Is celebration ever a solemn occurrence? - Celebration - TouchPoints

Leviticus 23:27-28“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord. Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you.”

1 Kings 8:62-63Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the Lord. . . . And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:17, 20-22In the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. . . . When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. . . . I certainly will not praise you for this!

Dedicating someone or something to God’s use is a meaningful celebration that is marked with a special seriousness of commitment. And taking the Lord’s Supper (also called Communion or Eucharist) is a solemn celebration of Jesus’s death for us—a solemn time to remember the horror of the crucifixion, accomplished so that we might be saved. In the early church, this celebration was often accompanied by a meal, but the Apostle Paul reprimanded the Corinthians for taking that solemn celebration and turning into a party where folks were not caring for one another—only for themselves and the food they could get.