REJOICE! NOW! I MEAN IT!

REJOICE! NOW! I MEAN IT! Philippians 4:4-7 February 21, 2010 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction A former adviser for the federally funded National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine made a point in his research report that was really interesting. He said comedians Bob Hope and George Burns both made it to their 100th birthdays. Michael Irwin of UCLA says "Laughter releases endorphins—those 'feel good' hormones suspected of boosting immunity—and that might make you more resistant to disease. At the very least, he wrote, laughter reduces stress hormones, that have a bad effect on immunity. David Katz is a preventive medicine specialist at Yale School of Public Health. He writes, "If you're the strong, silent type, a good belly laugh now and then may be especially important. Doctors used to think hard-charging Type As were at heightened risk for heart disease, but we've moved on from that…". "We know now it's having a so-called Type D personality—someone who bottles up emotions—that really causes an increased risk of heart disease and possibly cancer," Katz says. The popular proverb is “Laughter is the best medicine,” and Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine," and contemporary research seems to underscore this truth. So, laugh! It's a prescription for healthy living. Research at the University of Maryland has shown that laughter relaxes blood vessels by releasing these chemicals into the blood stream. And they’ve shown that a good hearty laugh will actually reduce blood pressure and produce a lower heart rate on the spot! I would put the counsel of the apostle Paul in that same category. In Philippians 4:4 he gives spiritual counsel, not psychological advice when he tells the believers: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! I want you to notice, this is a command! It may seem odd to actually command someone to be joyful, but that’s exactly what he does! And then he repeats it. He’s saying, “Rejoice! Now! I mean it!” Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul chooses the imperative verb form KAIRETE and issues an apostolic order that the Christians should rejoice. And then he repeats it to add emphasis! Not only that, but seven other times in this short letter, Paul uses the word joy or rejoice. And he’s in a dank Roman prison! And in 3:1 he uses the same imperative as in 4:4 – rejoice in the Lord! What we have in the few verses under consideration this morning is a prescription for an abundant and fulfilling life in Christ. Let’s open our hearts to receive the Word, making it a point to under-stand God’s loving will for us, and to resolve to obey it. 1. Cultivate the Habit of Joy Verse 4 gives us our first directive for abundant living. Paul teaches that if we want to live the kind of life God graciously wants us to live—the life that Jesus died to provide for us—we are coing to have to learn to cultivate the habit of joy. The verb used is present tense and it means “get into the habit of rejoicing”.   Can you just tell someone to rejoice and expect them to? Well, Paul did right here! And here’s the big reason why he could do that: joy is the second fruit of the Spirit. And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the capacity to experience joy. But it is a choice. It’s a silly question, but how would you rather live – with joy or without joy? Let me share 3 things about joy. First, joy is neither psychologically or pharmacologically obtained. And you don’t get joy from materialism. And you don’t get it from people or being with the right person. That’s the biggest lie the devil ever laid on us. We know it’s not true, but most of us live as though if we get enough stuff or meet the right person, we’ll finally be happy. And we re-learn how untrue that is 100 times a year. Joy and happiness are found in being forgiven. Our biggest problem is guilt, because we know we’ve sinned and we have offended our Creator. Most of us spend our energies just trying to avoid Him, running from Him. But He wants us to know that if we will quit running away and turn to Him in faith, He will forgive our sins and heal us of what’s killing us. Jesus has already made full payment for our sin debt on the cross. And He calls to each one of us to come and be forgiven. Then there’s joy. The other thing about joy is that genuine joy is not dependent on circumstances. We don’t have to have sunny skies, fat wallets, lots of loving people around us and a healthy IRA to be happy. The joy of the Lord doesn’t depend on having no problems; the joy of the Lord is our strength to carry us through our problems. Bethany Hamilton, once ranked as the best amateur teen surfer in Hawaii, lost an arm to a tiger shark in October 2003. Both her compassion and competitiveness, however, have reached a new level. Soon after the attack she began to raise money to restore a man's eyesight. While visiting New York City, she gave her ski coat to homeless girl. When asked about the gift, she said she had more than she needed in life. Referring to her competitiveness, the story in USA Today states: "As always, Hamilton remains undaunted. She has told her father that if having only one arm proved detrimental to reaching the top in competitive surfing, then she'd see about playing soccer. She has an underlying trust that God is taking care of her. That’s the joy of the Lord being her strength. Frederick Buechner is a Christian author. He says that our big temptation in the world is to go where the world takes us, to just drift with