Celebration happens when we experience what we consider a “big deal” in our lives. A wedding, for instance, is a day of celebration. So is the birth of a child. Graduation, receiving an award, or starting a new venture are all causes for celebration.
When something is a “big deal” we treat it like a “big deal.” It becomes obvious through our reaction that it is a “big deal.”
That’s why we clap our hands and go crazy when people are baptized. Baptism is a public demonstration of what Jesus has done in someone’s life. It is a statement to the world that a person has decided to follow Jesus, and that Jesus has brought them from spiritual death to spiritual life; from being destined to hell to destined for heaven; to being without hope and purpose to finding a new purpose- the advancement of God’s Kingdom through their lives.
That’s a big deal!! That’s why we celebrate it!
It’s also why we celebrate when we have a public, eyes-open response to the Gospel and people stand in front of everyone to profess their new faith. What just happened was a BIG DEAL- the biggest of all deals!- and we celebrate it!
However, having a culture of celebration does not just mean that- when the “big deal” happens, we react with joy and excitement.
It also means that we come with joyful expectation over what could happen.
We don’t wait to express our joy and excitement until after we see God do a great work. We express it before it even happens in anticipation that God is going to do something.
Another way to put that is this: our joy and excitement is based on our hope. We may not know what God is going to do- but we have a deep-seated hope that He is going to act. In Psalm 39:7 (NIV), David writes “My hope is in you.”
Yet another way to put it is this: Our joy and excitement are rooted in faith. After all: “ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV). Faith is not a flimsy, wishy-washy hope, but a joyful expectation that God is going to work all things out for His glory and our good.
So that begs the question: How can we tell if we are coming with a sense of expectation?
Two thoughts:
#1- What does my worship look like?
I’m not just talking about whether we participate when we sing- though we should. And, I think whether we sing and the degree to which we participate in our time of singing can be a good reflection of the condition of our heart. After all, when we sing our point is not to pick songs people like and it’s certainly not to entertain people.
We sing to celebrate Jesus. And so how we engage with that is often a good reflection of whether we come in with a sense of expectation- or whether we come in with the mindset of “It’s just another Sunday.”
Now- engagement is going to look different for everyone. Some will clap. Some will raise their hands. Some will sing at the top of their lungs. Others sing much quieter and more introspectively. It will look different depending on the person, but if we are carrying a sense of expectation over what God could do, we will be deeply engaged…and it will go beyond Sunday morning, because worship is not something we do on Sunday- it’s the life we live throughout the week.
A lifestyle of worship is ultimately one that is obedient. Not out of a sense of duty or obligation, but rather out of a faith that trusts that God is at work and He works through the lives of faithful followers. We love, serve, and forgive because we expect that as we follow Jesus- even when it’s hard- God is going to work in a way that results in His glory.
In fact, you call tell what your worship looks like most readily by asking how you respond when life throws you a curveball. When we freak out, blow up, or just lose control, it’s a sign that we still have a ways to go in letting God root a sense of expectation more deeply in our hearts.
After all, if we really believe that God is going to work things out in some way- even if we don’t know how and even if it’s not our preferred way- our response to the unexpected is going to reflect that.
#2- How is my sense of mission?
When we carry around a sense of expectation- one that celebrates what God is going to do before it even comes to pass- we become much more active in the mission of God. We invite people to church. We go into spiritual conversations even though it feels awkward. We look for opportunities to engage people with the Gospel, whether through our actions or our words because we expect that God is at work.
And when we expect that God is at work, we realize that not a single moment in our lives is “chance.” There are not accidents and no coincidental encounters. Every single encounter is an opportunity to show Jesus or share Jesus.
When we have a sense of expectation, we begin to really live on mission because we really believe that Jesus is with us on mission (Matthew 28:20) and that Jesus will build His Church (Matthew 16:18). That gives us the confidence to be on mission with a joyful expectation that Jesus will draw people to Himself as His Spirit works through us.
As we move out of the summer, into the fall, and into the launch of Limitless Life, let’s ask God to deepen our sense of expectation. And- I believe a people that live expectant lives will have far more opportunities to react to what God did, because expectant people are faithful people, and faithful people live on mission, and as we live on mission people come to know Jesus- and there is NOTHING worth celebrating more than that!