Something special happens on Sundays, but defining what that “something special” is often leads to debate. Some refer to Sunday as “Going to church,” which is misleading because America’s use of the word, “church,” denotes a building instead of a group of people. Others talk less about “church” and instead speak about “Going to preachin’,” which highlights the importance placed on the bulk of our time together. In other words, the statement reflects that half the time we spend together is spent listening to the sermon. Something special happens on Sundays, but what exactly is it?
For most of us, the sermon has always been center stage to our Sunday time together. But it may not have always been that way. According to Dan Dozier, Come Let Us Adore Him (College Press, 1994), a perception-shift occurred during the rise of the Revival/Gospel Meeting (R/GM) era. While other factors came into play – the located preacher, use of electricity and the Sunday evening services – the R/GM may have had negative consequences to the weekly service.
Local congregations began wanting to duplicate the success of the R/GM in both conversions and quality of preaching. I don’t really blame them. Repentance and renewal was evident in the number of people responding to the invitation call to dedicate/rededicate their lives to God. The largest response was probably the number of baptisms that took place during the R/GM era. So the common thought was that if we could elevate the quality of preaching on Sundays and direct it at the non-believer, then we could experience the R/GM fifty-two Sundays a year. People will repent and baptisms will increase. Such thinking shaped our Sundays into the kind of “something special” we often hoped for, but leaving us empty.
Two problems came with this shift in thinking. First, we thought if we had the right model, we’d find the right results. What was missing was both the amount of prayer and hard work that went into the R/GM gatherings. The church prayed for the lost and went out into the community to plant the seed for the preacher during the R/GM. The response during the invitation was the church celebrating the harvest of those repenting from sins and renewing their covenant with God.
Secondly, it placed an unbalanced weight on preaching or conversion as the reason for the gathering. Instead of the assembly being driven by mutual edification for the saints (1 Cor. 14:26b), its drive is for the outsiders (even that focus is poorly executed). While the sermon may be geared toward the “sinner,” it’s shaped to appeal to the “saints.” Songs are sung that the church loves but usually unknown to outsiders. And what are non-believers and seekers supposed to do with the Lord’s Supper?
Maybe the “something special” was never about converting a person during a thirty minute sermon on Sunday morning. Certainly, the element of the worship is a witness to the non-believer (1 Cor. 14:23), but those who assemble are believers. They are the ones who experience the “something special.”
Acts 20:7 may shed some light onto what the “something special” is. The verse reads, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” While this verse is no stranger to us, we may have missed its own cue. Instead of debating when the church met to break bread, we should ask, “What drove the church to assemble in the first place?” According to this verse, instead of coming together to worship, out of which they partook of the Lord’s Supper; they came together for the Lord’s Supper, out of which they worshiped.
The focus of our time together is not on preaching or converting (though both are important), but about sharing this meal together (which may be a good reason to deeply explore the implications of the Lord’s Supper more often). When we recline at the Table with our Savior and Break Bread with one another, then and only then, will we experience something special.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)