Why does the celebration of Easter vary so much?

Greetings All!

When people discover I am a pastor it often leads to questions they have about God or the church. This was the case the other day when at the YMCA an older gentleman asked me: "Why is Easter so late this year?"  As I always try to find the answer when asked, I collected the following data to share with him.  Yet its not the first time I've been asked that question. So I offer this to you in case you wondered or have been asked the same.  Why does the celebration of Easter vary so much?  The answer lies below!  Enjoy!

Why Does the Day to Celebrate Easter Vary So Much from Year to Year?

     This year most Christians in the Western hemisphere will celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 21, which is much later than last year’s April 1, or 2008’s Easter, which fell on March 23. This may make it “seem” like Easter is late this year, but according to the lunar calendar, it's right on time!  Easter Sunday is known as a "movable feast" because unlike Christmas (which always falls on Dec. 25), the celebration of Easter within the church does not adhere to a single date.  Rather, it always falls within a certain time period – on a specific Sunday between March 22 and April 25. This is because – NOTE:  Easter is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on, or after, the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox (spring equinox).

     Scripture puts Jesus’ death following the Jewish Passover, celebrated on a full moon in Spring. So, early Christians decided to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection according to that Jewish calendar tradition. In an effort to standardize this, in 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicaea, the Western Church compiled information about lunar cycles into an ecclesiastical full moon table and made March 21 the standard date of the vernal equinox.

     One of the more noteworthy contradictions of this dating will be Easter in the year 2038. Astronomically, Easter should fall on March 28 that year, but because the equinox falls on Saturday, March 20 in that year, and the full moon occurs the next day, Easter will be observed on April 25 – its latest possible date given the lunar cycle's length of about a month. So, while Easter may feel "late" this year, the 2038 celebration will take place even later.

     Same Easter, Different Day

     At the Council in Nicaea (called for the purpose of seeking to create greater unity in a Church encompassing many peoples and cultures), the council thought they had finalized a universal date for Easter. However, what they didn't count on was a later split in the church which occurred in 1054. The “Great Schism” of 1054 became the dividing point for the church.

     The Roman Empire had already divided itself into the Eastern (Byzantine) and Western (Roman) Empires, and even though the church tried to maintain a semblance of universal unity, it soon divided as well. Not only did the Eastern and Western halves form their own separate empires, they also chose their own spiritual heads for each church (Pope Leo the IX for the Western church, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius for the Eastern or Orthodox church). They split over doctrinal an “head of the church” issues, but when it came to Easter, both still believed Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon to follow the Spring equinox.

     Yet in 1582 (528 years later) the Catholic Church switched over from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.  The Julian Calendar proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. took the place of the old Roman calendar on 1 January 45 BC, by royal edict. This was the predominant calendar of the Roman world and most of Europe until it was replaced by the Gregorian Calendar put forth in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.

     The Julian calendar has two types of years: "normal" years of 365 days and “leap” years of 366 days. There is a simple cycle of three "normal" years followed by a “leap” year, and this pattern repeats forever without exception. The Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. Consequently, the Julian year drifts over time with respect to the solar year which is 365.24217 days. The Julian calendar did not compensate for this difference and as a result, even with “leap” years, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries. This discrepancy was largely corrected by the Gregorian calendar reform of 1582.

     The Orthodox Church still holds to the original Nicaean Council's formula for Easter, but by using a different calendar system, the vernal equinox (which now falls on March 21 under the Gregorian calendar), is on April 3 under the Julian calendar.  Therefore, the Eastern Orthodox Easter this year is April 28. The two churches celebrate the same Easter holiday, but on two different days. Whereas the “Catholic” Easter falls anywhere between March 22 and April 25, the “Orthodox” Easter now falls anywhere between April 4 and May 8.

     In rare instances the dates align and Easter is celebrated simultaneously. For example, both the Orthodox and Catholic Easter fell on the same day in 2010, 2011, 2014 and in 2017. However, with the way the two calendars work, they will not fall on the same day again until 2034.

     I know some people will not care about such things, but some will.       For those who did, today was your day!  Yet, regardless of the day Easter is celebrated on, the more important fact is what we celebrate -- the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!  For as the apostle Paul tells us, it was Jesus' resurrection that "declared" (proved) Him to be the Son of God.  As Romans 1:1-4 states: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God -- the Gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God through his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."

