When We Forget our Traditions

One of the stations of the cross on the Via Dolorosa, in Jerusalem. 

Scripture:

 Esth. 9:20   Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, ²² as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor. ²³ So the Jews adopted as a custom what they had begun to do, as Mordecai had written to them.

Observation:

At the conclusion of the story of Queen Esther we find instructions being given to the Jewish people. They are not to forget what God has done for them, and therefore, they are to celebrate and remember this event annually. Purim is still celebrated today by the Jewish people and it is a time of fasting, feasting and merriment. This is to spill over to others, including the act of gift giving to the poor. Generous hospitality is to mark the remembrance of this event. 

Application:

By participating in the feast and festival, there is an annual reminder of God’s gracious redemption. The act of lavishing generosity on the poor is a physical participation in God’s love and generosity of which we have been recipients. This tradition helps to shape the people of God from generation to generation. However, when the traditions are forgotten, not only is an event lost to the calendar, but then so is the connection to God. 

While Christians don’t celebrate Purim, there are other traditions. At this point, Christmas and Easter are probably the strongest traditions that we find within the Christian community.  This passage of scripture has made me wonder about traditions that we may have forgotten. The idea of an event where there is lavish generosity extended to the poor sounds like something that should be a part of Christian faith, and yet, I don’t hear that emphasized. Instead our traditions seem to have generated a secular consumerism that threatens to make us forget why we celebrate in the first place. 

Reading this passage I began to think about past traditions in my life. When I was a child, and with our children, we had a tradition of reading a Bible story and praying together before we left for school in the morning. The German Christmas’ of my childhood were filled with beautiful tradition that I looked forward to with great anticipation, year after year. My mom’s cookie baking was a part of that tradition: beautiful baskets of my her home-made goodies were shared with neighbors and friends. 

Traditions are beginning to disappear. Life is moving on with break-neck speed and the virtual world we hold in our hands is beginning to overtake the physical reality in which we are to live. Anxiety and depression are becoming an epidemic among our young people and technology is believed to be the number one culprit. Because there is a lack of engagement with the real world, fear is beginning to rule their lives. 

Just maybe there’s something to be said about the old-fashioned practice of traditions. I believe that now, more than ever, there is a need for the church to help the people of faith to physically engage in the practices of tradition. Therefore, for example, let’s not just assume that Easter is over. We are living in the season of Easter, and this is just the second week. Our scripture passage is a reminder that when we live into the traditions, we are continually reminded of the ways in which God interacts with the world. If we celebrate the Christian calendar, we will discover that there are many traditions around advent, Christmas, epiphany, lent, holy week, Easter, 

ascension day, and pentecost. 

One solution to the mental health crisis of today may be to revive our traditions: to put down our phones, and physically participate in the life of the church and Christ. Conversations about the life of Christ and our participation in that journey will help to reinforce what it means to follow Jesus. Taking children and grandchildren with us to minister to the poor should be a tradition. We must move beyond the self-centered satisfaction of traditions that is fed to us by consumerism. Instead, we should adopt practices that remind us of Christ. How else will we pass on the faith to those who will come behind us? 

Right now, we are in the season between the resurrection and Pentecost. It was a time, in the life of the disciples, when Jesus appeared to them and begin pointing them in direction for their future ministry. He was encouraging their faith, establishing leadership roles, and preparing them to receive the Holy Spirit. We are invited to be on that journey by daily joining with the those who have gone before in the tradition of following Jesus in this season. For our own spiritual health, and that of those who will come after us, let us revive our traditions and embrace them as disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the Traditions. May they be reminders that we never forget that which you have done for us and may that reality transform us on a daily basis. Amen.