Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.  These words from Philippians chapter 4 come before us twice a year in the lectionary:  on Thanksgiving Day and on Gaudete Sunday.  I have had nearly fifty opportunities to preach on them and each time I have made a conscious, deliberate decision NOT TO until today.

Terrible, isn’t it?  And so why is that?  It’s because these words have seemed to me like one of those well-meaning but annoying people who tell us to smile-- without a clue as to what is going on in our lives at that moment. 

But since I’ve preached on the ministry of John the Baptist about twenty times, I was “forced” to deal with them this week.  And I have to say that I am glad the Lord dragged me kicking and screaming to actually listen to what he is saying and I hope you will be glad too.  The Spirit says to us today:  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 

What changed for me this week regarding these words is the realization that the Lord is not asking us to put some dopey, fake smile on our face.  He is not asking us produce an emotion that we cannot manage. 

What he is asking us instead to do is simply receive a gift that he very much wants to give us. 

That’s what joy is after all:  a gift of the Spirit.  A gift.  Not something that God demands of us-- but something he freely bestows on us as an act of his gracious love.  When we hear those words and understand them that way it really does change everything they direct us to the goodness of God!

Our Savior God has poured out his mercy and love upon us.  There is not one good thing that he has withheld from us.  He has given us our life and all the blessing of that life.  He has given us his Son Jesus who died for us and was raised for us to give us a new, eternal life without end.  He has given us his Spirit so that we can receive these gifts in faith and he wants to give us the gift of joy that is fixed (not upon the hardships and difficulties of life) but fixed upon this God of blessing and abundance who loves us with an everlasting love.

That’s what joy is—it is a deep, heartfelt understanding of who God is and who we are as his children that results in deep contentment and peace and happiness that is not diminished in hard times. 

I want that gift of joy for myself and I want you to have that gift of joy too.  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

It’s a slight exaggeration but almost for as many English translations of the Bible as there are, there are that many different interpretations of the word “reasonableness”.  Some say “moderation”.  Some say “forebearance.”   Others says “graciousness or mildness or gentleness”. 

The reason for the variety of translations is because there is not a good English equivalent for the original Greek words or even a good Latin equivalent. 

So let me describe what the Spirit wants us to show in our lives.  Let me give an analogy.  As I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, I have been avoiding this text for decades.  I dug my heels in and refused to preach on it. 

And yet for all the time that God’s servant and son (me) was acting like an unreasonable child, his heavenly Father was kindly, graciously, gently asking him to receive a gift that he desperately needed, and what’s more:  what his flock needed too.

That attitude of gentle, patient love is what the word means and we can only see it and understand it clearly in the way that our heavenly Father and his Son Jesus treat us. 

The Bible says that God deals kindly with us because he knows that we are merely dust.  The Bible says that Jesus will not blow out a flickering wick.  And so then, when our heavenly Father patiently forgives his wayward people again and again; when Jesus takes little children into his arms and cares for the sick and sad, there that words is.

What joy it gives us to know that this is the tender, gentle, patient, heartfelt love that our Savior God has for us-- and he calls us to extend that same gentle, patient, heartfelt love to others.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand…

These words stand at the center of our text and they point backwards and forwards in helping us to understand what God wants us to know today. 

First of all, these words serve as a reminder that God is near to us and sees how we treat others and he wants us to remember to treat them with the same gentle, patient love we have received from him.

Second of all, these words also point forward in our text to assure us that we can rejoice, no matter what we are facing, because the Lord is near.  We are not alone with the troubles of this life.  We don’t have to bear overwhelming burdens on our own.

Our mighty Savior God who loves us with an everlasting love is right there with us in every moment of life, comforting us with his presence.  The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything.

In the United States, one in every five people, 40 million people have anxiety severe enough to be treated medically.  That is staggering!  I am thankful to the Lord that he gives doctors and medicine to help those in need. 

But our Lord reminds us today that there is no need whatsoever for us to be anxious about anything because he is near us.

 He is near us when we are struggling in our marriage.  He is near us when our children have gone in a frightening direction.  He is near us in money problems and health problems.  He is near us throughout our lives and in the moment of our death.  

He sees what is going on in our life.  He knows what burdens us.  And he knows best how to help us. 

Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

You have heard people (who ought to know better) say about some difficult trial, “Well, there’s nothing left to do but pray”. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, prayer is not the last the last resort!  It is not the thing to do when there is nothing else left to do!  Prayer is the first line of defense in dealing with the sorrows of life and it is bulwark against everything that would make us anxious and rob us of joy.

Just think about prayer for a moment:  the one, true and living God of the universe, the one who is powerful and wise above all else, the one who created you and supports you day by day, the one who gave his Son to rescue you for time and eternity, invites you to speak to him about anything on your mind and promises to hear you and answer you for your good!

Prayer is just the opposite of worry and anxiety.  Worry comes from having a conversation with yourself about events that you have no control over.  Anxiety is utterly self-defeating, and unproductive.

Prayer is just the opposite!  Prayer is talking to the God who is mighty and powerful and strong to save and trusting that he will come to your aid.  Prayer is the source of deep and abiding peace and joy because we know that the Lord is so near to us that he hears the even the unspoken sighs of our inmost heart. 

And along with our requests for what we need, we are to thank God for what we already have.  This too is a key to joy.  So often in our life, our trials and difficulties blind us to all the good things God has already given us. 

But when we combine our requests for what we need, along with thanksgiving for what we have, we are reminded what a powerful, loving God we have and how he can be trusted to come to our aid because he always has!  Knowing that, worry and anxiety have to give way to joy and peace.  The Bible says that:

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

            Here is what the Holy Spirit wants us to pictures with these words:  a marine standing guard at the entrance to a military base.  Here’s the point: 

That we are God’s children, that we are reconciled to our heavenly Father by Jesus, that he sees and meets our needs, that he is with us in every moment of life—these promises stand guard over our heart and mind against every spiritual enemy of worry or anxiety that would rob us of joy and hope. 

And so then, God says to us today:  Rejoice in the Lord always!  Again I say rejoice!

Friends, these words are not a burden that we cannot bear-- but they are a blessing we cannot be without.  God grant you joy and peace in this holy season and always!  Amen.