Why We Need to Party More | The Sacrament of Celebration

By Thomas Blevins | Pastor, Grace City

Years ago I met Joe through an employee at the coffeehouse I’d hit up throughout the week as I “pastored the plaza.” Joe was a muscle-bound giant of a man with scars all over his body. At the time he was 34 years old and living with his parents, having finished serving a 13-year sentence for armed robbery.

The road Joe faced to become a productive and self-sustaining member of society was steep. Statistically the chances of Joe ending up back in jail were high. So our small group of misfit warriors wanted to change the script for him. We decided to take a page from the prodigal son story and throw a party for Joe.

We invited our friends to come. We reached out to connections from the justice system and some ex-cons who had turned their lives around. Joe’s sister showed up, and so did one of his cousins, whom Joe was trying to keep from making the same mistakes he had made.

I’m telling you, it was a transcendent time! We had cake and gifts and guacamole and chips. I asked Joe to share his dreams with everyone. And then the “tribe” that was present handed Joe a jar filled with close to $2,000 that they personally contributed to see his dream begin.

After he had finished sharing and tearing up, he pulled me aside and said, “You know what, Thomas? That was the first time in my life that I felt like anybody has actually ever listened to me.”

That night we celebrated a felon who needed a party. We watched an ex-con find hope. Fellow prodigals shared their own stories to help Joe not be so hopeless. And hope lets us believe that things can be different. It allows us to dream, changes our perspective; it sees the heart of potential. Hope means it’s not over yet and opens up doors for everyone!

The story of the kingdom is found in a raging fiesta for someone who doesn’t deserve one. The father says, “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again” (Luke 15:32, NIV).

The theology of grace is in the party.

The gospel is in the balloons and piñatas, which is made possible only by death and resurrection — the death and resurrection of Jesus and our own death and second-chance resurrection. So let’s party, celebrating our own acceptance by God and spreading the party to others who need it.

How can you help bring more celebration into your own life and others’ lives?