Lunar New Year

Tet Lunar New Year is like a type of family reunion, similar to Christmas in the U.S. Relatives and neighbors who work long distances will make their way back to their hometown for the holiday, which usually lasts a week or more. Families and neighbors will often spend the time drinking and eating various feasts, which are comprised of everyone’s favorite traditional foods from childhood.

Another practice is exchanging red envelopes containing money, which is hoped to bring the receiver new luck. The result is that everyone is giving and receiving red envelopes of cash throughout the weeks that encompass the Lunar New Year festivities. Naturally, children are the most pleased with this tradition, as they will have some cash to do with whatever they want! Children will not typically receive presents, but rather just the cash in the red envelopes from their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and various acquaintances.

People across many parts of Asia always have a lot of hope for the coming year in this season. One common practice around this time is to exchange wishes for one another, chiefly for prosperity, health, peace, and love. Many religious and superstitious customs are performed at this time in the hope that they will help people receive these things. On the first day of the lunar calendar, Buddhism popularly promotes going to the temple to pray for good luck, love, marriage, fortune, and so on. People work feverishly to satisfy whoever or whatever may be in control of their surroundings, whether it’s Buddha, the spirits of their ancestors, or some other god. What a relief it is for them when they learn

that the Supreme God of the Universe does not require any of this, and He gives the only form of lasting peace, prosperity, and love available to humankind.

Tet Lunar New Year observers even have a version of a Christmas tree which, in the weeks prior to the Lunar New Year, just looks like a dead bush but blooms with flowers in an array of pink and white right around the time of Lunar New Year’s Day. This is representative of the hope for the new year. What a beautiful analogy this is, which the Lord provides in nature for what Paul describes in Ephesians 2 when he writes: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins...But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (Ephesians 2:1, 4-5a, ESV)

As we enter the Lunar New Year season, join us in praying for those who are celebrating. Ask the Lord for opportunities for His people to share the hope of the gospel across Asia. Pray that hearts will be opened to the good news of Jesus so that many will be released from the bond of superstitions or trying to earn the approval of some ancestor or other god. Pray they find their true freedom in the grace and forgiveness of Christ.