Celebrating Christ’s Nativity and Resurrection at Andover

On 27 April, 2014

When I became a pastor about 7 years ago, I held to a rejection of all holidays in the Sunday morning service. And I came to this conclusion from three, I hope, godly influences: the first was to not wield a coercive authority over a tender and biblically informed conscience in obedience to Scripture (Rom. 14:21) at a required meeting of the church. The second was responding to open idolatry in evangelical church services that I had attended, and the inability of the pastors of these churches to comprehend that what they were doing was idolatrous. The third was a desire to conform my practice to the Spirit inspired practice of the godly throughout history.

The difficulty or the tension that I see in this now is: first, that as an elder my authority to select the text is coercive. I force the members and attenders at my church to celebrate the nativity of Christ when the text requires it or the resurrection, or accession. This authority was given to me by God to be used in wisdom. I think it would be a sin for me to spend 20 years preaching on say Esther though it is in my authority as an elder to do so. My authority in this regard includes preaching topical sermons on Sunday morning or selecting particular texts for the health of the congregation based on events outside of the church.

The point that I am reaching towards is that Andover Baptist, our church, has a church calendar. Outside events, my vacation—scheduled by the way around historical church or secular holidays and providentially my birthday—illnesses, theological events, and the like, all influence what is preached on. Often times while the text is selected sequentially the application is driven by current events as well.

So the worship at Andover's calendar is influenced by things outside of our local congregation and I as a pastor require the congregants to submit to my wisdom on these issues. Because we are a congregational church if I were to become extremely foolish or sinful in this regard, I would be removed.

Since, I require the congregation to celebrate the nativity of Christ when I believe it’s wise (my memory is that we’ve done this now in July and April), I am at loss as to how to explain why it’s not wise to celebrate the nativity in late December once a year or for that matter to celebrate the resurrection of Christ in the spring. This is especially case given the evangelistic opportunity offered by both holidays.

The second issue is the idolatry occurring in both Protestant and Catholic churches during the celebration of Christ’s nativity and resurrection, accession, entering into Jerusalem, and so forth. None of the idolatry is necessitated by considering the texts describing and celebrating these events. The idolatry is caused either by rank stupidity or by incorporating things into the Sunday morning service that are not required by Scripture, not required to obey Scripture, or are not indifferent.

On the issue of indifference. What is indifferent in one context, say 1550 Paris, is not indifferent in Harvey, Iowa in 1935. Indifference is created not merely by the Scripture but how local contexts arrange symbols and practice in response to wisdom. Culturally, among most Baptist it’s not currently indifferent to use wine at the Lord’s Supper; historically the current Baptist practice is an anomaly. (I don’t think we are necessarily sinning by using “fruit of the vine.”)

Finally, I had assumed that Protestant practice was monolithic on the issue of rejecting the historical holidays of the church. And the answer, just as with articulating the degree of application of the 4th Commandment in the New Covenant, is more mixed. There is a Continental tendency and a British Isle tendency.

The Synod of Bern (1532) advocated celebrating communion on Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.  The Church Order of Dort (1619) did so also.

The Palatinate Liturgy (Heidelberg, 1563), according to the notes of my assistant pastor, advocated the celebration of five festivals: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Whitsuntide (Pentecost).

Bullinger advocates six festivals (the five above plus Circumcision) in both the Decades and the Second Helvetic Confession.  The Second Helvetic says that if those six be religiously celebrated "according to Christian liberty, we do very well approve of it."  In the Decades, in his sermon on the Sabbath, he says, "[I]t would be against all godliness and christian charity, if we should deny to sanctify the Sunday: especially, since the outward worship of God cannot consist without an appointed time and space of holy rest.  I suppose also, that we ought to think the same of those few feasts and holy days, which we keep holy to Christ our Lord, in memory of his nativity or incarnation, of his circumcision, of his passion, of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord into heaven, and of his sending the Holy Ghost upon his disciples.  For christian liberty is not a licentious power and dissolving of godly ecclesiastical ordinances, which advance and set forward the glory of God and love of our neighbour."  Though he uses such language there, he says in the Second Helvetic (in a later period in life) in the context of the Lord's Day, "we do not account one day to be holier than another...”

I draw this altogether to say that as long as the elders of a local church or local group of churches believe that it is wise for the congregation to meditate on the passages of Scripture describing the events celebrated in a historical church holiday, and they do not exceed their biblical authority in the worship service, the celebration of some church holidays in the Sunday service now seems to have dropped to the level indifference or wisdom.

The issue of indifference is only related to those holidays that celebrate events in the life of Jesus Christ. The continued habit of idolatry over Mary and the other saints among non-Protestants means that remembering the past saints and martyrs must be done with care and almost always outside of the Sunday morning service. The proliferation of secular and card holidays must be addressed on a case by case basis, but I personally see no need and much detriment in celebrating them on Sunday.

I do not regard my refusal to celebrate church holidays in the past as either unwise or a sin. When I first arrived at Andover, there was still a pressure to incorporate unwise and possibly ungodly elements into such celebrations. My hope is that God has used my conviction, wisdom, and practice for the good of your souls and the church.

If I have sinned in this regard, it has been on the prideful application of my best wisdom and not on the conviction itself. And for this pride I ask to be forgiven. I am particularly ashamed of having harangued church visitors during my first Easter and perhaps Christmas sermon.

What this means for the church is that the next Sunday before Christmas, we will have a scriptural passage selected to highlight the incarnation and birth of Christ. And the next resurrection Sunday, we will have a passage selected to honor the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I would also like to continue celebrating these and other holidays outside of the Sunday morning service.

At the same time, while I believe the use of symbols to celebrate Christmas and Easter are an issue of conscience for individual Christians in their homes, I cannot support nativity scenes, Christmas trees, bunnies, and eggs, crucifixes or the like as decorations in the church.

I have spoken often of the regulative principle of worship. It is a doctrine that I hold dear and rejoice over as unburdening the conscience of the congregation. I do not now believe that a careful incorporation of the evangelical church holidays, those that celebrate events of the life of Jesus, necessarily violate the regulative principle, and I have purposely framed my explanation of this in terms of the regulative principle.