Celebrate Good Times

Jim:

There is a celebratory mood that runs through all three passages today. That’s appropriate, too, because we are still basking in the glow of Pentecost and the birth of the Church.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31
I found verse 31 to be meaningful today: “Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.” Throughout history God has proven these words to be true over and over again. Scripture is full of examples of God’s steadfast love and compassion. The same promise is true for us, of course, as we go through our lives, as we sometimes stumble or fall, as we come up short of God’s intentions for us. God does not abandon us even to our own destructive tendencies, but offers hope for our living and salvation through Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:23-2:17
I love the image at work in 2:14, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession…” The procession that Paul refers to is the parade that Roman generals received when they returned victorious from war and conquest. Paul uses a similar image in Romans 8:37 where he says, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Through Baptism we share in Christ’s conquest over sin and death, and therefore we also share in Christ’s triumphal procession. We still struggle with the challenges of life, but we know the struggle is worthwhile because we know that ultimately the struggle has been won.

Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
The story of the Prodigal Son is very familiar. What hit me today were verses 23-24 where the father says to his servants, “let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mind was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate.” Yesterday I noted verses 6 and 9 of this chapter where celebrations were held each time something lost was found. It had never struck me that the celebration in verses 23-24 is exactly the same thing, a celebration over finding something that was lost. Rejoicing should mark the lives of God’s people because in Jesus Christ we have been found, forgiven, redeemed, and restored. And we should celebrate together because it is as a community that our joy takes its fullest expression. Otherwise we become like the older brother, bitter and lonely even when there is a party in full swing.