Thought for Today

Exodus 12:41  At the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this very date, all the armies of the LORD left the land of Egypt. (NAB)

Deuteronomy 16:6  except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. (NIV)

Matthew 14:6  But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod  

Mark 15:6  Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked.

Last week and again this morning, on the local television channel we watch, the meteorologist has mentioned the anniversary of the first major snowfall in the winter of 2014-2015. For those not living in New England, that was the ‘winter of 100 inches of snow.’ It was also our first winter living in New England. With apologies to FDR, for Greta and me, it was “a date which will live in infamy.” I was struck by the meteorologist’s use of the word ‘anniversary.’

Most of us who are married fully understand the importance of anniversaries. When we think about the subject on a broader scale, all of us celebrate a plethora of anniversaries. Birthdays are anniversaries of one’s birth. For citizens of the U.S.A., July 4th is celebrated as the birthday of our nation, the anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Virtually all of our national holidays and religious holidays are anniversaries of one sort or another. Even Halloween, a very secular holiday for most, is also the anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, the date upon which Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany.

Since my own wedding anniversary is several months in the future (and safely saved on my computer calendar with a reminder feature) I can without trepidation ask, “Why do we celebrate anniversaries?” Why do we commemorate dates in the past, sometimes very far in the past? Do anniversaries have some sort of magical, redemptive or rewarding power in and of themselves?

Obviously, they do not. In seminary, however, I learned about ‘signs and symbols.’ I attended 2 seminaries. The first was a Presbyterian seminary; the second, from which I graduated, was not affiliated with a denomination; but, it was heavily influenced by the writings of John Calvin. In my Systematic Theology classes, we read a lot of Calvin’s writings, especially The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Signs and symbols were a prominent topic. Calvin posited that the value of some things was not in the thing itself but rather in what that thing symbolized.

Citizens of the U.S.A. understand that our national flag has no magical power. Our flag is not like Harry Potter’s wand. When we wave our flag, we cannot ‘do magic.’ But, our flag symbolizes our nation, our Constitution, our history and our values. That flag is a very proud sign of who and what we are.

Reformed Protestant Christians have that same understanding of many of our faith traditions and of our 2 sacraments. We do not recognize any salvific value in baptism or communion. We understand our salvation in terms of Paul’s words to the church in Ephesus, “2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—” We celebrate our sacraments, however, remembering and honoring the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, “Luke 22:19 Do this in remembrance of me."

Signs and symbols are important in our faith lives and in our daily lives. Maybe remembering this week as the anniversary of our first New England winter will remind Greta and me of why we came here . . . and of why we have come to love being here. We are closer to our children and have become much closer to our grandchildren than we could have been had we remained in Texas. We have wonderful neighbors and have become part of a new family of faith. All good reasons to celebrate that anniversary of 100” of snowfall.

Now, as soon as I sign off, I’m going to confirm that my computer calendar has that reminder of my wedding anniversary. That date is a VERY significant sign and symbol!

Stay safe, celebrate all the anniversaries in your life, trust God,

Pastor Ray