SUNDAY TO BE KEPT AT HOME.
By William Covert
In his labors Paul gave instruction to the churches concerning systematic giving. He said that upon the first day of the week everyone should lay by him in store such things as he could afford, according to the prosperity of the Lord upon him. Such accumulation of goods was finally to be distributed among the saints at Jerusalem. 1 Cor. 16:1–3. From this instruction it is claimed that those churches were holding their regular weekly meeting upon the first day of the week, else the apostle would not have specified this time for these collections. But does not the apostle enjoin a work to be done at home on the first day of the week? The instruction is, "Let every one of you lay by him in store." The admonition means, "to treasure up."—Young. This treasure was to be stored away at home. This advice shows that the apostle admonished his brethren to be at home on the first day of the week attending to secular matters. In "Vindication of the True Sabbath," pages 51, 52, the author says:— The apostle simply orders that each one of the Corinthian brethren should lay up at home some portion of his weekly gains on the first day of the week. The whole question turns upon the meaning of the expression "by him;" and I marvel greatly how you can imagine that it means in the collection box of the congregation. Greenfield in his Lexicon translates the Greek term "by one's self, i. e., at home." Two Latin versions, . . . "with one's self, at home." Three French translations, . . . "at his own house, at home." The German of Luther, . . . "by himself, at home." The Dutch, the same as the German. The Italian of Diodati, "in his own presence, at home." The Spanish of Felipe Scio, "in his own house." The Portuguese of Ferreira, "with himself." The Swedish, "near himself." I know not how much this list of authorities might be swelled, for I have not examined one translation that differs from those quoted above. When rightly understood, there is seen in it the reverse of a public collection to be taken up at meeting. Verse 3 reads: "When I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem." Had the apostle meant that a Sunday collection was to be taken up at the church for the purpose of gathering in some money for the cause of Christ, it would not have been necessary to have a delegation of brethren chosen to carry it up to Jerusalem. The apostle could have taken that himself. But the appointment of a number of brethren to carry the things to Jerusalem, shows that goods of different kinds would finally be gathered together and sent to Jerusalem, for the benefit of the needy saints at that place. In such gatherings a variety of articles would be offered for distribution, consisting of grains, fruits, clothing, etc., besides the money that would be given. This being the character of the gift, it would of course be necessary to select men to carry these things to their destination. It will be noticed, by reading the purpose and expectations of the apostle in subsequent verses, that he did not expect to call for the goods immediately, not for several months at least. And by the statements made in his next letter to the church (2 Cor. 9:1–5), it appears that a year or more intervened before the goods were finally sent forward. Suppose that during all this time the whole church had been carrying in such articles to their place of meeting as were finally distributed at Jerusalem, would they not have had quite a medley of a collection in church at the end of the year? But some of our readers will say that Paul wrote as he did to avoid a gathering when he should come, and if what has been written be true, then the gathering that he intended to avoid when he came, would be a necessity. Will the one who raises this objection please notice that the apostle subsequently planned to avoid the gathering up of all these bounties at the time that he should be with that church? He writes this about it: "I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty." 2 Cor. 9:5. They had the bounty ready at their homes, because they had notice before to lay by them in store, but now, to get it all ready for sending off by gathering it together at one point ready for freighting, it was necessary to give subsequent directions. This latter instruction shows clearly that they had been storing away at their homes from week to week, in harmony with the apostolic instruction. To do this as they were admonished to do would encourage a systematic giving. It would cause these Christians to take an account of how much God was prospering them in temporal things. They would be under the necessity of figuring up their gain in secular things every Sunday. But that was a very proper thing for them to do, as the first day of the week is one of the laboring days of the week. In fact, it would have been impossible for these people to have carried out the instruction that the apostle gave them, without doing that on Sunday which its defenders condemn. The whole affair shows that the apostle expected and advised that Christians be at home at work on the first day of the week. But the first thing to be done each week was to remember the needs of the cause of God. The preparation day is usually quite a busy time with those who keep the Sabbath, and is therefore not a convenient time for a reckoning of gains for the week. Of course it is not proper to attend to such things on the Sabbath day. Therefore the apostle gave instruction to attend to this business on the first day of the week.