By Charlie Fuller
You know the story. There’s a hidden video camera in place. One of our armed forces personnel who’s been overseas for extended service sneaks up on their loved one, usually at a public event. The last thing in the world their loved one expects is to see their service person, who is stationed halfway around the world. The loved one who is the object of the surprise might be a spouse or, even better, a child.
At some point in this wonderful ruse, the service person, always in uniform, is revealed to their family. What follows are the tightest hugs you can imagine. There are whoops and hollers. The tears flow. Tears among the family, the onlookers, and even those watching the video. You’ve seen some of these videos. Admit it. Your eyes got just a little moist, too. Not with sadness, but with joy.
Now think of the party that follows. Think of how the hugs continue, how the joy flows between them. Think of how important the conversations are. After all, they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
The coming of Christ is often referred to as a massive party. In Scripture we see words like “banquet,” “feast” and “dinner.” It’s a time of celebration. It’s a graduation, a birthday, a wedding reception and even a reunion. All rolled into one. Yet so much more.
And a banquet requires preparation. Intentional actions are required to prepare a place for joy to happen. It’s true for spiritual celebrations, spiritual banquets, too.
We don’t often think of celebration as a spiritual practice, but it is. The point of a spiritual practice is intentionality. We have to be intentional about looking for God, about finding ways to connect the physical world and the spiritual world. Celebration doesn’t just happen. It takes intention. Someone has to prepare the food, line up the venue, arrange for the right people to be there, etc.
Spiritual celebration is no different. It takes intention. Today we celebrate the one we thought dead and in a tomb but is now in our midst. Today we send and receive spiritual hugs, whoops and hollers and maybe even shed a tear or two. The one we thought dead is yet alive, living in our midst, available to us as both God and friend.
What’s more to celebrate than that?