Picture this: It is Christmas morning. Your five year old child runs down the stairs, opens a present... wow, it's better than anything she could have dreamed up for herself. Not only is the present more than awesome, the wrapping is awesome... and the whole thing is lined with cookies and dollar bills... It's just... the epitome of awesome. It's more than she could have imagined. It's more than she deserves. She shrugs her shoulders and walks away. "Eh", she says.
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And yet, as Christians... as followers of Christ, who have received the best gift (that is available to everyone, by the way)... sometimes... we fail to celebrate. We are unimpressed. Dour. We withhold joy.
Why do we do this?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
According to Richard Foster, celebration, which is the final spiritual discipline we will be discussing, "is at the heart of the way of Christ." Jesus did bring good news, after all... He WAS the good news...
Foster also asserts (and I heartily agree), that "Celebration is central to all the Spiritual Disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity the Disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees." Whoa. Pass!
So, how do we get joy? How do we engage in celebration?
Obedience produces joy. Foster asserts this, but so do many other Christian thinkers. Scripture suggests this as well. Psalm 16:11. John 15.
John 15:9-11
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
As you fiercely pursue God, joy will come.
Will you express that joy? Because there is a difference between not having any joy, and having joy, but stifling it/squashing it through body language/words/demeanor...
As you fiercely pursue others... hospitably, creatively, and consistently... you better do so JOYFULLY, or they ain't gonna wanna be pursued by you. It's true.
In closing, I refer you to one of PoC's over-arching principles:
FUN IS RELEVANT. IF THE JOURNEY ISN'T FUN, NOBODY WILL WANT TO GO.
"I am the door. If anyone enters by me, they will find pasture (refreshment). The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. But I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." - John 10:9-22
"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
"The joy of the Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." - Psalm 28:7-8
Sing. Dance. Shout. Praise. Smile. Laugh. Be thankful. Celebrate.
Pastor Celia
In lieu of our traditional PoC|Coverage, we will be hosting some friends tonight to hear about what God is up to in their lives. Come be refreshed. Come express some joy. God is working all around us. He is awesome!
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