whatever current comes our way. When good things happen, we rise to heaven; when bad things happen, we descend to hell. “I know this to be true of no one as well as I know it to be true of myself. I know how just the weather can affect my whole state of mind for good or ill, how just getting stuck in a traffic jam can ruin an afternoon that in every other way is so beautiful that it dazzles the heart. We are in constant danger of being not actors in the drama of our own lives but reactors.” Paul’s point in Philippians 4 is that Joy, for the Christian is already in our account. God has provided it through the forgiveness we have in Jesus, and the fruit of His Spirit living in us. We don’t have to work it up, go looking for it to try to find it. We already have it as a gift from God, so we just need to appropriate it to ourselves. Joy is a choice we make every day. We actually make this choice many times a day. When I face a disappointment or a problem I have the privilege to choose either to succumb to sorrow or anger or self-pity or retaliation. Or, I can choose the joy of the Lord and rise above all that garbage. Nehemiah 9:6 - The joy of the Lord will be your strength. At any time during your day you can choose victory in the joy of the Lord, or you can choose the putrescence of worldly misery. 2. Project Your Gentleness So, the first part of our prescription for abundant life in Christ is to cultivate the habit of joy. Secondly, Paul tells us in verse 5, we have an obligation as Christians to project to those around us the difference Christ has made and is making in our character. The same Spirit who produces joy as a fruit in our lives also produces this virtue of gentleness or graciousness. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. There is a very interesting twist here. While joy is something we are to choose and experience its benefits in our lives, Paul says that gentleness (which we already have, too – your gentleness) is something we are to project, or make evident to those around us. This gentleness (graciousness) is a social grace. That is, it doesn’t just happen within us, like joy. It occurs in the context of relationship with other persons. We don’t have to be told to be gracious to ourselves—we do that pretty much automatically. But we do need reminders to be gracious to others. When our Christian character shows through the demonstration of gentleness to others, it is a witness to them of the difference Christ is making in our lives. When I treat you well, it speaks well of the love of Christ at work in my life. Conversely, if I mistreat you by being ornery or cantankerous toward you, you are not likely to be impressed nor to give glory to God for that. Now, when Paul says to “project” our gentleness, he means we are to wear it like apparel that others see and experience. So, he urges us to do it well, do a good job of it, put on a good show. But that should not lead us to believe that it is some sort of sham or superficial behavior—you know, being something that we are not, just to make an impression. The truth is, the Spirit of God is birthing gentleness in us as a fruit. We’re not simply pretending. The apostle calls on followers of Christ to be deliberate about how they treat others. I’m sure you would agree with me that gentleness is in very short supply in our world. It makes me weary sometimes, how ungracious people can be. There’s very little regard for others, because people are so extremely interested in only themselves. To most other people, you barely exist! That’s a very sub-human way of behaving. And it ought not be so among God’s people. To help us understand the importance of our behavior, Paul reminds us that The Lord is near. Many people think this refers to the fact that Jesus is coming back soon, or at any time, and we should always be “ready” in terms of living properly for Him. That may be true, but we should also acknowledge the obvious. We want to live well and serve others well for our Lord, because He is here with us always. Do you remember the little children’s chorus? O, be careful little hands what you do. O, be careful little hands what you do. For the Father up in heaven might just squish you like a lemon . . . ! No, it actually goes: For the Father up above is looking down in.. love – so be careful little hands what you do! Our primary motive for living well is to please the Lord who loves and saves us. And we are also prompted by His Spirit who is empowering us to live circumspectly before a watching world. Show gentleness. 3. Pray to Conquer Anxiety So, we have thus far been commanded to rejoice in the Lord always, and been encouraged to let our gentleness be evident to all. There is another all-important aspect to our living victoriously and abundantly in Christ. And that is prayer. We always find prayer in lists of things we should do in order to stay healthy, spiritually safe, free from temptation, well-resourced for life and as a matter of intercession for others. But Paul gives us another, very specific reason to pray here. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We need to pray if we want to conquer anxiety. An exasperated husband finally asked his wife, "Why are you always worrying? It doesn't do any good!" She piped back , "Oh, yes it does! Did you know that 90% of the things I worry about never happen?!" It's true, isn't it? We do worry about things that will never happen, but the worrying doesn't prevent them. Research indicates that among mentally healthy people the things they worry about can be broken down in this way: 40% -things which never happen. 