Celebrating Life In Every Situation

Celebration was a foundational aspect of the growth of the early church. The second chapter of Acts portrays a group of people who laughed and loved, who shared meals and money; people who took seriously the practice of partying under the direction of God’s Spirit. They would have fully affirmed C. S. Lewis’s claim that “joy is the serious business of heaven.” The result was that “multitudes were added to the church” (Acts 5:14).

A spirit of carefree, lighthearted, God-centered celebration is often conspicuously absent in the lives of most contemporary Christians. When did we begin to take ourselves so seriously? What urgent matters have we allowed to rob us of our playful spirit? We are going to live forever. How important can things really be that won’t even be remembered, let alone matter a hundred years from now? What are we trying to prove by our stress-filled agendas and to whom are we trying to prove it? There’s no doubt about it, most of us need to lighten up.

When we don’t maintain an attitude of internal joy that can’t be touched by external circumstances, the rhythms of grace in our life become discordant. The music soon stops.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Let me say it again, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4, emphasis added)! Paul had obviously learned the value of celebrating our Father's loving faithfulness because these words weren’t written from a villa on the Mediterranean sea. They were written from a prison cell where he was being held for preaching the gospel. Paul had learned to dance to the blues as well as to an upbeat, cheerful melody in life.

There is something childlike (not childish) about a man who can celebrate when he is in prison. Normally, a child has an innate sense that no matter what is going on in the world around them, everything is going to be alright. After all, they reason, their parents have everything under control.

I have vague memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis that happened when I was a young child. Some say it was the closest the United States has ever been to nuclear war. One of the main things I remember is that our church family brought canned food and bottled water and put it under a stairway inside the church building. The plan was that we would all would all gather together at church if a missile were to be launched against us.

As I and my young friends explored, we sat under the stairs with the stockpile of food and water and I thought to myself, “This wouldn’t be a bad place to stay for awhile.” I wasn’t worried about the potential danger at hand. I knew something very bad could happen, but reasoned that my parents would take care of me no matter what might happen. So while adults worried and prayed and collected bottles of water and cans of food, I played without a care in the world.

To rejoice in the Lord doesn’t mean we’re oblivious to danger, but it does mean we trust in the protection of our Father. Our security rests in Him, not in the outcome of whatever circumstances we may find ourselves. We celebrate Him, not what is happening at a given moment in time. Wherever we might be, we find what C. S. Lewis called “patches of Godlight in the woods of our experience.” The light of His presence in any circumstance is all the light we need to keep the party going.