Posted on 10/11/2008 10:13:46 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“Reasons to Rejoice, in Whatever Situation” (Philippians 4:4-13)
Maybe you saw the story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this weekend, “Worrying makes things worse.” It begins like this: “If there’s one word you heard more than any other to describe the mood of the economy last week, it was: fear. Fear was in the faces of traders on newspaper front pages and cable TV. Fear was quantified in the hefty drops in stock markets each day, in the 18 percent plunge the Dow Jones industrial average took between 8 a.m. Monday and 3 p.m. Friday. And all week, fear threatened to spread like a virus, beyond the stock markets and even the credit markets into the lives of business owners and middle-class Americans worried about their jobs, their savings and their companies. . . .”
The story goes on to refer to something called, “The Fear Index,” which tracks the use of words such as “fear,” “panic,” and “anxiety” in the financial press. And right now fear is at the highest level in the 26 years the index has been recording such data. “All that bad news,” the article observes, “magnifies people’s anxiety.”
Well, in the face of all that fear and anxiety, here comes St. Paul this morning, cheerfully calling: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” “Do not be anxious about anything,” he tells us. And Paul says of himself, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”
Come on! What is with you, man? Haven’t you read the news? How can you tell us to rejoice? What are you, Paul, some sort of Mr. Happy Face, an unrealistic optimist with your head firmly stuck in the clouds? Hel-lo! This is the worst economic crisis in the history of mankind, haven’t you heard? How dare you tell us to rejoice and not be anxious and be content?
Hey, maybe Paul was secretly a Buddhist or a Stoic. You know, both the pagan Asian Buddhists and the pagan Greek Stoics had a philosophy about not getting too upset about things. Maybe Paul is just practicing their philosophy and tuning reality out.
No, as we get into this a little further, we will see that Paul is not just an unrealistic optimist, nor a Buddhist mystic, nor a Stoic philosopher. Paul’s encouragements to us to rejoice and not be anxious and be content run much deeper than any of that. Rather, in our text today from Philippians 4, St. Paul gives us “Reasons to Rejoice, in Whatever Situation.”
He starts out: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” And right there we have the key to it all. Did you catch it? Rejoice “in the Lord.” That’s it! “In the Lord,” which is the key to all of Paul’s theology, or, as he puts it elsewhere, “in Christ.” For in Christ Jesus our Lord, we are able to rejoice, we have cause for rejoicing, in any and every situation. Paul is writing to Christians here. He would not, and could not, say this to people who do not know Christ. But we do know the Lord Jesus, we are connected to Christ by faith through the gospel and the sacraments. And to us Christians, St. Paul is confident to make his appeal: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
Rejoice in the Lord “always,” that is, in all circumstances. It doesn’t matter what the economy is doing, whether boom or bust. Your rejoicing doesn’t depend on the economy. It doesn’t matter who gets elected, Obama or McCain, the Democrats or the Republicans. Your rejoicing doesn’t depend on politics. Your rejoicing does depend on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. That is why Paul can tell you, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
It all depends on who the Lord is, and what he has done for you, and what he will do for you. This Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who came from heaven and took on our flesh and took on our woes and sorrows and sins. He yielded his life, willingly, to those who beat him and mocked him and nailed him to a cross, so that he could suffer and die for your sins, in your place, taking the wrath of God you deserved and letting it fall on him. The “Fear Index” would have gone through the roof as he approached that cross, but still Christ went forward, so strong his love to save us.
There was no other way to do it. It took Christ’s holy precious blood, shed on the cross, to pay for your sins and the sins of the world. Think of all the bad mortgages, all the overextended loans that are not going to be repaid, and bundle them all up, roll them into a ball, and it would not even begin to approach to mountain of debt, sky-high--literally, to the heavens--that our sins mount up to in the sight of God. You couldn’t pay it off in a million years. There is no manmade bailout package that would work. Only God can erase our debt, and it took the death of his only Son to accomplish it.
Which it did! Christ’s resurrection victory on Easter morning makes that plain. The debt is cancelled, paid off in full. Death, the wages of sin, is stripped of its power. This is what Christ has won for you! You share in the Lord’s life and salvation and eternal life! You are baptized into Christ and connected to him. Therefore, come what may--and it usually does--it is not far-fetched or unrealistic for St. Paul to tell us Christians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Really, it is quite realistic, and the reason is simple: It’s rejoicing “in the Lord.”
