Sermon Tone Analysis

Liturgical Setting

Rejoice!

The Lord of Peace Comes to You!

Text:

Other Lessons: ; ; (29–35)

Sermon Theme: Rejoice!

The Lord of peace comes to you!

Sermon Goal: That the hearers repent of living their lives as though the Lord has not appeared in their midst and, instead, seeing his presence among them, rejoice always, show forbearance, and be anxious about nothing, by requesting all things from God.

Hymns:

Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers LSB 515

Hark!

A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding LSB 345

Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord LSB 352

Jesus Came, the Heavens Adoring LSB 353

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

Liturgical Setting

The Third Sunday in Advent continues the theme of preparation for the coming of the rule and reign of God in the advent of the Lord, the messianic Son of God.

The Gospels from the first two Sundays in Advent in Series C focused upon the coming of the Lord to Jerusalem (), the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age (), and the preparatory voice of John the Baptist () announcing the advent of the Lord’s reign in Jesus’ ministry.

On this Sunday, the focus is upon the recognition that the rule and reign of God, as John prophesied, has arrived in Jesus, as the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them.

As Advent developed in parallel to Lent as a penitential preparatory season for Christmas and Epiphany, it became a period for fasting, reflection over sin, and confession.

While this penitential mood often overwhelmed the season, crushing the joy out of expectant hope for the Lord’s return, the Third Sunday in Advent became a respite in the penitential discipline.

The antiphon for the Introit, drawn from this Sunday’s Epistle (), sounds the note of joy in the midst of penitence: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (v 4).

As Advent colors and the Advent wreath developed (the wreath being a practice of piety originating in the home), the third Sunday adopted the color of rose, in parallel to Laetare, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, which also sounds a joyful theme in Lent’s midst.

Thus, a pink candle appears among the purple.

(Adopting blue as the color for Advent, though, usually entails maintaining blue on all four Sundays.)

Continuing to highlight the theme of joy on this Sunday, especially if a congregation has practiced some form of penitential discipline in Advent such as fasting, would be appropriate, especially in Series C when the Introit’s antiphon is still .

The Old Testament Reading, , evokes the theme of joy as well.

The prophet calls Israel to rejoice and exult with all her heart because her King is in their midst to save them.

The advent of the King of Israel, the judge of the nations, will be a day of salvation and restoration for those whom he will gather in among his people.

Unexpectedly, the King will gather the lame and the outcast, a sign that he has truly come into the midst of his people.

In the Gospel, in answer to the question whether Jesus is the one who is to come, Jesus says to John’s messengers that “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up” ().

In Jesus, the Lord is restoring the fortunes of Israel ().

The advent of Christ is good news for those who are not offended by him.

John the Baptist, the very messenger promised beforehand in , prepared his way.

But many are offended because Jesus proclaims release to sinners.

The offense he causes will lead him to pain, suffering, and death.

Yet wisdom, Christ himself, is justified by her children, among whom he will be the firstborn from the dead.

The Epistle proclaims the peace that is the condition of life for all who receive the advent of the King.

As Paul says, the Lord is at hand; he will come again soon.

And as with his first advent, his coming will bring peace to his people, gathering both Jewish and Gentile sinners to himself.

So Paul calls his church, as Zephaniah did the church of Israel, to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

In order to express liturgically the interrelationship of today’s texts, an interesting consideration arises.

It is appropriate to restore the Maranatha, “Come, Lord Jesus” (), as a liturgical cry of the Church.

We use it at Concordia Seminary throughout the season of Advent, usually at the beginning and end of worship services.

Another likely occasion for the Maranatha cry occurs in the Lord’s Supper liturgy as the conclusion to the Proclamation of Christ in LSB Divine Service Settings One and Two.

The use of that option for the Lord’s Supper liturgy is therefore also encouraged.

Relevant Context

Philippians is Paul’s call to the Church to live in faith as people of joy.

The rejoicing of the people of God is grounded in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and, finally, the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, the epistle begins with Paul’s thanksgiving, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3–5).

