“A PAULLYANNA
KIND OF JOY”
PHILIPPIANS 4:1-9
4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my
joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the
Lord.
3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women,
who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are
in the book of life.
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.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things.
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen
in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Can
things get any worse? That’s the question that a lot of people are asking
themselves these days. I know I’ve asked myself that question a few times
over the last few weeks. Every morning I read my newspaper and then I say to
myself, “That’s okay. You didn’t want to retire early anyway.” These days it’s easy to feel the same way a man felt when he went to the race
track on his birthday. The man was surprised when he saw that a horse named Numero
Cinqo was running in the 5th race. The man said to himself, “That
has to be some kind of a sign. I was born on May 5, 1955. 5/5/55. Not only that but I have five children and I live
at 555 East 55th Street. For the past five years I’ve also worked
at Sak’s Fifth Avenue where I now make $55,000 a year. Now I see that a horse named Number Five is running in the fifth
race.” That was enough for the man.
He ran to a nearby bank and took out $5,000 in $5 bills. Then five minutes before the fifth race he ran to the fifth
window at the race track and put it all down on Numero Cinqo, Number Five and sure enough.
The horse came in fifth.
Sometimes
you just can’t win. So, if you’re feeling discouraged these days
say hello to the Apostle Paul. Say hello to the Apostle Paul because he also
had a lot of reasons to be discouraged. First of all he was in prison and facing
the very real possibility of being put to death. If that wasn’t bad enough
the church that he started in Philippi was being battered by a squabble between two very important women. We don’t know
why Euodia and Syntyche were squabbling. It must have been hard though for Paul
to sit there in prison and hear about all the infighting that was going on in Philippi.
That’s because Paul was very fond of the Christians in Philippi. In his
letter he calls them his “joy” and his “crown” and says that he longs to see them. That’s why Paul urges Euodia and Syntyche to be reconciled.
He also urges the leaders of the church in Philippi to do everything they can to help the two women end their squabble.
When
you look at everything that was going on you realize that Paul had every reason to be discouraged. When you read his Letter
to the Philippians though he doesn’t sound discouraged. In fact,
Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice. He tells them in his letter to, “Rejoice
in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!”
Does
that sound like Paul is discouraged to you? I doesn’t sound like he’s
discouraged to me. In spite of all of his troubles and his tribulations and his
trials Paul is in good spirits! He’s downright joyful.
Now
this wasn’t an artificial NutriSweet kind of joy. Paul isn’t putting
on an act for the Philippians. Paul wasn’t like the chaplain who was called to say a few final prayers with a prisoner
on death row. Now this was the first time the chaplain had been called upon to do something like this so he was very nervous. Everyone could tell that the chaplain was nervous when they came to lead the prisoner
away to the electric chair. The chaplain’s hand was trembling when he put
it on the prisoner’s shoulder and in an attempt to give his strength said, “More power to you, my son!”
Paul’s
joy wasn’t phony or contrived. It was genuine and sincere. He really meant it when he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!” So what was Paul’s secret? I want
to know because with everything that’s been going on these last few weeks I suspect that a lot of us could use a little
of that joy and optimism.
So,
let’s take a closer look at Paul’s invitation to rejoice. First of
all when Paul says rejoice does he doesn’t mean the kind of rejoicing that we’ll see when the Red Sox win the
World Series again. He doesn’t mean the kind of rejoicing that happens
when you get a promotion at work or you find a $20 bill on the ground or you step on the scale and discover that you’ve
finally lost ten pounds.
No. Paul’s kind of rejoicing that depends on the stock market or the clothes in
your closet or the money in your bank account or the prettiest girl in school agreeing to go to the prom with you.
Paul’s
rejoicing is different. You can see that by looking at what he actually wrote
to the Philippians. Paul doesn’t just say rejoice. He says “Rejoice
in the Lord…” and that’s the key right there.
Paul
is joyful because he knows that no matter what happens God’s love in Christ is real.
So, God’s love for him is real. God’s love for the people
around him is real. Because of that love the promise of everlasting life is real.
It is that love
that is from everlasting to everlasting that made it possible for Paul to look beyond the iron bars of his prison cell and
see his blessings. That love that is from everlasting to everlasting is what
made it possible for Paul to rise above the conflict in Philippi and affirm his love not only for Euodia and Syntyche but
for all of the Christians in that family of faith. That love that is from everlasting
to everlasting is why Paul urged the Philippians to rejoice and to look for the good in themselves and others. Paul ends his letter by writing these words to the Philippians. “Finally…whatever
is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
In his book, Hearts Burning Within, Rev. Jeff Olsen tells the story about a little boy who decided
one day to go out and look for God. He didn’t know how long it would take. So,
he brought some Twinkies and root beer with him. He eventually ended up in a
park where he saw an old lady who was sitting on a bench watching the pigeons. The
little boy sat down on the bench next to her. After a while he started to get
hungry. So, he pulled one of the Twinkies out of his bag and started to eat it. He also offered one to the old lady who accepted it with a big smile. The little boy
thought the old lady had the most beautiful smile in the whole world. So, he
offered her a can of root beer so he could see it again. For a long time
the two of them sat on the bench, drinking root beer, eating Twinkies and watching the pigeons. Finally, the little boy realized that it was getting late and that he needed to get home. As he started to leave, he took a few steps, then turned around. He ran back to the old lady and gave her
a big hug. When the little boy got home his mother noticed that he was happy,
but also strangely quiet. “What did you do today?” she asked. “Oh,” the little boy said, “I had lunch in the park with God.” Before the mother could say anything the little boy added, “You know she has
the most beautiful smile in the whole world.” Meanwhile, the old lady also
went home. When she got there, her son noticed that there was something different
about her. “What did you do today mom?” he asked. “Oh,” she said. “I ate Twinkies and drank
root beer in the park with God.” Before the son could say anything
the old lady added, “You know, God’s a lot younger than I imagined.”
The
stock market will go up and the stock market will go down. God’s won’t
bounce around from day to day.
Friends
will come and friends will go. God’s love will always be rock solid.
Life
will bring you laughter and tears. God’s love will see you through it all.
God’s
love is waiting for you out there. You may even find it right here in this sanctuary. It may be waiting for you in the person sitting next to you in the pew. So, I say to you what the Apostle Paul said to the Philippians.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice! Amen.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
October 12, 2008
