Philippians 4:4-7.                              Rejoice in the Lord always.                                           13/12/15

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 

5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Rejoice in the Lord always. Do not be anxious about anything. These are rather extraordinary statements to be made to us who are living in the real world where things never seem to work out as they should. Anxiety and glumness continually creeps into our lives as we face difficulties and tragedies. So how can God say to us: Rejoice in the Lord always. Do not be anxious about anything. And all that.

Surely when we face the death of a loved one there will be sadness; Even Jesus was sad and wept when he walked this earth. When terrorism strikes; even if it is the other side of the world; our anxiety rises because the same threat is there in our own country. We are living in a sinful world where we are constantly confronted with all kinds of problems, sickness, disasters and death that shake and un-nerve us.

So again God’s message here leaves us somewhat uneasy. What does it mean for us here today? Can we; Rejoice in the Lord always. And not be anxious about anything?  Well that is what God is telling us, so we need to explore how this can be.

Now the first thing that has to be said in this matter is that as sinful human beings we are always going to struggle with this. Because we are turned in on ourselves and look at these things from a worldly point of view, we cannot help but see the bad and the sad and be dragged down by it all: Especially as there is so much of it all, all around us.

We cannot help but see these terrible things and be saddened by them. We see what we do to one another and cannot see any improvement; in fact it is getting worse all the time. Above all, death is always before us, and when we do not consider God and what he has done for us in Jesus Christ, then, it is all a fearful thing.

Sadly for all of us we do not think about God anywhere near as much as we should. We think simply of our own reasoning and of what the world around us sees as important, and so naturally are dragged down when things don’t work out as we think that they should. Without God and Jesus Christ this world is a scary place.

Now we can do what so many around us are doing and pretend that there is no God. But that even makes it more unnerving, because then we have to pretend that things are not so bad and that they will get better in the future. But deep down we know that they aren’t and will never be. In fact, the way we are going from an earthly point of view, we are fast destroying our world around us.

So when we look at life from the perspective of self-centred and self-focussed people we are always going to struggle to be positive and joyful always. No matter how hard we try, real life will have its impact on us. We don’t have to look very far or wide to see this reality in all of us.

However the second thing we need to keep in mind with all of this. is Jesus Christ. Now this reading comes up at this time of the year as we are reminded that Christmas is just around the corner. God sends his Son into our world to bring about peace, hope and joy to a world that has lost these things. In our endeavours to make a life for ourselves we have brought this misery on ourselves; but God has come to give us a way out. It is only with him and what he does for us that we are able to even consider what he has to say to us about rejoicing and not being anxious.

Jesus comes and takes on himself all that causes us to be unable to rejoice and be gentle. For everything that takes away our peace, he takes on himself the punishment for it all. So all that happens in our life that makes us anxious and sad, now has the sting of death and hell taken out of it. Even though we face all kinds of difficulties and tragedies, they now no longer can take away eternal life in heaven with our God.

Through Jesus’ coming into our world, and his life, death and resurrection a way has been opened up through all the consequences of sin. His death on the cross ensures that forgiveness is there for every sin that we have committed and which has been inflicted on us. Nothing then can now separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

So now we can be sad at the loss of a loved one, or the tragedies of a society that has gone off the rails and suffering loneliness, alienation, bullying, depression and all kinds of things that are seriously affecting that happiness of our world and ourselves. But at the same time we can rejoice, for we now know that our Lord has covered all those things. He has ensured that he is using it all for good, for those who love the Lord Jesus. None of those, including death itself, can separate us from God and the good that he has in mind for us in heaven.

So now we can get on with life in a positive manner, while at the same time acknowledging the real and tough world that we have to live in. As long as we stay close to our Lord: or more to the point, as long as we recognise that God is close to us in Jesus Christ we are able to go forth boldly and confidently, while at the same time being realistic about the world that we live in.

To help us to do so, though, we need to regularly gather together in his house so that he can give us what we need to stay focussed on him. We need to regularly be reminded that in our baptism we were joined to him and the good he has in mind for us. We need to regularly hear the words of forgiveness pronounced to us, because we still sin much. We need to continually hear his word read, expounded and studied so that we can know what is good and right for us to think, know and do. As often as we can we need to receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion so that we are further strengthened and encouraged as his people in a very real way. Then we also need to have the blessing of his presence placed on us so that we can be ever sure that he is with us always, doing what is good for us.

With all that help and reassurance we then are able to face all that takes place in our sinful world around. We can rejoice in the Lord always; even in our sad and troublesome times. Not with a false outward joy, but with that inner peace, hope and joy that comes from knowing that our Lord is with us through it all; and that he will in the end bring it all to that good conclusion that he has in mind for us all.

Now we can also Let our gentleness be evident to all. There is no need for us to seek to get even, or fight back. We don’t have to try to lord it over others and manipulate and use others so that we can get ahead. Nor is there any need for us to build ourselves up in the eyes of others in an attempt to be more acceptable and popular. In every way we can be gentle in our attitude toward others.

We can do it all because we are continually assured that the Lord is near. God is with us now throughout our lives so we can rest in the knowledge that he will see us through and get us to the end, no matter what happens to us along the way.

That also then means that when things are not working out the way we think they should, we Do not need be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. In every situation we can now call on our Lord who is near to do what he knows is right and good and helpful in those situations. We can present all our requests to him and know that he is in control and will use it for good.

Instead of being anxious, we know that he will do what is best. Now of course that does not mean that he will take many of these troubles away from us. He does not promise to give us health, wealth and happiness always. We can see the results all around us of what happens when we have more than sufficient for our needs. He now uses sufferings and hard times to draw us or others closer to himself or to remind us that we cannot do life on our own without regard for him.

With that assurance we can face everything with the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. With him near we are now able to be at peace knowing that it will all work out for good. We know that because of Jesus’ coming, life, death and resurrection that the Lord now loves us, forgives us and has heaven awaiting us when our time is up here on earth.

We also in the midst of all of this have his promise that he will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. All we are called on is to remember that he is near to us. He will do what he can to keep us safe and in his care.

 The danger is that we turn our backs on him and all that he is and has done for us. Then we will again look to ourselves and our world around us, and the realities of life will drag us down once more.

So no, as we approach Christmas again this year, let us make sure that we allow him to remind us of the extent that he is prepared to go for us: All so that we can face life in a sinful world with hope and confidence. May he then again strengthen and grow in us the peace, hope and joy that he has for us. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 

To him again then be all glory and honour, now and always. Amen.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish