“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV)
Curiosity caused me to see what I could find out about the history of Watch Night. Returning to my first profession as a Social Science teacher, which included teaching history, I prepared the following this morning to share with you and stimulate your thinking about Watch Night. My objective is simple: Be moved to consider substituting annual Watch Night as a one-time happening and in addition to that night, add a Watch Day, every day. Here is what I found. (My source is the Britannica Encyclopedia.)
Watch Night, also called Freedom’s Eve, Christian religious service held on New Year’s Eve and associated, in many African American churches, with a celebration and remembrance of the Emancipation Proclamation (enacted January 1, 1863), which freed slaves in the Confederate states during the American Civil War. Many mainline Protestant churches in the United States sponsor a Watch Night service on New Year’s Eve.
The tradition of Watch Night may be traced to the early 18th century in Moravian churches when churchgoers began marking the occasion with a vigil to reflect upon the year past and to contemplate the one to come. John Wesley adopted the practice for his Methodist followers, who held similar vigils monthly with the full moon. It was given new significance among African Americans on December 31, 1862, when, according to tradition, slaves in the Confederate states gathered in churches and private homes on the night before U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was expected to go into effect, pending his signing of the document. The soon-to-be-free slaves stayed awake all night and watched the night turn into a new dawn while waiting for news that the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, thus making all the slaves legally free. Church services on Watch Night generally begin sometime between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. and end at midnight. The services tend to be attended by family groups.
Enough for a look at the past, let us look at the present from an individual perspective when it comes to Watch Night. Shouldn’t we be thankful that we can sing “I’m free, no chains holding me” as we look back when the truth set us free”, every day that the Lord blesses us to be a part of? That would support an argument for Watch Day. Shouldn’t we increase our God-consciousness and Christlike living each and every day, reflecting upon days past and contemplating the days to come? That’s another supporting argument for personal Watch Day celebrations. And at every assemble of the saints shouldn’t we be there, not just to watch, but to weight in with the testimony of your presence, that the Lord sure is good?
Don’t do Watch Night and then forget the Watch Day celebrations that we can do in our personal worship; our personal, daily time with the Lord! Praise God! Be blessed!
“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King