Sermon – December 13
Text: Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.6 Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus.
There is No Exaggeration With Our God
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ:
If you want to extend or escalate an argument, then try the following: “You always do x. You never do x.” I think the reaction to those words are universal. The person gets mad because such absolutes are hardly ever true. We could easily find exceptions to the always/never argument. It is better to avoid those phrases whenever possible because it’s like throwing gasoline on a fire.
We have this tendency as humans to do such things, and use those terms always/never in inaccurate ways. Maybe instead of using them to impugn another person, we use those terms to brag about ourselves.
We might then think that God is playing fast and loose with the English language when He uses such absolutes in our text. Just scan through there – rejoice always, let your gentleness be known to all men, be anxious for nothing, but in everything … let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God surpasses all understanding. But God does not exaggerate. He means what He says. So let’s take a closer look at these words realizing that God is choosing His words carefully and that we can always rejoice and always have peace. May His Spirit open our hearts to receive His message today.
1. He means it when He says that we can always rejoice
If it would be a natural thing for us to always rejoice, then we would not need a reminder. Just the opposite is true. We find it easy to become pessimistic or discouraged or hopeless. Just watch five minutes of the news and you’ll find violence whether in terror attacks, or between police and civilians or even in domestic situations. There are natural disasters such as flooding or heavy snowfall and ice storms that wreak havoc. But you don’t even need to turn on the television. Just look at your own life. Each one of us experiences at one time or the other – or maybe simultaneously – relationship difficulties, financial setbacks, maybe trouble keeping up in school, or feeling left out for any number of reasons.
The apostle Paul was imprisoned when he wrote this letter, yet the entire letter is brimming with his joy and optimism. He worked to pass that on – Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice. The key words are in the Lord. Human emotions can be raw. They can be very subjective and lead us on a roller coaster ride. In the Lord means that we recognize and submit to His plan. We know of His unchanging love. We can be confident of our future with Him. We can see that He is our heavenly Father and as such is watching out for our souls night and day. To find joy we have to look outside of ourselves and see what God has to offer. There is true joy in Him because He unconditionally loves us. He’s promised us a future with Him. So when He says to always rejoice, He means it. It’s not some gimmick or exaggeration.
We continue, Let your gentleness be known to all men. So here again we have to deal with the word all. He doesn’t say, your friends, or those who won’t take advantage of you, or those who will treat you nicely. He says all men. This is different from the way that world thinks. The world thinks in terms of levels. I have my friends and family and I have my enemies. The Lord makes this all encompassing.
The term gentleness here means being patient and willing to yield. It is in fact how we want people to deal with us. This doesn’t mean that you’re not tough or unwilling to make a stand. It means that your peaceable. You’re not looking for a fight. You’re going to be patient. You’re going to listen. In other words, we model our Savior. It was He who not only said, Love your enemies, but did that very thing. He did it to the point of dying on the cross for the ungodly. The Lord wants us to have such a reputation of being fair and loving the world as He does.
To do such things as rejoice always and let your gentleness be known to all men are monumental tasks. We’re not wired that way. Our sinful nature gets in the way. Yet this is the direction that our Lord wants us to go. He’s given us reasons for doing that very thing.
The fact that Jesus is about to return – the Lord is at hand gives us even more resolve. The point is not that since the Lord is near to His return that we want to be doing the right thing. We do, but this is not a threat. The idea is that He’s so close to coming back that we can not only hang on for that little bit longer, but also grab onto that excitement. You know what it’s like the day before Christmas in a house with children. They are so excited that brothers and sisters may actually get along. When we have something that we are really looking forward to be so close we can let a lot of things slide. We can be more loving and patient and kind. So also, when we focus on the second advent of Jesus it is easier to both rejoice and be gentle.
2. He means it when He says that we can have peace over anxiety
That was on the positive side – that is to say – what we can be doing. Now we have some of these absolutes used on what we can avoid. Be anxious for nothing. How far are we away from this? We have a tendency to be anxious for everything. We’re concerned about our health. We’re worried about our kids – no matter what age they are. If our parents and grandparents are older, we’re anxious about them.
God wants us to have peace over anxiety. Worry and anxiety are the devil’s tools. He uses them like a pry bar in an attempt to dislodge us from our Lord. When anxiety is the focus of our lives we’re looking more at what we can do and control rather than what God is in control of. Yet is there a harder exercise in God’s Word than to be anxious for nothing? Yet it is something to strive for in knowing that God has the answer to your problems. Your life is not spinning out of control. God has a plan for you.
The almighty God invites you to ask Him to solve your problems and take away that anxiety. In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Once again, our God does not exaggerate. Cast your care upon Him. There’s nothing too big to ask for. You’d like an end to terrorism? Ask God. Put that on His shoulders. Need help in a job interview or a test. He’d like you to put that on Him rather than being anxious about it.
We do this with thanksgiving. We’re not in a position to make demands of God. But rather we petition Him as a King. We come to Him as a Father. Each aspect gives us a level of stress reducing. We have a comfort level in approaching Him as our Father. At the same time, we have a confidence level in knowing that He has the power to solve whatever problem we may have.
The result of all this: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Here again we come upon the word all. This means that we not just our human brain, but no other human brain and way of thinking can give us the peace that God can. True peace has to come from outside of us. We are limited in fighting anxiety on our own. Sometimes our way of thinking can be our own worst enemy and even amp up the problem.
Instead let God’s peace guard your mind. Some great verses follow this text and tells us on what to focus. One of them is to focus on what is true. The truth is you cannot solve all of your problems. The truth is that you can’t hop into somebody else’s head and solve their problems. When it comes to our spiritual woes, we can’t solve any of our own problems.
It is true that God loves you more than anyone else. It is a love that is steady, reliable, and perfect. It is exemplified in the fact that He sent Jesus as a gift to the world. Who else would give up their own son for sinners? The truth is that through faith God has made you His own, and He takes care of those that are His. The truth is that God hears every single one of your prayers and will answer them in the way that is best. The truth is that if God won’t remove a problem in our lives, then He will give us the strength to bear up under it.
Finally, it is true that you have a God who does not exaggerate. Rejoice in all things? It is more than difficult to do, but God has good reason for saying it. Peace over anxiety? It is possible with the strength of God. It is possible when our joy and peace are in the Lord. Amen.