Through this same risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, we now have access to God, who hears our prayers as our kind and loving heavenly Father. This is how Jesus taught his disciples to regard God, isn’t it? “Your Father in heaven,” he kept telling them, “cares for you even more than he cares for the birds of the air or the flowers of the field. He knows what you need. Will he not give you food and clothing and shelter? Yes, he will. Ask, seek, and knock. Come to your Father and call on him in prayer.” And St. Paul here in Philippians says pretty much the same thing: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Here then is another reason to rejoice, in whatever situation: God hears our prayers. When anxiety comes calling, turn it over to God. Call on me, God says: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything. . . .” Anything and everything! Your health concerns, your financial concerns your loneliness, your sadness--about anything, in everything. Do not be anxious, but rather take it to the Lord in prayer. God wants you to come to him with your anxieties.
And here is the promise, here is the answer to anxiety: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace of God. That is the peace that God himself made with us when Christ ended the hostility in his body on the cross. The peace of God is objectively true. It is, it exists. God has declared this peace between heaven and earth on the basis of what Christ has done. Therefore it is sure and certain, you can count on it.
And so this peace of God will do a much better job of putting your heart at peace than your own understanding will. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” You may try to talk yourself into a state of peace, you may try to calm your fears and anxieties on the basis of human reason--rational arguments, for example, that the economy is going to get better, that the news is not as bad as they’re making it out to be. And that may work to a certain extent. It’s probably not as bad as the media is portraying. But that’s trying to guard your heart and mind on the basis of your own understanding. I’m reminded of my confirmation verse, from Proverbs 5: “Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Your own understanding won’t always work. Sometimes, some situations are really bad--the devastating loss of a loved one, a terminal illness, a financial catastrophe--and you can’t figure your way out of them. That’s when you need the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guarding your heart and your mind.
This election season we hear a lot about “battleground states.” Well, you have two “battleground states” right inside you: your heart and your mind. Your heart is a battleground, the battle being fought between faith and fear, to see which will prevail. Your mind also--your state of mind is a battleground state between peace and anxiety. What will keep your heart and mind safely in the faith and peace column? Nothing but the peace of God, which will stand guard over these twin battlegrounds of heart and mind. The peace of God will guard you; the God of peace will be with you. More reasons to rejoice!
Finally, there is this matter of being content. St. Paul writes: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Keep in mind, as Paul writes this, he is in prison! That’s a situation in which it might be hard to be content! And beyond that, he’s talking about his financial situation, whether he’s doing well or enduring hardship. He goes on to say: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Dear friends, contentment is a great gift from God. Greed, acquisitiveness, can eat you up. It strikes both rich and poor. If you’re poor, you want to be rich; if you’re rich, you want to be richer. There’s no end in sight--that’s the way it is with greed and covetousness. But contentment--ah, contentment! Then it doesn’t matter so much whether you’re blessed with abundance or are scraping by. You can manage either way, and you set your sights on where true riches lie, where your true treasure is kept for you, safe and sound in heaven. No one can take that away from you, no matter how much the stock market may drop. And nothing else can compare with that, no matter how much your portfolio may prosper. This is the secret to being content in any and every situation, namely, knowing where your real treasure lies.
“Reasons to Rejoice, in Whatever Situation.” You have them, you have them in abundance, just like St. Paul and the Philippians did. Haven’t you heard the news? The good news, I mean! The good news, the gospel, of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In him, in the Lord, you have the peace of God won for you on the cross. In Christ, in the Lord, you have access to a heavenly Father who loves you and cares for you from day to day. In Christ, in the Lord, you have the riches of heaven stored up for you for that day when Christ returns. Yes, dear Christians, you and I have a whole gospel full of “Reasons to Rejoice”!
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Ping.
The Scriptures are very clear. When we put our trust in the Lord, He is with us. Ultimately things will work out. When we rely on ourselves, maybe yes, maybe no, but however things come out, we will be stressed and unhappy. And fearful.
Paul knew that. He knew the end was not the ultimate but the journey getting to the end because the journey is what determines the final outcome.
Thanks Pastor. That is a very fitting sermon for these times.
Thank you very much, pastor. Have been searching for a good word from those who are ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these troubling times. Please add me to your ping list and God bless you!
Our riches in Christ Jesus - oh the depth of those riches!
And the truth that when we are in the worst of times, He is very near, our very present help in time of trouble. Upon our Lord Jesus Christ, upon Him, we can rely though the mountains quake, though everything we have depended upon fades away - or is removed - yet He is our solid rock. Praise His Name forever .....and in Him I join you in rejoicing this Sunday morning.
Thank you! For some reason (I know the reason!) you always say what I need to hear at any given time.
God Bless You! :)
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