Celebrate!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

-Philippians 4:4-7

By now I suppose I have spoken enough about my love for autumn, so the last reason I’ll give you for loving this season is that it is just so full of celebration.

Birthday parties (both of my kids were born this time of year). Fall festivals. Halloween. Trunk or Treat. Homecomings. Football games. And, yes, the Pumpkin Patch (Wow, three sign-up solicitations in one week!)

Autumn seems to give us plenty of excuses to celebrate, and I think we need them.

After all, celebration is a spiritual discipline.

That might sound a little strange. We usually think of spiritual disciplines as things requiring a certain amount of seriousness: prayer, fasting, studying scripture, serving others. Celebration sounds more like what we do when the serious work is finished.

But joy is a fruit of the Spirit. And throughout scripture, God's people are repeatedly told to feast, rejoice, sing, dance, tell stories, gather around tables, and remember what God has done.

Paul puts it pretty simply: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

I would draw attention to the fact that there is a difference between "joy" and "happiness." 

Happiness often depends on what is happening around us. There will be days when we are happy and days when we aren't. There are losses that need to be grieved and seasons when celebration comes much less naturally.

Christian joy doesn't require pretending otherwise.

In fact, in these few verses Paul manages to talk about rejoicing and anxiety almost in the same breath. He doesn't tell people of faith that they will never have reasons to worry, but he invites them to bring those worries to God—with prayer, thanksgiving, and the promise that God's peace will meet us there.

This is why celebration is a discipline.

Sometimes we celebrate because joy comes easily. Other times we intentionally stop long enough to notice that, even in the middle of everything that is difficult, there is still goodness worth receiving with gratitude.

There are children laughing around a fire.

There are friends gathered around a table.

There are birthday celebrations for people we love.

There are neighbors wandering through a pumpkin patch on a cool October afternoon.

There are ordinary moments when, if we pay attention, life is simply good.

Celebration teaches us to notice those moments instead of rushing past them.

So as we enter this season of festivals and pumpkins and costumes and homecomings, celebrate something. Invite somebody over. Eat something delicious. Laugh loudly. Give thanks for someone you love. Pay attention to whatever goodness God has placed in front of you.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

Rev. Ryan Young