How to cultivate the way of celebration—is that really even necessary?

 

I think so. God is worth is it; He is worthy of celebration,

 

We all know how to celebrate, but I have noticed over the years that celebration in the church doesn’t look like it does anywhere else in our culture. Now, I do realize that there are some churches, who know how to celebrate, but there are many more, who struggle in this expression of worship.

 

We can argue about why celebration is easy or difficult, but that’s so not the point.  Celebration is something prescribed and demonstrated all the way through the Bible, so it only stands to reason that we take it seriously and examine our own hearts on the matter.

 

Just like everything else, celebration can be cultivated, because celebration begins on the inside, building and expanding until it can no longer be contained.  That’s the way of celebration; it’s unrestrained.

 

Quit censoring yourself

 

A number of years ago, we took my parents to Sight and Sound (a wonderful playhouse in Lancaster County), to see their current show, which was called, “In the Beginning.”  It was outstanding and by the end of the show my head hurt.  I had developed a headache from congestion that had built up.  It was unbelievably moving and I was experiencing all kinds of feelings, but because it was a play and we were in public I tried to contain myself.

 

As the play ended, I worked to pull myself together.  It was a powerful experience, and I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling so plugged up—both literally and spiritually.  The LORD gently spoke to my heart, right there in the theater and called it out for what it was.  He was gentle, but firm in his rebuke.

 

“Quit censoring yourself!”

 

That was it.  I was astounded by the revelation, but immediately everything became clear.  There I was censoring myself because I was in a public play house.  There are rules of respect and honor in places of performance, but I don’t think that was the real reason I held back.  I now know that the real reason I held back was fear—fear of what others would think.

 

Fear is insidious and when left unchecked it leads us into the wrong places.  When we allow fear to dictate how we worship God, we miss out on deeper intimacy.

 

“Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

 

Think about that passage for a moment.

 

The familiarity of the scripture can make it easy to bloke out the directive, so push through. Examine your heart and note the ways you love the LORD with your whole being. What does that look like?  Can you see the ways you are tempted to censor yourself?

 

Cultivating the way of celebration means readjusting how we think, and that means dealing with the heart.

 

 

 

 

Celebration is very public. 

 

There are certainly other forms of worship that can be private and quiet, but celebration isn’t one of them.  Celebration is the very way we make God known; it is how we proclaim his greatness. In celebration, we will testify, glorify, and magnify of the good things God has done and of the intrinsic greatness of his character and nature.  And, when we celebrate together there is a synergy that literally bounces off one another, creating a symphony of praise.

 

“Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings.  With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.  They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.”  Isaiah 6:2-4

 

I LOVE this passage, because of the way it describes corporate celebration!  In verse three it says, “They were calling out to each other…”  The angels of the LORD were ministering to God, by declaring to one another his greatness.  The proclamation was so amazing that the foundations shook and the Temple was filled with smoke.  There was nothing quiet about this celebration.

 

The worship of the angels was rooted in the person of God—His holiness, his power, and the glory of his magnificent creation.  Do you see it?  Their declaration wasn’t as corporate declaration to God, it was to one another aboutGod.

God didn’t need the declaration—He was, and still is, secure in His identity.  Their praise elevated Him above all things, and that’s what made it all so awesome.  The seraphim—they demonstrate the way of celebration

 

 

 

 

Cultivating the way of celebration—surrendered heart

 

God isn’t interested in our public declarations if they are just lip service, he wants all or nothing.

 

Celebration is about releasing joy, exaltation and testimony of the things He has revealed in private. Cultivating the way of celebration must, therefore, begin in the heart. While celebration is very public, the preparation of such lavish declaration begins in private; it is birthed out of intimacy with God.

 

All or nothing.  This is not a new concept in the church.  It’s biblical and it’s right, but in our humanity, we still struggle with it.  Can I just say something?  This is part of life transformation and healing.  Surrender sounds holy and good, but doing it is another whole issue.  And yes, you have to deal with surrender in order to demonstrate true celebration.

 

Intimacy with God begins in the secret place—just you and God.  It’s raw and it’s real, but it doesn’t just happen, it is an intentional choice that starts with trust, moves into surrender and ends with obedience. That is the process for every encounter with God.  Does that surprise you?

