In both Presbyterian and evangelical churches, there is a growing interest in the Church Calendar, or what is sometimes called the Church Year. Dr. Hughes Old, a scholar specializing in the area of worship and author of many books and articles on the subject, comments on why we do not observe most of the liturgical or church calendar as the Roman Catholics or Anglican do.
“More recently some Christians have argued that we should replace this emphasis on the Lord’s Day with a spirituality of the liturgical calendar. But the observance of Lent and Advent is antithetical to a Reformed piety. It puts the emphasis on seasons of fasting rather than the weekly observance of the resurrection of Christ. A true Reformed piety could never drape any Lord’s Day with penitential purple! To the contrary, it sees the service of the Lord’s Day as a foretaste of the worship of heaven (Rev. 1:10). That our worship occurs on the first day of the week, the day of resurrection, gives it a joyful, festive mood.”
He goes on and states, “One thing should be clear, the primary emphasis of any Reformed liturgical calendar should be the weekly observance of the Lord’s Day. Very significantly, the seven day cycle of the biblical week is not related to any of the nature cycles! The celebration of the resurrection is primarily the weekly celebration of the Lord’s Day.” (See his book, Worship, P 161)
This is not to say we do not rejoice in the birth of our Lord around December 25th, or mark the yearly time of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. But the heart of the Church’s worship and piety is not special days of celebration but the weekly services on the first day of the week.
The command of God is to “not forsake” this weekly gathering together of God’s people. (Hebrews 10:25) Jesus promises that God is faithful to meet with His people when they do so. (Matthew 18:20) And then, through the ordinary means of the preaching of His Word and the observance of the sacraments, God builds up His people in their faith, because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
Faithful attendance to the ordinary means of grace that God provides through the weekly Lord’s Day services, is an imperative for God’s covenant people. We ignore this ordinary means of grace at our spiritual peril and should so order our lives and set our priorities that we do not miss these services.
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