Title: Creating a Climate for Joy
Text: Philippians 4:1-9
The Big Idea: Christians find joy in following Christ and behaving in a Christ-like way.
Introduction
I would like for us to take a moment to watch a clip by the Audio Adrenaline people who went on a road trip across America to find out what makes people rejoice.
Show Audio Adrenaline - Rejoice clip (GodTube.com)
There are many things that diminish our joy… things that crowd into our lives and yet in the midst of it all, some find it, experience it, and express it.
In verse 4 of our text, Paul begins with what some refer to as the first in a list of characteristics or identifying marks of the Christian life. At the top of his list is a joyful spirit.
1. Be joyful!
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – Rejoice!” 4:4
The importance is under scored by two terms:
• Always be full of joy!
• Again I say it, always be full of joy!
This kind of joy is a joyful spirit that persists despite whatever is happening around us. This kind of joy does not require sunny, blue skies or big puffy clouds.
Depending on if you were alive and what of yours was at stake the “Stock Market Crash” dates of October 1929, October 1987, and October 2008 are disconcerting. Words like “Black Thursday” and “Black Monday” describe events in 1929 and 1987. BusinessWeek calls our current crisis “The Panic of 2008.” (Ben Steveman, Stock Market Crash: Understanding the Panic, BusinessWeek, October 10, 2008)
And if you are looking to hear a cheerful word and inclined to follow the musings of Patrick Buchanan, earlier this year he wrote, “The Party’s over… What we are witnessing today is how empires end… The last Superpower is unable to defend its borders, protect its currency, win its wars, balance its budget. Medicare and Social Security are headed for the cliff… “ (www.vdare.com/buchanan/080918)
Depending on if you were alive and your age at the time, dates like December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor), November 22, 1963 (assassination of President Kennedy), April 20, 1999 (Columbine School shooting), and September 11, 2001 (terrorist attack on World Trade Towers), send a chill up and down your spine.
My frame of reference as a child and young person focuses on getting polio shots, survival drills where we practiced hiding under our school desks in the event of an nuclear attack during the Cold War, and later getting drafted to go to Viet Nam.
On this day a person would have to be living in La La Land to be unaware of the those things that will loom large in our collective memories for years to come.
A week ago during the Presidential Debate Tom Brokaw said, “There are new economic realities out there that everyone in this hall and across this country understands that there are going to have to be some choices made. Health policies, energy policies, and entitlement reform: Social Security and Medicare, what are going to be your priorities and in what order? Which of those will be your highest priority your first year in office and which will follow in sequence?”
The Apostle Paul was talking about again and again, always having a spirit of joy even if we have no health care coverage, are living in an increasingly poluted atmosphere, depleting our natural resources, and paying $10 a gallon for gasoline, and even if Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid go bust… even if your investments tank and your 401 K fizzles.
William Barclay says this is a joy that is independent of all the things on earth. He says it is the kind of joy two lovers share when all that matters is that they are together, simply because they have each other. (William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, P.92)
I remember when Bonnie and I were first married… we lived with two different families while our store-front apartment at South Town Chapel in Minneapolis was being built. When we got our first apartment we had a picnic table in our dining room and what furniture we had was given to us by her parents. I remember stories of my parents using wooden orange crates for end tables… we all have those kinds of stories. And most of us look back at those times as good times. Nothing much mattered. We were in love and being together was all that mattered.
Paul is saying the most important thing about being able to be happy and have a spirit of joy is being in Christ… knowing that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is revealed to us in Christ. (Romans 8:38-39)
But out text outlines several things that do in deed diminish our joy. The first is interpersonal conflict.
2. Get along! Conflict diminishes our peace and our joy.
“Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.” 4: 2-3
In verses 2 – 3 Paul speaks of two ladies who were part of the faith community in Philippi. They were both wonderful persons who had contributed to the life and ministry of their church. They had made wonderful contributions to the Kingdom of God. But they were in conflict… and Paul says, “Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.”
One commentator says “Euodia and Syntyche have gone down in history as breakers of the peace.” And then he asks, “What would be the one-sentence verdict of our life in the world and the church?” (William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, P 92)
Whenever there is conflict, joy evaporates.
Is it so difficult to say, “I’m sorry?” Is it all that difficult to say, “We will just have to agree to disagree?” Is it so hard to say, “My love for you and our relationship is more important to me that this difference?” Is it so hard to say, “Let’s sit down and work this out… I don’t want this to ruin our relationship and cause ill-will in our family or our church?”
Someone wisely said, “Issues do not make quarrels… people do.”
Familial loyalties, faith communities, business relationships, neighborliness ought not be so fragile as to come unraveled over disagreements.
Paul says, “Settle your disagreements!”
Another thing that diminishes our joy is incivility.
3. Be considerate! Lack of civility diminishes our joy…
“Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.” 4:5
This may be closely related to the issue off settling differences and disagreements. But, Paul knew that joy is diminished when people do not treat each other civily.
There are books written on the loss of civility in our culture. In my neighborhood are two women who shout at every person they see walking their dog, “You better pick up after that dog or I’m gonna report you to the association.” And of course their incivility generally elicits and equally uncivil gesture in response.
The meaning of this verse has been translated variously… some say it means to demonstrate gracious gentleness to others. Some say it means to be moderate or even tempered in our relationships. Some say it means that we are to be known for our softness… by that they mean patience, forbearance, and gentleness. I still remember how my Senior Pastor interpreted this verse thirty-five years ago… he said it means we are to be known for our “sweet reasonableness.”
