HOLY DAYS, HOLIDAYS, AND HOLLOW DAYS , AND HOW DO WE FOCUS ON THE FORMER?

 

Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, TN

A couple of days ago, Becky expressed her sadness about not taking the time to go to a Veteran's Day service.  That got my attention. I had the day off from work, because this year it fell on a Saturday. Maybe part of it is that Becky's father was a veteran. Neither my father nor my paternal grandfather were (I have no idea about my maternal grandfather). 

This blog is being posted on Thanksgiving Day, 2023. You can say the same thing. It seems the day has morphed from Thanksgiving to Turkey Day. It used to be a day when all the stores were closed; now, several are open for pre-Black-Friday deals. :'( I think the day should be a little more, uh, sanctified (set apart), but is my heart focusing on giving thanks any more than any other day? Or am I too excited to turn on the TV for the big sports event of the day: America's Dog Show on NBC?

Allow me to use that introduction to suggest that our special days can fall into three categories: holy days, holidays, and hollow days. And I also want to make it plain that each have their place. Let me take them in reverse order:

1. Hollow Days. Someone I know used that term for what they considered pagan holidays (e.g. Christmas, Easter), to reflect the emptiness. Let me look on the concept more positively - there are days we need to be off from work, have a cook-out with friends, and watch a fireworks show after dark. (What I've just described can be how we celebrate Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Labor Day.) Anything wrong with that? Nope. We need time to rest. 
2. Holidays. These days are ones we celebrate via traditions. We wear green on St. Patrick's Day. We eat turkey and watch football (or in my case, the dog show) on Thanksgiving. We dress up for Halloween. We decorate a tree and deck the halls for Christmas. And we wait with apprehension to see if Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow. Each are fun events that occur once a year that make the day stand out from a day off. In the past (not true now) I would have that mentality for the Oscar's, the baseball All-Star game, and the then-annual showing on CBS of "The Wizard of Oz." None of them change the world, but it gives the year a little variety. 
3. Holy Days. Holy means set apart, and a holy day is set apart. There is a solemnity to that day, like the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) in the Bible. We could have that sanctified approach to major holidays we have off (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day for families where a member made the ultimate sacrifice) or days that are special to us. In my case, this would include Reformation Day, All Saints Day, World CEF Prayer Day, International Day of Prayer For The Persecuted Church, and World Refugee Day. 

Confession time. These days I mentioned usually are just a normal day. I want that to change. Reformation Day and All Saints Day are ones that currently are something I quietly acknowledge, but I really want to celebrate it with others! True, it might be overdoing it to have a Reformation Day party one day and follow it up with an All Saints Day party 24 hours later. But you get the idea.

Can I summarize? We need days to rest. We need days to have fun and break up the routine. And we need days to reflect.

DOES "ALL THINGS ARE PURE" INCLUDE LENT, EASTER, ETC.?

 

Christians United Church, Indianapolis

I'm sure you've heard it all. Lent and Advent are nowhere mentioned in the Bible. Jesus was not born on December 25th. Easter was named after the goddess Ioster, filled with fertility rite symbols like rabbits and eggs. Jeremiah 10 condemns the pagan Christmas tree. And I haven't even gotten to the Satanic holiday of Halloween or the equally ungodly customs of Pride Month!

There is little I disagree with in the above paragraph. There are ungodly roots in many of our holidays. I smile when a cartoonist friend of mine had his protagonist place a "Y" in front of a church's Easter banner (following the pattern that "yeast" always has a negative connotation).

On the other hand, my regular blog readers know that this is not the first time I've tackled the subject of holidays. My hunch is that the believers that are up in arms about holidays are not as concerned with loving others as they are in being more "Biblically correct" than their brothers and sisters in Christ, emphasizing the letter that kills rather than the Spirit that gives lives.

Titus 1:15 says, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure." Romans 14:14 reads, "But I know and am convinced in the Lord that nothing is unclean of itself." Yes, there are days that are rooted in the demonic or the completely rebellious against God and evil is called good. But there are debates about other holidays.

As I said, I've blogged about this. So why do I have to write another one? 

Actually, it's because I learned something. ERLC posted a list of things about Lent. I knew it was 40 days, but I thought it started on Ash Wednesday (I'm correct about that) and ended 40 days later on Palm Sunday (I missed that one). Actually, the 40 days of Lent don't include Sundays. 

I was amused at the article. I have never been in a church that celebrated Lent, and most Baptists tend to ignore it at best. But the Southern Baptist ERLC (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) article seems to be written to say that Lent fits in Southern Baptist belief and almost gave the impression of trying to get more Baptists observing Lent.

Mind if I tell a joke here? I heard of parents telling their son about Lent and encouraging him to give up something for that season, like candy. He asked his parents were giving up, and they told him they were giving up liquor. The son then asked about the wine they drank at supper, and they explained that it was hard liquor they were giving up. The boy thought a minute and said, "Okay, I'll give up hard candy."

Sometimes observing holidays are just ritual and not done out of love for God, and yes, that mere observance can be called pagan. But it can be observed as worship. Once again, we should be more concerned about loving our brethren (John 13:34-35) than trying to get them to give up something they enjoy to satisfy your "holiness."

LABOR DAY - MAYBE THE MOST NEGLECTED HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR?

Herdsmen with Cows by Aelbert Cuyp

Let me start by sharing one story that always made my skin to boil. A stewardess in first class was asking a couple if they needed anything. The lady didn't respond. The stewardess asked again. The man turned to her and informed the stewardess, "She doesn't talk to the hired help."

