Disciples Rejoice! Phil 4: 1-9

Humans have forgotten how to rejoice. We have become so caught up in our own expectations of what something is supposed to be like that we block our ability to celebrate those times that truly need to be marked. We manufacture holidays to give us an opportunity to try to celebrate, but even in those times we see rejoicing as a task to be accomplished instead of an opportunity to embrace. In our business we set aside time to rejoice instead of letting it spontaneously bubble up within us as a response. We become jealous of when others rejoice without us. It has reached the point, where as a society we are better at fighting then rejoicing.

As Christians we are even more guilty of not rejoicing in all circumstances. Some see corporate gatherings, a time to come together and rejoice in the Risen Christ, as just another thing to do, a hurdle to get through before Sunday can really start. As a community we really only focus on rejoicing over Jesus’ birth and Christ’s resurrection, two occasions, two weeks out of the fifty two in a year. If someone came into our gathering today, would they see us as a people who rejoice or even a people that have something to rejoice about?

I think people’s hesitancy towards rejoicing comes from confusion between joy and happiness. You can rejoice whether you have joy or happiness, but one is temporary. Happiness is simply a fleeting emotion, like any other. But joy, well that is something that comes from deep within our being, no matter what the circumstances. We seek out happiness; joy is something that is given to us as a gift. Yet all too often, when our expectation is that something will make us happy, and then it doesn’t, we do not rejoice in the joy we can still experience from the situation or circumstances.

We all face this confusion between joy and happiness from time to time, and my guess is that there have been times when you have not rejoiced when it was warranted as well. And for times like those, Paul has something to teach us from today’s scripture lesson.

Paul is entering a time of great reflection in his life – he is facing his impending death. As he examines his life and pens this letter for the church in Philip, his favorite gathering of people whom he has ministered to. He urges the community to come alongside two women in conflict to help them remember their struggles for the work of the gospel. Paul is not seemingly upset with the women for their disagreement or any tension that it may have caused in the community; he simply names it and asks that the community support them.

Perhaps Paul has had a change in heart and tone since his earlier years in places of ministry much as Corinth, where he took a much harsher stance with a church that had feuds within it, or maybe Paul just reassessed what was important in this, his potentially last message to this church. As he nears the end of his own metaphorical race for the Gospel, Paul tells his brothers and sisters in Philip that they are his joy and his crown, the ones whom he loves and longs for.

Paul and his audience would have been very accustomed with crowns – as they were often the sign of victory for Roman athletic events. As early as the 5^th century BCE, crowns were placed on the heads of those who won to show elevated status or honor. But the victor is not the only one who is credited with the victory. No athlete was celebrating apart from their city, knowing that there are many behind an athlete that make both completion and winning a possibility. When an athlete achieved the honor of a crown, it was handed to him by the king or the priest of the area where the event took place, who wore it during the competition, which upheld the honor even more.

Paul considers this group of people to be his crown from God, a visible sign accepted on behalf of the people and all who came before him who made his witness to the gospel possible. In Paul’s passing, he wants the people to continue striving for the crown of God, by coming together as a community, inspire of how others may view or treat them. The mission is difficult, but the glory for the entire do comes from God, in whom all things are possible.

Paul goes on to tell the people to rejoice in the Lord, always! Do not worry about anything along the journey, but turn everything over to God in prayer, both asking God for what they need and bringing their praises of thanksgiving before the throne of grace. If they do become discouraged, Paul urges those gathered in Philippi to concentrate on the things that come from Christ – those things which are honorable, pure, true, pleasing, commendable, and excellent. Those things that are worthy of praise. For when focused on these things who can help but live in Jesus and rejoice, no matter what the circumstances? And if you should become discouraged as an individual, the rest of your community is there to support you, and help you strive after your communal mission, for the work for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Brothers and sisters, times will come when we get weary. When we will become drained by the heaviness of the world and seem unable to rejoice, because those around us have not taught us how. But that is the task of the church! To teach others how to rejoice! What a beautiful mission! We have good news that should change people’s lives – we have the mission of Jesus Christ who changed the world! We worship a Lord who is not just to be rejoiced in during Christmas and Easter but throughout the entire year, and in the seemingly mundane. Each day is a gift to us, a chance to experience and live out Christ’s resurrection in our own lives – and I can think of nothing more worthy of being rejoiced in then this truth.

This is not to say that there will not be times when we need to lament, but brothers and sisters I tell you that there can still be joy in the midst of lamenting, even when we are deeply grieved or saddened, for Christ never leaves or forsakes us. We should also not become discouraged if we cannot rejoice in all circumstances, because that is truly a mark of maturing in the faith, a mark that we may never reach in this lifetime. But that is why we gather together each Sunday, to ask each other, is it well with your soul? How can I be praying for you? How can we rejoice together?

If we truly believe that our faith means something, that God is near, the Spirit is moving, and Christ is the Risen Lord, then we should be people whose lives radiate something to those around us. For joy is incomplete unless it is shared with others. And our rejoicing, dear friends, and our joy is subversive but necessary and beautiful to a culture with so much pain and hostility. We live to show others that we are not put on this earth to strive for happiness or those things that we think will make us happy; even those of us who rejoice know that we are not the source of our own joy. The God who is alive and is at work in our lives and the lives of those around us, for the kingdom of God is one of celebration.

We live in a culture that is struggling and is moaning for the rebirth that comes in the freedom of rejoicing. This past week we have heard the cries across the nation with the Overtake Wall Street movements. These were not the first protests of their kind, nor will they probably be the last, but they reminded me of a story of how a small community took something that causes pain and anxiety, and used it to rejoice in God and spread joy. A group of Christians in Philadelphia, called the Simple Way, were awarded $10,000 a few years ago in a lawsuit against police for misconduct. Shortly after this settlement was passed they were given another $10,000 as an anonymous gift. The group came together and prayed about how to use this money in a culture where money controls so many, to rejoice in God. They changed the money into bills and coins and headed to Wall Street. At 8:20am one morning, during the peak of rush hour, the group assembled and declared that as a nation we were a community of struggle, who needed each other and God to heal our brokenness. They went on to declare another world was possible, another world has already come to be and it is here. And coins and bills were thrown across the streets around Wall Street. Bubbles were blown and sidewalk chalk was used to create murals.

And do you know what happened? The rejoicing that a few started was caught by many, for joy is contagious. People started bringing food for each other. Started to share their winter clothing We may think that this was crazy, but often rejoicing will be viewed by those around us as crazy. It is not the norm. But it is what we are called to as ones who have been given such a gift.

So may we rejoice together. May we uphold each other. May our gatherings be ones of celebration in the Risen Lord, who is here amongst us! And may we creatively rejoice in this truth in our neighborhoods and workplaces, where we shop and where we eat, where we play and where we relax, so that those around us will catch a glimpse of the contagious joy of Christ. For we rejoice always, not because of ourselves, but because of the One who has given us every reason to celebrate, every day.