The Discipline of Celebration

October 26, 2003

Rev. John W. Fowler

Scripture: Nehemiah 8: 9-12

I want to talk to you this morning about a spiritual discipline that — I am not sure if I have ever heard that it is a spiritual discipline — but I do think it is one that we especially need, especially since we live in a time when many people are tired and weary, and often times there is a kind of sadness that comes about people who are serving the Lord. It is the discipline of celebration. It is when we remember that it is important to rejoice in the Lord even when we don’t feel like it. I wanted to use as my text for today from Nehemiah, Chapter 8, verses 9-12, when Nehemiah has come back to Jerusalem with the exiles and they have built the wall and it is time to celebrate the rebuilding of this, he tells them this in this dedication ceremony:

When we think of celebrating, all we have to do is look at the athletic world and they can tell you how to celebrate. If you are a Florida Marlins fan, you are celebrating. I am sure that back in Florida, there is going to be a great celebration. Of course, if you are a Yankees fan you are going to be upset. If you are a Clemson fan, you are happy that Darian Durant fumbled and Carolina lost again on the last play of the game.

Yesterday in line there an older couple who just wanted their food to go because, they said, “We want to get back to our room so we can watch Clemson beat Carolina.” Well, that kind of riled me but I didn’t say anything, and the kind of season we have been having, I really didn’t have a comeback, except to kind of just not admit that I was a Carolina alumnus. But, you know, that is celebration that is dependent on things that can change — whether you win or lose.

Jim Dobson likes to point out when he was in college, he was a tennis player and his great dream was to be the best tennis player, to have his trophy in the case in school. And he did work very, very hard; became the best tennis player in the school, that small college that he went to. His trophy was there. Years later, someone sent that trophy to him when they were remodeling that building. They had found it in a back room — in a trash can. And what he wanted to point out about that was, “You know, there was a time when that really was important to me, but I realize — that was a temporary thing to celebrate.

I want to talk about celebrating, especially, God’s love today by using the example of Nehemiah. Do you need some celebration in your life? What celebration simply is, is allowing the joy of the Lord to come into your life to impact you and especially to impact those around you.

Who was Nehemiah? Well, Nehemiah was the cup bearer of King Artaxerxes of Persia; that is, he had a very good job. Not just anyone tasted the wine that would go to the king. But he was a godly man, and he learned that when the exiles had gone back, that Jerusalem was in ruins, and it grieved him, and nothing was being done about it.

And so, he was sad in the king’s presence and he asked him, “What is the matter, Nehemiah?”

And he told him. And not only did King Artaxerxes let him go back there, but he gave him a work crew; he financed it. God was obviously at work in this, through a pagan king. And so he goes back and he does face opposition, but he works hard. Two men who opposed him, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite kept criticizing him.

They wanted him to come down for meetings and Nehemiah’s response was, “Well, why should I come down? I am doing a great work.” And they just continued working. But then, we find that they finally rebuild the wall; they do it in fifty-two days and they discover the Law of Moses and Ezra had read it. It was a great day of rejoicing, but also of weeping because they knew they had strayed from the Lord, but as they come to this time of dedication, what He is telling them is, “The time to mourn and grieve is not today. This is a time to celebrate. This is a day to rejoice that we are back here. The walls have been built, and God be praised.”

There is certainly rejoicing in the Bible. I think of Miriam, Moses' sister. When the children were delivered in a miraculous way as they crossed the Red Sea and delivered from Pharaoh, Miriam came up with a song, “The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea,” you see in Exodus, Chapter 15.

I think of David dancing before the Lord when the Arc of the Covenant, which had been captured by the Philistines in II Samuel, comes back in and some people made fun of him, but David just felt it was the most natural thing to dance before the Lord because he was so happy.

In the New Testament it has always been significant to me that the first miracle of our Lord’s public ministry is at a wedding feast to keep the celebration going. That says a great deal of how God views marriage.

And in the story of the prodigal son, a young man comes back home after leading prodigal life. His father is rejoicing. He wants everyone to “come and see my son who was once dead and lost but now he is found; he is alive.” But the elder brother cannot celebrate. He cannot rejoice that there has been a changed life.

