Sanctified Time: The Biblical Roots of the Liturgical Calendar
Part 1: Introduction to the Series
A Misconception
One of the many benefits of serving in a Lutheran church has been the opportunity to worship each week according to the historic liturgical calendar (aka “the Church Year”). This practice is often shunned as being “too Roman Catholic” in many Protestant traditions (with the exception of Christmas and Easter…although some communities shun those as well)— even some churches within the so-called liturgical traditions. This, of course, is a misconception; the use of a liturgical calendar is a common feature in both Western and Eastern Christianity going back to the first century. In other words, there is nothing “Roman Catholic” about it save the fact that the liturgical calendar is one of the many common features that Roman Catholicism shares with other Christian traditions.
Ancient, Biblical, and Evangelical
The existence of a liturgical calendar that shapes the annual worship cycle of God’s people goes far beyond the first century, and even New Testament Christianity. Indeed, it is an idea that finds its roots in God’s creation of the world with the sanctification of time on the seventh day— a day that would later be linked with Israel’s Sabbath (Exodus 20:8–11; cf. Genesis 2:3). This Sabbath day and the Sabbatical principle undergirded the annual cycle of feasts that comprised Israel’s liturgical calendar, providing them with a formative rhythm of sanctified time by which they entered God’s story as his unique people. Through its observation, Israel remembered and transmitted her history in light of God’s mighty acts, and anticipated the Sabbath rest that she would enter in the Promised Land.
This liturgical concept of time informed the very fabric of New Testament life,¹ and thus had a profound influence on the early Christian church. While Jewish rituals, or any rituals for that matter, became non-binding for Christians (see Galatians 4:10; Colossians 2:16–17; and Romans 14:5), the early church saw fit to develop a uniquely Christian liturgical calendar which would goveren its worship life. In its infancy, this calendar focused primarily on the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the weekly celebration of the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day, and the annual celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection during the Jewish Passover.² However, within the first few centuries of Christianity the liturgical calendar that we know today was mostly in place.
Themes of Rememberance and Anticipation
As previously mentioned, through the means of the Old Testament liturgical calendar, Israel remembered God’s mighty acts and anticipated the Sabbath rest that she would enter in the Promised Land. Likewise, in the Christian liturgical calendar, the church remembers God’s mighty acts — its Jewish heritage — seeing them as fulfilled in Christ, and anticipates its final Sabbath rest in Jesus Christ, the Creator who is reconciling all things to himself (Colossians 1:16, 20).
The liturgical calendar was for Israel in the Old Testament, and is for the church today, a means by which time is sanctified for the remembrance of God’s mighty acts and the anticipation of Sabbath rest.
Why the Liturgical Calendar?
I have found that observing the liturgical calendar is one of the most beneficial acts of piety a Christian, and by extension the church, can engage in. How so? First, and most importantly, the liturgical calendar provides a means for Christians to experience the whole counsel of God as preached by the Scriptures on an annual basis. In other words, the liturgical calendar teaches the faith both through a breadth of scriptural content and the pedagogical tool of repetition. Second, it connects us with the church of ages past. In the adoption of this biblical and evangelical tradition, the church recognizes that the church existed long before this current generation — this is an important point to emphasize in our increasingly individualistic culture. Lastly, observing the liturgical calendar is a means of taking time seriously. As Christians, our time should be Christ-centered. In addition to the formative benefits mentioned above, this act of sanctifying time is a statement to the watching world about what Christians believe about the world and our place in it as human beings (more on this in Part 6).
About This Series
Throughout this series I will give an overview of the liturgical calendar, beginning with its foundations in the creation of the world and tracing its evolution through the development of the Christian liturgical calendar. Lastly, I will discuss the benefits of the liturgical calendar. In this, it is my hope that readers will see the tradition of observing the historic Christian liturgical calendar as one that is thoroughly ancient, thoroughly biblical, and thoroughly evangelical.
Part 1: Introduction to the Series
Part 2: Foundations of the Liturgical Calendar
Part 3: The Old Testament Liturgical Calendar
Part 4: The Old Testament Liturgical Calendar Fulfilled in Jesus Christ
Part 5: The Christian Liturgical Calendar
Part 6: The Benefits of the Liturgical Calendar
Posts will be linked as they become available.
Footnotes
¹ For example, the multiple references to feasts as markers of time found throughout the New Testament. This idea will be explored further in subsequent sections.
² The Apostle Paul urges Christians to “keep the feast” of the Passover lamb, who is Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).
³ Arthur A. Just, Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2008), 128. (Order Here)
