Rejoice

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

As we read through this passage this morning, it may seem like Paul is just giving some extra, quick sayings of advice as he is getting ready to wrap up this letter. However, I do still think that we can find some cohesiveness to these four verses that we just read.

In a world that often seems chaotic and burdensome, where worries can feel overwhelming, Paul offers us a reminder: Rejoice in the Lord always. It’s essential to understand the context of Paul's words. He wrote this letter while imprisoned, facing uncertainty and hardship. Yet, instead of despair, he emphasizes joy—a joy rooted deeply in our relationship with Christ. This is not a superficial happiness that fades with circumstances; it’s a profound, unshakeable joy that comes from knowing that when we have submitted our lives to Christ, we are loved and redeemed.

Paul wants us to grasp the importance of rejoicing. This joy is a choice, a response to recognizing God’s grace and presence in our lives. When we rejoice, we not only lift ourselves but also those around us, reflecting the heart of Christ to a world in need.

Moreover, Paul’s exhortation to rejoice is intertwined with a call to humility. He urges us to let our graciousness be known to everyone, reminding us that the Lord is near. This proximity of God should inspire us to respond with gentleness rather than anxiety. Instead of succumbing to worry, we are invited to bring our requests to God through prayer, trusting in His provision.

So, as we dive into this passage today, let us remember that our lives should be examples of rejoicing in God. May we embody this joy through our actions, attitudes, and interactions, demonstrating to the world the peace that surpasses all understanding. Let's be the light that reflects His love, showcasing the joy that comes from a life grounded in faith.

Big Idea: Our lives should be examples of rejoicing in God.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Paul tells the Philippians that they should rejoice in the Lord. The word “rejoice” means to feel or show great delight or joy. We should be full of joy in regards to our Savior. Again, let us not forget the context in which Paul is writing this letter. He is under house arrest in Rome, arrested for preaching the gospel. He is awaiting his trial to see what will happen to him.

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the passage where Paul tells the Philippians to follow after him and others who are setting a godly example of how to live. Paul is telling the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord because Paul is rejoicing in the Lord, even in prison! However, Paul doesn’t just tell them once to rejoice in God; he tells them twice.

Paul is using a literary device of repetition to indicate the importance of what he is saying. If you remember when we looked at Isaiah chapter 6 and the vision that the prophet Isaiah had about the throne room of God, what are the Seraphim calling out to one another?

Isaiah 6:3

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies…

This way of repeating words enhances the meaning of the word when it is repeated. When the angels are calling God, “Holy, holy, holy,” they are not just calling God holy. They are saying he is holier than they are, and that he is the holiest of all beings.

God is holy, holier, holiest

Jesus also used this tool of repetition in his own teaching. While every word that came from the mouth of Jesus was, and still is, important for us, there were times when Jesus wanted his listeners to pay very close attention to what he had to say. Jesus would start a parable or teaching by saying,

“Truly, truly I tell you…”

Or if you grew up with the KJV:

“Verily, verily I say unto you…”

So, just as Jesus used this tool of repetition to show the importance of what he was saying, we see Paul is doing the same thing when he tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. It is so important for followers of Jesus to rejoice in the one who gave his life for us, to redeem us from the curse of sin and death. Were it not for Christ and his sacrifice, we would get the punishment that our sins deserve, which is eternal separation from the grace and mercy of God, enduring his wrath for all of eternity.

One thing that I thought was very interesting in my study of this passage is the Greek word for “rejoice”:

Rejoice: χαιρω (pronounced like the news station KIRO)

Now, there is a Christian symbol that was used in the early church that Constantine actually put on the standards, or flags, of the military. Its not the ixthus (the fish). This symbol is this:

This symbol is made with what looks like the letters “x” and “p”. However, in Greek these are the first two letters of the name of Christ:

Χροστος

Χ - Chi (pronounced kai)

Ρ - Rho (pronounced row)

So the first two letters in the name of Christ are Chi-Rho, pronounced the same as the Greek word for “rejoice” - χαιρω. Now, I do not want to make more out of this than we should, but I believe it is something that can help us remember to rejoice in the Lord. We are to χαιρω in the one whose name begins with Chi-Rho.

