The Christian Party
Christians should have the best parties. There, I said it. Let the stones fly!
My churched friends now think I’ve compromised the call to a higher standard (or worse). My unchurched friends are shaking their heads, thinking, “What do you know about partying?! The Christians I know are only about keeping their lists and avoiding their sins, not my idea of a good time.”
Jesus’ first exercise of divine power was turning several large containers of water into the best wine in the whole county, so a great party could keep going. This is what John wrote about this amazing event:
“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee … when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine’ … Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’ … When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine …. (the master of the feast said) ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”
John calls this first miracle a “sign,” a dominating picture of what Jesus’ ministry is all about. One writer asks, “Why would this be his inaugural act? Why would Jesus, to convey what he had come to do, choose to turn 150 gallons of water into superb wine to keep a party going?” Good questions. How we answer these questions cements our understanding of Christianity for good or ill, and whether we’ll join the party or not.
Turning water into superb wine was a “sign” of what Jesus' ministry is all about because Jesus came to bring a feast of joy, a banquet of delight, a party of paradise. Jesus is the Master of the Party, the Lord of the Feast, the welcoming Host of the Bountiful Banquet. Jesus’ salvation is a feast. His redeeming grace and loyal love are like wine, making the heart glad. This is real Christianity.
Certainly, Jesus’ work of salvation is legal or objective. In other words, something done FOR US that we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus lived a perfect life for those who do not and cannot. Jesus suffered cosmic abandonment at the cross for those who should. Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to unleash and reign in the kingdom of God, bringing his helpless little brothers and sisters with him. All this and more is certainly legal, objective AND deeply personal. Jesus’ salvation reaches the depths of the God-shaped hole in our souls.
The Bible invites us to join this great party. The Bible calls us to “taste and see” this salvation. We are invited to deeply experience the wonder and work of the Master of the Party, the joyful feast of his love and grace.
Those of us who are churched need to see that we are not just called to agree and rationally believe in Jesus’ salvation, we are called to join the party - to personally experience it. Therefore, rather than only agreeing and believing that Jesus is loving, we can come to a deep sense of the reality, the beauty, the power, the otherworldly joy of His love. To borrow the words of a great American pastor and theologian from the 1700’s, Jonathan Edwards:
The difference between believing that God is gracious and tasting that God is gracious is as different as having a rational belief that honey is sweet and having the actual sense of its sweetness.
Jesus’ salvation is like the flowing wine of a great party. “His love can become more real to you than the love of anyone else. It can delight, galvanize, and console you. That will lift you up and free you from fear like nothing else” (Tim Keller). This is what Jesus’ ministry was all about. This is what real Christianity is all about.
If you are a churched friend and are still hung up on the whole alcohol bit, be careful not to have higher standards than Jesus and not to miss His feast of joy, His party of a grace-salvation. Only an ongoing taste of the wine of God’s love for us in Christ keeps us from becoming slavishly religious – dutifully performing for God to get his love, acceptance, and blessings.
If you are an unchurched friend and are still a bit confused by putting Christianity and party together in the same sentence, let me assure you that real Christianity is very clear about partying. The Bible says that all things as we know it will end one day in the greatest party ever thrown, and it will never end:
On this mountain, the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain, he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken (Isaiah 25.6-8).
Party on.
My churched friends now think I’ve compromised the call to a higher standard (or worse). My unchurched friends are shaking their heads, thinking, “What do you know about partying?! The Christians I know are only about keeping their lists and avoiding their sins, not my idea of a good time.”
Jesus’ first exercise of divine power was turning several large containers of water into the best wine in the whole county, so a great party could keep going. This is what John wrote about this amazing event:
“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee … when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine’ … Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’ … When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine …. (the master of the feast said) ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”
John calls this first miracle a “sign,” a dominating picture of what Jesus’ ministry is all about. One writer asks, “Why would this be his inaugural act? Why would Jesus, to convey what he had come to do, choose to turn 150 gallons of water into superb wine to keep a party going?” Good questions. How we answer these questions cements our understanding of Christianity for good or ill, and whether we’ll join the party or not.
Turning water into superb wine was a “sign” of what Jesus' ministry is all about because Jesus came to bring a feast of joy, a banquet of delight, a party of paradise. Jesus is the Master of the Party, the Lord of the Feast, the welcoming Host of the Bountiful Banquet. Jesus’ salvation is a feast. His redeeming grace and loyal love are like wine, making the heart glad. This is real Christianity.
Certainly, Jesus’ work of salvation is legal or objective. In other words, something done FOR US that we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus lived a perfect life for those who do not and cannot. Jesus suffered cosmic abandonment at the cross for those who should. Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to unleash and reign in the kingdom of God, bringing his helpless little brothers and sisters with him. All this and more is certainly legal, objective AND deeply personal. Jesus’ salvation reaches the depths of the God-shaped hole in our souls.
The Bible invites us to join this great party. The Bible calls us to “taste and see” this salvation. We are invited to deeply experience the wonder and work of the Master of the Party, the joyful feast of his love and grace.
Those of us who are churched need to see that we are not just called to agree and rationally believe in Jesus’ salvation, we are called to join the party - to personally experience it. Therefore, rather than only agreeing and believing that Jesus is loving, we can come to a deep sense of the reality, the beauty, the power, the otherworldly joy of His love. To borrow the words of a great American pastor and theologian from the 1700’s, Jonathan Edwards:
The difference between believing that God is gracious and tasting that God is gracious is as different as having a rational belief that honey is sweet and having the actual sense of its sweetness.
Jesus’ salvation is like the flowing wine of a great party. “His love can become more real to you than the love of anyone else. It can delight, galvanize, and console you. That will lift you up and free you from fear like nothing else” (Tim Keller). This is what Jesus’ ministry was all about. This is what real Christianity is all about.
If you are a churched friend and are still hung up on the whole alcohol bit, be careful not to have higher standards than Jesus and not to miss His feast of joy, His party of a grace-salvation. Only an ongoing taste of the wine of God’s love for us in Christ keeps us from becoming slavishly religious – dutifully performing for God to get his love, acceptance, and blessings.
If you are an unchurched friend and are still a bit confused by putting Christianity and party together in the same sentence, let me assure you that real Christianity is very clear about partying. The Bible says that all things as we know it will end one day in the greatest party ever thrown, and it will never end:
On this mountain, the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain, he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken (Isaiah 25.6-8).
Party on.
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