Spiritual Formation in Every Season

Series: The Reign of God in Our Hearts

What happens when you take a knife to a piece of wood and run the blade across the same spot repeatedly? Eventually, the indentation will become deep. It will be noticeable–the wood will be able to feel it and others will be able to see it. For me, “spiritual formation” can often mean making noticeable indentations on my own heart.

In our progressive society, ancient rhythms often get a bad rep. However, people are consistently finding that the “new and improved” ways of spiritual formation are leaving them emptied and dry. You know which “new” ways I’m talking about; they are always under scrutiny, causing rifts within the church and constantly spawning turmoil and controversy. As the new ways fall short, people choose to return to ancient methods of spiritual formation. One of these ancient ways is observance of the seasons of the liturgical year.

Many Christians are not familiar with the seasons of the liturgical, or Christian, year. They are as follows:
Advent (which we are currently in; the four Sundays before Christmas)
Christmas (December 25-January 5)
Epiphany (January 6)
After Epiphany (after January 6 to the beginning of Lent)
Lent (begins six-and-a-half weeks before Easter)
The Great Triduum (Thursday, Friday, Saturday of Holy Week, before Easter Sunday)
Easter (extends for fifty days after Easter Sunday; ends on Pentecost)
After Pentecost (from Pentecost Sunday to the beginning of Advent; about six months)

What is so important about these dates? Think about the first Passover, the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was first manifested and the church began, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the preparation of John the Baptist for the coming of Christ, and the birth of Christ Himself. All of these dates celebrate and remember real events, real moments in the life of Jesus and the church.

We can also remember events in the nation of Israel that relate to these dates. Even in the time of Isaiah, the people of Israel longed for a Messiah: “It will also come to pass that before the call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). The themes of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are in anticipation and celebration of Israel’s Savior–our Savior. The seasons of the Christian year even observe Jewish holidays–Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Passover. We are united with the nation of Israel–God’s people through the ages–in our observance of these events and seasons.

The understanding that I have of the Christian year is that it follows the pattern of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ. As we travel through His life time and again, we are practicing the spiritual discipline of living in the pattern of Jesus’ saving life throughout the year. Of course, we cannot attain spirituality on our own. The spirituality that we can claim and have is because of Jesus’ choice to come to earth in human form, resist sin, overcome it, and reconcile us to God. Everything that we have depends on His life, death, and resurrection. Which means it is REALLY important, or, rather, essential.

Observing these seasons year after year etches scripture, tradition, and sacred memory on our minds and hearts, just as that knife on wood makes an irremovable indentation. It brings joy and excitement, reflection and rememberance. In Christianity Today, Mark Galli (managing editor) says of Christian author Robert Webber, “In an age that says, ‘time is money,’ Robert Webber says, ‘time is spirituality.” Time and humanity are two of God’s most intricate and unexplainable creations. Exploring how the two can work together, based on Jesus Christ, in a way that is spiritually formative brings renewal from season to season and new discoveries with the passing of time.

God in Heaven,
Thank you for sending Your Son to overcome death for us in Your name, so that we may be reconciled to You.
Thank you for the life of Your Son, the life of Your people, and the seasons of the year, in which we can celebrate life with Christ Himself.
We love You in seasons of change, seasons of lament, seasons of want, seasons of joy, and seasons of abundance.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Erin Daugherty, Stephenville, TX

To find out more about the seasons of the Christian year and to learn how they can be spiritually formative, read Ancient-Future Time by Robert Webber or go to http://www.crivoice.org/chyear.html.