3.04.2007
thoughts and observations from everyday life
About Me
- Name: Shannon Koons
- Location: Lancaster, SC, United States
I am ... a misplaced Yankee living in a Southern society ... a Protestant Reformed Christian ... a newly married idealist facing reality
They Said It
Be occupied with a remembrance of His Passion, and make for yourself a dwelling place in His blessed wounds.- Thomas a Kempis
We must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are in fact, here for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives.- Stranger Than Fiction
I should have made use of every opportunity to drop a tear into my glass, and then drain it to all that was sublime and beautiful.-Dostoevsky
Freedom: The gift whereby you most resemble your Maker and are yourselves parts of eternal reality.-C.S. Lewis
Hello, from the world below. I'm watching the sun burning, As the road is slowly turning. Well I know, that in letting go, I'm learning how to live Through a life I have to give.-Lifehouse
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Recent Considerations
12 Comments:
When I was growing up we celebrated Passover a few times with a Seder dinner (my parents had some friends who were messianic jews). The really cool thing for us was that it wasn't just something we were doing, we were taught how the Seder symbolism is fulfilled in Christ, etc. It made a huge impact on me as a kid and I think it was a great teaching tool. We did Purim too (and today we had Purim with Hannah, although she was probably too young to grasp much of it, it's good to establish traditions).
So I think properly and judiciously done, celebrating the Old Testament festivals and feasts can be a wonderful pointer to Christ and can be a meaningful way to teach us how the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the Old.
However, as with most things, you could easily abuse the system and turn it into meaningless rituals focused on all the wrong things.
I'm stepping of my "lurkhood" here (I hope you don't mind) just to state that I recently I have felt the same way. It seems to me like remembering and celebrating things were very important to God (After all, there are A LOT of feasts, and other such things in the OT) SO, I think there's a reason for that ... and I think it would definitely add to our understanding...as Catherine stated before, as long as it's done in the right now. Anyways, I was just so excited to read someone else with the same thought .. I was trying to explain this to a couple of people over the weekend, and I honestly thought I had grown another head, with the way they were looking at me. ;)
P.S. Sorry, that deleted comment was me ... I used the wrong account. :)
I think it would be cool to celebrate more religious holidays too. The question is HOW is that to be done properly? I guess there's always the danger that these feasts could be seen as obligatory and then they could be a stumbling block because, like you say, Christ has already fulfilled the promises in the feasts.
I've been to a few Seders like Catherine described and those were awesome!
Regarding Lent--I have mixed feelings about this. I don't know the scriptural basis for it. I guess I should study it more. I used to be against it (probably because of my Baptist upbringing and unfamiliarity) but now I have mixed feelings. I have several good friends who celebrate it and really admire their perspective on it. Like Kevin said, if we celebrate Christmas, which isn't in the bible, what is wrong with commemorating Lent? So, basically, I don't know ...
Sorry this is so rambling. :-P
Let's not forget that the Lord has given us a religious holiday every week - on that supersedes and indeed fulfills all of the feasts of the Older Testament! The keeping of the Lord's Day has deeper history than any other holiday (back to creation itself), it is the only one commanded in the New Covenant, and it reminds us of the completed work of Christ, our standing as those united to him presently (already seated in the heavenly places), and our longing to be in his presence eternally! If the Scripture gives us everything we need for life and godliness, then this weekly celebration is enough - if we're longing for more, perhaps we should learn more of what it means to be satisfied in the day Jesus has given us - and we can all grow in that.
James- I certainly haven't forgotten Sabbath worship, nor am I suggesting that the occasional observance of the Seder replace it by any means. I guess in my mind, there are aspects of the Old Testament that Gentile Christians can better understand if we experience it through the senses.
I hope I don't misquote Michael here and his sermon Sunday night from John 7:32-29. He said that Jesus told the group gathered at the feast that it would be the last time they would observe in hope, but at the next time, they would observe in fulfilment. Did Jesus say "never again"? Also, Paul makes a point of keeping the feast in Acts 18:21.
Shannon, thanks for the feedback. First, the portion of Act 18:21 with regard to Paul going up to the feast is debated regarding its textual legitimacy. e.g. you won't find it in the NAS, NIV, ESV.
In any event, Paul, in writing to the Galatians wrote in Gal 4:9-11 "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain."
Paul was in great distress that these brothers would want to observed these days and months and seasons.
We live in a different and better era. In the OT sensual experiences were given to point people to Christ who did not have the fullness of the Spirit poured out on them. Now Paul writes in 1Co 2:12 to us who live post-Pentecost that, "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God." We have the Spirit who can teach us in much better than sensual ways the greatness of the finished sacrifice of Jesus that has been freely given us by God (Heb 9-10).
More could be said about the end of the transition period between old and new covenant with the destruction of the temple, etc., but I'll stop here.
On a practical level, I have no problem with understanding history in a sensual way. To make a replica of the tabernacle for educational purposes is not wrong. When I have butchered cattle, my appreciation for what the priests had to do and the burden of the old way greatly increased. However, these kinds of things are a far cry from celebrating (observing) days, months, and seasons.
James
-You didn't have an answer to the John 7:32-39 comment.
-I admit my NKJV bias. I haven't gotten used to using my new ESV yet.
-Maybe I should have been more clear from the start, or maybe you're reading into my post more than I meant... I'm still working on my communication skills here
-At least you'll let me try it out for educational purposes
-Don't ever read Girl Meets God because I think you'd have a few issues with her
I, too, have struggled with this question, and tend to lean on the side of not observing holidays. However, I’ve always felt that the following passage prevents me from being able to take a hard-nosed stand on the issue:
5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. (Rom. 14:5-9).
