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Embracing Celebration as a Discipline

Feb 18, 2025

Lecture Notes: Celebration as a Spiritual Discipline

Introduction

  • Final Discipline: Celebration
  • Acronym VIM:
    • V: Vision
    • I: Intention
    • M: Means

Vision

  • Develop a vision of life in the Kingdom of God.
  • Jesus' promise: "I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly."
  • Jesus as a living reality, present to teach and guide us daily.

Intention

  • Clarity of direction and a decision to follow Jesus without turning back.
  • Quoted William Law: importance of intention in a devout life.

Means

  • Spiritual disciplines that help grow in grace.
  • Celebration as a "means of grace."

Celebration as a Spiritual Discipline

  • Augustine's view: "The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot."
  • Example from Acts: lame man walking, leaping, and praising God.
  • Celebration involves joy following life changes, restorations, and divine interventions.

The Spirit of Joy

  • Quote by Evelyn Underhill: "The spirit of hurry and the spirit of joy do not reside in the same house."

Ways to Celebrate

  • Festivals of Worship:
    • Old Testament: Festival of First Fruits, Passover, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah.
    • Suggestion: Create festivals to honor mission history and saints.
  • Cultural Celebrations:
    • Halloween could celebrate saints instead of darkness.
    • Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, May Day.
  • Personal Celebrations:
    • Family events and personal achievements.
    • Example: A child’s piano recital as a family celebration.

Celebration in Daily Life

  • Personal experiences of celebration.
  • Emphasis on community and letting go of rigid expectations.
  • Celebration tied to forgiveness of sin and grace.

Importance of Rites of Passage

  • Celebrate life, birthdays, and anniversaries.
  • Example: Producer’s 28th anniversary.

Conclusion

  • Benediction: Encouragement to receive the joy of the Lord.
  • Celebration Definition: Giving thanks to God for personal and family blessings.
  • Difference from Worship: Worship focuses on God’s greatness, while celebration involves expressing gratitude.
  • Discipline of Celebration in Hard Times: Most needed in difficult times.
  • Augustine's view re-emphasized.
  • Personal Story: Discovery of celebration through a stay at a Franciscan monastery.
  • Encouragement to engage in physical expressions of joy, like skipping, as a form of celebration.
  • Closing thoughts on how disciplines lead to a glorious life in God.

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