Happy New Year!

It may seem a little odd to read the expression "happy new year" in the last week of November.  However, for Christians, the beginning of the Christian liturgical year begins with the first Sunday of Advent.  Too often, Christians have confused the civil and religious calendar.  In fact, for many Protestants, the loss of its historic and theological anchor has left it looking for days to theme its Sunday's.  Father's Day, Mother's Day, Homecoming Day, Patriot Sunday, and many many more civil holiday's have filled bulletins on Sunday mornings where Lent, Advent, or Pentecost once reminded Christians of those significant events.  The Christian calendar follows the significant redemptive events of God's working in the world through the fulfillment of Jesus Christ.  It is a reminder, that just as we have seasons, as winter yields to summer, so special days are observed that moves us from one cycle to another in the Christian year.  The church is reminded and invited to revisit annually, the cycle of our spiritual life in the triune God.  

From the beginning, early Christian converts began reorienting their worship celebrations like Passover and First Fruits gave way to the newly interpreted Easter and Pentecost.  Today, the calendar reflects the life of Jesus beginning with Advent, which can be seen as a bridge between the second coming and Christmas, Christmas, Epiphany, followed by Lent, Easter, and Pentecost cycle.  Although there are many more important Sunday's including events in Christ's life and the church, the basic cycle follows a similar pattern to Christian worship of Preparation, Celebration and Sending.  In Advent and Lent the church prepares and reflects, in Christmas and Easter the church celebrates, and in Epiphany and Pentecost the church is sent out to live our faith.

While it is appropriate to acknowledge other significant cultural days in the context of worship, these days should not completely overshadow or worse, replace the Christian calendar.  Those days are there for a reasons, both historical and theological.  As many sects of Protestantism have for different reasons forgotten or rejected these liturgical days, other celebrations have filled in the gap.  Sometimes they are used for evangelism, but they are always problematic.  Mother's Day and Father's Day can both be painful reminders to many people of broken relationships, deaths, tragedies, or unfulfilled dreams.  Patriot holidays can nationalize the worship blurring the lines between the Kingdom of God and our own national goals which can sometimes be good but other times distorted.  The liturgical calendar reminds us that regardless of what is happening in our lives, or in some cases because of the loss that is happening in our lives we focus on Jesus Christ, and the redemption and work of God through the Spirit in bringing us into a different reality, the reality of the Kingdom of God.  

While it is good to spend some time on Veterans Day remembering those who served and died, and while we can take time to say prayers for mothers and fathers, and other observation of significant civil or national events, the church should never find itself struggling between having to theme a service between a church and civil celebration.  Focusing correctly on the historically redemptive act of God in Jesus Christ will always lead to the church hearing, listening, and enacting the emphasis found in God's word, Jesus Christ the word made flesh.  It has even been suggested that even the gospels themselves follow this same pattern of worship as the pattern in the liturgical year.  The proclamation or announcement of the birth of Christ, the hearing of the proclamation in the sermons and actions of Jesus, the passion of Christ (as enacted in Holy Communion), the celebration of resurrection, and finally the sending out of Christians into the world (the Great Commission).  

The life of worship reflects the life of the church and these important days serve to reorient our life in Christ.  Any church who currently does not use the liturgical cycle in its worship should be encouraged to become educated in the cycle as well as the meaning behind each day and find creative ways to celebrate the spiritual themes throughout the year.  This not only emphasizes the work of Christ, but also other important points of Christian doctrine.  Below several links have been added to liturgical planning calendars available on-line. 

Presbyterian Liturgical Planning Calendar

Episcopal Planning Liturgical Calendar

Roman Catholic Liturgical Planning Calendar

Greek Orthodox 2016 Liturgical Calendar