I got up early yesterday morning and sat by the computer, fingers ready to pounce on the tab, “ticket sales.”  At ten in the morning the sales for a certain worship concert would begin.  I knew that this concert would be popular to my age group and older as these were popular artists from my past.  They are still going strong now! Their songs gave hope and encouragement as a younger adult in my growing faith.

Led by God’s Holy Spirit; their praises joyfully give glory to God!  Two groups are coming together to worship God in praise for all He has done. Memories are flooding back of all the many ways God provided and protected me over the years as soon as I saw the event published.  My heart gives thanks to God now with thanksgiving for all He is doing now in our lives! I thank Jesus for making me whole and presenting me acceptable to God with forgiveness of my sins.  I thank God’s Holy Spirit for keeping me focused, daily leading me to all that is Truth.  The concert will not happen for eight months but I have our tickets!  We have an event to look forward to with grateful hearts.  And did I mention, the date fell on my birthday?  Oh, yeah!

God directs His people to hold sacred events and celebrations as ways to remember all that He is to them as their Creator and Sustainer of life.  God wants all His people to celebrate all the ways in which He meets their needs as Provider.  God reminds His people that He is the Protector from all their enemies.  Most of all God is the Rescuer of their very lives.  God brought them out of the bondage and slavery they had live for centuries into a world where only God is to be their Lord who is Holy and will make them Holy.  God is their Master Teacher with lessons to guide them to all that is for their good and His glory.  God is Present with them.  God is to be the One and Only God they worship.  God is God.

Leviticus 23

The Appointed Festivals

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

The Sabbath

³ “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

⁴ “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: ⁵ The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ⁸ For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. ¹¹ He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, ¹³ together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah^[a] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. ¹⁴ You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

The Festival of Weeks

¹⁵ “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. ¹⁶ Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. ²⁰ The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

²² “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. ²⁵ Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. ²⁸ Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. ³⁰ I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. ³¹ You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. ³² It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

The Festival of Tabernacles

³³ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. ³⁵ The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. ³⁶ For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

³⁷ (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. ³⁸ These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)

³⁹ “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows, and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters ⁴³ so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

⁴⁴ So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME” are the words chiseled into the table placed in front of the pulpit.  The beautiful oak grained table never moved from it’s sacred place.  Upon it was a huge Bible, opened to Isaiah the prophet who announced the “coming of a Messiah” who would take away the sins of the world.  The Word of God was moved over or set aside on the days of communion when the table held the elements to be served.  But everyone who believed and followed Jesus in obedience to Him knew that we drank and ate the bread in remembrance of His blood shed and His body given as a sacrifice for our sins.  What a sacred and holy moment in the remembering! 

It is in the remembering that we realize God knows our hearts and knows exactly what we need.  God will still be God even if we do not thank Him or remember what He has done.  (Pause, let that sink in, but don’t read what I’m not saying.)  God commands these “remembrance” times for us who need to remember all the details of how God sent His Son to rescue us!  As believers who left the old life to obtains a forgiven new life with Christ; praise bursts forth in thanksgiving as we remember!  We can’t help but praise Him!  It’s in our new nature to do so as we remember.  When we praise Him with humbled thanksgiving in adoration, awe, and wonder for all He is and all He has done in and for us; a pleasing aroma ascends to God who is pleased.  Sabbaths, feasts, and celebrations for our own good and for His glory!  These times of focus on God are designed to consistently remember with a celebration to look forward to with God!  It’s all about God’s relationship with His beloved. 

God established several holidays that symbolized the Israelites’ special relationship with him. He also gave rules that governed interpersonal relationships so His people would remember why coming before Him is a sacred act of denying self to be filled with all of God.

Therefore, special holidays like going to a concert remind us of the past ways God ministered to our needs by His Holy Spirit living in us. Holidays are designed for praise to God with grateful hearts.  Feasts, (we now call potlucks), help renew our commitment to God and to each other. In the New Testament, Jesus became the Lamb of the Passover, Messiah come!  The celebration of the Lord’s Supper reminds us of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross for our sins and calls us to renewed commitment.  What a sacred moment and that is why most pastors say not to take this lightly but to remember humbly.

Approach this Sunday as a real holiday to remember with gratitude. Celebrate it with all your heart. Remember the past. Allow God’s Holy Spirit to renew our minds for what lies ahead with expectant hope for the future. Jesus is risen! God has conquered death! Be glad.  Live like the redeemed people we are!  Celebrate, come on!

Lord,

Thank you for making us whole and holy by your forgiveness and grace—All made possible by your deeply, demonstrated love and sacrifice for all you have created.

In Jesus Name, Amen