This is based
on my research. The Christian practice of having a church calendar was said to
have developed fully in 600 AD. This is the splitting the 12-month period into
church seasons. Many church practices we know today would usually originate in
one local section of the Church and then gets adopted by the other region in
the Church. Then it becomes a practice of the many groups in Christianity as a standard.
Part of the
church calendar are the readings which revolve about the life of the Lord, his
teachings, and the life of the people of God. Thus, we call them lessons for
the day. These readings were used by Christian leaders as part of discipleship training
for believers who mostly have no access, obviously, to the text of Scripture
and mostly could not read. It is no wonder why icons and statues were used to
remind believers of characters that relates to their faith. Praise the Lord for
the printing press, we now have Bibles all over the place and many can read or
can learn to read.
Having a
set of readings for the pastor to preach on is good but it can be a ritual
performance too. The pastor can say, he has done his job, he spoke on the text
even though there is no exposition of the text and as if he was preaching to
kids. The job of the pastor is to feel the heart of his people, to know their
spiritual needs and find a way to apply the text to their needs.
The sheep
needs food. Jesus said to Peter, John 21:15-19, “if you love me, feed my sheep”.
The pastor, if he is true to his calling, should have concern for the
nourishment of his sheep. He would know or try to learn at least, what spiritual
diet the sheep should receive.
This is
where ritualized sermons are not so helpful. It becomes going-through-the-motion
event on a Sunday.
This is why
I admire, the pastor who once invited me to preach in his congregation. He
said, you know we have these readings for that Sunday, but you do not have to
preach on them. We can read them, but take your text anywhere you feel the HS
is leading you for what we need. This I did.
In Proverbs
25: 11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold
in settings of silver.
The Word of
God fitly spoken, appropriate for the need, for the present hunger becomes food
for the soul, producing faith and edification.
