Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL December 13, How Can I To Rejoice at a Time Like This?

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1 Third Sunday of Advent Rev. Darrell Debowey Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL December 13, 2015 Philippians 4:4 7: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. How Can I To Rejoice at a Time Like This? TEXT Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for today s message is the Epistle reading from Philippians, the fourth chapter. INTRODUCTION Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. We know this because the rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath was lit today. This Sunday is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaude is the Latin word for rejoice. In our Old Testament reading, Zephaniah calls on the people to Rejoice and exult with all your heart because the Lord has taken away the judgments against you; He has cleared away your enemies. Those are pretty good reasons to rejoice, and indeed when things go our way, that s when we rejoice! In the Epistle reading, the apostle Paul calls on God s people to rejoice, too. But not only in the good times or the best of times, but always. And Paul doesn t just suggest it, he commands it twice 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! In other words, You will rejoice always! Page 1

2 I know when I m going through a rough patch, Paul s commandment to rejoice is just not what I want to hear. When things aren t going well and you have the blues, when you ve gotten bad news from the doctor, or when your husband has forgotten an important anniversary; when someone near and dear to you has passed away, we all have said this to Paul: HOW CAN I REJOICE AT A TIME LIKE THIS? But Paul s command is to Rejoice in the Lord always. And that s key, here. Paul doesn t say, Rejoice always ; he says, Rejoice in the Lord always. 1) Paul wants you to rejoice in the Lord always because in all things God is doing what is necessary to save your soul and keep you in His kingdom. And sometimes what it takes for God to do that are trials and suffering. Think about it when do you need God when do you turn to Him and lean on Him? When things are going great? Or, when you re facing difficult circumstances when things aren t going your way? We shouldn t be surprised that God uses the difficulties of life to encourage repentance and to turn us from depending on the world to depending on Him and His providential care. In the midst of suffering, Paul told the Corinthian Christians, So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self his being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2Cor. 4:16 18). We are a people who are focused on the cares of this world we re wrapped up in them and hardly know it. So, sometimes it takes suffering for us to realize that this world isn t home heaven is our home. Page 2

3 Paul also told the Philippian Christians just before our text, 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Phil 3:8 11). That the Lord is preparing us for heaven through any means possible is a reason to rejoice in the Lord always. 2) Paul wants you to rejoice in the Lord always because there, in the midst of trials and tribulations, is where God may be using you to extend His Kingdom. For example, Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, calling on the people to rejoice, while he himself was in a Roman prison. There in prison he had the God-given opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to his guards and fellow prisoners. And when brought before princes and governors and even Caesar himself, Paul was able to do as Jesus said: And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say (Luke 12:11 12). Paul on trial before kings and Caesar was an evangelism opportunity they had to listen to his testimony because they asked for it. Page 3

4 And it was in prison in right there in Philippi where God had given Paul a great evangelism opportunity: to proclaim the Gospel which resulted in the entire household of the jailor receiving Christ and being baptized. Do you know how lumberjacks clear a logjam in a river? They dynamite the logs to break them up. Did you know there was a logjam in Jerusalem? The Christians were stuck in one place and not taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth as Jesus had commanded. But then along comes persecution. You might not see persecution as a reason to rejoice, but God used the persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem to fix the logjam and get the Gospel out of Jerusalem. Because of persecution, the Gospel spread from Jerusalem to the rest of the world! When Christians are suffer or are persecuted for their faith it just may be a reason to rejoice in the Lord because in this God is giving you the opportunity to reach and to teach. When someone is next to you in or a hospital room or in prison cell, his ears are more ready to listen to you, because you have the hope and the answers that the world cannot give. 3) Paul wants you to rejoice in the Lord always because rejoicing isn t about what s happening to you at the moment, but it s about your status with God. Paul wants you to rejoice in the Lord always because in all situations and in all things you have Jesus you are baptized into His name and in Jesus you have God s grace and God s love and God s forgiveness. An Olympic champion is always an Olympic champion no matter how old and decrepit he becomes even after his death, he s still an Olympic champion. No matter what life throws at you, you are a child of God even in death, you are victorious in Christ. When Paul was in the deepest, darkest Roman prison, he remained in his baptismal faith, a child of God, a soul Page 4

5 redeemed and justified by the blood of Jesus and nothing in creation could take that away from him! In our offertory hymn, we ll sing these words today, He is your treasure, He your joy, Your life and light and Lord, Your counselor when doubts annoy, Your shield and great reward. And that, all by itself, is reason to rejoice in the Lord always! 4) Paul wants you to rejoice in the Lord always even when you don t understand what God is doing, because of the cross the cross is the everlasting revelation that God loves and cares for His creation. We may not understand why there s suffering and sadness in life why God allows situations to rob us of our joy but the cross stands as an emblem, telling us that God loves you and has done something about this broken and sinful world. Before Jesus went to the cross for you, He prayed with great anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane I wouldn t say there was much joy and rejoicing that evening. Yet Jesus submitted to God s will and went to the cross. His willingness to suffer in your place is your salvation. The cross is proof that God is good, that He loves you and that He has done something about the sin in this world that robs you of joy and rejoicing. And that is the greatest reason to rejoice in the Lord always! CONCLUSION: Christian rejoicing isn t a worldly thing it isn t about jumping around in excitement because your favorite team won; nor is Christian rejoicing about being happy and excited when Page 5

6 you re not just read the Psalms there s not often a whole lot of rejoicing going on in many of the Psalms but God is always praised in every situation. Paul explains what it means to rejoice in the Lord always in every situation: 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Christian rejoicing is a state of being. You rejoice in the Lord always because the Lord is at hand He s in your heart. You rejoice in the Lord always because in all situations, there s no need to be anxious or worried the Lord takes care of you. And You rejoice in the Lord always because your greatest problem has been washed away in the blood of Jesus your sin and now you have peace with God a peace that will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus always! In Jesus Name. Amen. Page 6