Advent - week 2 (joy)

I enjoy most things about Christmas. I enjoy going to the mall and finding the perfect gifts. I enjoy watching our family open those gifts, even if they already know what is inside. I enjoy the decorations. I enjoy seasonal treats, but I don’t enjoy the messy part of creating them. I enjoy Christmas music, but winter music annoys me. I enjoy Christmas gatherings, but too many on my calendar steals the joy of them. I enjoy spending time with extended family, but the brokenness of my family often shatters my desire to be present.

I am not alone. For many people, the Christmas season is emotionally difficult. On October 15, the New York Post printed an article, “Why half of Americans are ‘dreading’ the holiday season…”

69% said Christmas is the most financially stressful time of the year.

21% are skipping all special Christmas meals

17% are skipping a Christmas tree

14% are skipping giving and receiving gifts

13% will not leave their home

10% are moving Christmas to a entirely different month

Whether you are stressed, relaxed or somewhere in between, I want to offer some encouragement this morning that will help us remain joyful during the Christmas season. To do that, let’s consider Paul’s words to the Philippian church. Take your Bibles and turn to Philippians 4.

The context is two ladies doing ministry together in the Philippian church aren’t getting along. The disagreement was significant enough that Paul included it in a letter and instructed the church to help them get past the hurt, focus on the Lord and stay on mission.

Philippians 4:4–9 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 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. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Become laser-focused on God’s provision

Look at verses 4-5.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Did you know there are 12 different words for rejoice in the New Testament? This one is chairo. Anybody want to guess what English word sounds like Chairo? Cheer. Be glad. Be delighted. Be happy and put a smile on your face because of Jesus.

Chairo is an imperative, which means it’s a command.  It’s not optional for the follower of Jesus. Rejoicing is a command that ought to blossom from our belief that God is sovereignly in control of all things and continually providing all things according to his purposes.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  If you find reasonable in the dictionary, you will see definitions like sound judgment, sensible, fair, and logical. In the Greek, reasonableness means gentle and kind. Cheer for the Lord. Put a smile on your face because of God’s provision in your life. Be gentle and kind because God continually provides for you.

If December isn’t great for you or if don’t look forward to Christmas, laser-focusing on God’s provision should help your attitude, your smile and how you relationally connect with other people through gentleness and kindness.

I think a basic application of this verse is none of us have biblical permission to be a grumpy Christian. Having a grumpy day is different than being a grumpy Christian. Jesus alone ought to bring a smile to our face. Jesus alone ought to allow people around us to see gentleness and kindness.

But Chris, you don’t know the year that I have had. You don’t the emotional trauma that December brings. I have plenty of reasons to a grumpy, selfish person in December. If that’s you, I want to push back. For all of the reasons that you might think are appropriate for being grumpy, impatient, unkind, or selfish ~ Are you willing to admit the power of God and the grace of God in your life is less than those reasons?

When we decide to be laser-focused on God’s provision, we are less likely to be focused on what we think is wrong in the world around us. Laser-focusing on God’s provision doesn’t erase our difficulties ~ Laser-focusing on God’s provision tells our difficulties they don’t get to steal our joy this Christmas season.

Choose peaceful prayer before agitating anxiousness

Look at verses 6-7.

Don’t be anxious about anything. When I was a student at Cornerstone University, I had a professor who spoke often anxiousness. One of those times, he said that anxiousness is focusing on an outcome you don’t control and worrying about the details of an outcome you may never see. To a young man in his 20’s that was trying to figure out a lot of things in life, those words were golden. I was trying to learn how to be a husband and a dad while balancing being a full-time student with unreachable ministry expectations placed on me by our senior pastor. On top of that, I was angry at the my parents for destroying our family and I didn’t want to forgive them.

This professor, his name was Scott, would call me weekly for about a year and ask me what I was trying to solve that wasn’t mine to solve. I would tell him and then he would ask me how many consecutive days I have prayed about that thing. I would give a shameful answer because some of those things I didn’t want to pray about. He always gracefully responded, “An agitated heart can never be a guarded heart.” Then he would pray for me.

I probably needed him to call me for longer than a year. What he taught me took years to learn. When anxiousness agitates our heart and we begin to worry about all the things that aren’t ours to control, the cheering section leaves early, the smile fades, our joy is replaced with something else and it becomes difficult to rejoice in the Lord. There are some people that do a better at hiding it than others, but nobody can hide anxiousness forever. An agitated heart can never be a guarded heart. If we aren’t rejoicing in the Lord, our heart and mind isn’t being guarded.

Here are three steps to choosing peaceful prayer over agitating anxiousness.

First, be truthful with yourself. The power of anxiousness is paralyzing. Get out a piece of paper and a pencil ~ not an app on your phone. Be truthful with your multi-sensory self. Think about what is making your anxious. Write those things on a piece of paper. Say them out loud. Look at them. Commit them to prayer every day for the next 30 days. Ask the Lord to provide the peace that passes all understanding and to guard your heart and mind.

Second, remember that you are not alone. We are here to walk with you, to hug you, to cry with you, to open God’s Word with you and to pray with you.

Third, be truthful with the Lord. I think it’s appropriate to tell God you’re angry. I think it’s appropriate to tell God out loud all the things he already knows that is in our mind. Verse 7 tells us the peace and understanding you seek is found in the Lord alone. The peace and understanding that guards our heart and mind will help us have a joyful Christmas season.

Work toward healthy mental and emotional boundaries.

Look at verse 8. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Whatever things are true – We need the unshakeable Word of God as our definition and standard of truth.

Whatever things are noble – We need to pursue moral life choices.

Whatever things are just – We ought to remember the best things remain inside God’s law and civil law.

Whatever things are pure – We need to pursue biblical holiness.

Whatever things are lovely – We need humans that are pleasing to be around.

Whatever things are of good report – We need humans that choose words carefully without being grumblers or complainers.

Every “whatever” in our life should prompt worship of our Lord and Savior, the one who was born in a manger on Christmas morning.