This passage seems to indicate that Christians may indeed observe holidays unto the Lord--free from the judgment of other Christians. In fact, the practice of abstention associated with Lent seems to be directly at issue in verse 6. It just struck me as odd that neither Shannon nor James addressed this passage (unless I missed it somewhere). I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.
I figured Romans 14 would come up in this discussion. I should note that in Galatians, Paul is addressing the Judaizers, who were heretically insisting upon the observance of days for right standing with God. And he is quite strong in his words.
In Romans 14, on the other hand, he is addressing those Jews who, while looking to Christ by faith, still had a hard time giving up the idea that there was special significance to the old Levitical holy days that had been fulfilled in Christ. Because they were not making the matter a salvific one, Paul was willing to bear with them – as with their reluctance to eat certain meats. But, he does note here that they are the weaker brothers, which is essential to the point that the strong should bear with them and major on the majors (15:1).
However, it is never desirable for the strong to become weak or for the weak to remain in their weakness. The result would be an eventual sliding backward into the error of the Galatians.
A modern day equivalent might be that of a Roman Catholic whose salvation is tied up in the keeping of days who then comes to faith in Christ alone, joins a Bible-believing church, but is not being ready to give up Lent, Easter, Christmas, etc. in terms of their own personal practice. They are still Christians. The church should bear with these people and not show contempt. But, the church should not embrace forms of worship not prescribed in God’s word; the church must remain strong. There is no indication that the church in Paul’s day was still celebrating the rites of the Older Testament. At a personal level some of those things were done (e.g. Paul circumcising Timothy) for the purpose of not causing division, but the whole point being that God was bringing the people along, out of the old forms and ways in that transitional era.
For these reasons, the church shouldn’t allow these holidays to unduly influence the content of worship (being aware that cultural reality will always flavor worship, meaning it’s not inappropriate to include certain relevant topics in prayer, etc. e.g. on Dec. 24 most people are thinking about Christ’s incarnation and on July 3 most Americans are thinking about independence). And, it is because of the fact that extreme emphasis on holy days tends to weaken faith that I prefer to personally celebrate Christmas more as a cultural holiday and not a religious one. However, I’m willing to bear with those who do make a more religious issue of certain days with the long-range goal of seeing them understand the weakness of those things compared with the strength of celebrating the God given Sabbath and sacraments. It is in celebrating these that God has said our faith really will be built up – so let’s press on in his strength!
Hope that brings more light than heat.
Well Kev, since I'm no theologian, I didn't even think of that passage. Why James didn't bring it up sooner, I can't answer for him. :)
I agree with Kevin though-that Romans 14 directs us away from passing judgment on someone's convictions, weak or strong.
And can I just say that I never brought salvation into any of my suggestions for celebrations!
James, sabbath worship and the sacraments are not the only things which build up our faith. If so, then there's no room for any of the extraneous activities we busy ourselves and our churches with. Maybe I'm misreading you, but I feel like you're setting up an arbitrary value system (what or who defines weakness?). How is setting aside a meal to remember what God did for Egypt any different from celebrating what God has done in a life on a birthday? Both have a certain date and a special significance.
In my original post, I was never trying to replace worship with celebrations. Our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him, right? Can you enjoy God by observing nature via a picnic in the state park? Can you enjoy God by playing games or sports with other people? Can you enjoy God by reading what someone else has written about Him? Are those things on a list of "this makes a weak Christian according to Romans 14"? Hopefully not. Do those things undermine our command to Sabbath/sacraments? Absolutely not, but are they part of a healthy spiritual life? I tend to say yes and I don't consider them "for educational purposes only." I was merely adding to the questions: Can you enjoy God by experiencing a traditional Passover meal?
But, I do appreciate your thoughts, James, because you did answer my question of what the New Testament teaches. I guess now my question of holidays has expanded to how "living fully" is defined. This is where people will define it personally and we have to be careful of not judging what we perceive to be weaknesses.
A couple of final thoughts…
1. I was writing under the assumption, based on the title of the post, that we were talking about holy days or holidays. That is, religious cultic expressions. In this context, I was understanding the plural term “Christians” to generally mean the church, the body of Christ. Thus, we were talking about setting apart holy days for worship/religious observance together. Corporate worship on the Lord’s Holy Day is quite a different thing from everyday glorification of God.
2. The context of Romans 14 clearly shows that the brother who observes days is the weaker brother. Commentators are agreed. Paul counts himself as strong in 15:1 – though always aiming at edification and not pleasing himself. May God be pleased to use my participation in this discussion for edification as well.
Just realized that my late night #2 on the last comment doesn't make much sense without clarifying that Paul in Rom 14 is addressing not corporate worship but now individual esteeming of days formerly set aside for corporate worship (now obsolete) - this is why the person who esteems Passover is "weaker" but a person who esteems, for example, a birthday on a private level is not. The point from Paul's pen and the the Lord's breath is that while it's not wrong to individually remember/esteem/set apart Passover, etc., these elemental things will generally distract from focusing on Christ and his liberty rather than setting our hearts ablaze for him.
One thing to look forward to in glory: learning how the weaker brothers in Rome responded to Paul's letter. I'm really curious.
Now I just hope the sermon I was working on at that hour last night isn't so convoluted!
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