     Though the disciples confessed Jesus to be the "Son of God" right up until He went to the cross, when He died from the suffering inflicted by crucifixion, it left them all disillusioned, questioning everything, and hiding in fear and despair from the authorities. That is, until they saw, encountered and touched His resurrected body! Then all doubt was erased! For through that miracle He was, "declared with power (God put a divine exclamation point on it!) to be the Son of God... Jesus Christ our Lord."  So, regardless of the day we celebrate it (I prefer it later in the Spring!) it is that event we look forward to, honor, and rejoice in in our hearts. To Him be glory in the Church, now and forever more. Amen.

Living in the Hope of Jesus' Resurrection, Pastor Jeff

The Lessons of Saint Nicholas

Greetings and Merry Christmas to All!

     This week's "thought" follows the theme of Christmas. It's a selection I took from another Advent Devotional Series, this time sent out by my former alma mater, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where I received my MDiv.  It was on Day 4, December 6th, and written by Dr. Ken Barnes, Associate Professor of Workplace Theology and Business Ethics.  In it he gives us helpful historical insights into the part St. Nicholas has come to play in the Christmas celebration (at least here in the States) and how we could respond to his inclusion in it -- which is not likely to go away anytime soon.

     
     I would like to take this time to wish all my friends near and far a Merry Christmas and pray that no matter where you are, or how busy things get, you might keep your eyes on the all-important truth the day is meant to emphasize -- the incarnation of God in Christ.  As C.S. Lewis so poignantly reminded us: "The Central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. They say that God became man."  What truth could be more astounding or life-changing than that?  Enjoy.

The Lessons of Saint Nicholas

“…the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.” 

(Clement Clarke Moore, 1822)

     We’ve no doubt all have heard the famous poem attributed to the late Dr. Clement Clarke Moore, former Professor of Greek and Oriental Literature at New York’s General Theological Seminary, entitled “T'was the Night Before Christmas.”  Supposedly written as a holiday bedtime story for his own children (he had nine of them), the simple little ditty forever evokes our popular images of Santa Claus, the “jolly old elf,” complete with his white beard, rosy cheeks, plump belly and “bundle of toys.”

     Based on convoluted versions of Norse and British folklore, the latter producing “Father Christmas,” and the ancient Dutch story of “Sinterklass” (Saint Nicholas), the contemporary version of Santa Claus is sadly quite wide of the mark. Of course, if you had grown up in an Eastern European household as a child, you would know that today, December 6, and not Christmas day, is actually the day when children receive gifts in honor of the 4th Century Bishop of Myra, the actual Saint Nicholas.

     The Bishop, it is said, was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, and upon receipt of his inheritance considered quite literally the words of Jesus: “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me,” (Matt 19:21). Legend has it that in response to God’s grace, he did just that, and gave his wealth not only to the poor,  but uniquely to poor children, especially young girls who would have otherwise experienced lives of destitution and exploitation. He was indeed a saint if ever there was one.

     So how did we go from celebrating the benevolence of St. Nicholas on his traditional feast day (December 6) to giving gifts on Christmas Day?  The answer, it would seem, rests with none other than Martin Luther, the progenitor of the Reformation itself, the 500th anniversary of which we celebrated earlier this year. As legend has it, Luther found the veneration of saints to be unhelpful and a distraction to the proper worship of Christ alone.  So, he sought to redirect the popular tradition of exchanging gifts on the feast of St. Nicholas to the feast of the “Christkind” (the feast of the Christ child), a.k.a. Christmas.

     In some respects, it wasn’t a bad idea. Surely we should focus our attention on the work of Christ and not the work of others.  But in two very important ways, it turns out to have been folly.  FIRST, it backfired quite spectacularly.  Instead of turning our attention to the great gift-giver himself, Jesus Christ, gift-giving in the form of crass consumerism has appropriated one of our highest holidays. Luther would be nothing less than scandalized to see what has become of Christmas.

     SECOND, we lost the truly inspirational story of the real St. Nicholas, whose retelling may inspire us to follow his example and use our material goods to bless the lives of others in devotion, and in response, to the grace of the “Christkind.”

