This Sunday marks the beginning of a new church year. In Advent, we look back to the first coming of the Messiah and look forward to His second coming. During Christmas, we celebrate the Incarnation, the wondrous reality of the second person of the Trinity taking on flesh. Epiphany reveals the life of Jesus, especially His preaching, healing, and miracle working. After a time of preparation known by many as Lent, we ponder anew during Easter the depths of our Savior’s love in the crucifixion and the power of God in His resurrection. We are then reminded throughout Pentecost that, though ascended, Christ has not left us alone but has sent His Spirit to indwell His people. The year ends with a season of Ordinary Time, a reminder that God is still at work in the world in between the first and second Advents.
I am occasionally asked about the validity and benefit of observing the church year. It is true that it is not specifically commanded in the Bible. There is also concern about it becoming legalistic. To the latter concern, I would stress that no one is forced or coerced to pattern their life after the church year. I would also say that everyone is living their life after some pattern of time, even if it is the standard calendar year with all its annual holy days/holidays. Finally, it is possible for any good to be used in a ritualistic/rote/legalistic manner. God’s judgment on the people in Israel regarding their worship and feasts was not that they weren’t observing them but that it was all external conformity. The judgment was not a means to say they should discard the worship and feasts but instead should observe them with their hearts as well as their bodies.
To the former concern, I would note that God has patterned or regulated our time since creation. We see it in the Sabbath pattern established in Genesis 2, where six days of work were to be followed by one day of rest. This creational pattern was codified in the giving of the Law as the fourth commandment (Exodus 20) and reiterated based on the salvific work of God in the Exodus event in the second giving of the Law (Deuteronomy 5). We also see that at the onset of Israel as a nation that the people’s year revolved around three principal feast days, such as Passover, that recounted key salvation events. These were not the ideas of man but the commandment and creation of God. And perhaps most importantly, these time patterns were followed by Jesus during His earthly life.
As to benefits, I have found there to be many. Let me highlight two. First, following the church year/calendar reminds me that I am not at the center of the world but that Jesus is. His person and work are at the heart of history, past, present, and future. In a world that promotes worship of the self, it is good instead to have my heart and mind ordered around Christ. And second, it is an excellent way to pass on the faith to our children. Just as weekly communion confronts us with the gospel, so can the church year. And this often provides wonderful opportunities for us to talk about Jesus with the next generation. We see this specifically in the Passover, when the youngest child asks the question of why they celebrate the Passover meal and the response is to recount God’s saving work in the Exodus. In a similar way, we can use the seasons of the church year as natural moments to speak of the birth, life, death, resurrection, reign, and second coming of Christ.
At the end of the day, following the church year is a matter of choice. If it is helpful to your spiritual formation and apprenticeship to Jesus, use it. If not, then don’t. But let us all seek to have our lives more and more reoriented around Jesus and His way. May our days, weeks, months and years be lived for His glory.
