The Spread of Christianity (6)

Christians in the Early Church

Assembling together on Sunday (continued)

Since the earliest days, Sunday was the day whereupon the congregation gathered together.

Paul’s command to gather money for the poor on the first day of the week presupposes that the Sunday was already well known (1 Corinthians 16:2). John’s reference to the Day of the Lord can properly be explained only when this day refers to Sunday.

This is also apparent in other documents. In the “Didache,” a manuscript from the first century, it is spoken about gathering together on the “Day of the Lord” (Chapter 14, paragraph 1). About the reason for the gathering on Sunday, Justin Martyr (±100-±165) writes, “We come together on Sunday because it is the first day of Creation where God created light from darkness and created the world from unorganized matter. It is also because on this day Christ arose from the dead (“First Apology,” paragraph 67).

Preview

The high esteem that Christians had for the first day of the week is further apparent in the time of Irenaeus and Tertullian in that they did not kneel while praying but stood. It was a very significant pointing to the resurrection (Irenaeus, “About the Passover”; Tertullian, “About Prayer” 23). It is stirring to read what Basilius the Great writes about this practice of prayer on Sunday. “Upon the day of the resurrection, we recall the grace which has been granted unto us by standing while praying, not only in that we have been risen with Christ, and are obliged to ‘seek the things which are above’ (Colossians 3:1) but also because in a certain sense it is a preview of the coming ages which we await” (About the Holy Spirit, Chapter 27, paragraph 66).

Therefore, Sunday is, in the deepest sense of the word, a day of rest which already looks forward via the resurrection of Christ to the glory which God has laid away for those who fear Him.

Justin Martyr also writes about these matters which took place during the church services. In “First Apology,” paragraphs 65-67, he writes how during the services words were first read aloud out of the apostolic books of the New Testament or out of the prophets. Thereafter, the leader would speak some words of admonishment or encouragement. Subsequently, they went over to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. While they were standing, they would first offer a prayer for themselves, for fellow Christians, and for all mankind over the entire world. Thereafter, they would greet one another with a kiss.

We regularly come across the giving of a kiss in the New Testament (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). In order to properly understand this, it is necessary to provide some background.

In past ages the kiss was first of all a token of love and respect, and only in the second place did it have a romantic connotation. In addition, such a kiss was generally given upon the hand. The reciprocal kiss was especially a seal and token of forgiving one another and served to prepare oneself to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the proper manner.

Lord’s (Holy) Supper

After the greeting and salutation, the bread and wine are brought to the leader who subsequently leads in prayer, giving thanks for the heavenly gifts, whereupon the congregation answers with “Amen.” Thereupon, the deacons distribute the bread and the wine. The well-to-do in the congregation then give what they are willing to contribute for the poor. The leader distributed these gifts to the orphans, widows, sick, prisoners, and strangers. The free will offering taken at the Lord’s Supper table in our congregations is based on long tradition. It is to be given after the celebration of the sacrament according as men have been blessed. In one of his letters, the church father Cyprian allows us to look into his heart regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Even after so many centuries, the recall is unmistakable. “As common wine makes someone’s spirit freer and looser, and takes away all sorrow, so also by means of the drinking of the “blood of the Lord” and the cup of salvation all recollection of the old man is driven away, and the earlier sojourning in the world is forgotten, and the sorrowing and mournful heart that was first oppressed because of the anxiety of sin, can breathe again because of the joy which God’s grace gives” (“Letters”, #63, paragraph 11). For Cyprian, the Lord’s Supper is, therefore, the place where the recollection of his former life is seen in the proper light.

The Sunday gatherings in the early church recall for us what is important in the church services. Men did not come together in beautiful buildings; neither did they have the freedom to come together at a convenient time. They sought each other in living rooms and small rooms, early in the morning and late at night. When we read of how they came together, something is tasted of the joy and simplicity of heart.

(This installment marks the end of this series.)

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen