Phil. 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always (CSB).”
As of this morning when I checked the news, over 214,000 had died of COVID 19. 214,000. That number is almost inconceivable now, and it certainly was inconceivable back in March when everything started shutting down. Then, there were less than 20,000 deaths and we believed then that in just a few short weeks, everything would be under control; but that was not to be the case. And the sad and tragic thing is, it didn’t have to be this way.
Along with there being over 214,000 dead – and just yesterday, 990 people died – there’s currently a spike in cases. Health officials are reporting that 50,000 new cases are reported each day. This is the highest rate of new cases since August. The CDC had warned of a 2nd wave that would come in the Fall as temperatures turned colder and as flu season began. Yet, even as his own administration is reporting this new spike in cases, the President yesterday, from a balcony of the WH said to a crowd of people gathered without masks and not social distanced, that the virus is disappearing. The President, even after he contracted the virus and neither he, the WH, nor his doctors will say when his last negative test was or whether he has tested negative since he released himself from the hospital. And yesterday, he said the virus was disappearing; but we all heard him admit to Bob Woodward that he’s been lying about the virus all along.
You heard last week that the FBI foiled a plot by a militia group – the media calls them a militia group but we should call them what they really are; they’re a domestic terrorist group – this terrorist group planned to kidnap and possibly kill the Governor of Michigan in retaliation to her lockdowns and mask policy, which was put in effect to save their lives. Now, as a friend said earlier this week, no one who lives in Michigan is surprised that those groups are in the State; they’ve been training in the State for a long time. What you may not know is that Michigan is more rural than NC. When you think of the map you remember that Michigan is 2 states in one; and when you get past Flint going north, there’s very little up there, just vast acreage for these groups to train and be survivalists.
However, more troubling than the plot itself is that the President did not either condemn the plot or these terrorist groups in general. Instead, he has promised an army – as he calls them – of over 50,000 of these people to both monitor elections across the country and even to take to the streets if he loses the election; and there are plenty of people here in NC that would be willing to join them.
And if what I previously said was not enough trouble, Friday night, Hurricane Delta came ashore as a Cat. 2 Hurricane near Creole, LA; which in the same general area where Hurricane Laura came ashore just 6wks ago. The people hadn’t recovered from Laura and now they are being ravished by Delta with its heavy rains and flooding.
Yet, in spite of all that is happening in our country and in our State today, I’ve come this morning to give you just one word to keep with you while all of these troubles are raging. That word is Rejoice. Paul tells us in Phil. 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Now, Paul doesn’t tell us to rejoice as some form of escapism or even as a way to elude reality. Paul didn’t say this as a clever cliché, nor is this either pie-in-the-sky or some Pollyannaish way of thinking; trying to spin or put a good face on a bad situation. No, Paul is serious. He really means for us to rejoice; and we can tell that he means it because in this short letter of only 4 chapters, Paul uses either the word joy or rejoice 18 times. So, Paul really means for us to rejoice; and, as if we didn’t understand him the first time, Paul reiterates or doubles down on what he just said in the same verse. The full text of v. 4 says,
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
So, Paul isn’t just trying to spin a bad or difficult situation, but Paul actually means what he says; and we can know this just by remembering all that Paul had to endure in his own life.
After Paul’s conversion, while he was still in Damascus, he began to preach Jesus and him crucified and the Jews became so angry that they plotted to kill Paul, so to escape the city, they placed Paul in a basket and lowered him over the city wall.
The first time that Paul was in the city of Philippi, he was thrown in prison with Silas; but they were praying at midnight and suddenly the foundations of the jail shook and the doors were opened and the chains fell off.
And, after having been tried by Agrippa and sent to Rome, his ship was caught in a bad storm and everyone was shipwrecked; but they all survived by hanging on to the broken pieces of the ship till they made it to the island of Malta. And there on Malta, Paul was bitten by poisonous snakes. And, after getting another ship and leaving Malta and arriving in Rome, Paul was placed under arrest in Rome; and it is from his prison in Rome that it is believed that Paul writes this letter. In fact, Paul tells us that he’s in prison in 1:7. So, Paul is very aware of the troubles that come with life and he is not trying to spin them, or shurk them, or deny them in any way. Quite the contrary; Paul acknowledges trouble in life and says that the way to overcome them is actually to Rejoice. Not only does Paul tell us this here in Philippians, but Paul actually says this in 1 Thess. 5:18,
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Now, even though Paul says that we should rejoice or give thanks always and in all circumstances; it took me many years to come to understand how this could be possible. Let’s be honest: some days we just don’t feel like rejoicing. Some days are filled with anguish and other days are filled with pain and in those times and during those days, rejoicing is the furthest thing from our minds. Yet, even in the midst of our anguish and pain, Paul still tells us to rejoice.
As I said, it took me many years to understand how Paul could say that we are always to rejoice; and what helped me is a little book by Steve Harper entitled Five Marks of a Methodist; and a couple of years ago, I shared this book with all of the Class Leaders; but it is from reading this book that I learned how to rejoice.
