We’ve rounded the corner and are heading for home in our reading of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. We’ve arrived at the closing exhortations wherein Paul is instructing this congregation in how they’re to conduct themselves.
4 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Yes, as Paul draws his letter to the Philippians to a conclusion he leaves them with a series of instructions. This is often Paul’s way: in the first part of his letter he lays theological groundwork – so not so many commandments; but afterwards he’ll go toward a series of exhortations that build upon that theological foundation.
Or, to use another metaphor: think of a typical letter from Paul like a tree: the trunk is the teaching about what is true, what is real. Then out from that trunk are these branches of how to apply the truth. And from some of those branches emerge smaller branches of application and commandment…
You have a classic example in this section. Up until chapter 4 Paul has been largely concerned with explaining the correct way of looking at things, theological truth, invisible realities. Much having to do with the supreme value of Christ Jesus our Lord. There’s our trunk. Then verse 1: Therefore. Now here comes the application, the main branch of instruction that come out of the theological truth.
Coming off the trunk of theological teaching in Philippians is this main branch: stand fast in the Lord. Then, coming off that main branch, in the following sentences Paul details what that standing fast in the Lord looks like. One command emerges out of the previous, though each could also stand by itself.
Stand fast in the Lord by dealing with the interpersonal conflict that has arisen between these two women. And you women, toward healing your relationship, rejoice in the Lord always.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. This is a command. NOTICE: We can learn from this command about how to interact with other commands.
First observation: we won’t go wrong if we first hear this – and other commands – generally. Let the initial, general thrust of a command make a deep impression.
What’s the general thrust of this command to rejoice in the Lord? Christians are to be a cheerful bunch.
I’ll pause for that to sink in.
If we exegete and theologize our way to a vague sense that “rejoice” actually means “be grim” or “be stressed out” or even “be unhappy,” we’ve over-intellectualized this command into something unrecognizable. But that’s exactly what often happens. Even though Paul is falling over himself to state and restate and restate again that believers should rejoice, often believers are perpetually worried, unhappy, stressed out, defeated.
But (you say), what about Job, psalms of lament, differing personalities, the theme of trials…. And truly, there are a lot of other things to take into consideration when it comes to this command to rejoice. More on that in a moment. But then, in taking in all those factors we shouldn’t lose the forest for the trees… and end up not rejoicing. And like I said, this often happens, and scarily often to the more learned, sophisticated theologians/ pastors/ Christian leaders. And they get to their unhappy place by over-explaining, overcomplicating rejoice in the Lord.
Christians are summoned…repeatedly… here in the same sentence repeatedly – to rejoice. That could come to our ears as finally unimportant. All that’s important is what I believe, or that I’m getting things done. But no! Rejoice in the Lord is a command.
So, do you rejoice in the Lord? Don’t ask yourself the question: Do I rejoice? Ask your spouse that question: am I generally cheerful?; or am I sarcastic, cutting, distracted, worried, critical, complaining?…. Ask your mom. Ask your friend. Ask your kids.
Ok, there’s our first step: hear these commands generally without getting into the weeds.
Second observation about following through on this command and others, and it goes the opposite direction from what we’ve just said – rejoice in the Lord requires some thinking. Almost every command requires extra thought. I remember when I was young my dad would be working on something and he’d say, run and get me the crescent wrench. And I’d scurry off with my mind racing: First, what’s a wrench? And then, crescent wrench?
If I tell Tess to water the lawn when I’m at work – which seems simple enough – she actually has a lot to think about before she can properly follow through. How long for each zone? How will I remember to move the sprinkler? What sprinkler positions allow for the best coverage? Etc.
Rejoice in the Lord generally has something to do with cheerfulness, being in good spirits. But there’s other stuff to think about. Does rejoice in the Lord require a certain look? {I’d say “No,” but then if in my look of “rejoicing” I’m sending waves of spiritual moroseness and cynicism and world-weariness to those around me, I’ve likely missed the mark of rejoicing in the Lord.}
Also, to rejoice in the Lord will I need to put a mask over my pain? {I’d say that’s not the best way of putting it but rejoicing in the Lord will require me to turn the focus away from myself and my suffering and toward the Lord. Recall that Paul wrote this from prison.}
When you hear rejoice in the Lord and realize this requires some thinking, you might look inside your mind, then shrug, I keep forgetting that little step, that thinking about rejoicingthing. You suppose with this rejoice in the Lord command you’re being given a simple instruction like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz: just click your heals and think fondly of home.
No! With rejoice in the Lord you have some serious spadework to do to dig up thoughts. Not because the truth is buried but because our minds are buried under selfishness and triteness and immediacy.
When Christ gives you commands, like almost every real command they’re normally complex or cluster commands (more on this later). You won’t be able just to mindlessly go out and solely do that one thing, you’ll likely have to do several things, including having to think hard.
But – re-stating that second main point: fulfilling this command will require deliberate thought. If we’re not deliberate…disciplined… in digging up reasons to rejoice in the Lord, we’ll discover that we’re not rejoicing in the Lord. Instead, we’ll find ourselves worrying about _____________, we’ll be annoyed by ______________, we’ll be thinking small, unhelpful, tawdry, often selfish – either self-pitying or self-loathing – thoughts.
The real thinking in rejoice in the Lord is that in the Lord bit. What does it mean to rejoice specifically in Jesus? I remember about a year ago sitting in a coffee shop with Ben Colledge and we were thinking together, listing what it means, what angles to take, to rejoice in the Lord. I recall our list reached at least 15 aspects. And I’m pretty sure we didn’t feel close to being done.
Rejoice that there is such a person in the universe.
Rejoice that that person has reached God’s right hand.
Rejoice that he is the Lord over everything that could be lorded over.
Rejoice that no secret gets past him, no trickery confounds him, no wiliness manipulates him.
Rejoice that this person is a human being, and he’s a great credit to the human race.
Rejoice in his character as demonstrated in Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark 3, Mark 4, Mark 5, Mark 6, Mark 7, Mark 8…
Rejoice in his success, his attainment, his fame.
Rejoice that his success was in saving fellow humans.
Rejoice that he calls these fellow humans “brothers and sisters.”
We could keep thinking for a long time. In fact, I’m not attempting to be rhetorical here: a long lifetime isn’t long enough to make that much headway in unearthing reasons to rejoice in the Lord. We see this even in non-Jesus humans. I’ve lived with Tonia for 26 years and remain fascinated by and encouraged by her. And she is 100% creaturely. Now, what about the Creator-Human? Repeat: a long lifetime isn’t long enough to make that much headway in unearthing reasons to rejoice in the Lord.
Regarding the thinking demanded by rejoice in the Lord, I’ll forward you a couple fundamental sentences, both written in the first chapter of James. Please turn there:
James 1:17: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
What that means is, if something good happens, it comes from the Lord. And when James refers to God as the Father of lights, he springs another big idea on us. As frequently as light comes down from the sky so often does God pour good on us. That is, all the time. Then, to be sure that he’s making himself clear, James states the same thing negatively. There are no shadows in God’s light, that is, there are no interruptions in the goodness of God streaming into the world, into the Church, into this church, including our lives.
At the men’s gathering the other night to discuss politics, the first question we asked is: in connection to government, politics, this election, where do we find reasons to be thankful? To start with thanks – that’s the Christian instinct! When we sit down before something…anything are we used to scanning for God’s gracious provision?
Rejoice in the Lord involves keeping your eyes open because you’re expecting to see good. All kinds. Sometimes the Father of lights gives us a light show, as he did with the northern lights this week. Or…I was driving at daybreak this week and about 20 second into our neighborhood I saw in the early morning light an almost fluorescent green bird fly from the street into the trees. Gifts here; gifts there. But those are extra-ordinary things, a lot of the same goodness just keeps showing up. Jesus is Lord. The Son of God is ordering these. There’s always a lot of material at hand to rejoice in the Lord.
The other sentence that will take you a long way into proper thinking about rejoice in the Lordis found in vv. 2,3 – – notice that it’s with this striking thought that James chose to begin his letter: Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Instead of simply wallowing in the panic or embarrassment or discouragement of trials, ask yourself the question: what am I being tested on right now? Because James assures us, in various trials you’re being tested by the Lord – in what you believe, what you value, what you’re claiming as success or failure markers, where precisely is your hope. Tested in order to be perfected.
What am I being tested on right now? You might not be able to answer that question, but it’s helpful to remember that it is a relevant question. Because the truth is that the Lord has taken upon himself as his project your development into a full human … and from his untouchable, mega-competent, lofty position at God’s right hand he is turning everything toward your progress. In our weakness – right in the middle of it – we discover the Lord’s strength at work.
To rejoice in the Lord, then, includes the habit of training your thinking to keep returning to the fact that the triumphant strength of Christ extends into our ventures and adventures, even the gloomy ones.
We ended our political discussion the other night mulling over the implications of God saving the world through history’s greatest miscarriage of justice, the Crucifixion of Jesus. As that…no, in that impoverished, abandoned, exhausted, bleeding man suffocating to death in front of an unconcerned public, God was destroying the dark powers by making atonement for image bearers’ sin.
Think about it! Rejoice in the Lord. Because the risen and victorious Lord is always building, even and especially in our trials. Open up your natural eyes to see the Lord’s goodness, and may the Spirit give the eyes of faith to see the hand of the Lord as you suffer.
Ok, about rightly handling commandments: 1) hear and follow the command generally. Rejoice means rejoice! If my dad sends me for the crescent wrench and I come back with a hammer because of this, that, and the other – – the Greeks and the Romans and the philosophy of Plato and you don’t know what I’ve been through…I haven’t obeyed. 2) The command, though, does require me to think. While rejoice can’t mean something less than or different from rejoice, I’ll still need to think my way through discovering how and why to rejoice in the Lord always.
The final remark about obeying these commandments is that 3) obedience will often require other actions than the main action. In order to rejoice in the Lord, I’ll likely need to do other things beside rejoicing in the Lord. Remember, cluster commands?
This is how a Christian’s whole life ends up looking different than that of someone who is of the world. In setting out to obey just a few commands, he finds himself having to make many changes, and his schedule and spending are transformed.
We’ve pointed out this phenomenon of cluster commands before. For example, the Church is instructed amongst themselves to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. That’s the bare command… but it will require some pre-work. If I’m going to rejoice with someone is rejoicing, I’ll first need to know that he is rejoicing. Before obedience must come information. And then I can’t know if someone is rejoicing unless I’ve been around him. Which means we’ll have to get in sync…repeatedly…and not just be by each other but he’ll need to open up to me… which means he’ll need to have found me trustworthy.
So, you see what has happened? To rejoice with a fellow believer who is rejoicing requires information, which requires proximity + time, but also a certain disposition, and we haven’t even talked about atmosphere.
What actions, what changes are required for us to rejoice in the Lord always?
Let me present the list to return to next week:
What actions, what changes, what dispositions and attitudes are required for us to rejoice in the Lord always?
- το επιεικες
- Figure out that the Lord is near
- Pray with all the prayers
- Tend to your thought life
- Get around the truly godly
Church, rejoice in the Lord always. AMEN.