Celebrate!

Psalm 95:1  Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

 

Psalm 98:4  Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!  Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!  With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD,

Psalm 100:1  Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4  Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!  For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Clearly, God expects that His people would celebrate Him and the things that He has done.  We have much to celebrate. Christians should be the happiest and most fun people in the world.
I love the picture of Jesus in Luke 10. Jesus had sent out 72 disciples to preach and teach and do miracles.

Luke 10:17-20  The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

 I don’t believe that Jesus is rebuking the disciples for celebrating the victories that they experienced. I think that he is recalibrating their focus. Jesus gave them the authority. He did not want them to ignore the authority that He had given them. But he doesn’t want them to focus on that. He reminds them to rejoice that their names are written in heaven. Everything else can change. You may be living in victory today, enjoying fruitful ministry, seeing miracles every day, experiencing peace and joy in your relationships and in your heart. All of that can change. Or you may be in the pit, after a time of living in absolute defeat…children estranged, an angry husband, no real friends, going through a divorce, facing bankruptcy, depressed, distraught, no impact on your family or friends.  All of that can change.

Every Jesus follower can celebrate that our names are written in heaven. AND THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE. Once we belong to Jesus, we are always his, and that is cause to celebrate.

 Luke 10:21-22  In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

There are different words used for joy and rejoicing.

10:17 “The seventy-two returned with joy”;  joy – kara “; cheerfulness, calm delight, normal word for joy

10:20  “rejoice that your names are written in heaven." rejoice-chairo; to be full of cheer, calmly happy

The disciples were cheerful, happy.

But look at Jesus.

10:21 “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit”-- rejoice-agaliao- to jump for joy, be exceedingly glad, jump up and twirl around— rejoiced greatly, exulted, with exceeding joy  

 Jesus is really happy, jumping up and down for joy kind of happy, dancing for joy happy, because His disciples, his friends were getting it. The Father had opened their eyes and revealed to them the authority that came from the Father to Jesus, and passed on to Jesus followers. This is not the 12, He is talking to 72 of His folks.

The 72 were rejoicing, they were happy and excited because they had seen miracles, but Jesus was REJOICING, beside himself with joy because of the experience of these.

Jesus is sitting on his throne in heaven, but he doesn’t just sit there all the time. When Stephen was being stoned to death, he saw Jesus standing, as if he was ready to greet Stephen as he joined Jesus in heaven.

Maybe tonight, Jesus sees some of his children “getting it”, understanding truth, living radical faith, loving Him more, and maybe he is jumping up and down, dancing, twirling around because he is so happy.

 We are to imitate Jesus, and we have Jesus living in us, so we should celebrate like Jesus.  Right???