Marking Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year

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Mark i ng T ime : Formi ng Sp i r i tua l i t y through the Chr i s t i an Year

I. The Calendar Year in Jewish Faith

Between the years AD 100 and AD 500 the Christian church changed almost beyond recognition. In AD 100 the church was a small minority, spasmodically persecuted. While the Gospels and epistles were in circulation, they had not yet been gathered together to form a “New Testament.” While there were brief affirmations of faith like Jesus is Lord,” there was no formal creed to be recited. The organization of the church was still fluid and varied from region to region, as in the New Testament times. Finally, there were no set forms of worship, although particular prayers, like the Lord’s Prayer, might be used.

~ Tony Lane. Harper’s Concise Book of Christian Faith . New York: Harper and Row, 1984. p. 10.

One of the earliest accounts of the church from an outsider happens to mention hymn-singing. It is from Pliny, the Roman governor of the province of Pontus and Bythnia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) from A.D. 111 to 112. Describing to the emperor Trajan what he has learned of Christian practice, Pliny writes that “on an appointed day they had been accustomed to meet before daybreak, and to recite a hymn antiphonally to Christ, as a god.” ~ Ibid., p. 23.

A. The rhythm of God’s appointed times

1. God demanded a pattern of recurring observances, based on the calendar of Jewish time.

2. The seventh day of every week : the Sabbath, where work was forbidden (Exod. 20.8-11; Deut. 5.12-15)

3. On the new moon (i.e., the first day of each lunar month, special sacrifices were to be given (Num. 28.11-15; cf. Ezek. 46.6-7).

a. They were feast days (1 Sam. 20.5, 18, 24, 27).

b. They were days of rest (Amos 8.5).