 

“The heart wants what the heart wants.”

 

You’ve heard that before, right?  It’s true, but we don’t have to be subject to what the heart wants—especially when it’s desire is contrary to the heart of God.  A surrendered heart yields to the will of God, because God’s ways are always better.

 

I know, sometimes that kind of surrender feels hard, and that’s why we go back to what we know about God.  Trust comes easier when there is a foundation of faithfulness.  Trust is a choice that leads to surrender, and faith explodes as we walk through the process of obedience.  But it takes practice.

 

 

Cultivating the way of celebration—aligning the soul

 

The soul is the place where physical body, emotion, heart and mind intersect; it is the center of who we are. Cultivating the way of celebration requires alignment and no matter how you try to swing it, there will be an internal shift.  Things change when we allow God to lead.

 

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.  This truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which good and pleasing and perfect.”

 

I think that the truest expression of who we are is when no one is looking.  The secret recesses of our mind and heart–what we do and think—is truly revealed in the privacy of the soul.  True cleansing and healing happen from the inside out, but we are a culture obsessed with looking good on the outside, all the while neglecting the truest parts on the inside.

 

Loving God with all your soul means submitting the body, the heart, the mind, and the emotions to the LORD.

 

“My old self has been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So I live in this body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Galatians 2:20

 

 

 

Cultivating the way of celebration—Focusing on the LORD

 

Fix your eyes on the LORD.

 

Cultivating the way of celebration requires an intimate and clear revelation of who God is and what he has done.  You can’t fake it and you can’t put it on, because it is always a public declaration of what God has done.

 

You must train your eyes to stay fixed on God—on what he’s doing and what he’s saying.  Did you catch that?  Train.  I used the word train, because it’s going to take practice.  You need to work at developing this skill.

 

One of the first things I do with my new piano students, as they begin to read music notation, is train their eyes to read one note at a time.  I take my pencil and lead them through.  It is difficult to master, but they always experience greater success when they fix their eyes on the notes.

 

I share this because it is a skill that has to be developed.  It’s too overwhelming to try a play any piece of music by looking at all the notes at once.  It always starts with one note and it takes practice.

 

The same is true in our spiritual lives.  When we train our eyes to follow Jesus, he leads us through everything, one step at a time.  But even more than that, when we look at life through the lens of Jesus, we see things very differently.

 

Jesus changes our perspective, enabling us to see things like he does.  As we submit heart and soul, there is a supernatural transformation that happens, making us into the image of God.  This is the healing nature of being sanctified and made new.

 

 

 

 

The way of celebration

 

The way of celebration is organic.

 

When the heart is surrendered, the soul aligned, and the eyes of the mind fixed on Jesus, the way of celebration will change.  It’s never the same, but it’s nature is.  It will be loud and glorious, because when you’ve been touched and changed by God there will be an explosive response.

 

I actually think God established celebrations to give us a tangible process, because cultivating the way of celebration is ongoing.  It’s ongoing because the longer we live the more we learn about God.  The more we learn the more we have to celebrate.

 

So, this week, as you prepare for Sunday worship take time each day to:

 

1. Examine your heart.

What desires hold you back?  What needs to be surrendered?  Are there confessions you need to make?  Do it. Just do it and allow the LORD to lead you into his perfect place of grace.

 

2. Align your soul.

Bring all your parts into agreement with the ways of the LORD.  Cut down the idols of the soul so that there is only room for the LORD.

 

3. Focus on the LORD

Fix your eyes on Jesus.  Read through his promises (the Psalms are a great place to start).  Remember grace and mercy.  Listen to the voice of Holy spirit as he guides and comforts you.

 

4. Declare the goodness of God

Don’t censor yourself.  Your declaration of God’s goodness testifies of his amazing grace and almighty power. Don’t hold back because of fear or the faithlessness of others—in fact, your obedience to unrestrained praise is what inspires others to press on.

 

If you would like to read more from the words of worship series, check out these blog posts:

Digging out the words of worship: O Magnify the LORD

Why the words we use in worship matter!

The practice of surrender | The words of worship