Lent 5- Celebrate

5th March 2017- Lent 5: Celebrate

We as the human race love to celebrate. We celebrate achievements at every given opportunity. New life, Birthdays, passing exams, learning new skills, graduating, getting married, winning a baking competition, the list is endless.

Celebrating is a way of saying well done to someone for what they have achieved but when I was thinking about celebration, my mind turned to how when I celebrate an achievement of my own, I don't say well done to myself, instead I thank God for bringing me to the place of achievement. 

Lent seems a funny time to be reflecting on celebration, traditionally marked with repentance and woeful cries to God (or at least seems to be the case in some Lenten liturgies I have seen) yet celebration draws the mind towards Easter. Every year without fail I feel a sense of excited anticipation as we draw closer to Easter Sunday. Every year I long for a Sunday morning service which captures the true joy and celebration of Christ's resurrection. The truth of Easter Sunday and what it means for us today should be a cause for Celebration all year round, every time we think about it. 

We have been saved from the clutches of death and hell. We have been saved because the Father loves us too much to leave us as we are. I don't know about you but that is enough to cause me to want to celebrate. 

Celebration has a way of drawing people together. Even through the most difficult of seasons we still stop what we are doing to take time to celebrate with others. Celebration draws our attention away from ourselves and turns our hearts towards each other and to God. 

I have never really taken the time to think about celebration before but upon reflection, celebration is never selfish. Celebration calls out the gold in others. Through celebrating the success of others we celebrate with heaven, we align our hearts with how heaven sees a situation, cheering people onwards through uplifting praise rather than a negative perspective of doubt. Through celebration we call people into what they are destined to be. 

Next time we find ourselves wondering why nothing seems to be going right, turn your hearts towards celebration. Celebrate God's goodness. Celebrate God's plan. Celebrate God's love. We are called to be a people of joy, so let that joy arise and join in the celebration of heaven. x