The Celebrating Season

Practice makes perfect. My little brother put years into perfecting his soft touch in shooting the basketball—he had a keen awareness of the hoop as well as the athletic ability to soar. He did well and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him play. His practice of the game started when he was five. In the upper level of our old barn was an old hayloft partially converted into a basketball court—at least it had a hoop at 10 feet. From the age of five until he finished out his playing time in college he had spent nearly 12,000 hours practicing the game.

As one athletic writer put it. there is no magic to getting better—it takes lots and lots of practice. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, said that the secret to success is spending at least 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill.

God asks us to practice the skill of celebration. But why do we need to practice? We need to practice celebration because it is not automatic, at least as it relates to spiritual things. We have a default mode that is highly practiced and it involves reducing complications and difficulties to an expression of fear, guilty feelings, self loathing, blame or even self aggrandizing. In other words, it is not natural for us to live in this complicated and cancerous world and also celebrate all that God is and does to make us whole again.

So God builds in the practice of celebration for his people. As he was forming the twelve tribes of Israel into a nation he also crafted seven festival periods of celebration. They were mandated to celebrate.

When we speak of these celebrations, realize that they were to be mass scale celebrations. A large percentage of the population would gather together around tables set with rich and generous myriads of food. There would be relatives from distant parts of the Israeli state. You might see your cousins again and they could laugh at how much taller you had grown. Old childhood friends would somehow find you in the congested streets of the capital city and you would relive a bond of friendship that was nearly as tight as blood and kin. There is something about celebration that fans the heart into flames of peace and joy. We need it but we are not always akin to it.

You catch me on any starlit winter’s night, when the list of work duties and earth bound deadlines runs rampant—I’m not in a celebratory mood. But as the days dwindle to that particular celebration, my heart knows what is at the end: rest, good food, elongated time with my family, a chance to take my brain off of the busy, busy, busy and focus again on that real and efficient rest which Jesus brings to earth.

We must practice celebration because it takes our mind’s eye forward to an eternal celebration which will never cease—the Lamb’s wedding banquet where we are both a guest and a dear companion of God. We must practice celebration in order to instill a deeper and more extensive sense of family; we are now part of God’s family. We must celebrate while we live on this starving planet where even the very soil seems to erupt in mass shootings and disappointed hopes; a perfect country awaits us. We must celebrate and make it a regular practice because of the journey we are on; we are living here but this space is temporary. Our place with Jesus in paradise will never end. If nothing else, celebrate that this Christmas season and this Thanksgiving season displays God’s provision to get us through a very difficult year.

I’m thankful that we have various seasons to celebrate. It seems that Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving automatically rise to the top. But let us not forget some of the incidental festivals of celebration that can also carry with them a whole market of attributes and blessings from our loving God and Father.

Valentine's day speaks about love—who loves you more than God the Father (John 16:27)? St. Patrick’s day speaks about ridding Ireland of those wretched snakes—our God overcame a more deadly serpent (Genesis 3:15). Independence day is a celebration that has been used to honor those who gave so much so that we could live free. Jesus gave even more so that we could live free eternally (Isaiah 42:6-8).

So let’s celebrate; whether we are asked to shut down public Thanksgiving celebrations or not. True celebration never ends when God has placed you into his eternal family and continues to daily shower you with his grace. Let’s celebrate.

Blessings to all of you as you practice celebration this Thanksgiving, this Christmas, New Years, and into the coming year!

God is with you always! Amen and Amen!
Pastor Al