December 7, 2003 Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Our living room has a six foot plastic tree sitting against a barren wall. Tristan and I put it up hastily on Sunday night after he got home from Norton. In our basement, a host of ornaments are calling from the box in the storage room, “let me free! Let me free!” Next to them there’s also a couple of four foot lighted trees that need to be put up outside. Underneath the plastic tree there isn’t a whole lot of anything, which reminds me of what we’re supposed to be doing in the next few weeks. However, when I look at our living room table and this month’s calendar, I see that it is full of many other responsibilities that need to be done first. As I look at these daily reminders of deadlines I think to myself, “there’s too much to do!” So when I do take the time to look at the TV, and see cookie cutter families running around in their perfectly fit Christmas sweaters and drinking their café latte’s - saying to each other, “Merry Christmas,” a part of me wants to say - “what’s so merry about it? I’ve got too much stuff to get done!” It’s an honest question - one that Paul answers in today’s text.
What Will It Take For You to Have a “Merry” Christmas?
How would you initially answer that question? Personally, if I had everything done ahead of time, and had plenty of energy to go to all of the functions with good health, I would say I could then have a “Merry Christmas.” In order to get everything “done”, we already decided to give ourselves less to do, by buying less presents and trying to simplify the season. But even with that, with a funeral and the flu having run through our lives, we once again find ourselves behind on our deadlines and stressed out. So it still seems like it’s going to be hard to really “enjoy” Christmas this year again. Do you feel the same way? No matter how prepared we seem to be, there always seems to be more on our plate than we want - so we can never sit down and actually enjoy anything. It’s kind of ironic that with all of the creature comforts that we’ve created for ourselves - electric massages, vibrating chairs, heated blankets, PDA’s and palm pilots and everything else - we’re more stressed today than ever!
Paul’s suggestion for really “enjoying” Christmas and every other time of our life has an even more drastic simplification process. Paul was writing this letter from his first imprisonment in Rome. He was awaiting the hearing of his appeal to the emperor and then the emperor’s verdict - from which he expected to be set free. It wasn’t as bad as his second imprisonment, where he had to ask Timothy to bring a cloak to him. Yet nonetheless he probably spent a period of about two years in prison, from A.D. 61 to 63. Prison is prison, and Paul was by no means enjoying a summer vacation in Rome. Having been stripped of his traveling capabilities and many of his possessions, Paul wouldn’t have had many reasons to rejoice. Yet it was Paul who encouraged the Philippians to “rejoice” for one simple reason. What does he say? Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Paul says to rejoice in the Lord. A lord is literally - to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding. Instead of rejoicing in things that you can buy and call your own, rejoice in the fact that you are owned - that you belong to someone - but not just anyone - the Lord - Jesus Christ. When you were baptized and the minister said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” God was putting His name on you. He was announcing to Satan, you, and the world - that you are now HIS property. Since you now belong to Him, you now have special gifts and special privileges. First of all, you have the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ! His perfection is given to you and covers you! In God’s eyes - you are literally IN Christ - wrapped up in His blood and righteousness. Second of all, the Lord is IN you! You get the gift of the Holy Spirit and the faith that clings to Christ! (Acts 2:38) As a result of this, the devil can no longer enter you! Through the Word of God - he and your sinful nature can no longer tell you what to do! (Romans 6!) Now, since you are in Christ and the Holy Spirit is in you, as God’s child, the Father directs all of the affairs of this world to benefit your spiritual well being! (Romans 8) He gives you preferential treatment - nothing - absolutely nothing - happens without His permission and purpose. He promises you a lifetime of eternal pleasures at his side! You have now stepped in to the household of God! What a pleasure and a privilege this is! Rejoice in it. That’s why Paul could still rejoice. Even while languishing in prison, he still knew God owned him and he still was going to heaven.
Pastor Mark Cares made an interesting difference between happiness and joy. He said, “Happiness is based on one happening or another, usually beyond the Christian’s personal control. Scripture, however, advocates not happiness, but joy and rejoicing! Whereas happiness is elusive and often impossible due to suffering circumstances, "the joy of salvation" that God restores in us through the Gospel of Christ survives and even thrives, in spite of unhappy circumstances.” True “merriness” in Christmas is found in a simplification of what really makes you happy. It’s found in something you can’t sit on, you can’t touch, doesn’t warm your feet, or give pleasure to your eyes. Instead, he tells us to rejoice at a baby being born in a dirty cattle stall two thousands years ago - a baby who would live and die for your sins. Rejoice in the fact that that little baby came to take ownership of your heart and soul. That’s where God wants to give you joy - in the Lord. Who cares if you don’t get all of those Christmas cards out on time? Who cares if you can’t afford that special electric powered Jeep for your child this year? It doesn’t matter if you aren’t completely healthy this year for Christmas! When push comes to shove, what really matters is that you belong to God. Some day that same Lord who purchased you with His blood is coming to take you home - some day soon. The Lord is near.
When you simplify your joy down to that one simple fact, it makes life much more - what would we say today - relaxed. Paul put it this way - “let your gentleness be evident to all. Do not be anxious about anything.” Gentleness literally means - what is serviceable, moderate, reasonable, or gentle. What Paul is getting at is that we don’t have to be in control of everything. We don’t have to have everything under our thumbs. Instead, as servants of God under His lordship, we can simply do what we can to serve him and leave the rest in God’s hands. When things go beyond our control - the cooking of the cookies - the buying of the presents - the putting up of the ornaments - we get angry and short tempered because things aren’t going according to OUR plan - as if WE were in charge and the world revolved around what WE wanted. Isn’t that what Martha was doing when Jesus came to visit her? She had her own agenda - to cook and clean for Jesus and get everything just right - and she let Jesus know it! Jesus said, “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. (Luke 10) When we remember that God is LORD and life revolves around what GOD wants and plans - to own our souls, it helps us to accept these setbacks as no big deal.
