Rejoice Always

Text: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand….” (Philippians 4:4-5).

“It is a question that emerges from deep inside. It comes from mounting fears, nagging doubts, and unsettling uncertainties. It is the question asked by one who can no longer pretend that things will work out nicely and neatly. All thinking Christians face this question at some point, but few have the courage to give it voice. It is John the Baptist’s question to Jesus in verse 20: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’

“The cause of this question is clear. Life is unfair, uneven, unreasonable. The godly suffer and the wicked prosper and there is no good explanation as to why. John was the prophet, the forerunner, the voice sent to prepare the way. His entire life was devoted to the coming of the Lord. Jesus himself said that no one born of woman was greater! Yet there he was, sitting in prison, while the wicked King Herod continued his rule. Here he was, waiting for Jesus [to baptize the earth with the fire of His Judgment] as [Herod’s guards] sharpened the sword [that would, soon remove John’s head for the great crime of speaking the uncomfortable truth of Herod’s very public, unrepentant sins]. Had all of it been a mistake? Had he been mistaken about who he was, about what he had been sent to do? It is hard to say which would have been worse—that Jesus didn’t seem to notice, or that Jesus noticed and didn’t act.”

Waiting for Jesus is not easy. Whether it’s John waiting for deliverance to come or for you and I waiting for Jesus’ return, we are not in a comfortable place. And there is a danger in that.

One of the professors at our seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, tells the story of waiting in line at the bank on one occasion. “As I stood in line waiting, the woman ahead of me was beside herself. She had waited too long…according to her schedule! She fidgeted, cranking her head from one side to the other searching for more tellers to get the show on the road. She almost demanded the loan officer become a teller. In fact, any warm body connected to the bank would do. …Finally, her turn came. She grumbled and complained all the way to the counter—and lo, and behold, she was not ready! She had neglected to fill out her deposit slip. She had not endorsed her check. She did not even know how she wanted her funds directed. The teller would have made St. Teresa proud—my thoughts would have made her blush. All that time, all that waiting and she was not ready!”[1]

Now, unlike this anxious woman, our questions, our nagging doubts often emerge from very real fears and uncertainties, especially when we can no longer pretend that things will work out nicely and neatly. Life is unfair, uneven, unreasonable. Why does God seem to sit idly by while the godly endure very real suffering and the wicked prosper?

But the danger is the same. Perhaps the most subtle attack that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh use to try to destroy your faith is the temptation to despair. “God has a plan,” we’re assured. And, for some, this means that He will make everything work out in the end. So when the suffering comes, we reason that, by the end of this chapter in our story, He will have fixed things and put everything right again and the pain will be a dim memory. But He doesn’t just fix things. The end of that chapter in our story comes and the pain is still very present and very real.

And we become more and more impatient with God. John’s question really is one that all of us experience, but few have the courage to put into words. Instead, it nags at our minds. The doubt grows until it becomes despair and we lash out angrily at God, demanding He do something, we grumble and complain until He serves our needs. Or, perhaps, our faith dies a quiet death. God fails us, we think, again and again, until we are quite convinced that we can’t expect anything from God. We don’t even ask if Jesus really is the one, we quietly decide that He can not really be. And the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh rejoice that they have been able to destroy our faith and leave us unprepared for Jesus’ return.

Thankfully there is one who could not be tempted to His destruction by despair, even though the reasons He had to question God are even more reasonable than ours are. If John’s suffering was unfair, if your suffering is unfair, what word could we use for Jesus’? The perfect Son of God suffers while the wicked prosper. Make no mistake, this temptation was very real. We see how real as He prays in anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane to not have to endure the suffering. And yet He prays that God’s will be done and willingly submits to it.

“5 [H]e was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities,” but He continued to trust that it was “the chastisement that [would bring] us peace, and” the wounds that would heal us (Isaiah 53:5).

“7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). He did not open His mouth— either to protest His innocence or to cry out to God in despair.

He continued to trust that “10 [I]t was the will of the LORD to crush him; … [to] put him to grief,” but that, “when his soul [had made] an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” He trusted that “11 Out of the anguish of his soul he [would] see and be satisfied; by his knowledge [He would] make many to be accounted righteous….”

And God the Father was faithful to all of it. “12Therefore [the Father divided] him a portion with the many, and …with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:5-12).

Even as He hung on the cross and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus did not despair. He knew that God the Father “[would] not abandon [His] soul to Sheol, or let [His] holy one see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). The will of the Lord did, indeed, prosper in His hand.

To his credit, John the Baptist took his question to the right place: to Jesus. And Jesus pointed John to two places: to the healings and miracles that He was doing and to who John was.

Trust the healings and miracles, which are a fulfillment of the promises made about the Messiah. And, to John and everyone else, Jesus declares that John is the prophet who would prepare the way.

He would point you to the same places. “The healings and miracles are part of the picture, but there’s more. For those who wonder if Jesus really is the one, the only and ultimate answer is his resurrection from the dead. His rising, …means your rising….

And there is also the reminder of who you are: You are a child of God. Christ, Himself, has declared it at your baptism. What He suffered, He suffered in your place. He was pierced for your transgressions. He was crushed for your iniquities. By His knowledge, He make you to be accounted righteous. He cried out “My God, why have you forsaken me?” so that you would never have to, or even to be able to.

And if it seems like God has forgotten you, He assures you that a nursing mother will sooner forget the baby at her breast before He will forget you. He has engraved you in the palms of His hand.

“…There are many reasons to be offended by God’s way of doing things. There are many reasons to question why God does not seem to behave. It’s hard to live with broken families, failing health, and loneliness. It’s hard to accept abuse and neglect, addiction and abandonment.

“Jesus gets it. That’s why he adds a postscript to his response to John and all who ask John’s question: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Blessed is the one who doesn’t stumble when God’s divine wisdom exceeds our meager understanding. Blessed is the one who doesn’t try to tell God what to do, but instead receives what he graciously provides. Blessed is the one who acknowledges that Jesus is Lord, even in difficult times, and that his reign is always good.

“This blessedness is the fruit of faith, which comes from hearing the promise of Jesus’ resurrection and ours. …John’s hope is ultimately found in Jesus’ return and the resurrection of all flesh. The same goes for ours.”[2]

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. …The Lord is at hand….” (Philippians 4:4-5). Rejoice as only God’s people can— you who have faced the mounting fears, the nagging doubts, and the unsettling uncertainties; who know better than to try to pretend that things will work out nicely and neatly; who have been bold enough to cry out to Christ: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’

He is, in fact, the One who was to come. He has come. And He is not just nearby in case you need a little help. He has united Himself with you in your weakness so that He could raise you, with Him, to new, eternal life. You are “in Christ.” He has borne your griefs and carried your sorrows. He was pierced for your transgressions, crushed for your iniquities. With His wounds you are healed. “[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

And when Christ returns there will be no question. “It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation”” (Isaiah 25:9).

It’s not ‘reasonable’. It doesn’t make any sense to our natural mind. And yet, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

[1]Pulse, Dr. Jeffrey. “Lectionary Notes— Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:14-20 (Advent 3:Series C).” www.CraftOfPreaching.com. December 9, 2018. [2]Nafzger, Dr. Peter. “Lectionary Notes— Gospel: Luke 7:18-28 (Advent 3: Series C).” www.CraftofPreaching.com, December 9, 2018.