     As a pastor, I know how easy it is to critique the way Christmas is observed in many places around the world (not just America). The commercialization of the holiday has spread far and wide and made it difficult to simply focus on Jesus' coming, offer Him our grateful praise, and kneel in heartfelt adoration before the One who was "the Word made flesh."  And that's the truth that's so life-changing. The other more superfluous aspects of the celebration can, and undeniably do, generate fond memories and sentimental feelings in believers and unbelievers alike. And that's fine I guess (though it can turn into idolatry when one seeks, desires, and delights in those things more than Jesus.)

     Yet, what I've found to be true is that unless our primary focus is on Jesus and the miracle of His incarnation -- what C. S. Lewis rightly calls the "central miracle asserted by Christians" -- our holy endeavors will often end by New Year's Eve, or shortly thereafter. They tend to "lose the feeling of Christmas"  once they take down the tree and put Jesus, the lights, the creche scenes, and decorations, back into the closet until next Christmas.

     That's why it's so important to remember that the truth we celebrate at Christmas is not simply for Christmas!  It's a truth that should change the way we view everything and do everything, every day of the year!  For how can one believe that God the Son, the Word (ie: the Logos, or Wisdom of God, who was with God and was God from the beginning -- John 1:1-4) actually became flesh in the Christ child and not see the incredibly profound implications that has for all of life? 

     For is Jesus was a man, and nothing more, then the rest of the Gospel story is emptied of all its life-changing power and life-saving significance. If the baby in the manger was a mere human child and no more, the story is quaint, but no more worthy of our notice than the story of any other child, born in any other place, under adverse conditions.

     Surely the Christmas celebration should involve JOY (who wouldn't rejoice that our Savior came to earth!), and it should also involve GIVING (after all, God gave His son), and it should invoke a sense of REVERENCE at the glories of heaven revealed in the birth of Jesus (as the Shepherds discovered).  But most of all (if it's effect is to be lasting) it should be centered upon Jesus and lead the heart to worship and adore Him as the Christ. For it's only when the heart is driven to kneel in worship before Jesus, and see Him as the object of that worship, that we show we really comprehend what took place at Christmas.

Merry Christmas!  Pastor Jeff

Set Apart -- Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life

Greetings All,

     Our culture has now begun the countdown to Christmas.  It's a mere 26 days away!  And the message we hear from almost every sector is: Get busy buying!!
     This 'thought' does not specifically address Christmas, but it does deal with an issue (because of our culture) that's been forced upon Christmas  -- the holiday as a way to spur the economy and generate wealth.  Christmas, whether we like it or not, is now one of the primary economic indicators in the American year.  A "good" Christmas is often said to be one where people are willing to spend and buy or part with their wealth. Jesus may be taken out of the celebration, and the carols that proclaim the true reason for the holiday are more and more suppressed, but I can pretty much guarantee you that as long as money can be made from observing that day, Christmas will never be done away with!  In fact, it seems that every year our culture tries to start the celebration earlier and earlier!
That said, I wanted to share an excerpt from the book, "Set Apart -- Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life," by R. Kent Hughes.  He was pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the classes I took with him when studying for my doctorate.  This thought will probably not be one of the most popular I have posted. Why?  Because it addresses (I believe very accurately) the Bible's view on wealth. If you disagree (and surely some will) please look at the references he quotes and check to see if he was true to them in their context. The topic of "wealth," of course, had to be addressed in his book, because it really does contribute to the worldliness and spiritual apathy of the Church. Read the Old Testament and you will see that some of the times the people of God strayed the most from their God were the times they prospered most.  And if nothing else, consider what our Lord Jesus says about this topic as we approach the day set aside to honor His incarnation. Enjoy.

Materialism
     "Tellingly, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, spoke more  about money than about heaven or hell, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Gospel of Luke... From beginning to end...Jesus views wealth as a spiritual handicap. His "woe" to the rich, his parable of the rich fool, his epigram "you cannot serve both God and money," his parable of Lazarus and the rich man, his declaration that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven, and finally, the salvation of Zacchaeus who responded by divesting himself of his riches -- all testify that material wealth is a spiritual hindrance.  The evidence is that every time Jesus offers an opinion about riches, it is negative. Each time he teaches on wealth, he advises giving it away. For those of us who take the Bible seriously, this raises great tensions -- sanctifying tensions.

