Our Father Always Gives Us Reason to Rejoice :: Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord at all times. Again, I will say, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is near ... [so] let no one worry, but let your requests be made known towards God in all prayer and supplication with thankfulness, and the peace of God ... [the peace] that surpasses all understanding ... [it] will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (vv 4-7).

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The prisons of the Roman Empire were terrible places, sleepless places, dark and dank places, dungeons of despair. They were known for poor ventilation and a lack of natural light, and therefore life, especially if you were confined in one of the inner rooms. The prisoners were chained to the wall. The iron shackles binding them would chaff and corrode the skin over time. Those who had no friends or family to care for them had grim prospects. Their diet was not intended for health, but bare survival. So it should surprise you that most prisoners ... if they did not become sick and die ... wished themselves dead. 

With that in mind, remember this ... when Saint Paul wrote his epistle to the church in Philippi, he had been shackled in prison for about two years. Now ... can you imagine being in his shoes ... and then writing this epistle to the church in Philippi, a city that had once greeted his preaching (Acts 16) by stripping him, beating him with rods, and yes, throwing him in prison?

So during some of the darkest days of his life, this time in Rome, he teaches us to ... Rejoice! 

Rejoice in the Lord, always. That means again, and again, and again, and again, and again. 

Whenever Christ is proclaimed, I rejoice, he said in chapter 1[:18]. Even if I am poured out upon the sacrifice and liturgy of your faith, I rejoice, he said in chapter 2[:17]. And you should rejoice too. Rejoice with me, he went on. Rejoice in the Lord, he said in chapter 3. Rejoice in Christ Jesus (3:1, 3), he said two verses later. You can do this ... because Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ (3:20). So ... Again, I will say, rejoice. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul is proclaiming this to the church in Philippi because it was experiencing strife. You could say the Philippian Christians had been imprisoned ... not only by their own sin ... but by the sin of the world ... not only by their own self-idolatry but by the world’s idolatry. They were being persecuted for confessing that they knew there is only one Way, one Truth, and one Life (Jn 14:6) ... one body and one Spirit, just as you we called out in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, the one above all and in all and through all (Eph 4:4-6). And because the world hates Jesus, the Philippians were being pressured to adopt the doctrines of the world. Worse, they were being seduced from the inside by the compromising Judaizers who were teaching that you need to dot I’s and cross T’s to make yourselves holy (Php 3:2). So the Philippian Christians had begun grumbling with each other. They began disputing how things should be (Php 2:14). 

Sadly, these things are still happening to the church. They happen in every church. As Jesus said in John 15[:18]: If the world hates you, know that it hated me first.

This is why Paul’s message is so timeless ... it is for all times. ... Rejoice!

1.

This word “at all times” ... or you could say, always ... has some rather staggering implications, does it not? Always is forever. Forever is always. Always never stops. It is ceaseless. And yes, it is Law, but it is also Gospel. 

As a word of Law, “at all times” reminds us of the Lord’s word in Deuteronomy that he desires us to have a heart that always fears him and always keeps his commandments so that it might always go well with you and your descendents (Dt 5:29). You will [therefore] love YHWH your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always (Deu 11:1). More than that, you will, as Wisdom reminds us, bind [our Father’s commands and Mother’s instruction] on our hearts always (Prv 19:7). 

But let’s be honest with each other, we all know that we don’t always do anything, let alone always follow God’s Law ... even when we know it is for our good and God’s glory. Instead, we prefer when God does things our way ... in our time ... at our pace ... on our whim ... the way we have “always” done it. 

A much better way to hear this word “at all times” is as Gospel. As a word of Gospel, Rejoice in the Lord always reminds us how good it is to remember what has been done for you. You know ... like Paul’s words from Philippians 2[:5-11] ... 

Have this mind in yourselves, which also is in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality to God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being in the likeness of men, and having been found in form of a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient until death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and graced in him the name that is above every name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, into the glory of God the Father (vv 5-11). 

Do you need a better reason to rejoice?

OUR FATHER ALWAYS GIVES US REASON TO REJOICE

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So how do we do this ... to Rejoice in the Lord always?

Well, the key is being “in the Lord” and remaining “in the Lord.”

We are in the Lord because Christ comes to you in Word and Sacraments ... through Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, his means of grace that deliver the Gospel. We are in the Lord when we hear his call through His Word. We are in the Lord when we gather together in the Divine Service ... where God serves you. We are in the Lord when he enlightens us with the Gospel that you are forgiven by the blood of the cross, and are made holy just as he is holy.

As Paul will remind you, before baptism, we were dead in our sins and trespasses ... rebelling against every Word that God has spoken ... always doing nothing. We were incapable of rejoicing. But then God poured out the Holy Spirit upon us through Water and His Word. As he told the Thessalonians, he calls you through the Gospel to obtain the glory of Christ (2 Th 2:14). He saved us, Paul says in Titus, through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-8). In baptism, He sanctified us, setting you apart to rejoice. He has forgiven you by God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. Whereas God declared that the wages of sin is death, Christ died for you. The death of Jesus on the cross became your death in baptism. Your sin died with Christ in baptism. God then raised you out of the water of baptism into eternal life of rejoicing. It is no longer we who live, but Christ Jesus who lives in us (Gal 2:20). Therefore, we are now “in the Lord” because ... He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! 

And now that we are in the Lord ... we have every reason to rejoice. We have the peace of God ... [the peace] that surpasses all understanding ... [the peace that] will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Now when you come to the Lord’s Supper, you are invited to rejoice with all the company of heaven ... yes, even your sainted relatives ... instead of hanging your heads in shame, afraid to rejoice ... pretending you aren’t worthy. As Luther teaches us in the Large Catechism ... The entire Gospel and article of the Creed ... I believe in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting ... are embodied by the Word in this Sacrament of the Altar and presented to us. 

Again, I will say rejoice. Christ’s miraculous indwelling of his people and their dwelling in him involve a mighty reversal of the alienation that began with the fall in the garden. We, though many, are now one body in Christ (Rm 12:5). We are in the Lord. We have all been given his righteousness to wear during his Marriage Feast of the Lamb that never ends. Here, Jesus is always for you. Here, Jesus teaches us that in his Sacrament his saving death is always proclaimed and the fruits of his atonement are always distributed ... that the words “for you” show us that Christ instituted this Sacrament for weak and struggling sinners like us ... to draw us to Himself and to strengthen our faith in him. 

[Conclusion]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as our minds begin by God’s gifts to grasp the truth of who Jesus really is ... of how the Gospel is always given to us ... as our souls contemplate the love that he keeps lavishing upon us (Jn 15:9) ... then we truly will be able to heed the Words of Saint Paul, who says ... Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is near; [so] let no one worry, but let your requests be made known towards God in all prayer and supplication with thankfulness, and the peace of God ... [the peace] that surpasses all understanding ... [that] will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (vv 4-7). 

Amen.