When you look at Paul’s letters, you see that that is the way he continually acted among his people. He said to the Thessalonians, As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. Even though he was especially chosen by Christ on the way to Damascus and his letters contained the very words of God - he never used his authority as a club to hammer his people with. He didn’t demand people wait on him hand and foot. As a matter of fact, Paul was so gentle with them that he was accused of being too “timid” by some false apostles that had infiltrated the Corinthian congregation. (2 Corinthians 10:1) Instead of being a forceful and arrogant leader, he simply trusted that the same God who owned him could work through the Word of God which he spoke - no matter how forcefully he presented himself. It wasn’t about people serving him - but Paul serving God and his people with the simple message of the GOSPEL - the one thing needful. That’s all that his ministry basically revolved around. Since he could even do this ministry by writing letters from prison, Paul was joyful and relaxed.
So simplify your life. Ask yourself, “what is really the most important thing to me? What am I really here to do?” Isn’t it the same thing as Paul, who told the Corinthians - I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2) Christmas isn’t about how many cookies you can bake or presents you can buy. It’s about Jesus being born so he could die for you. That’s the message God wants you and your children and friends and family to know and believe. Concentrate on the message - and you’ll be much more gentle and relaxed. The rest is just frosting on the cake. It might taste sweet and make your life seemingly look better, but in the end - it doesn’t add any nourishment. When you remember this - it will help you relax and be more gentle throughout all your life. You won’t be so angry and stressed about all the other deadlines that come with life.
I know what some of you are thinking - I can hear your brains! “But Pastor, what about all the deadlines? You can’t just ignore life! Who else is going to do all these things? I still have responsibilities as a parent and at work that have to get done!” In an ideal world - we’d all have plenty of time to prepare for Christmas and do all of the extra stuff. But the reality is, people expect presents and extra food. We don’t want to be rude. We can’t just put it all off. So what do we do with it all? We can’t just ignore all of it.
What did Paul say to do with our anxieties and responsibilities? In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. That’s why we sing -
Let each day begin with prayer, Praise and adoration.
On the Lord cast ev’ry care; He is your salvation.
Morning, evening, and at night Jesus will be near you,
Save you from the tempter’s might, With his presence cheer you. (478)
Why should we pray to God? If we truly believe that he is the Lord - the owner and master of the universe - and the owner and master of us - then we have to realize that the success of our efforts or failure completely rests in his hands. Proverbs 16 says, The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
There’s a true story about a Christian farmer who had the opportunity to buy some land from the church - right across the highway. He bought that land, and as a result of this extra responsibility he felt that it was necessary to work his land on Sundays. So every Sunday, while the congregation was worshiping, the farmer worked the fields instead. The pastor encouraged him to put aside his work for one Sunday, but the farmer felt he was too busy to take time out for worship. That year a terrible drought struck the land. As a result, all of his planting and fertilizing was ruined. When the pastor visited him again, he humbly asked the farmer, “where did all that extra work get you?” The farmer was all stressed out about all he had to do, but he forgot to put the Lord first and leave it in HIS hands - so in the end he ended up behind!
So Paul says, do what you can - but before you go about your work - take the time to present your requests to God - with thanksgiving. And what will happen? And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In one of his sermons Luther defined "peace" as God making everything work together in harmony. When we pray to God - asking him to bless our efforts and work all things according to His good and gracious will - it’s as if all of the responsibility is taken off of OUR shoulders and put on HIS. If God wants me to get everything done on time, it will happen. All I can do is pray for the strength to do what He puts in front of me. If I don’t have the strength, then it won’t get done. But even if it’s not - I still have the peace of knowing I am God’s and He is mine. That’s the peace that goes beyond all understanding. If God wants me to get sick, I still know he still loves me. If God allows me to get in an accident, I know it’s not as a punishment for my sins. I don’t understand it all, but I still find comfort in it.
This is most evident when we look at the lives of those who have gone before us. Jesus - on the cross - wasn’t distressed over the fact that the soldiers and Jews were putting him to death. Instead, after prayer, He had the peace of knowing this was where God the Father wanted him to be. So instead of cursing those who crucified Him, He calmly prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Stephen also, when having stones thrown at him, simply prayed, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” He may have wanted to serve the Lord many more years, but God had different plans. So he calmly faced death with a peace that is beyond understanding. Even while in prison, Paul was calmly assured that he was where God wanted him and God’s plans would still be completed. Their gentleness was evident to all.
Two weeks ago a lady woke up at 5:00 to wait outside a Wal-Mart so she could get a good deal on a DVD player. As she was running into the store with hundreds of other bargain hunters, she was knocked to the ground and people started walking on her and stampeding over her to get the best deals. Nobody stopped to help her. All they were concerned about was getting their bargains. I don’t imagine she’ll have a very merry Christmas as she recovers from her shopping wounds - because she didn’t get her DVD player.
Like that lady, we find ourselves getting caught up in the frenzy of the season way too often. Unfortunately, when it’s all said and done, we too get trampled by deadlines and greed. Sharpen your focus in a different direction this year. What’s really important? Two weeks from now, there may still be a six foot plastic tree standing in my living room against a barren room. The dining room table may still have a stack of things on it that need to be done. Presents may never end up getting purchased. You may not get your Christmas cards out on time. You may not get those Christmas cookies made like you planned. Does it matter? Instead, just rejoice that you are in the Lord. He is the one in charge. Pray to him to keep your focus - to simplify your life and remind you of what is really important - that a Savior is born for you - He is Christ the Lord - and have a truly Merry Christmas. Amen.