The Benefits of Wealth

     The fact that wealth is a spiritual danger in no way suggests that money is evil. Many of the Old Testament greats were well-heeled, including Abraham, Job, David, and Solomon.  And the same was true of some of Jesus followers, such as Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Zacchaeus.  Jesus' ministry was supported by wealthy women (Luke 8:2-3). Paul set the record straight in his explanation to Timothy: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (I Timothy 6:10). Randy Alcorn summarizes, "Money makes a good servant to those who have the right master, but it makes a terrible master itself... Money may be temporarily under my control, but I must always regard it as a wild beast, with power to turn on me and others if I drop my guard"... Alan Emery, one of the founding partners of ServiceMaster, said that possessions become either idols or tools. And he has used his immense wealth as a tool to serve God, underwriting hundreds of ministries and repeatedly refreshing the saints.  A. W. Tozer, in a remarkable essay entitled, "The Transmutation of Wealth," put it this way: "Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality."

The Dangers of Wealth

     Yet the downside of wealth is well-documented. It can be delusive, idolatrous and damning... Riches can delude us into imagining that moral superiority is a matter pf homes and cars and yachts and designer labels. Timex and Rolex both end in 'ex', but the wearer of one can imagine a universe of superiority above the other.... Though money is neutral in itself, if your heart is not devoted to God, it can take on what Phillip Yancey describes as, "an irrational, almost magical power... It is a force with a personality. It is in truth, a god, and Jesus called it that."  And, of course, the delusive and idolatrous powers of wealth intensify its capability to damn the soul. The deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word (Mark 4:19). The god of riches instills pride and independence and anesthetizes the victim so that he or she feels no need.  As Jesus charged the lukewarm church of Laodicea, "For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked" (Revelation 3:17).  Such inflated spirits never get into the kingdom, and really do not care.

Handling Wealth

     Since wealth is so spiritually radioactive, a crucial question is how to handle it. And the answer begins by understanding that money doesn't belong to you. Kenneth Kantzer once said: "We must give up all our wealth. We must own nothing. We are only stewards of what God owns. The point is not that we must be merely WILLING to give it up, and then live like anyone else. Rather, we must actually give it up. We are to abandon completely any claims to the wealth of this world. It is not our own, and we do not have ultimate control over it."

      Along with this understanding that our money is not our own, we must give it away joyfully. Theologian Jacques Ellul says that the only way to defeat the godlike power that money seeks to impose on our lives is to give it away, which he calls profaning it: "To profane money, like all other powers, is to take away its sacred character." This destroys its power over us. "Giving to God is the act of profanation par excellence," says Ellul. Every time I give, I declare that money does not control me.  Perpetual generosity is a perpetual de-deification of money.  When you give generously and regularly, it frees you from the bondage of money and declares that it is not a god in your life.

     You can, of course, talk until the moon stands still about what is the proper lifestyle for a member of your church, and the result would be an orgy of judgmentalism. And if we came up with a written description, it would entrench a grace-nullifying legalism.  Yet Paul minced no words with Timothy: "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."   This is the way to live -- give, give, give! "  

     Money is one of those Bible topics people like to be taught on least -- especially by Jesus!  For Hughes is right, "The evidence is that every time Jesus offers an opinion about riches, it is negative. Each time he teaches on wealth, he advises giving it away. For those of us who take the Bible seriously, this raises great tensions -- sanctifying tensions."  In my church growing up, you could pretty much guarantee that "Stewardship Sunday" (when the pastor spoke on giving and the needs of the church) would be one of the least-well-attended Sundays of the year!  Part of their mistake was announcing it was going to be Stewardship Sunday!  It's a sensitive topic in our materialistic culture, and those who like wealth will not like hearing Jesus speak so negatively about it. 
     The sad thing is that even people who worry themselves sick over the dangers of carcinogenics in their food, and are careful to avoid even the slightest possibility that any such contaminated product will ever touch their lips, don't give a second thought to the dangers of the spiritual carcinogens which wealth infects their soul with on a day in and day out basis.

