“Joy does not come to you if you are spiritually passive; rather, joy is cultivated, but joy is cultivated by things you do. And the ‘things you do’ that cultivate Christlike joy are the Spiritual Disciplines.”
-Donald S. Whitney
We come to the final post in our series on the spiritual disciplines. It has been ten weeks of fruitful reflection and writing as I prepare these presentations on the biblical witness and lived experience. At the beginning of this series, we defined the spiritual disciplines as “following Jesus in the overall style of life he chose for himself.”1 As Christ followers, we accept and aim for the goal that God has destined for us. He told us what that destiny is in Romans 8:29a, “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” We want to look like Christ. But we won’t get there through passivity. So we engage the disciplines of studying the Bible for ourselves, prayer, and times of solitude. We live simply and sacrificially. We steward everything God puts in our lives. We serve others, we gather for worship, and we confess sin one to another. The final discipline to discuss is the discipline of celebration.
I can hear you asking, “Celebration is a spiritual discipline?”
“Celebration heartily done makes our deprivations and sorrows seem small, and we find in it great strength to do the will of our God because his goodness becomes so real to us.” -Dallas Willard
As alluded to in the opening quote from Donald S. Whitney, we do the spiritual discplines so that we can become more like Christ. We do not practice the disciplines in order to be saved! If you believe in Jesus Christ and have repented of your sins, you are already saved by Jesus’ work (delivered by grace, through faith), not your works (Ephesians 2:8-19). Christians do good works not to be saved but because we are saved and because they make us more like Christ. Ephesians 2:10 goes on to say, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Celebrating God and what God does is as inherent to becoming like Christ as reading the Bible and prayer. While we will look broadly at the Bible on this issue, we also want to answer the question, what can we learn about celebration from the life of Jesus?
We know Jesus celebrated the holy days that God commanded in the Old Testament. These holy days marked God’s work in human history to show grace and mercy to His people! We see Jesus and His parents observing the pilgrimage festival of the Passover in Luke 2:41-43. Jesus also observed it at the end of His earthly ministry when He was with His disciples in the upper room just prior to His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22). Like Passover, we have explicit eyewitness testimony that He observed the Feast of Tabernacles (aka, the Festival of Booths, or Sukkot) in John 7 and 8. We also know He observed one holy day not commanded by God in the Old Testament; specifically, we know He observed Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Dedication,2 in John 10. We do not have explicit witness to Jesus observing the other festivals (Pentecost/Feast of Weeks, Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur, etc), but as the only person to ever perfectly keep the Law, we know He observed everything He needed to.3 What holy days do we see the church then observing? Jesus’ birth, His death, burial, and resurrection, Pentecost, and more.
We know Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath, but He also kept the Sabbath. The Pharisees didn’t think He did! But He kept it perfectly at a level they did not understand. God designed the Sabbath for our good. We celebrate God on the Sabbath and what He has done! As Christians in the 21st century, we follow the example of the apostles and the other early Christians, who chose to gather on the Lord’s Day (that is, Sunday) for the purposes of Bible reading, prayer, gathered worship, and fellowship with one another.
“Celebration is central to all the Spiritual Disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity the Disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees. Every Discipline should be characterized by carefree gaiety and a sense of thanksgiving.” -Richard J. Foster
We see what heaven celebrates in the words of Jesus. If heaven celebrates those things, then we know Jesus does, too, since He is the king of heaven! Luke 15 shows us three incredible pictures on this subject. Each of the three parables there show a picture of something or someone lost who is then found. A lost sheep, a lost dowry coin, and a lost (prodigal) son. In each story, that which was lost is found. The shepherd leaves the flock of 99 to find the lost 1. The woman sweeps the entire house until she finds the coin. The father runs to his returning son! What do all these parables have in common? Jesus uses these stories to show us what heaven celebrates. Heaven celebrates when a lost person is found in Christ! Luke 15:7, “I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.” Luke 15:10, “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” While we do not have a record of Jesus commenting on the parable of the lost son afterwards, we know that in the story he tells, the father throws a huge, lavish party to celebrate the return of his beloved son. Do you get it yet? Christians celebrate when sinners are forgiven! When the lost are found! When those who were stained by sin are washed as white as snow by the blood of the Lamb!
In the broader witness of Scripture, we see more arrows pointing to the simple expectation that God’s people are those who celebrate what God celebrates. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is a time to laugh and a time to dance (among other things). Psalm 95:2 calls to us, “Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to him in song.” Christians celebrate God!
Psalm 118:24 reminds us to celebrate the simple things God gives. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” We so frequently take for granted “normal” things like waking up to see another day. Or eating another meal. Drinking another cup of coffee, or reading a book for pleasure, the joy of seeing a friend, or the blessings of family. Psalm 118:24 is that reminder to rejoice about those good things that God gives. It also reminds us that the source of the good gift is God, not our own efforts or bank accounts!
Philippians 4:4 is an encouraging verse that I also find very, very challenging. It says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Rejoice ALWAYS? What about when things aren’t very good? What about when things are objectively bad? Yes, dear reader. Rejoice even then. Those moments are the ones where rejoicing in the Lord will make the most impact on your own soul. I’ve walked roads where rejoicing is difficult and even seems impossible. I’ve had those days, those conversations, those sufferings. Will you let me tell you that I got through those days with far more stability, comfort, and joy when I chose to obey God by rejoicing in Him? I was not always faithful to obey God with joy on those days; don’t get me wrong. I’ve failed like anybody else. God has used my failures to help me see the incredible difference between the days when I rejoice and the days when I don’t. Furthermore, the reality of experiencing days where we do not feel like rejoicing is evidence that celebration truly is a discipline. It is a structured choice in spite of circumstances. Jesus is our leader and example in this discipline. Hebrews 12:2b says, “For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” There is more joy to be had on the other side of the trial. Hang in there and celebrate God!
“Here is one of the most important disciplines of engagement, yet most overlooked and misunderstood. [Celebration] is the completion of worship, for it dwells on the greatness of God as shown in his goodness to us. We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness.” -Dallas Willard
I want to close by once again providing a list for further reading. I cannot recommend these books strongly enough, if you want to read more about these disciplines.
I opened with a quote from Donald Whitney. Allow me to close with one. “The time to pursue godliness is now, and the way that God has provided this for those who stand forgiven by grace is through diligence in the Spiritual Disciplines.”4
- Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
- Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
- Mason King, Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
- Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives
- Missed it? If so, you can catch up at this link: https://adamwchristman.com/2025/08/19/an-introduction-to-spiritual-disciplines/ ↩︎
- Hanukkah means “Dedication” or “Consecration.” ↩︎
- Since Jesus is without sin, He would have nothing to atone for at Yom Kippur. But I would imagine He participated at least in some way. I can’t wait to ask Him what those years were like when I see Him face to face! ↩︎
- Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 167. ↩︎
Leave a comment