During my junior year in high school, a new band called ‘Kool & the Gang’ came out with a hit song called “Celebration”. If you’re old like me, you would have had to be living under a rock not to remember this tune. The chorus goes like this, “Let’s all celebrate and have a good time-Yahoo, Yahoo.” When it started playing, the dance floor filled up and a smile came across everyone’s face. It made you ‘feel’ like celebrating no matter what you were doing at the time.
Years later, while in seminary, I was learning about ‘Spiritual Disciplines’. I was surprised that ‘celebration’ was a part of the long list of ways we could connect deeply with God, His people and His mission. I was all in on the disciplines of Bible intake, prayer, fasting, solitude, service, worship, etc. I saw how these disciplines, over time, could help us as Christ followers know Christ better and make Him known to others. But Celebration??? What???
My confusion was fueled by the way I was nurtured growing up. I grew up in a home where criticism ran rampant and encouragement, without a ‘but’ at the end of it, was as scant as the hairs on my 60-year-old bald head. It was also fueled by my own sinful and critical spirit. I was born that way and raised that way. It all literally changed the lenses in which I saw all of life. How I saw myself. How I saw others. How I saw God. Yes, looking back, it came so easy to be belittling, biting, condemning, disparaging, complaining, nit-picky, sarcastic and at times, severe toward others created in God’s image.
I needed help and thankfully, help was on the way as I was learning about this spiritual discipline of ‘celebration.’
The reality is God created us to celebrate! The issue is not whether we celebrate but it’s what and why we celebrate. In God’s economy, the spiritual discipline of celebration leads us into a state of rejoicing in the goodness and greatness of God. Many of the spiritual disciplines I listed above are exactly what God uses (when we practice them consistently) to give us a spirit of wonder and joy in our great God. Years ago, I heard someone call these spiritual disciplines the ‘holy habits’ that produce in us a joy that results in the celebration of God and His work in us. As Saint Augustine said, “The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot.” Of course, this is true, but how we get to the ‘alleluia’ part comes from practicing the disciplines God gave us to see all of Him clearly.
In this broken world we live in, celebration is made possible as the daily and common aspects of life are redeemed. It’s when bitterness turns to forgiveness, lies to truth, hatred to love, whining to thankfulness that we truly have something to celebrate! Only God via His word, His Spirit and His people can produce hearts that authentically celebrate.
In the O.T., celebration was commanded at the three annual feasts (Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Booths). We also see spontaneous moments of celebration such as David dancing before the Lord’s ark (2 Sam. 6) and Paul finding reasons to sing although he was imprisoned (Acts 16). Matter of fact, the whole story of the Bible ends with a big ole celebratory party (Rev. 19).
I wonder if we don’t tend to get so focused on the narratives of sin, brokenness, etc. that we forget God created good in the world, that God is indeed doing good in the world. While not everything is as it should be, there’s still a need for wonder and delight. Celebration is not just an attitude that we have but also something that we do. We laugh. We sing. We dance. We play. We thank. We encourage. We praise. Ultimately, we have eyes and hearts to see THROUGH the darkness and hardness of life, to see God’s inherent goodness and His specific goodness to us, His people.
Can you imagine what a church culture would look like if we intentionally became a body of believers that passionately celebrated both the big and small things this side of eternity? Here’s what I do know…Celebration multiplies! Celebration begets more celebration. Heartfelt and genuine celebration has the potential to bring healing and joy to the entire community of believers. In this ole world that is quickly passing away, I could use a good dose of ‘CELEBRATION.’ How about you?