Philippians 4:5

Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

Paul then tells his readers to let their “graciousness” be known to everyone. Other translations say “gentleness” or “reasonableness.” This word points back to Philippians 2:3-4, which we looked at again last week, where Paul says that we should do everything through a lens of humility.

It is difficult to be gracious to others when you are thinking about your own wants or desires. It is difficult to be gracious to others when you feel like you are not getting your own way.

As Christians and as the church, our gentleness, graciousness, or reasonableness should be evident to everyone around us. The reason for this, as Paul says, is that the Lord is near. There is a two-fold meaning in this statement. The Lord’s presence is always with us through the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and minds. Also, the Lord’s return could be at any time, and so we must live like it is fast approaching. We must live ready for his return.

Philippians 4:6

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Next, Paul tells his readers not to worry about anything. Looking back at Philippians 1:29, Paul said that it had been granted to the Philippians not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him. There may be specific persecution in mind that the Philippian church was going through that is not made explicit through the text we have here. Paul could also be referencing general persecution that any church or group of believers would have been facing from the non-Christians around them.

Jesus addressed the anxieties of life in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.

Matthew 6:25-32

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

Jesus addresses some of the most common worries that the people of his day would have been anxious about: food, drink, and clothing. However, Jesus seems to downplay these worries by saying that there are things in life that are more important than these.

And yet, Jesus tells his followers that God feeds the birds who do not plant or sow, or harvest fields, or gather food into barns. God provides for the birds of the air to make sure they have the food that they need. He then says that the wildflowers cannot make any clothing for themselves, but that God gives them such radiant colors that not even Solomon, with all of his wealth, was dressed as well as the wildflowers of the field.

Jesus says God does so much more for us, though, because we are more important than birds and flowers. God knows that we need food, water, and clothing. He will provide those things for us because God knows that we need them. God provides for our needs.

Instead of worrying about this life, we are to present our requests to God. Paul outlines the process of presenting these requests to God.

Prayer - a worshipful attitude

Petition - a need

Thanksgiving - shaping our prayers with gratitude

Presenting our requests to God begins with prayer. A little earlier in Matthew 6, before talking about the anxieties of life, Jesus gave instructions on how to pray. So, let’s look at the prayer that Jesus gives us as an example.

Matthew 6:9-10

“Therefore, you should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

your name be honored as holy.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

We can see that Jesus tells us to pray with an attitude of worship toward our Creator. Jesus tells us to address him as our Father in heaven. He is not just our God if we are Christians; he adopts us into his family, and he becomes our everlasting Father.

The next line of the Lord’s prayer is both a request and an act of worship. Jesus tells us to ask God for his name to be honored, or regarded, as holy. We live in a world that is blind to the holiness and majesty of God and uses his name as an expletive instead of with the honor and praise it is due. As Christians, we should be asking God for his name to be regarded as holy by those who we love and come in contact with.

Next, we are to ask for God’s Kingdom to come. When we ask God for His Kingdom to come and for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are admitting that the ways of God are better than the ways of man. We are giving praise to God by showing our understanding of the goodness, beauty, and truth that are a part of His Kingdom and His Kingdom alone.

Continuing with the Lord’s prayer:

Matthew 6:11-13

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not bring us into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

Here we see the requests part of the prayer. As we saw in Jesus’ teaching about being anxious, God knows that we need food in order to survive. Instead of worrying about our food, we should ask God to provide the food that we need, knowing that he will give us what we need.

We need forgiveness for our sins, and so we should constantly be asking God to forgive us for how we have disobeyed his ways, just as we should be forgiving those who have sinned against us.

We also need God’s help in dealing with temptation. We cannot face temptation alone and expect not to fall. We need the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to give us the strength to resist temptation.

Though this is not specifically part of the Lord’s prayer, our prayers should always be presented to God with thankfulness. Thankfulness and thanksgiving imply humility, and whenever we approach God, we must do so in humility. We should never come to God with pride in our hearts.

James 4:6

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble

Proud people think they have accomplished everything on their own merit. Pride is all about self. Humble people are thankful to others, recognizing the contributions of others because they know their own effort was not enough.

