Deliverance Deserves a Party
Have you ever noticed how uncomfortable some Christians seem to be with celebration? We've somehow developed this notion that being spiritual means being boring and solemn. However, in the book of Esther, we discover something fascinating... when God delivers, it's time to party!
The story of Esther is remarkable - a young Jewish orphan becomes queen of Persia and ends up saving her people from genocide. But there's something equally significant that happens after the deliverance. Something we all could learn from. Instead of simply recording the event and moving on, Mordecai established a feast called Purim that would be celebrated every year.
This wasn't just a quiet, contemplative memorial. It was a full-blown celebration with eating, drinking, gift-giving, and joy. In fact, to this day, Jewish people celebrate Purim with noisemakers to drown out the name of Haman (the villain of the story), costumes, and incredible meals. They party because God delivered them from certain death.
Here's what strikes me... They didn't just celebrate the first time - they've been celebrating for over 2,500 years. Each celebration remembers God's faithfulness and passes the story on to the next generation. The party has a purpose.
As followers of Jesus, we have an even greater deliverance to celebrate. Through Jesus, we've been delivered from death to life, from darkness to light. Yet sometimes we act like we're attending a funeral rather than a feast. We've forgotten that communion itself was established during a celebration - the Passover meal. Jesus gave us this remembrance not just as a somber ritual, but as a celebration of our deliverance.
Think about it - if the Jewish people still celebrate their deliverance through Esther with such joy, how much more should we celebrate our deliverance through Christ?
We each should ask ourselves... Do I truly celebrate what God has done? Do I approach something like communion as a celebration or just a ritual? Have I lost the joy of my salvation?
Maybe it's time we learned to party like God's people in Esther's day - with gratitude, joy, and celebration of God's deliverance. After all, we were headed for death, but God gave us life. If that's not worth celebrating, what is?
So let's not miss our moment to celebrate. Whether it's in worship, communion, or daily gratitude, let's remember that deliverance deserves a party. Because when God reverses death to life, that's worth celebrating with everything we've got.
"This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy." - Esther 9:22
Keep looking up,
Pastor Alan Hannah
Pastor Alan is the lead pastor of Allegheny Center Alliance Church. To find out more about ACAC, go here.
