Party Like an Octogenerian!

I wasn’t late according to the invitation, but the street filled with Oldsmobiles, Buicks, and a handful of Cadillacs told me a different story. Night was just beginning to fall as I searched for a parking spot.

As their new thirty-something pastor, I was the guest of honor at the annual Christmas party for church members in their eighties, and I did not yet know the formal times listed didn’t actually matter. They started early and ended early. They knew how to party and be in bed by 8:30! The food was great, the laughs were loud, and the fellowship was warm. It seems like an odd combination: senior adults—and Baptist ones at that—partying hard! I had so much fun that I attended seven or eight years in a row. I learned to arrive at this house first as I made my Christmas party rounds.

The reason they knew how to party is they knew who and what to celebrate. Long gone were the days of celebration revolving around music, popularity, or stiff drinks. This crew had been through a lot of life together: deaths, downturns, upswings, proud parenting, prodigal parenting, and a lot of Christmases. The latest fashion, coolest toy, or keeping up with the Joneses had no power over these grannies and grampses. As a result, they celebrated deep friendship, a strong church, and most importantly, the Savior born in a manger.

In this merrymaking of wise men and women, the important things were in view. They had prayed and seen the Savior at work for decades and would see Him face-to-face sooner rather than later. This reality informed their smiles as they kindly asked, “Would you like a piece of pie, Pastor?”

Luke 15 is also filled with important partying. The celebration gets louder and deeper with each discovery, producing celebration in heaven and on earth.

“I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

See, the heavenly party is driven by repentance. When we realize our sin and turn to our Savior, the eternal purposes of Bethlehem are realized. Jesus didn’t come just to teach us or to become our life coach; He came to save us from the penalties of sin. He is the Savior of the world and desires to be the Savior of our souls—one heart at a time.

Luke 15 includes three parables: Ten coins and one was lost. One hundred sheep and the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine for the one that’s lost. Then it gets personal, a lost son. A baby boy celebrated at birth, swaddled, rocked to sleep, fed thousands of meals at the dinner table, loved for years. And then he is lost, gone, running away from endless blessings by choice. A deeply loved part of the family and then a prodigal.

But in due time, far in the distance along the horizon is his silhouette. This lost child has repented and returned! Let’s party! This is no coin or lamb but a person with a name, and he’s been found!

As we attend Christmas parties, let’s celebrate the right and righteous things. Past the clothes, desserts, and décor, a Savior is born. This birth is for us so that we might see and know God; so that we might also repent and return to Him. In the chaos of the season, sometimes we lose sight of the gift Jesus is to us. We forget that He’s made a way for us to be right with God because He died on the cross for our sin and was raised victorious. He calls us to repentance and return to the Father who loves us, and it is a heavenly party when we do!

My senior adult friends knew how to throw a Christmas party because they concentrated on the correct who and what of Christmas from the depths of their souls. Let’s focus on the same and party—at least until 8:30 p.m. Ha!

Prayer

Father, give me the maturity to celebrate who and what really matters this Christmas.