Philippians 4:4-7(8-9) December 18, 2016 A+D
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
+ Amen +
Our text for this, the fourth Sunday in Advent, which is called “Drop Down Ye Heavens From Above” is from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter four, verses four through seven:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NASB)
So for our text.
It seems that every year around Christmastime, the news is filled with stories of sorrow and anguish. They seem to focus on the absolute worst of man’s inhumanity to man, and disasters seem to happen with increasing frequency. A Texas High School football team, undefeated for years in the regular season, finally wins in the post-season and goes on to the state semifinals for the first time in twenty years. And on the way home, the bus crashes, and a mother is dead, and six cheerleaders severely injured. Last Sunday during worship, twenty-five Coptic Christians in Cairo were killed in a terrorist bombing, many of them women and children. Those who need our protection the most, who cannot care for themselves, continue to be murdered in the name of selfishness masked as freedom to choose. And the true freedoms we do have, we continue to legislate away out of fear. Why at Christmas? Why us? Why now? What have those people done to deserve this? What have we done?
Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice! Be anxious for nothing!
When a child becomes terribly ill, and it seems as if God has looked away, we cry out “God, what has this child done to deserve this?!” Children are innocent and fragile, and we care for them instinctively, and deeply. Surely, a loving God could not let such a thing happen to one of these little ones. When we become stricken by illness or financial misfortune, seemingly out of nowhere, we question “God, what have I done to bring this upon me?! I’ve tried to do the right things. I’ve tried to be faithful to You. I’ve tried to be good. Lord, why is this happening to me?!”. Why me? Why now?
Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice, be delighted! Be anxious for nothing!
Why do bad things happen? Because of sin. Our world is sinful. We are sinful. The devil tempts us. And we stumble, all the time. We are born that way. Every son and daughter of Adam are born in sin, and the cost of sin is evil, disease, and ultimately death. God is not evil, and He does not turn His back on His creation.
Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice, be euphoric! Be anxious for nothing!
Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS! What does always mean? All the time. Without ceasing. Prayer. God’s word tells us to pray without ceasing, delighting in the words He has given us and repeating those words back to Him in all times and places. And we are to do it with thanksgiving! But we do not. We forget to pray, and we certainly don’t do it without ceasing. We are not always thankful for what we receive. And we seldom remember to be thankful for the opportunity to ask! There are the wages of sin again. But take heart! Be anxious for nothing!
How easy that is to say. How very hard to do. Our Epistle this morning contains words we hear after every sermon. On the surface, it all sounds so very simple. We certainly do rejoice in the Lord, but not like we ought. Rejoice in the Lord always means no matter what this life throws our way – REJOICE! Rejoice and be glad! When God grants you the vocation of caregiver to the sick or dying, REJOICE! Rejoice and be on cloud nine! You are God’s instrument of comfort to those who are hurting. When God gives you the vocation of being the one cared for REJOICE! Rejoice, and be beside yourself with happiness! Receive their aid with thanksgiving! God touches you through them. When life gives you pain… Rejoice! Wait, what? YES! Hear what St. Paul wrote to the Romans:
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5 (ESV).
Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice! Be on top of the world! Let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is at hand! Be anxious for nothing! Every generation from the beginning has said “I fear for my children, because of this world they have to grow up in. It’s getting worse, it’s not like it used to be.” Do not be troubled. One thing remains a universal constant, unchanging. Unceasing. The word of God, his plan and promise of Salvation is always here. To not be anxious means to put absolute childlike faith in God. The truth of this world is that it is temporary. Our suffering and our witness of others’ suffering and all the evil we behold is fleeting. Be not afraid! When suffering entered the world because of sin, God had His plan of salvation already in place and promised to our father and mother Adam and Eve. The Lord is at hand – you are in His hand. While we are dead, ours is a living God. His living Word continues to be proclaimed and His Holy Spirit granted through its hearing. These words bring hope, love, and life.
Listen…. Listen and repent, and believe. It is God who gives you the power to do this. God who gives you the knowledge that you have a Savior, the innocent baby that came into this world to grow and live just like us – and doing it perfectly. It is God who makes that word spark a fire in your heart to believe that the innocent and perfect Son of God to the full wrath of God’s punishment for our sins in our place. All sins forgiven and forgotten. Like the Auld Lang Syne says, let our old acquaintance be forgot and never thought upon again; let our sin, once confessed and absolved never again be thought of or spoken. It is God who grants you forgiveness. It is God who grants you the endurance to run the race to the end, whenever and however that end may come, so that the flame is fanned in the running, burning brighter as a light to others in this dark world. And in so doing, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 ESV). All that is good in you comes from God, so that others may see the good in you, and come to know God, too.
Rejoice in the Lord always, I say again rejoice! Be over the moon! The Lord is at hand! He is here! “I know that my Redeemer lives! What comfort that sweet sentence gives!” And in that comfort, let the good work that God has begun in you continue to bloom. Let the hope that God has accomplished all things through His Son for you fill you with joy! Become again like a child, and be anxious for nothing, trusting in Him who became a child to live the perfect life in your place, and die your death in this world. Trust in Him who sets His holy angels over you, knowing that you are cared for and loved completely. No matter what life throws at you, you can endure until He calls you home to be with Him forever. Paul continues in our Philippians reading today:
“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.” (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV).
Listen. Listen and take it to heart. Sorrow looks back. Worry looks around. But faith… faith looks up. It looks up to a star set in the East. It looks up to the Cross. It looks up to the risen Savior ascending into heaven. And it looks forward to the day you will follow Him there.
+ Amen +
And now may the peace which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and your minds focused on Christ Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always! Be anxious for nothing! Rejoice!
+ Amen +