It's obvious when you read through Scripture that God cares about the "hired help." You may remember my blog dealing with the Sabbath. When God gave the fourth commandment, He made it clear it applied to the male and female slaves (and the animals as well) as those who were "free." 

This surprisingly (or not) leads me to Labor Day. How many of you know the history of this day? I do... because I looked it up on-line two days ago. It became a federal holiday on the first Monday of September when President Grover Cleveland signed it into law June 28, 1894. At that time 30 of the 44 states already were celebrating it, starting with Oregon in 1887. Technically, the law was for federal workers - there were strikes in the 1930's for other laborers to enjoy the day off.

Many holidays have often lost their true meaning. Many Christians mourn the commercialism of Christmas. For most people Memorial Day and Independence Day are a day off. Even Thanksgiving has become "Turkey Day" and includes warm-ups for the true holiday of the weekend, Black Friday. My hunch - Labor Day has lost its meaning more than any of the others I've mentioned.

Politically/Historically the Democrats have been the champions of Labor. I'm guessing most of my blog readers know enough history to remember Cleveland was a Democrat (I'm not sure how many of our population know who the 22nd/24th President was, and if so, they only know that he was the only one to serve non-consecutive terms). So was Congress when the holiday was introduced in Congress and signed into law. However, my guess is the ignorance of this holiday is held by both parties.

There are holidays that Christians debate whether they should be celebrated in church, including Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veteran's Day, and even Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter (and other church calendar holidays). Labor Day belongs on that list. I have never heard Labor Day mentioned in a church service.

But, in the scope of eternity, where does celebration of Labor Day rate? Not very high. However, how we treat workers - either those who we personally employ or those we benfit - IS important to God.

Today, my wife and I went to a zoo. No, the zoo workers didn't get a day off. But there were two that were raking a couple of pens, and I spoke to both of them and asked how they were doing. One appreciated it, the other seemed surprised I'd ask. To me, that's showing honor to others.

I started with a non-fiction story that angered me; let me close with a fiction story that inspired me. I won't mention the name so as not to spoil, but I saw an adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories. In it, a pair of murders took place at a nightclub. Both times, one member of the party encouraged the band to start playing. The people at the table were focusing on the music, not on the murderer who filled their glasses like a good waiter, added something to one person's glass, and sticking an incriminating bottle into another's pocket. 

Well, actually, I skipped something. Poirot joined in the table at the second occurrence. After one person was carried out, he talked to the other guests (the same people were at both murders), he revealed that nobody noticed the killer behind, and stated that worked because people don't pay attention to the waiters, and then asked the killer if he noticed the person who just refilled his coffee. The killer turned and saw the person he thought he just poisoned. 

Ever since, when somebody refills my coffee or iced tea (they rarely refill my Jamocha shakes), I make it a point to thank them. Not primarily to make sure they don't add anything to my beverage, but because they deserve me to thank them.

Pentecost and Other Holidays (or Holy Days or Hollow Days)

 

Pentecost by Emil Nolde

 

I got excited today. The pastor at our church mentioned today was Pentecost Sunday. If I remember correctly, the last time I heard Pentecost Sunday mentioned (other than my mentioning it) was 1959. Which, considering that was the year I was born, and Pentecost is in the spring while my birthday's not until fall...

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel seven holidays - or more accurately holy days - to observe (Lev. 23). An eighth one, Purim, is mentioned in Esther, though it is not commanded by God.

You can divide Christians in two groups. One group sees Christmas and Good Friday/Easter as the high points of the calendar, with some observing a time of preparation for those two days (Advent in the first case, Lent and Holy Week for the later). The other group points out neither holiday is commanded and delight in pointing out pagan connections to justify their non-observance. My mother-in-law referred to Christmas and Easter as hollow days.

Then, we can look at the issue through the extremes. Some can be ritualistic - I've heard of Christians judging those who are non-observant. Others take the cliche of celebrating the Resurrection and/or Pentecost every Sunday, though one can wonder if they are really celebrating either event any Sunday. 

Other questions arise in dealing with celebrating holidays is which ones should Christians observe. Should the Church recognize Passover and Day of Atonement and maybe even Pentecost as God commanded via Moses to Israel from Mount Sinai? As Christians, is it permissible to observe either church holidays like Lent, Advent, and All Saints Day or cultural holidays like Mothers' and Fathers' Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving and patriotic celebrations like 4th of July and Veteran's Day? 

The answer needs to be Biblical, but allow me first to give a focus on two issues which I consider biblical: the autonomy of the local church and the Priesthood of the believer. What a local congregation does should be based on the decision of that congregation. Likewise, whether an individual chooses to observe (or not) a particular day is between him and God. 

I believe that conclusion is supported by Romans 14:5-6: "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day the same. Let each be firmly convinced in their mind. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not esteem it. He who eats eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks." In other words, both observance and non-observance are permissible when done to the Lord.

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, and I consider it a holy day. I would love to celebrate Reformation Day, All Saints Day - though I would define "saint" a little differently than a Catholic or Orthodox - and Pentecost regularly, when I think of them. Other holidays that often get overlooked (including by me) that can be observed to the glory of God include President's Day, Juneteenth, and Labor Day. And last but not least (or is it least but not last), there's Groundhog's Day.

Happy Pentecost, and let me close by asking: How do you observe your favorite holidays/Holy Days to the Lord?