Let's talk about celebrating. What are some reasons to celebrate?
Our verse comes from Romans 12:15. The first part of the verse states: Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Is the Bible telling us to party with those who party? Not likely. Is Paul saying that we can get wild and crazy and let loose? I don't think so.
These words from the book of Romans remind me of the words of Jesus when he told the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son. In each of these stories, something is missing, or is lost, or has wandered away from where it should be. When the sheep, the coin or the wayward son is found, those who had been searching are delighted. They call to their friends to share in their joy. The friends come to celebrate because that which was lost was now found.
I think this is what Paul is teaching us: get involved with your friends' lives. Don't just show up for birthday parties. Don't just be a bus buddy for field trips for school. Get to know them well enough that they want to tell you when their dad gets a new job or when their brother gets an award for perfect attendance. Be the kind of friend that can talk about Jesus and jump for joy when your friend become a Christian.
We do this because life is all rainbows and sunshine, right?
If we have learned anything from the Corona virus, it is that everything we counted on to be normal can be taken away in a matter or weeks or days.
In the same way that coins have two sides: heads and tails, the first part of our verse has a counter-part: mourn with those who mourn.
Ever since the fall in the Garden of Eden, our world has been broken. Jesus was born, lived and died in order to heal the relationship between humans and God. The rest of creation, however, is still broken. There are natural disasters. There are famines. There are broken relationships between people. There is pain. There is hunger. There is fear. There is hatred. There is death. Everybody experiences the brokenness of creation on a daily basis.
Sometimes those experiences hit more personally or hurt more deeply. Being a friend at the level of rejoicing also means being a friend at the level of mourning. Be the kind of friend that gets a phone call from your friend when their Dad loses his job or when their brother gets cut from the basketball team.
Here's an example: Several years ago, T-Bone's grandma died. He was very sad because he was close to his grandma. He cried when he heard the news of her passing and he cried at her funeral. For weeks after her death, he would think about her and get really sad. His parents helped his aunts and uncles clean out grandma's house. T-Bone cried again when he found out grandma's house had been sold. A few more weeks passed and T-Bone realized he still missed his grandma but he wasn't sad like he had been before. As weeks became months, he could think of his grandma and smile because of the memories he had of his grandma.
T-Bone has a friend named Cliff. Cliff just found out his grandpa has died. What can T-Bone do? He can do the easy thing and say a quick "I'm sorry" while looking at the ground. Does God want us to do the easy thing? No. I think T-Bone should look his friend in the eye and say "I'm sorry you lost your Grandpa. I lost my Grandma and I think I understand your pain.Whenever you are ready, in a couple of days or a couple of weeks, I would like to tell you about my experience with my grandma's death."
If you can become a "rejoice when rejoicing/mourn when mourning" friend then I think you will have friendships that will cause God in heaven to sit forward on his throne in order to delight in you.
Joke of the week (for math nerds)
I celebrate 4/20 on January 5th
Why?
Because I like to reduce fractions.
Bonus joke of the week
Which birthday can you celebrate for the shortest length of time?
Your twenty-second birthday.