Member News

September 6, 2015 Member Letter

Dear Brethren,

The Feast is almost here! I am confident when I use the single word “Feast,” all of you know that I mean the Feast of Tabernacles. That is not to take anything away from the other festivals, especially the three that are coming up before and immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Trumpets is a very important festival, pointing us to the return of Jesus Christ to set up the government of God on the earth, and is followed a few days later by Atonement, which reminds us that Satan will be bound for the duration of the Millennium. The Eighth Day, or Last Great Day, follows on the heels of Tabernacles and contains the story of the Great White Throne Judgment. But there is only one festival that we identify by the single word “Feast.”

This past Sabbath at services, most of my conversations began with the question, “Where are you going for the Feast?” It is exciting to talk about, plan for and actually attend the Feast of Tabernacles. One exercise that I go through each year is to reflect on the number of Feast sites I have attended over the past 50-plus years. In the late 1950s my mother, sister and I kept the holy days at home. It wasn’t until we began attending Sabbath services with my father in the early 1960s that we were able to travel as a family to Big Sandy, Texas, where we camped for the Feast of Tabernacles. Identifying Feast sites from the 1960s is relatively easy, since we always attended Big Sandy. But in 1972, after graduating from Ambassador College, I attended my first Feast in a different location. As a ministerial assistant living in Atlanta, Georgia, I attended the Feast in Jekyll Island that year.

Since 1972, my first year away from Big Sandy, to the best of my memory (I have probably forgotten a couple of sites along the way) I have attended the Feast in 27 locations in nine different countries. Each year I told myself that this was going to be the “best Feast ever,” and more often than not it was!

As we busily prepare for another wonderful Feast, I want to take this opportunity to remind you about the shut-ins, or those who are unable to attend the Feast this year because of age, health or other reasons. We are in the process of mailing recorded sermons to all those who have notified us that they will not be able to attend this year. According to our Festival registration numbers, we have 248 individuals in the United States who are in this category. Some of them will be able to connect to a live service via the Internet, but others will depend on the recorded messages we send them. Many of these individuals are widows or elderly who are simply unable to travel any more. Many of them probably attended the Feast for 40 or more years; and for some, this will be their first Feast to miss in all the years since they became members.

We are instructed in Scripture to remember these individuals. “And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do” (Deuteronomy 14:29).

For those who can attend the Feast, we are encouraged to rejoice with them. “And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates” (Deuteronomy 16:14). To take a widow or someone who you know is struggling financially out for a meal during the Feast is a great way to rejoice together.

Through Moses, God gave specific instructions about leaving produce in the field so the widows and fatherless could harvest it. “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 24:19).

In the book of Malachi, God gives a very stern warning to those who break His law, and He includes those who take advantage of a widow or an orphan in the same category as adulterers and liars. “‘And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien—because they do not fear Me,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:5).

This year, as we prepare for the Feast, I encourage all of you to look around your congregation and seek out those who will be unable to attend the Feast this year. Of course some of those on that list are also unable to attend weekly services, so you will need to make a special effort to contact them. You may not be able to do something special for them before the Feast, but you can send a card or make a phone call to check in with them during the Feast. Even though our pastors are making sure each shut-in has access either to a webcast or to recorded messages from the 2014 Feast, it will still be lonely for them. I’ve discussed this with my own mother, who has been unable to attend the Feast for a few years, and she tells me that the worst part is the feeling of loneliness when everyone leaves for the Feast.

Please have a wonderful Feast, but don’t forget the 248 of our brethren who are unable to attend this year. We should pray for them and encourage them in every way possible—making a phone call, sending a card or doing something special just for them. I know from my own mother that it does make a difference.

Sincerely,

Jim Franks