     So how can you know if money is a "god" for you? You can get a good idea if while you read this thought you got defensive, were thinking of excuses not to do what he said, wanted to prove him wrong, enjoy getting far more than giving, or have a hard time bringing yourself to give joyfully, generously, and regularly.

Just a little food for thought!  In His Service, Pastor Jeff

I would simply like to wish everyone a joyful, blessed, and soul-enriching Christmas celebration!

Greetings All,

     This week I would simply like to wish everyone a joyful, blessed, and soul-enriching Christmas celebration!
     My prayer for each one of you is that one night this week (before Friday comes) --

After friends have left, and the all the kids have headed to bed;

After all the electronic devices have been turned off,

And the lights have been dimmed,

And all is quiet...

May you find the time to spend just a few moments earnestly focusing on the miracle,

Offering God your grateful praise for the unspeakable gift of His Son,

And silently worshiping Him who took on human flesh

to redeem us from sin and make us His own.

"Sweet hymns of praise,

In grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name!

Christ is the LORD! Oh praise His name forever!

His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!"

Adolphe C. Adam

(Translated from the French by John S. Dwight)

"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."

C. S. Lewis

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

What is the real meaning of Christmas?

Greetings All,

This week's thought comes to you from the well-known contemporary preacher/author -- John MacArthur. The title of his message speaks for itself.  Many others have tried to offer an answer to this same question, though in this excerpt -- selected for your Christmas consideration -- he offers his. Other things could be added, but one cannot leave out what he says and still be true to what the Bible wants us to know about Jesus birth.  Enjoy.

What is the real meaning of Christmas?

The answer may just surprise you. For many, Christmas is the time to think of Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger. While the birth of Christ is a special and miraculous event, it isn't the primary focus. The central truth of the Christmas story is this: the Child of Christmas is God. Christmas is not about the Savior's infancy; it is about His deity. The humble birth of Jesus Christ was never intended to conceal the reality that God was being born into the world...

I don't suppose anyone can ever fathom what it means for God to be born in a manger. How does one explain the Almighty stooping to become a tiny infant? Our minds cannot begin to understand what was involved in God's becoming man...Yet He did... One passage in particular, written by the apostle Paul, captures the essence of Jesus' divine nature and underscores the truths that make Christmas truly wonderful -- Colossians 1:15-20 -- where Paul writes:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, for in Him all things were created... All things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross." 

Ironically, some of the cults that deny Jesus' deity try to use Colossians 1:15-20 to support their view. They suggest, for example, that the phrase "the image of the invisible God" (v. 15) hints that Jesus was merely a created being who bore the image of God in the same sense as all humanity. But the truth is though we were created in God's likeness, we only resemble Him. Jesus, on the other hand, is God's exact image. The Greek word translated "image" means a perfect replica, a precise copy, a duplicate. Paul was saying that God Himself is fully manifest in the Person of His Son, who is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the exact image of God. Jesus Himself said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9)... Hebrews 1:3 makes an identical affirmation: "He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature."

Christ is to God what the warm brilliance of light is to the sun. He brings God from a cosmic location to the very hearts of men and women. He gives light and life. He reveals God's very essence. They cannot be divided. Neither has ever existed without the other -- they are one (John 10:30). Scripture repeatedly says that God is invisible (John 1:18; 5:37; 1 Timothy 1:17; and Colossians 1:15). But through Christ the invisible God has been made visible. God's full likeness is revealed in Him.

Colossians 1:19 takes the truth a step further: "It was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him." He is not just an outline of God, He is fully God.  Colossians 2:9 is even more explicit: "In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form." Nothing is lacking. No attribute is absent. He is God in the fullest possible sense, the perfect image...Colossians 1:16-17 explicitly name Him as Creator of everything.  "By Him all things were created..."

       Christ is not part of creation; He is the Creator, the very arm of God, active from the beginning in calling the universe and all creatures into existence. John 1:3 says, "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." That could not be true if He were Himself a created being...  The size of the universe is incomprehensible... Who made all that? The babe in Bethlehem. He made everything."

With prayers for your Christmas observance to be a holy and joyful one, Pastor Jeff