Harper writes about the marks of a Methodist and by marks he means the distinguishing characteristics. John Wesley said that one of the things that a Methodist always does is to give thanks. And it was in reading this book that I was both reminded of what I already knew, but importantly, what I read brought a renewed focus and helped me to understand how we can always rejoice; and I want to share with you those things this morning.
First, the reason that we can always rejoice is in the very nature of God. We serve a God who’s nature – who’s very being is love. God is love; and not only is God love, God is light, and in God there is not darkness at all.
A couple of months ago I talked to you from the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matt. 13. And if you remember the parable, God is like a farmer who plants good seed in the ground; then afterwards, the enemy comes along and plants weeds. The parable clearly tells us that it is the enemy that plants weeds, trials, and troubles in our lives. Yet, in spite of the enemy and the weeds that are planted, God is still love; and God not only loves us, but God will love us; God will comfort and enfold us with God’s love through all of the troubles that we will and are experiencing. Even on our darkest days, God is light and in God, there is no darkness at all. So, because in God there is no darkness, the bible shows us that if we are experiencing darkness, then we are not focused in the right direction. In God, there is only light, and that light is God and the love of God which is shined on and given to us. So, no matter what trouble you experience, no matter what circumstance you’re in; no matter what trial or weeds you may be going through, you can rejoice because God is love.
The second reason that we can rejoice is because God loves us, and because God loves us, God also cares for us. And, because God cares for us, we can turn to God through all of our troubles; through all of our darkest days; through all of our pain and our anguish; through all of our anxiety; through any and everything that we will go through in our lives; because God loves us, God cares for us.
Jesus loves us, this we know, cause the Bible tells us so. Now, let’s use that same line again but in a slightly different way: God cares for us, this we know, cause the Bible tells us so. In 1 Pet. 5:7 the bible says, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” God loves us and cares so much for us that God does not want us to carry any trouble; to carry any pain; to carry any hardship; to carry any anxiety whatsoever. Instead of our carrying it, God desires to carry it for us. So, the bible tells us, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” To cast means to throw on, to give to. Whatever it is that you are experiencing in your life; whatever troubles you might have, God does not want you to carry them. Instead, God says give those to me. And maybe Peter doesn’t say it properly for us or maybe he doesn’t say it sufficiently for us to understand. Maybe the hymn writer says it better:
Have we trials and temptations,
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who, will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.God does not want us to carry the burden, the anxiety of all the troubles that we might go through or even to try and figure out why any of these things might be happening to us. All God wants is for us to experience God’s love for us and to cast all of our burdens, all of our anxiety on God because God cares for us. And when we understand and realize that God loves us that much; that God loves us enough to take all of our troubles and all of our anxieties upon God’s own self, then we can rejoice because we don’t have to bear the burdens and the troubles of this life. All we have to do is give those to God and rejoice that God loves us just that much.
Finally, we can rejoice because God loves us so much that God desires to provide for anything that we need. Because Paul has experienced both hardship and trouble in his life, he knows that we will have needs; but Paul doesn’t want us to worry about those needs. Paul tells us in v. 6,
Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
We can make our petitions known to God because we know that God both loves and cares for us. And because God both loves and cares for us, we can have the assurance that God will provide for us. And because God will provide for us, Paul tells us that we don’t need to worry. Paul tells us that we don’t need to worry because Paul knows what it is to be in need and to have God provide for those needs.
We are often too quick to run to v. 13 and proclaim that God is able to provide for all of our needs because of him who strengthens us. However, what we don’t do is pay enough attention to how it is that Paul is able to say that. Right now, you can just think about this with me but later on, maybe you should get a ledger or a note pad, divide it down the middle and have two columns. On the left put “Bad” and on the right, put “Good.” Then, read v. 12 and label it.
Paul says I know how to have little; that’s bad. Then Paul says he knows how to have a lot; that’s good.
Paul says he knows how to be well fed, that’s good. And to be hungry, that’s bad.
Paul says that he knows how to be in abundance, that’s good; and to have need, that’s bad.
Now, if we look at our ledger, we only want to look at all of the things that are labeled good. We want to have a lot; we want to be well fed; and we want to live in abundance. All of that is good; but that’s not all that Paul experienced. Paul has had all of these things; but Paul has also had little, he’s been hungry, and he has suffered need. Yet, in all of these things, he knows that he can bear all of them, through Christ who strengthens him.
This is why Paul can rejoice, because through it all, no matter what circumstance he may find himself, he knows that not only will God strengthen him, but that God will also provide for him. And when you know and have the assurance that God will provide for you no matter what the situation or circumstance is, then you can rejoice because you know that God will, take care of you. As the hymn writer said:
Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you!
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you!
All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you!
Trust Him, and you will be satisfied,
God will take care of you!
No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you!
Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you!
God will take care of you,
Through every day o’er all the way;
He will take care of you;
God will take care of you!Rejoice and know that God will take care of you.