Year A, Pentecost 19 Philippians 4:1-9
“Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice…The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything…” When I read this, my gut reaction was,
“Whatever Paul, you aren’t experiencing 2020.”
I am not proud of that, but I doubt I am the only one who had that
reaction. That said, Paul would never be
confused for a Pollyanna. As I mentioned
in my last sermon, everything was urgent and of the utmost importance because all
things circled back to Jesus Christ crucified for us. While 2020 has been a rough year, I haven’t
been beaten, shipwrecked, or imprisoned….not once. Any of you?
But Paul experienced all of that after he became a disciple of Christ. He experienced each of those things multiple
times. He was writing this letter to the Philippians from prison. Therefore, for him to be able to advise
people to “Rejoice in the Lord always…” is rather astounding.
If
you look at the word “rejoice” in Greek, which is the language most of the New
Testament was originally written in, you will find it is in the plural
form. He isn’t telling individuals to
rejoice because their individual lives are joyful. He is referring to the collective act of
rejoicing. It’s not a personal state of
being, but a communal experience. This
communal joy doesn’t even come from communal good fortune, it comes because of
the faith of the community. This is interesting given that it comes right after
he has urged Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind. Given that message and the reference to
dissension in previous chapters, there is a clearly some division in the
community. It is a concern for Paul, but
also an opportunity to a deeper experience of community.
When he tells these two
women to be of the same mind, he isn’t telling them that they need to agree on
everything. We all know that it is
impossible. He is reminding them of what
they do agree on. Right after he tells
them to be of the same mind, he reminds them and the community that they have
struggled beside him in the work of the Gospel.
Whatever their differences are, they believe in the same Gospel, the
same Jesus Christ. Not only that, but
they have given their lives to proclaiming the Gospel, even though it is a struggle. If they can do that, then they can get past
these differences.
I think the only thing
harder than rejoicing in the time of COVID is Paul’ next request: “Do not worry
about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your request be made known to God.” Do
not worry about anything—except a pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes, murder
hornets, a national recession, racial tension and an election more divisive
than any other in recent history. Other than that, it’s smooth sailing. It’s so annoying when people tell you not to
worry because it feels as though they are downplaying a concern of yours, one
that they probably don’t understand. The other thing that irritates me about
Paul’s advice, is that he doesn’t seem to be able to follow it. Earlier in this
very same letter to the Philippians, he said that he was sending his co-worker
and minister so that he (Paul) would be less anxious. But remember, for Paul, it was always about
the other. He was worried for them,
God’s people, not about his own life. He
wasn’t stewing about when he would get out of prison or if he would get out of
prison. He was worried for this new
Christian community. So he sent his
colleague, a fellow Christian who would carry the Gospel, which would in turn alleviate
Paul’s worry.
Paul didn’t deny that
there were things to be anxious about, he just didn’t want people to dwell on
it. He didn’t sit there in prison
worrying about his friends. He sent
someone, someone he knew would help them and thus alleviate his anxiety and
theirs. “Do not worry about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God.” For
Paul, as long as the relationship between Christians was strong, as long as the
relationship to God was strong, then anxiety would never prevail. It would never be the all-encompassing
emotion it can be so often.
The following verse is
my favorite part of his letter…the part that comforts me every time I hear it---the
part I don’t feel the need to argue with. “And the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
We could try to do all the right things, follow all Paul’s advice and every
single commandment. And things could
still unravel around us. There is so
much in our lives we cannot possibly control.
Yet God’s peace
operates beyond our daily life. We often
hear people refer to inner peace. I
think that’s because people want to hold on to it and claim it as their own. They want it to be something that they can
attain. God’s peace, the peace that
surpasses all understanding is bigger and
bolder than whatever peace we think we can attain and grasp by ourselves.
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