Greetings:

Sunday we celebrated the beginning of the Christian year, and I spoke about the Christian calendar and how we should reorient our lives around the life of Jesus; but there are 2 important things about the Christian calendar which I did not include in the sermon.

First, Easter is a fixed date on the calendar. It is the only date (and Pentecost, which is set according to Easter) for which we know exactly when the event took place. All other dates are approximation on the calendar to represent this point in Jesus’ life. As such, the Church does not proclaim that Jesus was actually born on December 25th; rather, the Church has chosen to celebrate his birth on this day, and the days until Easter are an approximation of his life until his death and resurrection.

Second, the calendar is also a metaphor of the movement of growth we experience in the life of Christ. From Advent to Epiphany and his manifestation to all the world; to Lent and our time of sacrifice to Easter when we celebrate the life we receive through his resurrection; to Pentecost and our life in the spirit, to Kingdomtide and the growth we experience in our life with God; and the cycle begins again.

As our Advent Meditation booklet says (if you didn’t get one, see me Sunday), we pray that during this Advent season, you would slow down and focus on our faith in Christ, resulting in a deepened faith that inspires us to greater works of compassion, justice and witness.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Reginald Broadnax