30% - things in the past which cannot be changed or corrected. 12% - needless worry about their health. 10% - petty miscellaneous worries. 8% - real and legitimate concerns. What we understand from this verse is that not only will our witness for Christ benefit if we demonstrate gentleness toward others, but our lives will be fuller and richer as a result. For the Christian, there can be a great deal of satisfaction and joy just knowing that our attitude and behavior toward others is Christ- honoring and is serving His purposes. We are actually cooperating with His glorious plan to draw other people to the Lord. The fact of the matter is that we all have things we are convinced are worthy of worry--and we are usually quite ready to start worrying. Some people are very hyper about everything, and they worry about it all. James Thurber once said about Mr. Harold Ross, then editor of the New York Times and a very Type "A" and anxious man: "He lives at the corner of work and worry." Is that where you live? Jesus clearly taught that, though healthy concern about truly important things is fine, worry is less than His perfect will for our lives. You know, if I’m going to sin, I’m going to do something more fun than worry! In Matthew 6:34, He said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Paul says, very simply, that, in order to be rid of worry, you must pray. We must learn to stop our old habit that we rely on when we have problems. Usually, we STEW. What God wants of us is that we get on knees before Him, the One who can fix problems. A Jamaican proverb goes like this: If you're going to pray, don't worry; if you're going to worry, don't pray. Specifically, Paul says, instead of being anxious, do the exact opposite: in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Three words here are related to prayer: PRAYER. This is the general word for praying, and it includes all kinds of prayer: praise, devotion, adoration, worship, intercession...This word will not tell you how to pray by letting you know what words to pray. Prayer never begins with words. It begins in the heart, with an attitude toward God. If we are to not worry about anything, we must come to God. REQUESTS--Tell God your needs. This isn't a wave of the hand prayer: "God, please meet all my needs". We are called to share specifically what our needs are--the very things that we are worried about. If it is finances, tell Him; is it stress in your home? Tell Him; Is it difficulty with the boss? Tell Him; is it the fear of losing someone or something? Tell Him; Are you just afraid and you don't know why? Tell Him: "Lord, I'm just afraid and I don't know why!" Now, the promise is clear--God is going to give you His personal answer about these things. And that leads to the third word about prayer-- THANKS - with thanksgiving. What does that mean? That means that God is very interested in our being thankful toward Him for everything, including the coming answer to our prayers. There is nothing more beautiful than to be in prayer with someone and hear them say something like, "..and we thank you, Lord, for the answer that is already on the way!" There is the story of a small Kansas town where there had been a terrible drought for many weeks and the farmers were in imminent danger of losing their crops and their herds. The pastor of the community church called a special prayer meeting so everyone could pray corporately for rain. They gathered for the meeting, and the pastor told the crowd, "I don't know if God will answer our weakling prayers today or not!" This surprised the people, and they mumbled, "Why not?" The pastor responded, "There's not much faith here!" "What do you mean?" the now hurt people said. "You came to pray for rain," the pastor admonished, "but not one of you brought an umbrella!" Pray with thanksgiving. The promise seems to be that, in the act of prayer, even before the answers are evident, we experience some of God's answer in the form of PEACE. That's the fourth and final habit. It's not a habit really, because it's not something WE DO, per se. It is something God gives us when we pray. In the early days of WW II, when older airplanes had been constructed mostly of wood and cloth, pilots in a number of areas had to contend with rats. Before airplanes became all metal, rats could do a lot of damage to planes. Once a pilot was hours into a flight, and many miles out over the Atlantic. He started to panic because he heard rats gnawing in the plane. Worried that the rats’ sharp teeth were chewing through a control wire, the pilot could see himself in real trouble if he lost power. Should he bail out? What could he do? Well, he put on his oxygen mask and then put the plane into a steep climb. He circled higher and higher...up thousands of feet until finally the gnawing stopped. The pilot knew that rats couldn’t stand the high altitude and they died when he got high enough. Friends, worry is a rat. And you’ll take your anxiety high above these earthly confines in prayer, expressing sincere requests and thanks, you’ll kill it. Christians, we have such an awesome privilege—this privilege of prayer. What’s eating at your soul today? What’s chewing on your peace of mind? Lift it to the Lord in prayer, with thanksgiving. Present your requests to God. And the peace of God (which transcends all understanding) will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I want to hold off on this tremendous topic until next time, because we’ll need more time to do it justice.         [ Back to Top]