The Christian calendar begins in late November or early December with Advent. Advent is a time of expectation, of anticipation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day. Christmastide begins on Christmas Day and lasts for 12 days (the 12 days of Christmas begins, not ends, on Christmas Day) and ends on Epiphany. Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem. The next major celebration begins on Ash Wednesday, beginning the season of Lent. Palm Sunday, which is celebrated the Sunday before Easter, reminds us of Jesus entering Jerusalem as he is proclaimed King by his followers. Good Friday is next, and the King is given a crown of thorns and dies by crucifixion on Calvary. Then we have the glorious celebration of Easter, the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Following Easter, 40 days later, we celebrate Ascension Day, and Ascension Day is followed 10 days later by Pentecost, the celebration of the giving of the Holy Spirt. There are no more celebrations on the Christian calendar until the Sunday before Advent, which is proclaimed as “Christ the King” Sunday.
As we consider these celebrations, we quickly realize that some of them receive much more attention than others. This, it seems, is in large part because the ones to receive the most attention have been commercialized. Christmas, for example, is a wonderful way for retailers to make a lot of money, and people are willing to spend it. Easter has been subverted by retailers to be a celebration of life and decadence with eggs and bunnies and lots of chocolate. But most of the other celebrations – Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Christ the King Sunday – are almost entirely forgotten.
Take Ascension Day as an example. Falling, perhaps to us inconveniently, on a Thursday it is hardly recognized at all. Most of us will not be aware that on May 14 of this year we should be remembering the ascension of Jesus into heaven, the day that he takes his seat at the right hand of the Father, and, as we learn, he reign over the entire universe from that position until he returns once again to this earth.
Why has Ascension Day been ignored by retailers? It’s hard to think of how they can commercialize the coronation of Jesus Christ. If they could find a way, we can be sure that they would, but there doesn’t seem to be a way, at least not that I can think of. The reality is this: we cannot celebrate the coronation of any king unless we also acknowledge that we must submit our lives to that king. It is in the devil’s best interests to have everyone forget that Jesus reigns as King, and he is not particularly motivated to have the world remember this fact. He would rather we forget that Jesus is King.
It is the same with the celebration of Pentecost. It is much more convenient that Pentecost falls on a Sunday, for we gather for worship on a Sunday, and so it becomes somewhat natural that we remember the giving of the Holy Spirit to his church. Again, the devil is not particularly motivated to remind people that God, in the Person of the Spirit, has come to dwell in all those who follow Jesus Christ, equipping them to make disciples of all the nations and teaching them to follow and believe in Jesus. This is counter productive to the devil’s plans to destroy both the creation and the salvation that God has provided.
The last celebration of the Christian calendar, Christ the King Sunday, is actually relatively new, being designated a Christian celebration by the Roman Catholic pope in 1925. Pope Pius XI designated the last Sunday before Advent to be a time when we recognize Christ’s ultimate authority over our hearts, minds, and human history. World War I had just ended and had seen the downfall of four major monarchies in mainland Europe, and people were wondering who would lead them. Christ the King Sunday reminded them that we have King in heaven who will one day return to establish an everlasting kingdom on the earth, an earth from which all sin had been burned away. The Sunday was meant to give believers confidence to live in obedience and in the strength of the Lord. Needless to say, the devil doesn’t want us to celebrate that day either, for it is a stark reminder to him that he was defeated at the cross.
Even as I write about the celebrations of the Christian calendar, I am aware that there are Christians who balk at the idea of putting together a calendar that is not explicitly revealed by God in his Word. The events of the calendar are mentioned, but the Bible does not command us to develop a calendar from these events. While this is true, there is also a tremendous blessing in remembering these special days and taking time to reflect on them in a meaningful way.
As I mentioned above, because Ascension Day falls always on a Thursday, it will probably be forgotten by most But let’s not forget the meaning of Ascension Day, namely that Jesus is seated at the right hand of Father, and from there he is reigning over this entire universe, directing the course of history to his Father’s intended end. We can take great comfort in that fact because we know that we have a king who loves us and is looking out for us and for the interests of the church. We live in confidence and security because Jesus reigns.
It is somewhat sad that it is the commercialization of certain Christian celebrations by retailers that brings them to prominence, but that does not mean that we, as Christians, need to allow ourselves to be led by retailers. Rather, we are led by the teachings of the Word of God, and if the calendar that the church developed over the centuries helps us remember all that God has done for us, let us joyfully celebrate each important day, not just the ones that are elevated so that some people can make some extra money.