Celebrate God's love

"But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us . . . For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
--Romans 5:8, 10-11

How are we to respond to God’s love and grace? In the translation of Romans above, the apostle Paul directs Christians to “boast” in God through Jesus Christ. Other translations say “rejoice,” or that “we are happy.” No matter how it’s said, Paul is encouraging Christians to celebrate God’s love.

Celebration, according to Dallas Willard, is one of the most important activities we can do to deepen our relationship with God:

"[Celebration] is the completion of worship, for it dwells on the greatness of God as shown in his goodness to us. We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness. We concentrate on our life and world as God’s work and as God’s gift to us."

We are invited to celebrate God’s greatness, beauty, goodness, and love. Celebration, however, often eludes us. We live in cynical times. Our relationship to God, because of our sinful nature, is twisted out of shape. The social, psychological, spiritual, and even physical life of humankind is out of order. The consequences are a loss of joy and an absence of celebration.

A conference was held at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Like many Protestants, these folks didn’t feel free to worship very expressively. All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over, 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased.

We’ve got to learn to let our balloons go! Get focused on our great God with a love for all times. Unabashedly and enthusiastically celebrate God’s love in worship. Celebrate God’s love for all times in our fellowship with one another by practicing the love and reconciliation that was shown to us.

God’s love for us is a love for all times. Joyfully celebrating God’s love is an antidote to despair and becomes a wellspring for genuine gratitude. God poured his love into our hearts . . . let us pour our hearts out to God . . . celebrating a love for all times.