This past Sunday we talked about Fun, as the last part of our Jesus Values series. I don’t know about you, but hearing about Jesus valuing celebrations makes me feel a lot cooler. We all have those one or two friends or acquaintances that don’t have a relationship with Jesus yet. And those are the ones who kind of make a face every time we mention going to church on Sunday mornings, or when we invite them to Grow or a New Life event. That face that says they know what we’re suggesting couldn’t possibly be any fun simply because it is somehow, even if not obviously, tied to being a Christian and Jesus. I get those looks too, don’t worry. If only they knew that we had beach balls, confetti and a rock band at service last Sunday before moving into our evening Grow session where we watched people scarf down hotdogs and marshmallow fluff, they may stop giving me those looks. Or maybe the looks would get weirder, who knows.
What those people don’t know yet is what we learned on Sunday. That Jesus values fun. That He values celebrations. That He knows that sometimes we need to sit back and say “Hey, this is good!” Not only does He value celebrations, but He tells us a lot about what’s worth celebrating. You can learn a great deal about people based on what they celebrate. You can tell what’s important to them and what isn't. For example, if someone celebrates their dog’s birthday (which I’m pretty sure not everyone does) you can bet that their dog is pretty important to them! We see people celebrate wedding anniversaries, graduations, engagements and lots of other things and we can assume that these are things they hold dear to them, otherwise they wouldn’t feel the need to celebrate, right?
So what did Jesus celebrate? If we go back to Luke 15, we see several examples given of reasons to rejoice. In the parable of the lost sheep, the man rejoices when he finds his lost sheep. The same goes in the parable of the woman with the lost coin, except this time she calls together her neighbors and friends, and tells them to come rejoice with her. If that’s not a party, I don’t know what is. Finally, in the parable of the lost son, the father is so happy that his son has come home that he has a feast, with music and dancing and everything. Here is Jesus, telling us and the Pharisees, that it is okay to rejoice and celebrate those things that are important to us, as long as what’s important to us is important to Him also.
Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” This means it’s okay to have fun as a Christian, as long as you're giving thanks to Him for whatever it is you’re celebrating. You can have a party when someone gets baptized; you can listen to music and dance when you have a friend who takes a next step. Sometimes adults feel like a party and dancing is not something that they should be a part of, but Jesus didn’t say that rejoicing was reserved for children or teenagers. On the other side of that, sometimes as teenagers, we just want to have fun no matter what the reason, and we need to remember that Jesus values fun as long as we’re celebrating something important to us and thanking Him for what we’re celebrating. So have a party to celebrate your friend’s baptism, sing a song when you get someone new to go to church with you for the first time, do a little dance when your hard work at school or work pays off (or not if that’s not your strong suit) but celebrate and rejoice, because Jesus says we can!
What are you going to work towards this week, with the intention of celebrating when it’s accomplished? If Jesus gives us permission to celebrate in His name, then I am certainly going to be working intentionally towards that party! Who has a Next Step to rejoice about? :)
-Kristen Faulkner
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