Celebrations
People celebrate all kinds of things for different reasons and in different ways, but most of the time, people celebrate with people they love.
In this episode Anna dives into looking at what Jesus says about loving others while we celebrate - while we feast and dine together.
Guess what I am celebrating:
I’m putting up fairy lights on my roof
I’m looking for eggs in the garden
I am blowing out candles on a cake
I am eating a delicious feast
When I turned 12, I organised my birthday party in the Easter holidays and invited 12 friends but and only 2 of my friends could come. It was really hard not to take it personally. I cried. I was devastated. I felt like no one liked me, I had no friends, I was not popular (this was really important to me). I rescheduled it and everyone could come, but the feeling was horrible. I will never forget feeling like I was left out like that.
Luke 14:12-14 “When you give a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbours. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.”
Inviting people to a celebration, dinner or banquet who are not going to give something back, something like love, good company, presents, entertainment?! That’s crazy! Unheard of! But amazingly loving!
Do you know anyone who is poor, crippled, lame or blind? Jesus is listing people in his day who didn’t have any friends. Who is it today who has no friends? People who are bossy, mean, annoying? Can we invite them to our parties?
It is much easier to stay where we feel comfortable - with people we get along with, people who are fun, easy to chat with, people who aren’t strange or different from us.
There was once a little girl in Kindergarten who was turning 5 and she was allowed 5 friends to celebrate with her. She thought of 4 girls and there was space for one more. There was a boy in her class who was often absent, wore an older style uniform that was different to everyone else’s uniform and was always sad and alone at school, so she invited him. He didn’t come, but she wanted him to feel included. Who was that girl? Yep, that was me.
Why would Jesus ask us to include different kinds of people in our celebrations?
John 13:34-35 “But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
Including people who are lonely and who don’t have many friends is a really beautiful way to show them love in the way Jesus has commanded us to.
Discussion Questions:
Is there someone you know who does not like Christmas? Why don’t they like it?
What is something loving that you could do for them this Christmas so that they might not feel so sad at Christma?
Contact…
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Website: thewordonthestreetpodcast.com
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For an episode on Jesus Birth, click here
