In my article on the “Calendar of the Church Year,” I gave a brief overview of the major days and seasons in the Christian year. The more that I understand and follow the church’s calendar, the more that I enjoy it and find it helpful. Here are some key reasons why.
It Helps us Remember
First, I love the Church Calendar because I’m forgetful, and it helps me to remember God’s wonderful works. My nickname growing up was “the absent-minded professor.” Scripture frequently speaks of the need to remember and to be reminded (e.g., Deut. 5:15; 1 Cor. 15:1; 2 Pet. 1:13; 3:1). The church calendar builds regular reminders of the gospel into our year, helping us to remember the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for our salvation. Advent helps us to remember the second coming of Christ and Scripture’s witness to his first coming. Christmas calls us to focus on the incarnation. Epiphany reminds us of God’s glory in Christ’s earthly life and his plan for all nations. And so on. Without these reminders, we are likely to neglect parts of “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
The church calendar builds regular reminders of the gospel into our year, helping us to remember the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for our salvation.
For example, last Pentecost I had a convicting realization that I had written much about the incarnation and atonement of the Son throughout the year, but said very little about the Spirit. This had a significant effect on my preaching and prayer, as I repented for neglecting the Holy Spirit and was gripped by the necessity of his presence and work in our church.
Next to Pentecost, the ascension is probably the most neglected facet of the gospel. Patrick Schreiner recently published a book titled The Ascension of Christ: Recovering a Neglected Doctrine. Early in my ministry, I said very little about the ascension and rarely thought about it. Then, I started observing the church calendar. After preaching on it several years in a row, it’s now an important part of my own Christian life. I think of the ascension regularly as a source of encouragement and wonder. Preaching on it year after year (dozens of times over the course of my ministry) means that I am continually going deeper into the mystery of Christ in the heavens.
It Redeems the Time—Literally
Second, I love the Church Calendar because it helps to “redeem the time” (Eph. 5:16) by claiming the whole year for Christ. It disrupts the rhythms of secular life and creates new rhythms—gospel rhythms. Becoming a Christian in a church that observes the church calendar means that your whole year gets restructured according to the work of the Triune God in history. What an amazing tool for discipleship!
It Brings Attention to Neglected Scriptures
Third, I love the Church Year because it draws attention to parts of the Bible and of God’s story that I’ve neglected. Those who follow the church calendar usually use a church lectionary, which provides a reading from the Old Testament, Psalms, Epistles, and Gospels for every Sunday of the year. Churches that ignore the church calendar only tend to hear the limited number of Scriptures that their pastor understands or prefers (a “canon without a canon”). The church calendar presses us to truly devote ourselves to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13) and to pay attention to more of it, since “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable” (2 Tim. 3:16). I now have several new “favorite passages” that without the church calendar I would have almost certainly never read or preached on Sunday.
My favorite part of the lectionary is that it helps me to see the interconnectedness of Scripture. New Testament passages about the ascension, for example, are set alongside Psalms or prophecies that I have never before considered as ascension passages. I’m often amazed and excited by the connections I see through the lectionary, and I only started using the lectionary because I first started following the church calendar.
It Marks Our Unity with the Broader Church
Fourth, I love the Church Calendar because I love the Church and being part of something bigger than myself. The church calendar has been developed and handed down by the Church for centuries. Observing it provides a reminder that we are part of a body that far precedes us and will, if Jesus tarries, also outlive us. It reminds us that the Church is much bigger than our local church and its short traditions.
Consider this: How do you feel when you hear that a particular group doesn’t observe Christmas? It’s a little strange, right? A bit suspect. Yet this is how many other Christians feel about those who don’t celebrate Pentecost, Ascension Day, or Advent. We come across as sectarian or free-wheeling when we ignore days or seasons that are recognized and practiced by the overwhelming majority of the Church worldwide. Observing these days and seasons is a sign of our unity with the global body of Christ.
It’s Better than Defaulting to the Secular Calendar
Fifth, I love the Church Calendar because it’s so much better than the alternative: defaulting to the secular calendar. When churches don’t observe the church calendar, something always fills the void. We as humans need something to order time and mark the days. And so the “special days” in the church year end up being Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and the Fourth of July—holidays which may be important, but can’t compare in significance to Pentecost, the Ascension, or the Lord’s Baptism. When churches have boxes of flag decorations for July 4th but nothing for Pentecost, we may need to think more deeply about the meaning of “worldliness.” Constance Cherry says it well: “When it comes down to it, the question becomes, ‘Do I want to live my life in rhythm with the activity of God or in rhythm with the activity of culture?'”
When churches have boxes of flag decorations for July 4th but nothing for Pentecost, we may need to think more deeply about the meaning of “worldliness.”
It Gives Direction to My Preaching and Our Church’s Worship
Sixth, I love the Church Calendar because it breaks up the monotony of my preaching and our church’s worship. In Bible college, I was frequently warned that, in the weekly grind of ministry, there would be times when it’s difficult to know what to preach about. Some preachers claimed to always “pray through” on their sermons and deliver “what God had laid on their heart,” but their engagement with Scripture was shallow and they ended up just repeating the same things over and over without any added depth. Other pastors would spend hours of their allotted preparation time just trying to get settled on a text or topic. While I often preach through books of the Bible (especially during Ordinary Time After Pentecost), which also helps with these issues, the church calendar also addresses them by giving direction to my preaching. The calendar forces me to study and explain passages and topics that I would otherwise neglect.
The church calendar also helps me to stay balanced. Seasons like Advent and Lent help to ensure that I don’t neglect to preach on themes of repentance, fasting, self-examination, and holiness. Seasons like Epiphany and Easter help to ensure that I don’t become more focused on what we need to do than on what God has done (preaching and worship is about God’s story first and only then about our story).
The calendar likewise gives direction to our church’s worship as a whole. There are songs we would never sing and prayers we would never pray if not prompted by the days and seasons of the church calendar. I especially enjoy how the seasons break up the year into times that are more sober or reflective and times that are more joyful or exuberant. Without these rhythms, worship can become monotonous and boring, since most services have the same tone (often an attempt to stir up a “rah-rah” atmosphere).
It’s Beautiful and Enjoyable
Finally, I love the Church Calendar because it brings beauty and joy into my ministry and family. I find godly joy in decorating the church for the various seasons—changing the overlays from purple to white to green to red, hanging banners with beautiful Christian symbolism, and so on. My wife and I have begun to collect decorations for our home. Our wish list includes palm leaf placemats for Palm Sunday, dove ornaments for Pentecost, an antique Advent calendar, an Epiphany star, and so on. These are beautiful traditions to pass on to children and serve as annual reminders of what we believe and cherish as Christians.
