THE PARISH CHURCH FOR LYTHAM

Last Updated 19/05/2008 22:34:12

Mission

There are those who feel that Christian festivals are pagan in origin and therefore worthless. Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ,  takes place in the same month and around the same time as an old Roman festival called ‘The birthday of the undefeated sun’. This was at a time in history when planets and in particular the sun were objects of worship.  In the second half of December the Romans also held the festival of Saturnalia – in honour of the god Saturn – when people stopped work, held parties and gave one another presents. The Christmas tree has its origins in pagan rituals connected with the winter solstice when evergreen branches were brought indoors.

Other festivals are traced back to Hebrew festivals. Easter, for example, when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, also known as Pascha (Greek) has its origins in Pesach, the feast of the Passover. (Our word, Easter, has its origins in the name of a Saxon Goddess called Eostre whose festival in England was celebrated in April each year.) Pentecost, or Whitsunday, when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, is celebrated fifty days after Easter Sunday and has its roots in the Hebrew harvest festival.

Finding the roots of these and other Christian festivals in pagan religion or in the Hebrew faith, far from revealing their worthlessness says something very important about their authenticity.

First of all we are reminded of the Hebrew roots of our faith. Jesus was a member of the Hebrew nation and was brought up in its faith. The Old Testament is made up of Hebrew Scripture. By studying the Jewish religion that gave rise to these writings, we discover an immense amount concerning the significance of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.

We can also see how Christianity gained added significance from existing Hebrew festivals. So while Pentecost has its origins in a harvest festival, we remember that it was at this time following the ascension of Christ, that the Holy Spirit was given to the Church in a new and powerful way (Acts 2.1-4) The working of the Holy Spirit is vital (ie life giving) not only in the life of the believer but in bringing others to faith. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit – the power and presence of God - that minds are changed, hearts opened and lives renewed. While there may be many different reasons why people are drawn to the Christian faith, they are borne along by the energies of God, carried along on the tide of his love. Someone who decides to follow Christ is often someone who has decided to immerse themselves in this current of Divine love. We are converted to Christianity, therefore, not by knowledge but by love. Here as we move from one step of faith to the next, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that ‘quickens our souls’. So Pentecost is a time to celebrate the power of love that God has given to the Church to support new faith and bring in the harvest of souls.

Second, we are reminded that when the mission of the Church becomes a programme of condemnation of the life of the world, we condemn the life of Christ that is in the world as well as in the Church. When the early Christians took over pagan festivals and replaced them with their own, they were offering a spirituality based on the life and teaching of Christ that brought a meaning and fulfilment to existing faith treasured by many. We remember how St Paul went to the market place in Athens where people of great learning would discuss politics, philosophy and theology. He told them that through his conversion to the Christian faith, he now knew the God who was behind their pagan worship (Acts 17. 22 – 31).

Mission, therefore, is not so much about saying that we alone have all the answers. It is about helping others to reach a place in their lives where they are able to trust the love of God to lead and guide them and also to become their destiny. Mission is about helping others identify the Christ who is already in their lives and the life of the world. It is about helping them to see how they can recognise the Christ of their daily lives. Archbishop Rowan Williams once used a well-known definition of mission to encourage us to be inclusive rather than exclusive in our relationships when he said that mission is about ‘ finding out what God is doing in the world and joining in’.

So wherever we are on the journey of faith and love, we have been called with others to follow the Spirit of Christ -  the essence and energy of God - in our daily lives, in our prayers and in the worship of our Christian family. For by allowing the power of the universe to carry us on a journey that will take us in the end to the heart of God’s love, we will become increasingly filled by the love that redeems us from suffering and evil. This is not to say that we know or understand everything that happens to us or others. It will mean, however, that we have decided to learn from the faith of others how we can live in such a way that both recognises and reveals Christ to us and to the world.

Andrew Clitherow.