The Church Year
The Church Year
This is an edited excerpt from Addendum A, “The Church Year,” On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service, written by Michael Berg (1517 Publishing, 2023), pgs. 113-120.
There is a remarkable parallel between the Divine Service and the church year. Both tell us the story of Christ. Throughout the year we are told the greatest story with seasonal changes, colors, candles, flowers, and symbolic imagery. Notice the parallels:
Divine Service |
Christ’s Life |
Church Year |
| Kyrie | Pre-Incarnate Christ | Advent |
| Gloria | Incarnation | Christmas |
| Readings | Life of Christ | Epiphany |
| Benedictus | Palm Sunday | Palm Sunday |
| Prayer/Verba | Maundy Thursday | Maundy Thursday |
| Lord's Prayer | Gethsemene | Maundy Thursday |
| Pax Domini | Gethsemene | Maundy Thursday |
| Agnus Dei | Good Friday | Good Friday |
| Distribution | Resurrection | Easter Sunday |
| Nunc Dimittis | Presentation | Presentation |
| Benediction | Ascension | Ascension |
| Vocation Prayer and Benedection | Session and Rule in the Church | Pentecost and Pentecost Season |
| Benediction | Second Coming | End of Church Year & Advent |
Advent
The season of Advent is a season of the beginning and a season of the end. It is the beginning of our church year, but it is also a glimpse into the future Last Day. For the ancient Israelites the coming of Christ was also the coming of judgment. Old Testament prophecies pointed ahead to salvation. They do not distinguish between the first coming of Christ on Christmas and his second coming on the Day of Judgment. We have the benefit of hindsight and see these Old Testament prophecies as dual prophecies. For example, Isaiah’s prophecy “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious,” (Isa. 11:10) is fulfilled both by the many Gentiles who come to the knowledge of Christ but also to the glorious throng in heaven from every nation on earth. We in the New Testament church put ourselves in the shoes of ancient Israel, who waited for Christ, and look forward to his second coming at the same time. That’s what advent means, “coming.” Advent is therefore a repentant season. We understand what Jesus said, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). We, like the Israelites, are in dire straits, and it’s our fault. We have nowhere to turn but to the skies and cry, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!”
While the Advent season is marked by repentance, it is different from the Lenten season during which we prepare for Holy Week. Recently, the color for Advent has been a dark blue rather than the traditional purple used in Lent. The dark blue is more hopeful than purple, but it still contrasts with the bright white of Christmas.
Christmas
The Christmas season is relatively short and includes only two Sundays at most. The color white breaks the bleak darkness of winter. The Light of the world has finally come! All the traditional carols, flowers, wreaths, lights, and trees help us celebrate the incarnation. We cried, “Lord, have mercy” with Israel, and God answered our call with his Son. Joy to the World!
Many lesser days of the church year fall in the Christmas season. Some aren’t directly involved with Christmas such as St. Stephen’s or St. John’s. Others fit quite well with the Nativity of Christ, including the Circumcision of our Lord, the Name of Jesus, and the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents, which all fall during the Christmas season.
Epiphany
The Day of Epiphany (January 6) is the celebration of the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem. It is referred to as the “Gentile Christmas.” Only Jewish people were in attendance for the very first Christmas. The Magi’s invitation to the table is a special day for all Gentiles in the world. The King of the Jews is the King of Kings.
The Epiphany season is about the manifestation of God’s Son (“epiphany” means manifestation). It is during this season that we see him perform his first miracle at Cana (John 2:1‐11) and preach his first recorded sermon (Luke 4:14‐21). Jesus Christ is being introduced to the world. It all starts with his baptism, which is celebrated on the First Sunday after Epiphany. In many churches the Epiphany season ends with the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28‐36). We receive one last glimpse of his glory with Moses and Elijah before we make our trek to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).
The color white is used for the Epiphany, the Baptism of Our Lord, and the Transfiguration. Green is used for regular Sundays after Epiphany.
Lent
Now that we have quickly highlighted the life and ministry of our Lord in the season of Epiphany, we are ready to head to Jerusalem. Lent (coming from the word for Spring) is a time of deep repentance. The reason we are headed to Jerusalem is because our sins need to be atoned for. There are forty days in Lent (not counting Sundays, which are “in” Lent and not “of” Lent). The number forty has a long biblical history. The world was flooded after forty days and nights of rain, the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the wilderness, and Jesus was tempted for forty days in that same wild land.
Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season with a sober reminder that “dust [we] are and to dust [we] will return” (Genesis 3:19). It proceeds without Alleluias, Glorias, and flowers. We fast our eyes and ears until the greatest festival of them all, Easter Sunday. Purple is the color for the season symbolizing not only royalty (see the irony of John 19:1) but also deep repentance over sin. Black is often used for Ash Wednesday reminding the worshipper of mortality. The imposition of ashes may occur on Ash Wednesday. Ashes in the sign of the cross are placed upon the forehead of penitent sinners. Veils may also cover all images of Christ during the Lenten season.
Holy Week
Holy Week begins with Christ’s triumphal entrance on Palm Sunday (or Passion Sunday). The Palm Sunday account is the Gospel Reading in some places; in others it may be used in a Palm Sunday processional. Children and sometimes the whole congregation process into church with palms in their hands. After hearing of his birth and life throughout the long winter, we have finally arrived in Jerusalem with our Lord riding on a donkey.
The next main event during the week is Maundy Thursday. We recline with our Lord for a feast. This service often starts off the Triduum, a service that includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. At the end of the Maundy Thursday part of the service, the altar may be stripped while a psalm is chanted, symbolizing the stripping of Christ. In congregations without black paraments, the altar remains bare during the Good Friday portion of the service, a striking scene.
Good Friday is loaded with meaningful traditions, too many to discuss here. Services throughout the day are often offered, highlighting the events that occurred on the first Good Friday recorded by St. John. The bidding prayer prays for all people according to their needs. An unveiling of the cross may also occur. “The Reproaches” draw attention to the ugliness of the unveiled crucifix as “Christ” addresses his people. A symbolic closing of the tomb may also be heard.
Easter
After leaving church in the darkness of Good Friday, we return to loud Alleluias and fragrant flowers. He is risen! He is risen indeed! The color white has returned bringing joy to Mary, Peter, John, and us. Lilies are a favorite flower used in church because of their beautiful white petals and strong fragrance. Those flowers not only delight the eyes and ear but also the soul. They are a symbol of the resurrection we celebrate on Easter Sunday. As St. Paul said,
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:42‐44).
The Easter season continues with the appearances of Christ. Readings from Acts replace the Old Testament Readings. We hear about Doubting Thomas, the Emmaus two, and Christ’s Galilean breakfast of fish. Forty days after Easter, we celebrate the Day of Ascension, when Christ ascended to the heavenly realms after leaving the apostles and us with his blessing and promises.
The color of Easter is white although gold may be used on Easter Sunday since it is the greatest feast of the year.
Pentecost
Ten days after Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in Jerusalem. The ancient Jewish festival of Pentecost became the Christian festival centered around the ministry of the church. With tongues of fire atop their heads, the apostles spoke in tongues that were discernible to the great many cultures represented in Jerusalem that day. The confusion of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1‐9) is undone through the message of Christ, the banner around whom all the nations of earth rally (Isaiah 11).
The Day of Pentecost is a day in which we remember the Great Commission. We pick up the torch left by the apostles who become Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Red is the color of the Day symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit and the blood of martyrs who considered their lives less worthy than the call to spread the gospel.
The season of Pentecost is different from the season it follows. This is the season of the church. The color for the Sundays after Pentecost (or after Trinity) is green. Green symbolizes the growth of the church miraculously accomplished through the Word and Sacraments entrusted to her by Christ.
Conclusion
There is no shortage of wonderful things that the historical church has left on our doorstep. Volumes could be written about our great heritage, and they have been. It would be impossible to learn all of it. Yet, it is a privilege to sit at the feet of these men and women who for centuries have spoken, written, and sung the mercies of God. We learn from them not because they are so great, but because they point us back to the Scriptures, that is, they point us to Christ. Every year in the seasons of the church, every Sunday in the Divine Service, every day with the Apostles’ Creed, we are told the story of Christ. More than that, we are handed his love and forgiveness through his means of grace, his Word, his meal, his baptism, and his absolution.