He thanks God, remembers the Philippians, and prays for the advance of the Gospel, all with joy that cannot be diminished.

Paul makes his first direct appeal to the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord in 3:1, although he advocates for them to live joyfully in chs 1–2.

Such rejoicing is possible in all circumstances, even in the midst of conflict and suffering, because the Philippians know Jesus Christ the Lord (3:8).

So Paul encourages them to strain toward the goal, their citizenship in heaven, and to await the Savior, who will transform their lowly bodies.

On that basis, he encourages his beloved Philippians to stand firm in the Lord.

For this reason, he appeals to his fellow workers to agree in the Lord.

Their names are written in the Book of Life.

This foundation that is Christ Jesus, the Lord of life, is the basis for Paul’s appeals in the text: Rejoice, be reasonable/gentle, and do not be anxious, but pray with thanksgiving.

The peace of God will guard them without fail.

Following the peace he proclaims in 4:7, Paul encourages the Philippians to think only about what is true and excellent, following his own example.

In all circumstances, the God of peace will be with them.

In this way, Paul, throughout the epistle, describes the shape of the lives of those who rejoice in the Lord always.

Textual Notes

V 4: The substance of these textual notes will reflect the insights provided by the socio-rhetorical assessment of Philippians from Ben Witherington in his commentary, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011), and by commentaries by Peter O’Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991), and Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995).

This section of Paul’s epistle is a form of peroration that represents a new turn in the letter, but a new turn that returns to the primary themes of joy and forbearance.

Throughout this peroration, which includes vv 8–10, Paul’s exhortations are entirely positive.

And this positive encouragement affects not only Christian piety (joy) but also the life of the Christian in light of Christ’s presence (prayer and virtuous living).

Fundamentally, this epistle focuses upon the sanctified life of the Christian community as formed by the expectancy of the return of Jesus.

The sanctified life does not reject the better virtues of the culture but shapes and norms them by Christian virtues such as joy and humility.

Paul is concerned with forming a particular character and habit in Christian life.

Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord always” is independent of their life circumstances (see also ).

Paul most likely writes this letter while in prison in Rome.

His imprisonment did not diminish his joy in the Lord.

He had already modeled this to the Philippians when he had prayed and had sung hymns to God while in prison there in Philippi ().

The Philippians’ joy is grounded in Christ Jesus, who is himself the object of their joy.

As Paul notes elsewhere, joy is characteristic of the Christian, a gift of God that comes from the Spirit () and is reflected in the individual Christian within the joyful Christian community (see Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, 403).

This command to rejoice in the Lord is the ongoing state of the Christian within the community.

V 5: Each of the exhortations in this pericope is expressed independently of one another and thereby each is made emphatically.

With epieikēs, Paul is exhorting the Philippians to demonstrate reasonableness or forbearance with all people.

The word conveys humility and patience with a determined steadfastness that willingly trusts God even though one might be mistreated and maligned.

Thus, some translations translate it with gentleness or graciousness.

But it is a firm and confident gentleness that is characteristic of God himself ().

It implies the willingness to meet others in the middle (Witherington, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, 243).

Jesus embodies this gracious reasonableness, as Paul indicates in : “by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.”

Paul lists this habit as one of the fruits of the spirit in .

Paul also exhorts bishops/pastors to be gentle in the same way ().

Retaliation is not appropriate for one who is in Christ (see ).

One should exhibit such graciousness because “the Lord is at hand.”

He is near both in a spatial sense, within the Church (; ), and in a temporal sense (); he is coming soon.

For Paul, the phrase emphasizes that the Lord is among them and is coming soon and will vindicate their cause.

It thus provides the impetus for fulfilling all the exhortations in this pericope.

V 6: Paul’s final exhortation, urging the Philippians to stop being “anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let [their] requests be made known to God,” entails the surrender of their wills in everything to God.

Being anxious is the natural condition of human life.

But Paul’s appeal simply echoes Jesus’ own words to the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (see ).

In praying for all things, one demonstrates that one is striving not to be anxious about anything.