secular and spiritual calendars

Bartolome Estaban Murillo, "Adoration of the Magi"

17th Century, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA (1)

Why even bother paying attention to a spiritual calendar?  Isn't it a contrivance anyway based on centuries of ecclesiastical accretion?  What relevance does it have to a modern secular world?  

Setting aside the spiritual question for a moment, what's the importance of calendars?  They are critical.  Without them we wouldn't be where we need to be when we need to be there for the sake of the important people in our lives.  We use calendars to map out priorities and make realistic plans.  Businesses understand the importance of the calendar, which is why they report results from one quarter to the next and plan their steps from month to month, week to week, and day to day.  

In a secular world, where time is of the essence, how then can our spiritual calendars be ignored?  If we can't manage our spiritual calendars, how in the world are we going successfully to manage our secular ones?  What really is important?  Why are we doing what we are doing?  Are we doing the right things at the right times?  These are questions that both spiritual and secular calendars, properly used, can answer.  

Yes, "centuries of theological accretion" is certainly one way to perceive the lectionary and how it shapes liturgy.  But there is another way to look at it: in terms of centuries of theological understanding.  The great irony is that we can't get away from liturgy.  Every church has one, even if it's announcements followed by a chorus followed by a video.  The question is not whether to be liturgical versus non-liturgical: the question is whether what kind of liturgy we'll have.  

Christmas is now past and Epiphany is now upon us.  Epiphany is a Greek word meaning "manifestation of God".  The Baby Jesus has come.  Now the true import of his life begins to be manifest to the world and to us.  

Epiphany is book-ended by the two events in the New Testament where the three members of the Trinity appear together.  The first is the Baptism of Jesus.  The second is Jesus' Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.  In both cases the Father speaks, the Spirit is made visible, and the Son is made manifest.  

This is also manifest: we matter to God.  We are his Creation, blessed by him, and crowned with purpose, truth, and grace.  On this day, in this week, in this month, and in this year may the Epiphany be made manifest in and among God's people in the present as it has been in the past.

The Franciscan Church of the Transfiguration

Mount Tabor, Israel (2)

Image credits:

1)  Wikipedia, "Epiphany (holiday)"

2)  Wikipedia, "Transfiguration of Jesus"

Epiphany as the Church's D-Day

Peter Paul Rubens, "The Slaughter of the Innocents"

I commend for your reading and reflection today's Breakpoint commentary by Chuck Colson entitled "The Slaughter of the Innocents". His point is that Epiphany is actually more like D-Day than a quaint little manger scene. We are indeed engaged in a war, and a literal slaughter of the innocents continues today via abortion and infanticide. May our Father give us wisdom to know how to prosecute this battle on every strategic front.

I saw an interview on Fox News recently with a young evangelical who was advocating de-emphasizing the issues of abortion and homosexuality in order to focus on the needs of the poor. While the last of these three is certainly more in vogue in today's political environment, it would be foolish to abandon our cultural engagement on the other fronts. The gospel has claims on all of life, and people are suffering in all of life. We don't need to abandon any fronts: what we need is more believers to enjoin the battle. Let us join our Father's fight for truth, reconciliation, and righteousness.

a light shines in the darkness

Nativity on Russian Icon

Isaiah 60:1-6
For Sunday, January 6, 2009
Epiphany of the Lord

This passage tells a story about a world in darkness. Yet then there is a summons for the people of God to rise up because the glory of the Lord has risen as a sun over them to dispel the darkness. People from every nation notice the light shining on the people of God and they want light as well. As they come prosperity and blessing abound. This is the story of God reconciling the peoples of the earth to himself. As believers, we are part of this story. Our respective local churches are intended to shine like lights in the darkness that will attract interest from all around.

I can attest to the truthfulness of this story on several fronts. First, the world is in darkness. I see this in my own city, Milwaukee, in the forms of racial discord, poverty, and unemployment (just to name a few!). Second, the light Isaiah has talked about has dawned in the person of Jesus. The wise men knew this both literally by the star that drew them and figuratively by the import of this person's coming.

By the way, my 12-year old son Nate pointed out at the family dinner table a few days ago that nowhere in the Bible does it say there were three wisemen. All we know is that there were three gifts. I was glad both that he was listening at youth group and that he could teach me something. As another and related aside, my 6-year old son asked what 'myrhh' was. We looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered it's a resin. But what does it smell like? I ordered some. It smells like the inside of a Russian Orthodox church. It smells like the love of God expressed in the sacrifice Christ made to forgive our sins. It's a wonderful smell.

The final destination for the light and the people who gather under it is a place called Zion. This will be Jerusalem as it was always intended to be. It will be the Jerusalem above. The church is a present now but not yet movement in the right direction. Given all of this, let us indeed be a light that shines in the darkness as we prosecute the affairs of this fine day.

the season of Epiphany

This week we enter a new season of the church year called Epiphany. Ken Collins provides a helpful explanation of the significance of Epiphany. Each church season has a color and the one for Ephiphany is green to symbolize growth and life. This seems to me an appropriate theme for meditation as we enter this new year. How, Father, would you have me grow and live in this next year?

The key theme of Epiphany, which comes from a Greek word meaning "manifestation", is Jesus' manifestation of Himself as God. Many of the readings for this season therefore focus on Jesus' identity, and therefore on our identity as his followers. What does it mean to be people on the way of Jesus in 2009? We'll find out together.

The word 'epiphany' seems to have gained currency in contemporary culture. I'll often hear someone say, "I had an epiphany." As believers, we are to have an epiphany in the person of Jesus. We're not just supposed to let life happen to us. Rather, we're to be intentional in following him, that his peace and joy, along with his sacrifice, might be as much ours as they were His.

This morning my pastor, Mel Lawrenz, was interviewing Dr. Richard Swenson, who writes and teaches on this theme of intention. One of Dr. Swenson's books is entitled _Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives_. As I listened to the interview, I recognized my own need for both greater margin and greater reserves. Gratefully, I find in my own devotional time, and in the writing of these blog entries, a place of margin, restoration, and peace. As we journey together through the lectionary this year may we together find more of the same.

On a personal note, may I also share that my wife's Mom, Donna Karcher, passed away on New Year's Eve. While her death has been somewhat sudden we're grateful to know that she was a strong believer in Christ and is therefore in a place where there will be no more chemo or suffering or pain. I'm so grateful for the time we are having as a family to celebrate her life and love our way forward. Donna's husband John Karcher loved her dearly and continues to be a great inspiration and model for all of us of living well for Christ. With my Dad's death 2 years ago, Donna's death last week, and my younger brother Chris's ongoing battle with cancer, I am having glimpses over the horizon of this life to the hope that awaits all of us who are being reconciled by the death of Christ at Calvary. I am therefore more intent than ever to make each day I have left count that God might be glorified here and now as he already is being glorified then and there. Soli Deo Gloria.