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A Party Where?
Luke 5.29-35 February 12, 1986
Did you know that the original period of Lent was 40 hours?
It was spent in fasting to commemorate the suffering of Christ and
the 40 hours he spent in the tomb. Did you know that in the very
early days of the church, it was a time to prepare for baptism,
which took place on Easter Eve? That by early in the Third
Century, the Lenten observance was extended to six days. And
during the reign of Charlemagne, about 800 AD it was changed to
40 days not including Sundays. Did you know that the 40 days of
Lent correspond to Christ's 40 days in the wilderness, that the
earliest that Lent can begin is February 5th, which last happened
in 1818, and that the latest Lent can begin is March 10, which
won't occur again until the year 2038.
That the day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, is
celebrated in many parts of the world with feasting? The French
call it Mardi Gras; the Germans call it Fasching. The feasting
comes from the custom of using up household fats prior to the 40
days of Lenten fasting, when no fat was used. Lent by any
evaluation is a time of sobriety, thoughts on our mortality and the
quality of our lives, and the fact that the very best in life comes
to an end.
It is interesting that the scripture from the Gospel lesson for
Lent is taken from a passage that tells of a party. We would
expect to begin with the temptations and the rather serious efforts
Satan makes to trip up Jesus into doing something that no person
of God should do.
We should possibly be giving a portrayal of the perfect
Christian lent observance by urging everyone to give up something
for Lent in identification with our Lord who gave up his life.
Most of these efforts are ludicrous and end up in doing the things
that we ought to be doing as a matter of course.
But this Scripture lesson confounds the mind. Levi is
throwing a party for the Galilean celebrity. Jesus has been a hit
in that country so eager for the bizarre and unusual. Marvelous
things have been happening and one of the more prominent citizens
wants to celebrate the celebrity.
The report of Jesus' behaviour is not one that many of us
would identify with a holy man. He eats, that means he thoroughly
is enjoying the food. He drinks, one would be hard pressed to
suggest that it was simply fruit juice, though it may have been, if
one puts great reliance on the argument from silence. With parties
go laughter, frivolity, and all the other things that make for a
light touch.
Obviously what I have just described would put on end the
pious whose stern faces, and deep commitments to the God of
Object Description
| Title of Sermon | A Party Where? |
| Author | Landwehr, Arthur |
| Subject | Sin, Legalism |
| Date of sermon | 2/12/1986 |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Number of Pages | 4 |
| Language | English |
| Biblical Book | Luke |
| Verses | 5:29-35 |
| Rights | For permission to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise use this image, please contact The Styberg Library by phone (847)866-3909 or email styberg.library@garrett.edu |
| Collection | The Arthur Landwehr Sermon Collection (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) |
| Identifier | 377 A Party Where.pdf |
Description
| Title of Sermon | Page 1 |
| Biblical Book | Biblical Book |
| Collection | The Arthur Landwehr Sermon Collection (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) |
| Transcript | A Party Where? Luke 5.29-35 February 12, 1986 Did you know that the original period of Lent was 40 hours? It was spent in fasting to commemorate the suffering of Christ and the 40 hours he spent in the tomb. Did you know that in the very early days of the church, it was a time to prepare for baptism, which took place on Easter Eve? That by early in the Third Century, the Lenten observance was extended to six days. And during the reign of Charlemagne, about 800 AD it was changed to 40 days not including Sundays. Did you know that the 40 days of Lent correspond to Christ's 40 days in the wilderness, that the earliest that Lent can begin is February 5th, which last happened in 1818, and that the latest Lent can begin is March 10, which won't occur again until the year 2038. That the day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, is celebrated in many parts of the world with feasting? The French call it Mardi Gras; the Germans call it Fasching. The feasting comes from the custom of using up household fats prior to the 40 days of Lenten fasting, when no fat was used. Lent by any evaluation is a time of sobriety, thoughts on our mortality and the quality of our lives, and the fact that the very best in life comes to an end. It is interesting that the scripture from the Gospel lesson for Lent is taken from a passage that tells of a party. We would expect to begin with the temptations and the rather serious efforts Satan makes to trip up Jesus into doing something that no person of God should do. We should possibly be giving a portrayal of the perfect Christian lent observance by urging everyone to give up something for Lent in identification with our Lord who gave up his life. Most of these efforts are ludicrous and end up in doing the things that we ought to be doing as a matter of course. But this Scripture lesson confounds the mind. Levi is throwing a party for the Galilean celebrity. Jesus has been a hit in that country so eager for the bizarre and unusual. Marvelous things have been happening and one of the more prominent citizens wants to celebrate the celebrity. The report of Jesus' behaviour is not one that many of us would identify with a holy man. He eats, that means he thoroughly is enjoying the food. He drinks, one would be hard pressed to suggest that it was simply fruit juice, though it may have been, if one puts great reliance on the argument from silence. With parties go laughter, frivolity, and all the other things that make for a light touch. Obviously what I have just described would put on end the pious whose stern faces, and deep commitments to the God of |
