Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
It seems unavoidable, this thing with the calendar and the passage of time. My Puritan forebears did their best to break us all of our attachment to holidays. We humans, though, have proven stubborn about marking special days, seasons, and years.
There’s no big mystery here: We like to party and also to get nostalgic about stuff from the past. I, for one, am ready to throw up my hands and admit that’s simply the way God made us. I don’t have the strength to keep fighting it. So, I’m joining the party, although I’ll be the one slipping out early to go to bed.
In fact, all joking aside, the Bible is filled with commands to party. Some of you just reacted nervously to that. This means you’re the one who should make good on that oft-repeated resolution to finally read the Bible this year.
When Israel came out of Egypt, God immediately instituted three annual feasts. These feasts were week-long celebrations and were called the Feast of Unleavened Bread; the Feast of Weeks; and, the Feast of Booths or tabernacles. They were also commanded to rejoice and celebrate the gathering of the tithe. The people of God eventually added other annual celebrations like Purim and Hanukah.
Not only that, but the New Testament data regarding the Lord’s Supper shows that it began as part of the joyous Passover holiday celebration. The churches observed it during church suppers, when people gathered to eat together because they actually liked each other. The movement from celebratory meal to somber ritual, with a tiny cracker and thimble of grape juice, is not present anywhere in the Scripture itself. That’s something we’ve managed to do all on our own.
The part we can easily miss, though, is this: God commanded his people to celebrate on these special days as a tool for them in their conquest of the Promised Land. The celebrations were acts of faith, tokens of victory. They looked back to the good things God did for them. They gave present encouragement to the participants. And, if one had eyes to see, they pointed forward to the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus. In his kingdom, the grace of God outshines all the older celebrations as the sun outshines the stars at night.
Some of you know exactly what I’m saying because you have experienced the opposite. You’ve traveled through dark valleys of life, and then Thanksgiving rolled around. It was painful. You’ve lived without much hope as people around you got excited about the new year and invited you to celebrate with them. People without hope or faith do not celebrate: They drink and sing and dance in an effort to distract themselves.
Celebration takes faith.
Faith looks back and sees the hand of a merciful God even in the bad times. It finds joyful ways to lift others up. It looks forward and sees the Kingdom of God coming closer. This celebrating faith overcomes the world. I hope that as the year stretches in front of you like an untraveled highway, you view it as an invitation to adventure. Following Christ should be neither dull nor dreadful.
Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at: