Most people love a celebration. At this time of year, many of us have celebrated graduations. Others have celebrated births, retirements, employments, recoveries. And, many will be celebrating Independence Day this week.
The term “celebration” itself reminds us of times that are festive, joyful, happy. The LORD has graciously revealed about himself that he wants his people to celebrate, to be a people characterized by festivity, joy, and happiness. As someone has said, “Christians should have the most parties.”
But celebrations can be hollow and shallow. You might have had the experience of being present for a celebration, of even going through the motions of celebrating, yourself, but having a sense that you shouldn’t be celebrating, that it is not lasting, it is not true, it is not real.
Imagine, for instance, the colonists celebrating Independence Day while signing oaths of loyalty to King George. Imagine celebrating Independence Day this year while promising our “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to Russia and Vladimir Putin. The celebration rings hollow, won’t last, and does not deliver lasting joy.
Paul is making precisely this point with the believers at Corinth, and the believers in any church of his (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Disciples have great reason to celebrate that “Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.” But holding on to the “leaven of malice and evil” is like lighting the fireworks and immediately donning the King’s red coat. It’s like escaping Egypt and longing to return there. It’s escaping sin and continuing in sin.
It’s having before you a banquet table loaded with delicacies, and choosing to eat a moldy sandwich you brought from home.
We cannot celebrate our rescue from captivity and from corruption at the same time that we are behaving like captives and engaging in corruption. In other words, we can’t celebrate release from the penalty and power of sin while we excuse, coddle, nurture, and justify sin in ourselves or in our faith family.
No one would want to eat moldy cupcakes at a birthday party. We should not want to celebrate the sacrifice of Christ by eating the leaven of malice and evil.
When the LORD instituted the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it was an annual affair. “Celebrating the Festival” was a special occasion. But, with the institution of the Lord’s Supper, God has graciously provided that we can celebrate the festival much more often than annually.
In fact, Paul seems to indicate that a disciple of Jesus Christ is to be continually celebrating the festival, not just annually, not just quarterly, monthly, or even weekly, but continually. What a privilege this is! And what an opportunity to be continually throwing out the old leaven, and continually replacing it with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth!