I’m a non-conformist, I’m not part of the established Church of England and the church I am part of belongs more with the contemporary charismatic movement. So, the people I identify most closely with tend to hold lightly to church traditions and that includes the church calendar. We are unlikely to make a big thing of things like Lent and Advent, unlike Anglicans and Catholics who have change the liturgy and even the colour of what the vicar wears to fit into the particular seasons. Our churches do tend to celebrate Christmas, usually because it is an evangelistic opportunity and will also perhaps make something of Easter too, though among for example the stricter Brethren, even those days will be played down.
The argument for holding lightly to such a calendar or even ignoring it is first of all that we are not commanded to observe these particular things, most, were developed, imposed even by the church much later on and some of them seem to have been intended to distract from pre-existing pagan festivals. Indeed, Scripture seems to positively discourage the observing of such festivals, Paul tells us in Colossians 2:16-17 that we are not to let anyone judge us because we don’t observe specific religious days. This is because
- We have been set free from the demands of the Law by Jesus’ death on the Cross
- Festivals and fasts were themselves a shadow only of the greater thing to come, Christ himself.
Of course, Paul’s concern was with the Jewish religious calendar. His point was that God’s people are free from legalism and not to be distracted from Christ by religious observance. It is right that we challenge each other on those things when it comes to all aspects of our life. So, I don’t believe that we should be slaves to a religious calendar. We shouldn’t judge others on what they do and don’t observe. We should be careful about being caught up in traditions.
However, providing it is not under compulsion or for the wrong reasons, I think there are benefits to picking up on particular seasons and marking significant days. First of all, I think that it draws our attention to specific things and marks them out for us so that they do not drop down the agenda. Now, we are unlikely to lose focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus as central to the Gospel but I wonder if we would benefit for example from giving a little more attention to Ascension Day and to Pentecost, we can forget that these are closely related to the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
I wonder too, if without the evangelistic opportunities and the fact that Christmas is embedded into our culture, whether we would pay so much attention to the importance of the incarnation. Perhaps our priority at Christmas should be to give more time to the wonder and joy of that great doctrine. And that of course is the focus of Advent as a specific season.
The second benefit is this. I think our culture has become an all-at-once, everything now, instant culture. We don’t expect to wait or to go without. Think about how a menu refers to seasonal vegetables or summer fruits. The references to seasons are pretty meaningless when those things are available all the year round. I want to suggest that there is something about finding patterns in life, those patterns allow for anticipation as well as realisation, longing and expecting with hope as well as enjoying. Those patterns allow for quietness, solitude and reverent sombreness as well as noisy celebration. This is important because we learn to observe those patterns throughout the year because there are patterns and rhythms to our whole life too.
The third benefit is that too often we tend towards individualism. Think about the message of that recent M&S Christmas advert. It was all about enjoying Christmas your own way. We live in a fragmented society. I want to argue that there is something about togetherness, about shared traditions and experiences. Yes, for example, everyone grieves differently but there is also something about mourning together and not just as I please. Yes, we are all in different places emotionally but there is something about celebrating with one another and sharing joy.
The rhythms of the year help us to do that. Not only that but it means we orientate around God’s time and our time as God’s people rather than around the world’s cultural time. As a non-conformist, I have a concern not to be conformed to a particular type of church tradition but as a Christian, I have a greater priority not to be conformed to this world. There is something beautifully counter-cultural, defiant even about saying that I’m not going to be sticking up the decorations and singing festive songs in October/early November just because M&S and John Lewis want me to be. Nor, and I going to be taking the tree down on Boxing Day because the world has moved on and it’s all about the coming sales.
So, why not try and run with the rhythms of the church calendar this year. Take time for reflection in Advent and Lent, celebrate with joy and gusto at Christmas and Easter. Make as big a deal of Ascension Day and Pentecost as you do over Easter and don’t forget to be thankful when Harvest Festival comes around.
Faithroots 