While everyone seems to celebrate New Years Day, even those whose traditional calendar isn't Gregorian, we shouldn't forget about the Old Year. And by remembering the Old Year, I'm not talking about the retrospectives on "what happened in 2013" that we see on every TV channel.
One of the greatest losses in having left the Dutch Reformed world was losing its church calendar. To be sure, it wasn't the calendar of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, ordinary time, etc. For churches in the Dutch strand of the Reformed tradition, it was expected that there would be "special" (i.e., non-Sunday) services of worship on New Years Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day, Christmas Day, and the last day of the year. I'm not sure of the extent to which contemporary Christian Reformed churches continue to honor this long-standing practice but the Old Years service was always a time for thoughtful and somber contemplation.
This contemplation wasn't on sports, entertainment, or even political events of the preceding twelve months. Instead, the service focused on the fruitless events of the of human life apart from the work of Christ in His Church. In other words, it was a time to contemplate the futility of sin--socially and individually--and the inevitability of death. One can easily imagine why such a practice felt so alien in the ever-optimistic world of America.
Psalm 90 was often the sermon text for an Old Years service. May we consider the eternal significance of these verses as we celebrate the transitory excitement of today's games and festivities:
One of the greatest losses in having left the Dutch Reformed world was losing its church calendar. To be sure, it wasn't the calendar of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, ordinary time, etc. For churches in the Dutch strand of the Reformed tradition, it was expected that there would be "special" (i.e., non-Sunday) services of worship on New Years Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day, Christmas Day, and the last day of the year. I'm not sure of the extent to which contemporary Christian Reformed churches continue to honor this long-standing practice but the Old Years service was always a time for thoughtful and somber contemplation.
This contemplation wasn't on sports, entertainment, or even political events of the preceding twelve months. Instead, the service focused on the fruitless events of the of human life apart from the work of Christ in His Church. In other words, it was a time to contemplate the futility of sin--socially and individually--and the inevitability of death. One can easily imagine why such a practice felt so alien in the ever-optimistic world of America.
Psalm 90 was often the sermon text for an Old Years service. May we consider the eternal significance of these verses as we celebrate the transitory excitement of today's games and festivities:
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
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