A teaching day today. So now I’ve made the trip to Indy and back, sharing with a group of pastors exploring this thing called preaching. It was a good day, a long day, but a good day. I am often inspired by those training for ministry. No matter their age, and many of them are second career and some are even older than me. My daughter would have trouble with that last statement. “Older than you?” I can hear her exclaim, incredulous. Yes, it is possible. Anyway, I enjoy and often, as I said I am inspired by them, their calling, their passion, their drive. Often. Not always.
Always is a hard word. In many ways an inhuman word. Always. Who says that? How do we guarantee always in a temporary kind of world? Who knows what might be next. I heard tell some years ago of a wedding couple that wanted to change the vows from until death do us part to “as long as love shall last.” Now it is possible that they meant always. That they were confident in that love. It was an Irving Berlin kind of love (yes, Maddie I AM old) “I’ll be loving you Always / with a love that’s true Always / when the things you’ve planned / need a helping hand / I will understand Always.”
Maybe that is what they meant when they wanted to change the vows to as long as love will last. Maybe they were proclaiming an Irving Berlin kind of love. Always. Too old for you? How about a Jon Bon Jovi love? “And I will love you, baby - Always / And I'll be there forever and a day - Always / I'll be there till the stars don't shine / Till the heavens burst and / The words don't rhyme / And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind / And I'll love you - Always.”
Either way, Berlin or Bon Jovi, it is still a big word. A romantic word, not a very practical word. Always. Not a very doable word. Always. For now, that fits, that works. For a while, we can handle that. But who has the capacity to say always? Not me. And, I suspect, not you. Am I right?
Philippians 4:4-8 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry 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. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Dang it Paul. Why’d you have throw that word in there? That unreachable, impossible word? That always word. Take that word out and this is a nice little passage about being happy, about finding your joy, about walking on the sunny side of life. It’s got a nice beat and you can dance to it. A spoonful of sugar, all that sort of stuff. But, no you weren’t happy with that. You wanted something more, something deeper. You wanted something, (dare I say it?), eternal.
Cover one eye and read this without that scary word. Just for a moment. “Rejoice in the Lord.” Well, of course! Who would say no to that. Again I say rejoice. Sure, keep reminding me, I need the boost. I also need reminded of the source of this joy - rejoice in the Lord. Certainly, I can do that. I have done that. I remember a time when there was joy in the Lord, in worship, in fellowship. Sure, it happens. Been there, done that.
And then, Paul says, let it spill out. That joy in the Lord is not just for you. Not just so that you get a boost, a lift, a skip in your step. Let it come out. “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” Gentleness? Hmm. Not sure that’s the best word, actually. A good word, but not the best. Doesn’t quite convey what Paul is getting at here. Patience, some say, forbearance if anyone uses that word anymore, magnanimity if you want a real tongue twister. Peterson’s The Message says, “Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them.” I like that. An earlier paraphrase said “Let all the world know that you’ll meet them half-way.” It’s about hospitality, about welcome, about inclusion, about the fact that we are the judge, we don’t point fingers, we don’t accuse, we dropped our stones long ago, even since Jesus told us that only the sinless can throw them. We aren’t looking to pick fights, to call names. What we have to share is joy. Joy in the Lord. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. Everyone? Paul almost slipped in an always there, didn’t he? Everyone. Hmmm.
Don’t worry about anything. Yeah, ok, thanks Paul. But no thanks. I mean, how in the world are we going to do that? It’s one thing to know we aren’t supposed to worry, but how do we stop? And then because we can’t stop we end up worrying about worrying.
I guess that’s why there is a comma there and not a period. “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Don’t worry, says Paul, but get on your knees. Don’t worry, but pour it out. Don’t worry but beg and plead and pound on the doorways of heaven with both fists, even as you know - not hope, not assume, but know - that you are heard and that answers are already all around you when you open your eyes again and put one foot in front of the other. Don’t worry because you don’t have time to worry, you are so busy bending God’s divine ear. Don’t worry because your life is now a prayer and the answers are coming fast and furious and surprising.
Don’t worry because from somewhere comes this sense that maybe, just maybe you are not alone in the universe. This sense that maybe you do have a place, a home, an identity, an existence right here and right now that is meaningful, useful, transformed and transforming. From somewhere, who knows where, God, it must be, comes a peace that even on your best days you can’t define or even describe. It just is, passing all understanding, or your understanding anyway. Where does it come from? Stay tuned, that’s our Eastertide theme.
But for now. Choose joy. Rejoice in the Lord. Always. We’ve come back to that. It is still there. We can only squint it away for so long. We can only ignore it for a time. Rejoice in the Lord, Always. Maybe we could negotiate with Paul. Rejoice in the Lord, when it is convenient. Rejoice in the Lord when we’ve got the time. When we’re in the mood, when the world hasn’t taken yet another sideswipe at my confidence. Rejoice in the Lord when I’ve run out of excuses not to. Rejoice in the Lord ... Always. Always?
How in the world do we do that? Focus on the next one? No, focus more deeply on this one. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Think on, dwell on, meditate on, take your cue from, be obsessed with these things. Look at the list: True, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, praise-worthy. What is that? Who is that? Implied in the directive is the confidence that there is enough of this out there in the world to fill us up. And not only fill us up but give us joy. Real joy, In the Lord joy. Always joy. Paul says go find Christ in the world. Go find the one you love, the one who loves you, focus on that and you will know joy.
The fruit of the Spirit love that then brings us into joy, the joy of the Lord, always. Always.
Always.
Shalom,
Derek
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