Holidays and Celebrations.

Do you ever wonder what God thinks about all our celebrations? Isn’t our calendar full of holidays, covering topics from the sublime to the ridiculous? Many Americans decorate their yards nearly year-round: Valentine’s, Saint Patrick’s Day, Easter, July 4^th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Advertisers go even further: President’s Day Sale!, April Fool’s Folly!, Cinco de Mayo Special!, Memorial Day Savings Event!, Labor Day Selloff!, Veterans Day Savings!, New Year’s Blowout!, etc. Greeting card companies make a fortune on these, plus Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Boss’s Day, Secretary’s Day, Pastor Appreciation Sunday, and more. And in addition to these somewhat universal American days, there are regional, ethnic, and religious days: Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Cinco de Mayo, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, and Ramadan.

But again, what does God think about all these special days? Is He for holidays or against them?

First, the obvious—God would not approve of the debauchery that is so common around holidays. Saint Patrick was a missionary, for example. He was an English boy kidnapped and enslaved on an Irish ship. He learned the language. Years after his release, he heard God calling him to share the gospel with the Irish people. Think of him as the Billy Graham of fifth-century Ireland. Would Patrick be honored by people who drink until they pass out in his name? This is a Christian hero who sacrificed an easy life in England to follow God’s call. I believe many of today’s celebrations dishonor him. The same is true for so many holidays. God’s standards do not change for special days.

In addition, many of our holidays have origins that do not honor Christ. They may be harmless, but should be handled with wisdom: consider the origins of Halloween (as opposed to “Reformation Day”), Easter (as opposed to “Resurrection Day”), Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday (a day to get fat on rich foods before giving them up for Lent), and the various holy days from other religions.

We must never use a holiday as an excuse to sin, whether with food, drink, sex, or anything else. In fact, many Biblical holidays include days of self-discipline, days without work, days with special diets, and some days of feasting.

However, with that caveat (“qualification” or “warning”), we should note that God INVENTED holidays. (After all, the English word “holiday” is a shortened form of “holy day.”)

The Old Testament is filled with holy days. God knows we need “punctuation” in our time. We need breaks—day, night, summer, winter, work, rest, one day off every week, and special holidays throughout the year. In Leviticus chapters 23-25, God explains the special days on the calendar, beginning with this verse:

“These are my appointed times, the times of the Lord that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies.” Leviticus 23:2.

1. The Sabbath Day—52 days a year
2. Purim—(celebrates deliverance by Esther from Haman)
3. Passover—7 days
4. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
5. Firstfruits
6. Pentecost/Shavuot
7. Rosh Hashana—2 days (Jewish New Year)
8. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
9. Feast of Tabernacles—7 days.
10. The Sabbatical Year (every 7^th year)
11. The Year of Jubilee (every 50^th year)

Even though I can tend to be a non-participator (I admit it!), I know from reading the Bible that God loves special days, festivals, days off, special years, and more. He built into the Jewish calendar numerous opportunities for the people to remember God, to repent, to worship, to give thanks, and to get to know God better.

Dear God, show us how to celebrate you! May our years be filled with special days, and may we use them to get to know Jesus better.

ΑΩ