what now?

Dear family,

Who doesn't like to party? I dont mean like frat boys party, but i mean who doesn't enjoy spending time with other people, without any other purpose, but to enjoy each other's company? Maybe a good barbecue makes it possible? Or a birthday party? I have been to retirement parties, anniversaries, graduations, etc. We like, as a people, to have reasons to celebrate. We enjoy parties.

And as we close the book of Genesis, we need to party. The Jewish people had over five times, a year, that they would gather together and party. These special celebrations lasted days and some as long as a week, but they would come together and just enjoy not having anything else to do. No work. No chores. No bills to pay. Nothing to do but laugh, love, and dance. Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of their parties, was that they were centered around religious celebrations. For the Jewish people, then and now, these festivals were times to gather together to honor God. They partied. More than that, their partying was a form, an intimate expression of their love of God. They came together to worship, and their worship looked like a communal party.

My oh my how we have lost our way.

I dont know who is to blame: the Puritans who took the fun out of Christianity or the Calvinist, especially in America, who made life about work, moving ahead, earning a dollar, etc, or the prohibitionists who thought outlawing liquor was God's will. Really? Didn't a specific miracle include changing water into wine?

Whatever the reason, my sense is that we have lost the art of partying as a form of worship. We have lost the art of dancing as if no one cares. We have lost the art of laughing as if no one is around. And we have lost the art of gathering together, without an agenda, as if just being with one another was good enough. We have made church and worship so mechanical that we have lost the beauty, the mystery, and the awe of it. And along the way, i believe, we have lost a little bit of ourselves.

But we can reclaim it. And so we must. This Sunday, at eleven AM, in the Fellowship Hall, we are going to party. We are going to laugh. We are going to eat. Tell stories. And enjoy each other's presence. And the greatest part of this morning is that through it all, we are going to worship. Worship a creative and loving God. Worship the God of the harvest. Worship the God of wine and water. And worship the God of all creation, thanking him for just being alive. This Sunday, we are going to return to our roots and throw a party, just for us, to honor what God has done as we close the book of Genesis and open the Gospel of Matthew.

Thank you for being so patient as we journey through a difficult and long book. Now i ask that you commit and covenant with me to stay ahead and read Matthew along with us. That way we can all be on the same page and when we close Matthew, we can party and we will party, once again. Amen.

Shalom,
jerry