The Church Year
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LIVING THE CHURCH YEAR I. Theory of Time A. God created cyles of time i. Days, weeks, seasons, years, lives 1. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5) 2. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Gen 2:2-3) 3. And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. And God made the two great lights— the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. (Genesis 1:14, 16) 4. Be fruitful and multiply. (Gen 1:22, 28) ii. The natural world is cyclical 1. Seasons, harvests, trees, tides 2. Birds, bears, salmon, cicadas iii. Humans society builds rhythms around natural rhythms 1. We must, because we can't ignore them a. sleeping b. eating (French restaure "restore") c. recreation (re-creation) d. work days e. planting season f. Ancient peoples counted these cycles. 2. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) iv. Ancient peoples counted these cycles 1. Lunar calendars a. Nomadic societies (Native Americans & Semites) b. 354 day year (12 cycles of 29 1/2 days) i. Some disregard solar — Muslim Ramadan ii. Some adjust to solar — Jewish Hannukah 2. Solar calendars a. Agricultural societies (Greco-Romans) b. Ever increasing precision i. Old Roman — various leap months ii. Julian — 365 1/4 day year iii. Gregorian — adds 3/4 day per century v. Ancient peoples theologized these cycles. 1. Individuals may come and go, but the cycle is forever. a. No ultimate beginning or end b. Natural emphasis i. reincarnation of soul ii. disolution into "the one" c. Political emphasis — Athens or Rome forever 2. "Circle of Life" a. Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. Simba: But dad, don't we eat the antelope? Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connnected in the great Circle of Life. B. God created a direction for time i. The cycles of this world had a beginning 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) a. Matter came out of nothing (big bang) b. No good atheists theorized this; evidence forced them to it. ii. The cycles of this world will have an end 1. You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. (Daniel 2:31-35, 44) iii. Linear time is totally new revelation 1. Nothing in the natural world suggests this 2. Exclusively Judeo-Christian concept II. The Liturgical Calendar A. Sanctifies time for us i. Cyclical 1. Gives us a blueprint for an ordered internal life of prayer and worship 2. Helps us live more fully into the life of Jesus 3. Shows us that God defines and controls the seasons of our life — not us. ii. Linear 1. The church year begins with Advent (preparation for Christ's 1st coming) 2. Liturgical colors mark our journey with Jesus through Christian time 3. The church year ends with Advent (preparation for Christ's 2nd coming) B. Can be represented by a circle divided into seasons i. SEE CHART C. Grows with us each year, since we're going somewhere. III. Jewish liturgical year — first Christians were Jews A. Cycle of celebrations i. Weekly — Sabbath 1. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11) a. Designed to restore body, mind, and spirit b. Reminds us of freedom and points towards final rest c. Applies even to foreigners, slaves, and animals d. Even the land had a sabbath (Leviticus 25) i. Sabbath year — no farming every 7 years ii. Year of Jubilee — return of properties every 50 years ii. Yearly — cycle of feasts and commemorations 1. Required by God a. Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. (Exodus 23:17) Required Feast Agricultural Meaning Salvation History Passover/Unleavened Bread exodus Pentecost/Weeks firstfruits giving of law Booths/Tabernacles harvest wandering in desert 2. Added over time a. Purim — deliverance from genocide (Persian rule, in Esther) b. Hanukkah — restoration of temple (Greek rule) 3. As a good Jew, Jesus and his followers attended these a. Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the at the feast of the Passover. (Luke 2:41) b. The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (John 2:13) c. After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (John 5:1) d. Now the Jews’ feast of Tabernacles was at hand . but after His brethren had gone up to the feast, then He also went up, not publicly, but in private. (John 7:2, 10) e. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (Acts 2:1) B. Actualization and participation in linear history i. Commemoration of what God has done for Israel ii. Opportunity to relive and take part in the historical event 1. All Jews were really there. a. Passover — each Jew is delivered and chosen by God personally b. Pentecost — each Jew receives the Law from God personally 2. Feasts help this. “Why is this night different from all other nights?” 3. This sense of belonging enables the Jews to endure suffering. IV. Christian liturgical year — major feasts developed slowly over several centuries. A. Weekly — Sabbath observance replaced by Sunday as the “Lord’s day” i. Weekly remembrance of the Lord's resurrection 1. Sunday is noted in all four Gospels as the day of the Resurrection (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) 2. This day of celebration is immediately picked up in the church. a. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day; and he prolonged his speech until midnight. (Acts:20:7) b. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2) c. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.