Speaking about Paul during the Rosh Hashanah services as a Jewish trailblazer, who brought the message of Christ (the Jewish messiah) to the Gentiles:
“We sent our best missionary to you. That’s why there’s so many of you, and so few of us.”
Rosh Hashanah
Last night I attended a Rosh Hashanah service put on by Jews for Jesus. I was very active in Jewish circles in college because of the peculiarities of campus politics, and am a huge supporter of Israel. I took some classes on Judaism and Jewish history (when I was a Study of Religion major), and am one of those Protestants who emphasize the Jewish roots of Christianity.
Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year, is the beginning of the ten Days of Awe, which culminate in Yom Kippur. According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah, God opens three books. In one are the righteous, whose names are immediately sealed – they’ve passed the test. In the other two books are the names of the wicked and people who are neither completely wicked nor righteous. Those people then have ten days (Days of Awe) to prove they are righteous through repentence, prayer, and good deeds. The books are then sealed on Yom Kippur. If you make it in to the Book of Life, you’re good for another year.
The basis of the holiday is Leviticus 23:24,25: “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.” The trumpet blast is from the shofar (ram’s horn), which plays a central role in Rosh Hashanah. Apples dipped in honey also play a prominent part, symbolizing the desire for a sweet year ahead.
The Jews for Jesus service last night was interesting, and they’ve done some reappropriating of the meaning of several aspects. For example:
The blast of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah is not just a call to repentance, but a reminder of Jesus’ return. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first” (1Thessalonians 4:16).
Rosh Hashanah also provides for a very clear contrast between Judaism and Christianity on the point of salvation. According to Jewish tradition (and it’s not written in the Bible), we save ourselves through good works. If we don’t do enough during the year, we have those ten days to really prove we’re worth it. Ultimately, it’s a challenge that none of us can pass, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). We have all sinned, and God requires a sacrifice to attone for it. Jesus was that sacrifice who, once and for all, writes our names in the Book of Life. Moreover, the works we do can never get us anywhere near pure enough to get into the presence of God, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)
That said, Rosh Hashanah is still a good time to reflect upon the past year and reexamine our life. It’s also a great opportunity to thank and praise God for the sacrifice he made on our part, so that we don’t have to be worried about taking a test that we could never pass.
Fasting with Ease
After hearing a sermon yesterday about letting God come into our lives and clean out some areas that we may have been keeping from Him, I decided to put it in practice. I had been planning on fasting on Wednesday, which is the weekly day of fasting and prayer at my church, but after the message I felt the need to start right away. I didn’t want to, and tried to convince myself that Wednesday would be fine. I’d do the handover tonight, recommit to God, and fast on Wednesday. No dice. No matter how much I tried to convince myself, I just knew that I had to start today. If was really giving it over, this was a way to show my commitment.
Funny enough, I’ve had no real problem keeping the fast. This is only my fifth or so time fasting, I’d never done it before moving to DC. I’m learning that it’s something that definitely takes discipline and will, and a certain amount of training and experience help. Though like yesterday’s morning prayer, I think God was helping easing me into the practice.
Halfway through the day I took some time to pray. I’m quite blessed with where I work. It’s a huge concrete complex of offices and shops that cater to busy businessmen (junk food, convenience stores, Starbucks, etc.), but there are also some interesting little mini-parks landscaped into the area. These places are completely empty and unused. Nobody takes advantage of them, even though they do actually provide a nice break from the stress of the office. I’ve singlehandedly cajoled more people into the tables and benches than the place has probably ever seen. One of the mini-parks makes for a nice, calm, tranquil place to pray, both because of the environment and the fact that there’s never anybody there. People don’t even walk by. But hey, so much the better for me 🙂
Near the end, though there was some considerable temptation to break the fast. Someone brought in incredible homemade fried chicken. It looked and smelled amazing, and everyone was telling me that it tasted even better. Of all the days to not only get free dinner, but a homemade meal! Fortunately, however, God did take away what would have been the worst temptation of all. On Monday evening, as I was leaving, I noticed someone brought in homemade brownies. They were gone by Tuesday. Those I would not have been able to resist!
Changing Your Attitude with Morning Prayer
I got up early this morning to pray. Early. Five o’clock early. That may not seem excessive to many, but it’s absurd for me, who usually goes to bed around one. Making it even more complicated, I didn’t get much sleep this weekend. Although that’s not really news, I rarely do. Normally, people are supposed to sleep in on the weekends and come back to work on Monday refreshed. I, however, actually sleep more during the week than on the weekends.
My church has a prayer meeting every Monday at 6am, and a lot of the youth go. I’ve always considered it too difficult, and only gone once before (when I had a plane to catch at 8am, so it was already getting up early, and church is on the way to the airport). A friend explained that getting up at 5 was a bit early for him, too, but that he considered it making a small sacrifice for God, and that the prayer really helped get the week off on the right foot.
Needing a good start to my week, I decided that, paradoxically, taking even more sleep away from an already sleepless week might actually make me more refreshed. Funny enough, after only about 4 hours sleep, I had no problem getting up on time and making it to church for prayer. So far, so good. Though I don’t always expect it to be this easy, I think God was just easing me in. The morning prayer takes about an hour, and starts off with reading a couple of psalms followed by group prayer. Baptists – so on your knees, no weak sitting-in-a-chair prayer! We have a small breakfast before going our separate ways to work, and it gives us the chance to wake up a bit more. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, deep prayer always puts me in a state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.
I got to the office around 7:30, and was feeling pretty good. Amazingly, the whole rest of the day I had a wonderful, almost carefree attitude. Everything went smoothly, and my heart was filled with joy towards everyone I interacted with. “Want me to write or check something? Sure!” “Hey person who just cut me off in traffic, I hope you have a great time after work!” The morning prayer really seems to have had an elevating effect. Taking my normal attitude and view on everything up a couple of notches.
My friend was absolutely right. It is a sacrifice, but one well worth it that puts everything in perspective for the week ahead!
