reformed acquaintances I didn’t know very well and felt shunned by, the inheritors of Puritan theology. The latter came from Baptist friends who I trusted but now felt pressured by to criticize the Puritans on something I hadn’t studied yet. This view was even supported by such prolific scholars as Justo González who recently argued that the Puritan view of Sunday was not only restrictive but destructive; in his words, they ordered “forceful obedience of the ‘Sabbath’” on all people, which became a “draconian legislation” in their society, built on their revolution that “eventually result[ed] in further religious fragmentation, political chaos, [and] civil war,” in both Britain and its colonies, including America.[1] In the conversations I was hearing, the Sabbath or Lord’s Day connoted anything but rest.
Thus, I was both surprised and comforted by the fact that John Owen seemed to witness the same kind of disagreements in his own time and managed to come to a wonderfully stress-less conclusion about what the Lord’s Day should really look like. In his Sacred Day of Rest and commentary on Hebrews 3-4, Owen sets forth the problem of stress—noting that everyone is arguing about the Lord’s Day and this prevents anyone from practicing it—and the solution of rest, which he defines as primarily spiritual, though also expressed in physical ways that are appropriate to one’s unique context.
The Problem of Stress
First, Owen laments the problem of stress, both in regards to the endless arguments about the Lord’s Day as well as the extra-biblical rules that have been placed on the shoulders of lay people, making them tired. He says that even though “Christians in general,” including Protestants and Catholics, “under one notion or other, agree that a day of rest should be observed, in and for the celebration of the worship of God,” people are still arguing about the details related to this overarching principle (e.g., how to practice it, when it can be taken, and what to call it) and have used the confused mess of controversies to neglect their duty to do it at all.[2] After describing these controversial points in detail, Owen says one must proceed with diligence and moderation, and aim to be “helpers of [the saints’] joy” instead of those who attempt to rule over them.[3] This includes giving a “due consideration of the spirit and liberty of the gospel,” which means nothing is “to commend itself unto us under the mere notion of strictness or preciseness, or the appearance of more than ordinary severity in religion” but only that which is taught by the Scriptures and affirmed by the rule of faith and the church throughout history.[4]
Yet, Owen observes that many Christians have believed that the duties required of them on the Lord’s Day are so wearisome that they cannot keep it in part and thus do not even try to keep it at all.[5] This is partly because the Roman church invented unbiblical rules that put a burden on lay people, which led not only to spiritual exhaustion but also physical exhaustion: “some. . . have been apt to tie them up into such long, tiresome duties, and rigid abstinences from refreshments, as have clogged their minds, and turned the whole service of the day into a wearisome bodily exercise, that profiteth little.”[6]
The Solution of Rest
Second, in response to this problem of stress Owen explains the solution of rest, which is what the Lord’s Day is really about. This can include physical rest, but primarily means spiritual rest. Thus, rest on Lord’s Day does not prohibit us from “the use of our natural strength”; in fact, there is no extra credit or lost points for those who exert themselves more or less because what matters is that we worship according to our abilities.[7] This means that the sick, weak, old, and those in distress are not able to keep the Lord’s Day any less than the healthy, strong, young, and happy. Overall, believers should act as those under the new covenant of “freedom, and liberty.”[8] Thus, if “in the observation of this day, our hearts are single and sincere in our aims at [God’s] glory with delight, it is of more price with him than the most rigid observation of outward duties by number and measure.”[9] This does not imply that prescribed duties of worship (i.e., participating in public worship, reading the Bible, praying to God, and praising God) are unnecessary, but that one must remember the day is about truly worshipping God, not a mere outward observance.[10]
a. What Worship Really Is
So what does it mean to truly worship God? According to Owen, it is “glorify[ing] God as God,” which at its heart speaks to the dependency of human beings on God for life.[11] He further explains, “this day of rest [God] required the first day as it were that the world stood upon its legs, hath done so all along, and will do so to the last day of its duration. When he had made all things, and saw that they were good, and was refreshed by them, he required that we should own and acknowledge his goodness and power therein.”[12] For Owen, partaking of God’s rest includes praising him for his work and aligning one’s work with his, which brings satisfaction and enjoyment. The people who partake in this rest are those who already have faith, yet they need to be “encouraged unto believing.”[13] Owen explains, true faith is not just hearing the “word of promise, with Christ and the atonement made by him therein” but also “giving unto them a real admittance into the soul, to abide there as in their proper place.”[14]
b. How to Worship on the Lord’s Day
Owen concludes that though the Lord’s Day is called a day of rest, “we cannot rest in a day, nor in any thing that a day can afford; only it is a help and means of bringing us to rest in God.”[15] This means that the greatest duties on this day are of the heart. For example, Owen encourages us to “take our minds and souls, as far as we are able, from all occasions of life and businesses of this world, that we may walk in God alone on this day;” he contends that those who “think this is a great bondage” are not well acquainted with God and his ways.[16] Though it does take discipline to set aside one’s business and attend a worship service, the benefits outweigh the sacrifices.
Owen summarizes, “all duties proper and peculiar to this day are duties of communion with God.”[17] If one wakes up early, goes to bed late, and fills the day with religious duties but does not commune with God, one will not gain anything.[18] Similarly, it is better that a pastor should lead the congregation in shorter and easier ways of worship so that those who are weak would not be burdened; if those who are strong want to do more, they can.[19] Owen strongly argues against those who would insist on “Mosaical” rules, like “not kindling fire in our houses on this day, baking and preparing the food of it the day before,” and so on.[20] He repeats his claim that rest in and of itself is not worship, but physical rest that is for the purpose of engaging worship activities is. Thus, work that is done for the purpose of worship, like visiting the sick, helping someone in need, or taking care of daily vocational activities that cannot be put off (like feeding cattle), are all part of worship.
My Experience and Yours
What might this look like in your own life? After reading Owen, I was very convicted about the state of my heart on a Sunday; I had let the stress of disagreements and duties prevent me from figuring out what I believed and thus had no peace about what I did or did not do. I focused on all the difficult parts—like going in early and staying late with my husband who is a pastor, pumping myself up for lots of socializing as an introvert, and coming home to prepare meals for that night and the next day—instead of focusing on the gift of rest God was offering me in a freebie day I could spend reading the Bible as long as I wanted, praising God with friends at church, praying through a list of requests from those in need, visiting family members, processing what happened in the week, listening to music, or taking a nap. What I can say after a year of focusing on truly worshipping God in my heart is that it takes discipline to stop doing regular activities (especially during busy seasons), but the little work it takes for me to focus on worship saves me from doing needless and hurtful work that results in me denying the rest I need from God, and worse, not giving him the praise he deserves.
[1] Justo L. González, A Brief History of Sunday: From the New Testament to the New Creation (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017), 117, 127.
[2] John Owen, An Exposition of Hebrews, ed. W. H. Goold (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1991), 2:266; 425.
[3] Ibid., 2:273.
[4] Ibid., 2:276.
[5] Ibid., 2:438.
[6] Ibid., 2:441.
[7] Ibid., 2:443.
[8] Ibid., 2:444.
[9] Ibid., 2:446.
[10] Ibid., 2:447.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid., 4:217; 257.
[14] Ibid., 4:249.
[15] Ibid., 4:448.
[16] Ibid., 4:451.
[17] Ibid., 4: 452.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid., 4: 458.
[20] Ibid., 4: 459.