When we pray and ask God to provide for our needs, we should remember to thank him for how he has already provided for our needs in the past. When Emily and I are trying to figure out how God will provide for a need that we may have, we have to remind ourselves that He is the one who provided the house that we live in, the cars that we drive, the food on our table, the clothes on our backs, and the means to pay for all of it. It reminds us to be thankful to Him for everything that we have.

Next Step: When facing the anxieties of life, I will pray.

Next Step: When I pray, I will thank God for what he has already provided.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

What does Paul say will be the result of these thankful petitions and prayers? The peace of God, the peace that is beyond all human wisdom, knowledge, and understanding will do what? Does Paul say it will provide us all the things we have asked for? NO. That may be what we want, but it is not what Scripture says will be provided to us.

Rather, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When we bring our requests to God in thankfulness, worshipful prayer, and humble petition, he provides his peace to us that lets us know he is in control. That peace will guard us from the different effects of worry.

There are two ways that people typically deal with worry. One way is to let the worry completely overwhelm you to the point you become idle and feel like you cannot do anything. The other way is to let worry completely overwhelm you to the point you feel like you need an escape, and you run to busyness. This keeps you from having to think about your worry.

When we have God’s peace resting upon us, the worries of this life will have a lot harder time taking over our hearts and minds. The study notes in one of my Bibles describe the peace of God like a soldier who protects us believers from the anxieties of life that get to our hearts, which will impact our choices. It also wards off those anxieties from our minds, which will impact our attitudes.

I said earlier that the peace of God surpasses all human wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. It brings calmness to a troubling situation when all explanations fail as to why you have peace.

One of my favorite movies is For Love of the Game. In the movie, Kevin Costner plays an aging pitcher for the Detroit Tigers named Billy Chapel, who has had a Hall of Fame career. During the movie, he is pitching the best game of his life, in Yankee Stadium, in his last start of the season. In the ninth inning, he is throwing a perfect game. Not a single batter has gotten on base; no walks, hits, or errors. For the final batter of the game, a young player comes up for the Yankees who was the batboy for Billy Chapel’s Tigers as a kid because his father played on the Tigers with Billy.

While the crowd is going crazy, this kid is calm and collected. The announcer for the game was Vin Scully, the legendary voice of the LA Dodgers for decades, acting as himself in the movie. And in this last at-bat, Vin Scully says this:

“What do they say? ‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation.’”

How often do we treat situations in life like this? We put so much pressure, and worry, and anxiety into a situation that if people aren’t freaking out about it we think they are crazy.

But what Paul tells the Philippians is that God’s peace keeps us calm and grounded even when others around us are freaking out. That is why God’s peace is beyond all human understanding. Only the peace of our heavenly Father can overtake the anxieties of life, giving us the rest and comfort of knowing that God is in control and is our ultimate provider.

Next Step: I will ask God for peace in the midst of my anxiety or worry.

In a world filled with chaos and worry, we often seek solace in fleeting pleasures, yet these cannot fill the void in our hearts. Paul, writing from prison, exemplifies a joy that transcends circumstances—a joy that is found in surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ. This is not just an invitation; it’s a lifeline.

To truly rejoice in the Lord requires a response from us. It calls for repentance—a turning away from our sins and a commitment to submit our lives wholly to Him. Every one of us has fallen short, carrying burdens of guilt and shame. Yet, God offers us a way forward through His Son. Jesus did not come to condemn but to save. His sacrifice on the cross paid the price for our sins, granting us the opportunity for a renewed life in Him.

As we reflect on our lives, we must ask ourselves: Are we willing to let go of the worries and distractions that keep us from experiencing this profound joy? Paul encourages us not to be anxious but to bring our requests to God through prayer, coupled with thanksgiving. This is an act of humility, recognizing that we cannot navigate life’s challenges alone.

God is near. His grace is sufficient for every struggle, every anxiety, and every doubt. When we repent and turn to Christ, we open ourselves to receive His peace—a peace that surpasses all understanding. This peace will guard our hearts and minds, even when the world around us feels overwhelming.

Today, I urge you to consider your relationship with Christ. Lay down your burdens, repent of your sins, and submit your life to Him. Embrace the joy that comes from being in communion with your Creator. In doing so, you will not only find peace but also the true purpose for your life.

Next Step: I will submit my life to Christ.

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