Philippians 4: Rejoice!

Photo credit: TerriAnneAllen | Pixabay

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:1-9

We come now to (almost) the end of Philippians (the remainder of this chapter deals with thanking the Philippians for their gifts, and whilst there is much more that could be said about that, this was touched on in my first post on Gospel Partnership).

I sometimes wonder where to strike the balance between 'Holy Discontent' and rejoicing.  Paul's writings on striving and looking ahead do speak to a right discontentment with our own sinful state - we should want to change!  We might even consider the 'beatitudes' in Matthew 5:2-12 - where those who are poor in spirit, and who mourn, are blessed.  Or maybe we would also consider the following from Romans 8 and other similar passages from the epistles:  ...we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23).  

However, whilst it is true that a) this world may cause us frustration, and b) we need to strive to fix our eyes on Jesus more, rejoicing is always a key part of the equation!  Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: rejoice!  It's so important that Paul has to emphasise it with repetition.  Why should we rejoice?  Because Jesus Christ has won, and nothing can change that.  And note that this is not an emotion, but an action.  We cannot shield ourselves from sadness and suffering, but Paul gives us two practical things to do:

1. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (4:6): In our times of anguish, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus.  God knows that we need something to 'do' and so made us to pray, even though he knows exactly what we need!  Every time we pray we exercise that spiritual muscle which is the one that directs us to depend on God.  But notice also the words with thanksgiving - when we remember all that we can be thankful for, our trust and devotion deepens.
2. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (4:8).  There's an oft-quoted saying by famous concentration camp survivor Corrie ten Boom:  If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.  It's possible that she had this verse in mind!  We too often become what we consume - something that is even more potent these days with social media giving us a constant drip, drip of content for us to feed on.  How wonderful that whatever is happening, we can choose to fix our eyes on Jesus.

And, interwoven with that rejoicing, is the pursuit of peace.  We come first to interpersonal peace, and to the very specific, as Paul pleads with two of the women to be of the same mind in the Lord.  We don't know what the issue is, but I can imagine there was some squabble!  We find ourselves looping back to the first chapter on partnership.  Making peace with others with whom we have disagreed involves humility, but also reminding ourselves of our joint mission.  But Paul also mentions the peace of God having reminded us to pray - and so we have peace with our situation as well, as we use prayer to acknowledge that God is in control.

Rejoice - Jesus has got this!