The Life of the Party

Consider this, my variation on my wife's sermon start this weekend:

They signed up to do God's work. That's what it was all about, wasn't it? The political junkie was ready to overthrow the oppressive government. The fisherman was looking for people to convince. The quiet mystic was thinking about those hours in contemplation of the ways of God as it is taught by the Rabbi. Others are looking for adventure or a change of scenery.

So where does he take them?

To a wedding.

And what does he do first?

He changes water into wine.

That doesn't sound like either the Jesus of Sunday School teaching or the Big Hairy Audacious Goal-incarnation of MISSION. Instead it's an earthy, commonplace celebration of life. Maybe all work and no play is as real for followers of Jesus as it was for whoever made it into a parable. Come to think of it, a lot of Jesus' miracles were down-to-earth. After all, they were with people facing the down-to-earth problems of living and dying.

But a party? Is that mission? He even keeps it a secret.

But it isn't about him- it's about the Kingdom of God. The way the world can become more and more the place where God is present. What's wrong with God being present at a wedding and helping them celebrate?

Tony Campolo, in a sermon titled The Kingdom of God is a Party, tells the story of throwing a birthday party at 3:30 in the morning for a local prostitute. When asked what kind of a church he preached at, he answered

"I preach at a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning."

"No you don't," said one of the others. "I would join a church like that."

Which Tony points out, is exactly the kind of community Jesus came to start!

That is the Kingdom of God!