Rejoicing Always Philippians 4:4-13

Among the classical Christian spiritual disciplines, there is one of the most powerful—that of rejoicing—also characterized by praise and celebration. The spiritual disciplines, practiced for centuries now, are ways in which disciples of Christ can put themselves into position to receive from God all that is required to live powerful and effective lives. When I was attending Fuller Theological Seminary, Richard Foster and Dallas Willard were very popular teachers and writers on the disciplines. And I took their challenge to grow deeper in Christ through these practices. These authors certainly were not the first, nor will they be the last, to teach us these great spiritual tools.

The disciplines are not a means of grace. Rather, as Richard Foster describes them, they are practices wherein a person can sit in the middle of dry streambed and let God pour out his love, blessing, strength and gifts that help to focus the mind and heart. Practiced since the early Church, the other disciplines include meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship and guidance.

While certainly some of the spiritual disciplines were deeply rooted in the Old Testament commissions to worship, we can go to a very specific New Testament letter that shows us one of the initial teachings on the practice of rejoicing. These teachings are described by the beloved Apostle Paul.

Read Philippians 4:4-13.

It is profoundly important to understand the circumstances in which Paul was writing this letter. As we learned last time, he was in prison again—innocent and having appealed his case to the highest of courts because of his Roman citizenship. But that did not deter Paul. In many of his prison epistles he identifies himself as a servant and prisoner of Jesus Christ. Because of what Christ had done for him, Paul saw himself first as a disciple. So, here is a man who for many years was accustomed to travelling freely, preaching and teaching wherever the Holy Spirit guided, now chained and imprisoned. It is believed at this point that he was in prison for a several years. In prison there are not a lot of reasons to rejoice . . . unless you are a mature Christian whose viewpoint and world view are radically changed by being found in Christ!

Always is a big word. It is a superlative. You can’t go much further than always. This seems to be a rather difficult thing that Paul is commanding a church body to do. Is it always possible to rejoice? Yes! In fact, the very idea of a command is that the one giving the command believes that it is possible to fulfill that command. This is one of the primary teachings about the spiritual discipline of rejoicing. It is possible! By the power of the Holy Spirit and by the presence of Christ and by the will of our spirit to be in line with God’s spirit, we can rejoice always. Do you believe that?  If not, Paul doesn’t stop with a command he goes on to give them the way in which to engage this discipline.

Looking at the verbs in this passage gives us the first steps into this spiritual discipline.

• Let – Allow Christ to show through you in gentleness and transcendence. Permit the Holy Spirit to take over and guard and guide you.
• Do Not – Stop being anxious. Do not be depressed or give in to worry. Engage that powerful human will that God has given you!
• Pray– Communicate with the living God without ceasing, about everything and about anything.
• Petition – Take your concerns to God, give him your burdens and intercede for others.
• Give Thanks – Make specific thanksgivings to God about anything and everything.
• Think – Think about good things. Exchange the worrying thoughts and darkness you see in the world with the many things that are indeed wonderful. Spend more time thinking and focusing on noble and wonderful things than on what is corrupt and broken.

Why? Because you can through Jesus Christ who gives you the strength to actually do these things!

I remember a time when I was struggling with prayer. There certainly were a lot of things that I could identify that were hindering me. But I learned that my most fundamental prayer was missing. In my reading, I came across Julian of Norwich, (1342–1416), an English mystic. One of her principles struck me deeply. She wrote: “And all this our lord brought suddenly to my mind, and showed these words and said: ‘I am the ground of thy beseeching [in prayer]. First it is my will that thou have it, and next I make thee to will it, and next I make thee to beseech it—and thou beseechest it!’” I understood this to mean that if I am resisting prayer, my first prayer must be to ask God to give me the desire to pray! And what a gift He gave. So, there may be times that we need to even pray that God would give us the desire to rejoice.

While it becomes easy to get bogged down or fall into fretting, friends, it is possible to rejoice always. If we find that we have moved out of this possibility, God’s grace can help to restore us to it. God is nearby always ready to help us. Richard Foster wrote so wonderfully: “God’s desire is to transform the misery, not to bypass it . . . God’s normal means of bringing his joy is by redeeming and sanctifying the ordinary junctures of human life . . . The most important benefit of celebration is that is saves us from taking ourselves too seriously.” (Celebration of Discipline, p. 193, 195)

I am part of wonderful Sunday morning Bible study group at my church. We share joys and sorrows, praying for each other, interceding for those whom we carry burdens and we laugh a lot together. I decided on the day that we were studying this passage, to take the class through a specific spiritual exercise of rejoicing in four steps. I gave them a worksheet and we took the time together to work on it individually and then share with the group. It was a wonderful, deliberate exercise that led us all into the worship service with faces filled with joy and smiles. We even decorated our worksheets with fun stickers that turned out to be very symbolic for many of us. I invite you today to take the opportunity to exercise your spiritual discipline of rejoicing - because you can! Step into the stream bed, engage your ability to rejoice as so many have over the centuries. Look above your circumstances to the One who is the reason for all of our joy!

M.R. Hyde

Copyright 2019

Rejoicing Exercise

Step One: Prayers and Supplications – What is blocking me from rejoicing right now?  Am I willing to let this/these go into the hands of my Savior right now? If not, why not?

Step Two: Refocusing

List something . . .

True:

Noble:

Right:

Pure:

Lovely:

Admirable:

Excellent:

Praiseworthy:

Step Three: Thanksgiving

List at least four things for which you are thankful (more, if possible).

Step Four: Praise

Write out specific praises directly to God.

“Joy in God is a duty of great consequence in the Christian life . . .

If good [people] have not a continual feast, it is their own fault.”

Unabridged Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible (Philippians)