Why don’t we celebrate? Well, sometimes we just become very negative people; we don’t realize it but it is a habit; it is contagious. I heard of a man who was a very grumpy man. He was a hunter and so a friend of his says, “Well, I’m going to find him the best hunting dog I possibly can and that is going to cheer him up. And so, lo and behold, he looks on the internet and finds the best hunting dog. He goes and gets him and this dog is tremendous. I’m not a hunter but, boy, I could tell that this dog could do everything. And one day, he went out hunting. The man shot a bird and it went down in the lake. This new dog, he doesn’t just swim out in the water, he walks on the water, goes and gets the bird, walks back, puts it right in front of this grumpy old man. He turns to the man who gave him the dog and says, “Well, I see your dog can’t swim.” Some people are like that.

Sometimes we become negative people and oftentimes we just become weary with life. Think about this: I came across this by John Ortberg. If God was having a day or a week like we often times do, here would be the creation:

Has that ever happened to you? Not just that you have become negative, but you are just tired; you are weary and the joy just evaporates. What do we do about that? How can we practice celebration?

It’s an acronym. You may have heard it before but I believe that it still works very well. It spells JOY.

First, is Jesus. In John, Chapter 15, Jesus says, I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

What was Jesus speaking about? He was speaking about a life where He is first in your life.

5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

It is true that when our relationship with Jesus Christ is first and foremost in our life, when prayer and worship, and truly just serving the Lord and seeking His will comes first, that’s when that joy comes.

The Apostle Paul knew that. In the Book of Philippians, Paul was thinking back when he wrote about the joy of the Lord. He is thinking back on when that church was founded, that he had been put in prison with Silas at Philippi and they began to sing hymns at midnight, and great rejoicing, and there was a jail break — an earthquake — a great turn of events. The jailer was saved and all of his household. He knew about the joy of the Lord. It wasn’t dependent on being on being in jail. It wasn’t dependent on circumstances; it was the relationship with Him. First and foremost, it comes from a relationship with Him. Nehemiah’s joy is in a strong relationship with his God.

“O” is others. That is, that we really do put others first. In Matthew 25, it talks about the parable of the talents and entering into the joy of the Lord when we use our God-given talents in His service. When we think of others, what do we do? Well, weddings become important. We go, and celebrate with other people. Anniversaries are very important; we celebrate those. I remember a man who wanted me to come to an open meeting of AA. Why did he want me to come? He was getting a chip that night at the anniversary of his sobriety. He wanted me to celebrate his sobriety with him.

Are you one who celebrates with other people and rejoices with them? I believe that is why we go to funerals and funeral homes, even though we don’t deny our grief. But we don’t grieve as those who have no hope. In fact, we call it a ritual of celebration of life because we are celebrating that Jesus is alive and lives today and in the hope that we have.

And then “Y” is yourself. We honestly take a look at those joy robbers in our lives, especially worries and fears, and we ask God to help us. We unashamedly ask Him to help us. The Apostle Paul wrote it this way:

We really spend time praying about what we are worrying about, what we are afraid of, and we ask God to help us, and He does.

When we practice celebration, the transformation that happens in our lives is the transformation of God’s love.

Let me close with this: I grew up (probably you did as well), celebrating birthdays. We got our favorite meal and people made a big to do about it, and I thought that was the norm. But many people have grown up with birthdays that come and go, and no one recognizes it at all. They don’t know about celebration.

The Epiphany Prison Ministries is a youth prison ministry. It is a spiritual life retreat for a weekend, based on Emmaus. When I hear the Epiphany weekend they talk about having a birthday party for these young boys. What they do, for one night, they have a birthday party for all the boys there. For many of them it is the first birthday party they have ever had in their lives, and these big, tough, strong, young men have tears. Why? Because someone recognizes that they are a child of God, that God loves them and people have taken the time to take this weekend to come and be with them. They are transformed, that someone is celebrating God’s love in their life; it changes them.

It still changes us today and that is why Nehemiah said, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Celebrating even when we don’t feel like it, gives us joy, gives us strength to live His will.

Let us pray.