The first is the Gospel: God Himself/His Son came to earth to be with us, die for us, and resurrect into new life that we too may share in eternal right relationship with God. Jesus has overcome sin and death; when on the cross He said “it is finished” (Jn 19.30) Jesus meant it. He has won the victory. We are going home to be with God. The story ends with a wedding party. This is something to celebrate, and we will do so for eternity. There is pain for now, but it will come to an end. This is reason to rejoice. Also, as a wedding now foreshadows the coming marriage between Christ and His bride, when we celebrate now it foreshadows the eternal celebration to come.
The
second reason we should celebrate now is that as the body of Christ we are
called to be a body that feels deeply together. We are to love and honor each
other. As Paul writes in Romans 12.15 “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep
with those who weep.” As a body, we should celebrate with each other. We want
to share life together; the good, the bad, all of it. We want to celebrate life-events
together, and we want to acknowledge who God has made each of us to be.
The
final reason we should celebrate is to cultivate the discipline of celebration, which combats jealousy. In our social media age, where we share and perceive the near-perfect
illusion of the lives we lead, it can be easy to slip into thoughts of jealousy
when someone’s relationship status changes to “engaged” or we see pictures from
our friend’s vacation to Hawaii. We should be celebrating these milestones in each
other’s lives. Yes, seeing others get the things we long for can stir up envy and
resentment, but we do not have to be controlled by these emotions. Instead of
dwelling in jealousy, we can thank God for the blessing in another’s life. Celebrating
in these moments can be difficult, but with practice we can cultivate this
discipline. I want to be someone who will throw you a party when you get what I deeply desire.
What
are some ways we can celebrate more? How can we honor each other? We can
celebrate each other by acknowledging our love for each other. We can freely
and frequently share how others help and encourage us. We can say what we enjoy about each other and what gifts, talents, or
character each other has. I am a big fan of words of affirmation, but maybe
acts of service, gifts, or time spent together are better ways of communicating
what we feel. How do you like to be honored?
I
think various cultural events are great occasions to celebrate together. Birthdays, weddings, Christmas parties and graduations are all wonderful opportunities
to have fun and to commemorate life together. What do you do to
celebrate the friends and family in your life? Is it something you can do more
often?
