a surprise, but the occasion is usually not. When you’re given a surprise party, it’s your birthday, or anniversary, or graduation — something like that.
You don’t go to the dentist, get a good report (“no cavities!”) and walk out into the lobby, and have the whole dental staff yell, “Surprise!” and throw dental floss into the air, and have someone dressed up like a toothbrush. You’ve never finally cleaned out your in-box at work when you begin to notice that your co-workers have quietly begun to gather around your cubicle, and as soon as your computer dings when the last email has been sent out, everybody goes, “Surprise! You did it! Your in-box is clean!” and they’re high-fiving each other with staplers, and your boss is standing there with his cup of coffee saying, “Way to go, Bucko!” That just doesn’t happen, does it?
But I’ve discovered that parties in the New Testament are an especially big deal. Because parties show us what people celebrate. And what people celebrate is a big deal because what people celebrate shows us what people value. There are some who celebrate payday at the end of the month; others celebrate getting a report card. A party shows you what makes someone truly happy, and what signals one’s approval.
Have you ever wondered what God celebrates? There is a great story in Luke, chapter 15, called the parable of the Prodigal Son. The story ends with a party. And if the father in this parable represents God, he reveals something fascinating, because the father didn’t celebrate right behavior. He didn’t even celebrate rehabilitation. No. You see, God celebrates restoration. More than anything else. God celebrates restoration of relationship. He celebrates when the relationship has been put back together — not rule-keeping, but relationship. It’s like a father who lost a son, and the son’s come back home, and there’s restoration. Now we can party. And God is ready to celebrate.
In the name of the One who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
Bruce Jones, Pastor and Co-Creator, Imagine Church of the Carolinas
