I went to college and I graduated from college.  All three of our children went to college and all three graduated.  However, one thing was starkly different about our college experiences.  My college experience was about 98.8% responsibility and 1.2% fun.  Our children, while I do not know the exact percentages, all had a much better balance in their approach to college.  They acted responsibly and they also had fun.  They enjoyed their friends and their activities and their school spirit.  I envy them for the way they approached college.  They were not “party hardy” people who got crazy and did illegal or immoral things.  But they did have fun.  And they had scholarships and they got good grades and they got college degrees.

One of my very few regrets in life is that I have not had more fun and have not experienced more joy.  It is no one’s fault but my own.  One of the few regrets of my life is that I have incessantly approached life as a duty and seldom approached life as a party.

In the Bible our relationship with God, our identity in Christ, and our relationships with others are described in many different metaphors: family, soldiers, athletes, farmers, Body members, sojourners, servants, ambassadors, and stewards to name a few.

But, what about “joy” and the Christian life as a “party?”  There are multiple biblical references to the party and rejoicing and celebrating activities.

Nehemiah 8:9-12.  “This day is holy to the Lord; do not mourn or weep.  …Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Luke 15:10.  Jesus told the parable of finding the lost sheep and ended that story by saying, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:24.  After the prodigal son returned the father threw a party “and they began to celebrate.”

Zephaniah 3:17.  “The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior.  He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

Gal 5:22, 23.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.”

Phil 4:4.  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

As followers of Jesus we have duties to perform and laws to obey and a mission to accomplish.  These all demand our serious attention.

Without denying or in any way minimizing these duties, it is also true that the Christian life, when lived well, has a major element of joy (inside of us) and also of rejoicing (which is the inner joy being demonstrated or spilling outside of us).

Joy is available and expected because we have been rescued.  And the Holy Spirit enables joy in us.  And we have the resources that we need for life and godliness.  And our God loves us intensely.  And we have something meaningful to do with our lives.  And we are heading for an eternity of joy and plenty and fulfillment in the presence of our Father.

The Christian life is a party because our God is worth celebrating.  And our own rescue is worth celebrating.  And our present is worth celebrating.  And our families are worth celebrating.  And the Body of Christ is worth celebrating.  And our future is worth celebrating.

Much of the partying in our nation is done to escape the realities of life.  The joy and the party of the Christian faith are both available to us because of the realities of our spiritual lives. 

When we rejoice and party we are not trying to escape the realities of our lives, we are actually living in harmony with the realities of our lives.

This week will you kindly reflect on the fact that “The joy of the LORD is our strength?”

This week will you take a specific initiative to get in touch with the inner joy of knowing Christ?

This week will you take specific initiative to celebrate our God and to enter into the party of being in relationship with Him?

I am not inviting you to be irresponsible and ignore the commands of God.  I am asking you to be responsible and give attention to all the commands of God.  There are days to clean the garage but there are also days to celebrate a birthday or a job or a problem solved.  Without ignoring the garage on its given day, will you also throw the party on its given day?

This week will you take one specific initiative to “Join the party of faith!”?