Pastor’s Message for May 2025

Happy Easter, Friends!

Happy Easter? But wasn’t Easter last month? Oh friends… Traditionally, Easter is a 50-day season culminating at Pentecost. You may know about another season of the Christian calendar which celebrates a 12-day season, made famous by the song about a true love’s many, many gifts. The Christmas season only begins on December 25th, but by then many of us are already “Christmased out” by all the hype and commercialism. These events are part of the traditional liturgical calendar.

The liturgical calendar is simply a way of marking time using the events of the life of Jesus to order the life of the church. Traditionally, we use the colors purple, green, red, and white to help tell the story visually in the church. There are seasons of preparation, celebration, and anticipation throughout the year. Easter and Christmas are the traditional ‘high holy days,’ but those days only tell part of the story. There are many other dates which Christians celebrate as well, such as Christ the King Sunday, Baptism of the Lord Day, Pentecost, Epiphany, and my personal favorite, Ascension Day. All of these days tell us something about the life of Christ.

Advent is the four-week season of preparation for the birth of Christ, while Lent is the 40-day season of preparation for the resurrection of Christ. These are seasons of contemplation and penitence and are celebrated visually with the color purple. The Lenten season includes events such as Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. Ordinary time, which uses the color green, marks the passing of each week in anticipation of the coming again of Christ. We use white to celebrate the Christmas and Easter seasons.

What is the purpose of all of these celebrations? There are many reasons why the liturgical calendar is important, but let me offer just one explanation. To me, the liturgical calendar is a reminder that life is not about us, but it is about Jesus. Every season of life is about Jesus. Jesus is the author of life, and so it makes sense that even our way of marking time is a reflection of the life of Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit breathe fresh life into these ancient traditions, and conform more and more of our lives toward the life of Jesus.

Happy Easter, friends!

God loves you, and so do I,
Pastor Jim Sands