Rejoice in the Lord Always
Philippians 4:4-7
One of the great
things about the Advent and Christmas season is the music. Probably more music has been written that has
something to do with Christmas than any other single subject. While much of it doesn’t really say much
about the real meaning of Christmas, there are still many songs and larger
musical works that proclaim the coming of the Christ Child. A word that is often used in the songs that
are sung is “Rejoice.” For the people of
God there is good reason to rejoice. You
have received the gift of a Savior, a Savior who was promised by God to the
first people after they had sinned. The
Savior is truly a gift of God’s love because nothing you could have done could
make it possible for you to earn this great blessing. Through Jesus your Savior, your sins are
forgiven and you have the gift of eternal life.
We sing and we
celebrate. We celebrate with special
music. Some of you may have seen the
presentation of the Boar’s Head Christmas Festival at Zion last week or the
annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah that takes place in a number of
communities at this time of the year.
That is one of my particular favorites, not just because of the grand
music but also because it proclaims Jesus to be the promised Messiah, the
Christ, the Savior. We celebrate with
family get-togethers, dinners with friends and co-workers and with the giving
of gifts. Through it all we have the
opportunity to give witness to the world of the Good News of Jesus. We celebrate His coming but we can’t forget
why He came into the world. We also
remember His suffering, death and resurrection that brought us back to the Father
with our sins covered over by His righteousness.
Just think about
it for a minute. At what other time of
the year does the rest of the world get into a frame of mind where they at
least tolerate the proclamation of the Gospel?
As much as the world tries to suppress the Gospel during the rest of the
year, during Christmas time they are actually singing and using the words that
Christians use. What an opportunity for
us to witness to the truth about Christmas.
Our text however
says to us, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
When the presents are opened and the wrapping paper is gone, when the
parties are over for another year and when the sound of Christmas carols no
longer fill the air, are you still rejoicing?
“Rejoice in the Lord always”, Paul says.
What is interesting about this passage is that it is part of a letter
that Paul sent to the people of Philippi ,
people who were facing persecution because of their faith. They were having a difficult time being open
about their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Paul himself was a prisoner at the time for his work of proclaiming the
Gospel. In the midst of all those
troubles, he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Think of the lesson there is in that message
for you. Certainly you can rejoice at
Christmas time but you have reason to rejoice at all times. You can rejoice when things aren’t exactly
going the way that you would like them to go.
When the flat tires and broken windows of life cause you to get down in
the dumps you don’t feel much like rejoicing in the Lord. In fact, you might be looking for someone to
blame and the first candidate might just be God. When illness or losses of various kinds
plague your life you are more likely to be angry than joyful.
Paul was not just
giving you some good words of advice when he said “Rejoice in the Lord
always.” These were words inspired by
the Holy Spirit and therefore you need to take them seriously. There is good reason for you to rejoice in
the Lord always. The difficulties that you
face should not surprise you. Jesus
warned His disciples that they would experience difficulties but that in all
things they were to trust in the Lord. You
don’t know all of the reasons why You may have to suffer in this life but you also
have the Lord’s promise that all things work together for your good. You also have the promise that nothing can
separate you from the love of God that is yours in Christ Jesus your Lord. As you trust in the Lord’s promises, you can
rejoice in the Lord always. You know
that even in your troubles, the Lord is with you. Paul also wrote in these verses that the Lord
is near. “Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God. And the peace that
passes all understanding will guard your heats and your minds in Christ
Jesus.” God is near. He hears your prayers. He guards your hearts and minds. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Before I
mentioned that the Christmas season is a wonderful time for us to witness to your
faith. When you are experiencing
troubles in your life, you also have the opportunity to witness to your faith,
a faith in God that will strengthen and uphold you in any circumstance. As you have opportunity, rejoice in the Lord
always. What a powerful witness that can
be as people see you keeping a consistently joyful attitude toward God. That is what Paul meant when he said, “Let
your gentleness be evident to all.”
Another version uses the word “reasonableness” here. It means that in the good times and in the
challenging times of your life, you can keep an attitude of joyful gratitude to
the Lord for all of His blessings. That
joyful attitude will be evident to those who know you and it will be a powerful
witness of the love of God that is alive in the hearts of those who know Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior and who live that life of love everyday.
It is that kind
of witness that can touch the heart of someone who is not sure or who may have
never heard about the love of God through Jesus. You might be thinking to yourself that you
have never been the kind of person who is comfortable sharing your faith with
someone else. You might be reluctant to
talk about the blessings that you have through Jesus. That kind of feeling is pretty common among
Christians. It is evidence of how the
devil works to get you to clam up when the opportunity presents itself to
witness to your faith. But as I
mentioned earlier, this is a great time of the year to take advantage of the
fact that world is celebrating the birth of Jesus and many of them don’t even
know it. The other night on television I
heard a woman say that when she was growing up she heard all of the Christmas
music but really didn’t understand what it was all about. When she came to know
Jesus, the songs suddenly made sense to her and the words that she had heard
many times before now had a new meaning.
How many people out in the world are in the same position as that
woman? The harvest is truly ripe. The words are being sung all the time. The music is in air. It is your opportunity to bring new meaning
to people around you in the things you say and do.
Obviously you
can’t do this on your own. You need the
help that the Holy Spirit provides for you. God, in His wisdom, knew that human
wisdom would never be enough to change people’s minds and hearts and bring them
to saving faith. He provided you with
some very special gifts, not just at Christmas time but throughout the year and
throughout your life. He has given you the
Holy Spirit, who works in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the
Sacraments, so that you can overcome the attacks of the devil, the world and
your sinful nature, who want to drag you down and discourage you from sharing any kind of joy in
the gift of salvation that Jesus came to bring.
By that same power of the Holy Spirit, you can rejoice in the Lord
always. You can praise and thank Him for
the great gift of salvation through His Son and you can give witness to the Good
News of Jesus by your consistent rejoicing at all times in all circumstances. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. Amen
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