A point often overlooked when we talk about Lent is its celebratory nature. Throughout the week we remember our complete need for healing, but doing so makes our rejoicing all the more honest.  During the week we are reminded that without the Light we’re lost, but we remember that “Sunday’s a-comin’!â€Â On Sunday we celebrate the resurrection. We celebrate the God who brings the dead to life and calls nonexistent things into existence.
But what might a celebration for partakers in the ‘kingdom of God’ look like today? What would it look like if, from the world over, members of the kingdom—the kingdom belonging to the Just and Holy, the Faithful and True—gathered under the same roof and celebrated their King? I’m reminded of worship at Urbana ’09. I’m reminded of the jubilant throng of men and women leaving the St. Louis stadium just after midnight on New Year’s Eve. Walking through the halls we celebrated in Kiswahili, singing “Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe†(“There’s no God like youâ€).  See videos of this here and here.
The stadium’s janitors and security looked on with curiosity. People exiting this stadium after a game or a show, no matter how magnificent, usually hurry to their cars and out of the CBD to escape the gridlock. But not these. Not the people who’ve just gathered 17,000 strong to celebrate this King.
That is how I imagine a celebration in the kingdom of God.
Sundays during Lent are for that kind of joy. [Read more…] about Why Should You Celebrate This King?