We celebrate many things. Weddings, for example, are great times to get together with friends and family and enjoy two people committing their lives to each other. We celebrate accomplishments educationally with graduation ceremonies. We recognize promotions and certifications professionally. We belong to various organizations that celebrate in their own ways what they value as important. Even as individuals we may choose to have a public or completely private celebration of some personal achievement.
Throughout life we celebrate milestone birthdays and anniversaries. As we watch young children grow, we celebrate new development and growth milestones – seeing the first smile, getting that first kiss, taking those first steps, etc.
Celebrations are good, even though they may be repetitive. How many times have we sung “Happy Birthday” in our lives? Yet, we know we will do so again many times and we’re OK with that. How many times do we plan to celebrate New Years? Probably as many New Years as we will experience. How ridiculous would it sound for someone to tell us “Oh, I’m not celebrating New Years this time. I’ve already done that.” Huh? We’d think such a thought was crazy. It’s a time to celebrate!
Today is Easter Sunday. For my fellow believers, it is a time to celebrate what is at the core of our faith – that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, defeated death and rose again having been crucified on our behalf to take the penalty for our sin. Easter is a time to celebrate the promise of resurrection for all who repent of their sins and place their trust solely in what Jesus has completed on our behalf.
The songs sung in Easter worship this morning have been sung by millions for many years. They will be repeated again next year. And we’re OK with that. In fact, we need to do that as a regular reminder of what we believe and what binds believers together.
So regardless of the context, recognize the value of celebration, even the repetitiveness of some celebrations year after year. Some of them never get old, nor should they.
Leap year lesson #96 is Celebrate what is important again and again.
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