The Discipline Of Celebration

The Discipline of Celebration

“The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot!” (Augustine of Hippo)

Celebration: the action of marking one's pleasure at an important event or occasion by engaging in enjoyable, typically social, activity.

Celebration is at the heart of God’s way of doing things.

The creation hymn begins,

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:1-2).

It progresses with God creating light to give the ability to see and life to what He will go on to form. Along the way he separates things and creates boundaries. He is drawing lines and creating limits to complete His goal. The Divine Artist does not stop until He sees His image in creation.

Along the way the hymn pictures God taking time to celebrate at the completion of each step as He moved towards His purpose in creation. He stops the process to declare that what He has made is good (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25)! And then when He has achieved His goal of seeing His image in creation, He declares all that He has made very good (Gen 1:31)!

God celebrates!

In the book of Job 38:4-7 (NKJV), God answers him from a whirlwind with these words:

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements?

Surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 To what were its foundations fastened?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

7 When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Heaven celebrates along with God! As followers of the Way of Jesus, we are called to participate in the life of God through the Holy Spirit and part of participation in the life of God is celebration!

As the first creation, so is the new creation. When Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary through the Holy Spirit, we find her rejoicing! She celebrated! When she visited her cousin Elizabeth, both of them are filled with the Holy Spirit and celebrated! When Jesus was born, the host of heaven who had celebrated the creation in ages past, appeared to a group of shepherds with a high note of jubilation: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people! (Luke 2:10).

Jesus began His ministry with these words (Luke 4:18-19):

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord meant proclaiming the year of Jubilee, which was an OT practice where every fiftieth year everyone’s debts were canceled, everyone enslaved or indentured as a servant was set free, and land that had been bought up was returned to the family God had originally given it to (Lev 25:8-55; 27:17-24; Num 36:4). If we are followers of the Way of Jesus we are called to a perpetual Jubilee of the Spirit!

Jesus enables us to be free from possessions and to restructure social arrangements. This is a cause for celebration! When the poor receive good news, this is a reason for celebration! When captives are released, this is a cause for celebration! When the blind receive their sight, when the oppressed are liberated, who can withhold the shout of celebration, the shout of Jubilee!!!

In the OT, they were to practice the year of Jubilee for one reason to express their trust in God’s provision. He had told them this that if they practiced the year of Jubilee He would “command [His] blessing upon [them]”!

It is freedom from anxiety and care that forms the basis for celebration! Because we know that He cares for us, we can cast all our care upon Him. God promises to turn our mourning into dancing!

We live in a culture where depression and anxiety are the modern plague. We need to cultivate space in our life for a carefree spirit of joyous festivity. One of the things that should be an integral and regular part of Christian worship is celebration.

Celebration gives strength for living life. In the book of Nehemiah, we are told that the joy of the LORD is our strength (8:10)! We cannot continue very long without a little joy. Women endure childbirth because the joy of motherhood lies on the other side. Young married couples struggle through the first difficult years of adjustment because they value the insurance of long life together. Parents hold steady through the teen years, knowing that their children will emerge at the other end human once again (Foster).