Worshipping with Body
“We so often lead lives forgetful of the fact that our God is very shocking. Amidst all our fragile piety and devouring busyness, we have a Lord who steps in and commands us such things as, “Thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever they soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household” (Deut. 14:26). Such unthriftiness. Such waste. Such gluttony. Such winebibbing. Such is a command of our holy God.
For some reason foreign to our modern ears, God tells us that celebration is central to pleasing Him; it is central to leading a good life. Modern American life has no time for serious celebrations as did life in centuries past. We’ve got work to do; projects and deadlines press us. And yet for all our industrial-strength pragmatism, few if any truly important things get accomplished. We have forgotten that celebration isn’t just an option; it’s a call to full Christian living.
Celebration is worshipping God with our bodies, with the material creation He has set up around us. Celebrating–whether in feasts, ceremonies, holidays, formal worship, or lovemaking–are all part of obeying God’s command to “love the Lord thy God with all thine heart”… God’s redemption and creation ought to keep us in a perpetual state of thanks which bursts out in celebration at every opportunity.”
- Douglas Jones, Douglas Wilson, Angels In The Architecture, p. 80.