Senator John McCain demonstrated civility on Friday night when during a town hall meeting in Minnesota, some in the crowd became uncivil and churlish in their remarks. Senator McCain was booed when he responded by defending Barack Obama as “a decent family man and citizen” with whom he has differences regarding the fundamental issues of the campaign. Senator McCain urged his listeners to be fervent in their convictions but to be respectful in their differences.
I think there is a reason for the old saw, “Never discuss politics and religion in polite company.” And the reason is that to do so will likely result in bad feelings and the loss of friendship…
I personally think one should be able to talk about nearly anything in polite company because in polite and civil company and especially so in the faith community, our attitudes, demeanors, and words are marked by consideration and civility. When we get stubborn, belligerent, red-faced, all quivery and bulgy-eyed and when our words become sharp and cutting and when we loose respect for the other… our joy is not only diminished, it evaporates!
The third thing that diminishes our joy is worry.
4. Don’t worry! Pray! Anxiety diminishes our joy…
“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything…” 4:6-7
I liked the quote on our sign this week: Most worries are just reruns!
In the March 2005 issue of the AARP Bulletin they asked readers to respond to the question: What is your strategy for coping with stress?
Readers responded with all manner of coping strategies including eating chocolate and taking stiff drinks. But one Minnesotan responded, “Every January I give my wife one dollar and she worries about everything for both of us.” Then he added, “If you want to be worry-free, send her a dollar.” I think he might be on to a great scam.
There are two important words in this verse:
• Anything – Don’t worry about anything!
• Everything – Pray about everything!
Putting a bit of spin on the verse, we might say that the Apostle’s Paul’s solution for anything that worries us is to pray about everything that worries us.
The anatomy of anxiety is not a small thing and my intent is not to denigrate the faith and character of a worrier. Many of us are wired so that nothing worries us… not even the things that should give us pause for concern. Others of us are hard-wired to be overly anxious about everything and especially those things that ought not give us pause for concern. Whether we are small-time worriers or big-time worriers… worry always diminishes our joy.
Barclay sums up his understanding of “anything” and “everything” is this text to mean, “There is nothing too great for God’s power; and nothing too small for His Fatherly care.” (William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, P 95)
The strategy for coping with worry is not to send someone a dollar so they can worry for you. The strategy is to pray.
Why can’t we say in the face of a financial crisis, Let’s pray about this?” Why can’t we say in the face of a worrisome pathology report, “Let’s commit this to God?” Why can’t we say when our employer is threatening layoff, “Let’s take this burden to God?”
When our hearts and minds are overactive with worry and dread, our joy is not only diminished… it evaporates.
Having a bad attitude can also rob you of your joy. Bad attitudes are not the mindset of the follower of Christ.
5. Think like a Christian! Bad attitudes diminish our joy…
“Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” 4:8
The writer of the Proverbs said, “above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” Proverbs 4:23 It is true. How a person thinks about things and feels about things affects everything. Our attitudes are reflected in what we think and what we do and what we say. The way we think and the things we think about form the person we become.
It is no easy thing to “make every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:5) But it is necessary if we are to create a climate for joy in our lives.
I was amazed this week when I saw an interview with a Mid-Eastern woman who was the mother of three children, all of whom were stricken with a strange debilitating disease, whom she had cared for into their teens until they died. Her remaining son is 17 years old and his health is deteriorating rapidly but she exuded joy. She extolled the goodness of God in her life and the privilege of caring for her children. She rejoiced in the fact that her remaining son could still use the toilet by himself.
If ever a woman had reason to have a rotten attitude about life and even bitterness toward God, it was she. But she fixed her thoughts on what was excellent and worthy of praise.
When our attitude turns sour and our disposition such that we no longer care to manage our attitudes and our thoughts… our joy evaporates.
Finally, we are instructed to keep living right. Keep practicing our faith.
6. Keep practicing! Wrong living diminishes our joy…
“Keep putting into practice all you have learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing…” 4:9
In enjoy humor… this is just a bit of some Only in America Humor someone sent to me this week:
• Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
• Only in America ......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
• Only in America is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
• Only in America do we believe flying is safe, yet we call the airport the terminal.
• Only in America do we call what doctors do “practice”.
The Apostle Paul wants us to put our faith into practice…
Webster gives us insight into understanding the implications of the term “practice”.
To practice may mean to carry out or apply as in “practice what you preach”. It can mean to perform repeatedly so as to become proficient or to train by repeated exercises. This includes things like practicing the piano or learning the multiplication tables or one’s golf swing. And to practice can mean to do something customarily or traditionally as in “this is how we do it” or “this is what we believe”.
What Paul was suggesting is that the faith community living in Philippi and all who read this text as God’s Word, receive the body of truth, i.e., God’s Word, as the accepted doctrine and teaching of the Church.
They were to understand that what they had learned, heard, and observed from Paul, was to be received as the way we are to believe, think, and act (4:9) This is what Paul says to “keep on putting into practice”.
This thought included the lofty doctrinal teaching of the self-emptying of Christ described in Philippians 2:5-11 as well as the these concluding thoughts as he brings his letter to a close. He is saying, “Make this what you understand to be the truth about how you learn to a joyful person and what you do, by the grace of God, to make it so.”
• We put into practice this teaching by making this what we believe to be the customary and traditional way we live.
• We put into practice this teaching by repeatedly doing the exercises or practicing until we become proficient at it.
Conclusion:
Fans of the Chicago Cubs have practiced believing in their team so much so that they find joy in simply being Cubbie fans.
This was going to be their year. The Cubs won 97 games in the regular season… best in the National League. They have been in nine consecutive playoffs since 2003 and they have lost them all. The last time the Cubs won a World Series was October 14, 1908. They have not won a World Series in 100 years… yet the Chicago Cub fans continue to rejoice in the Cubs always. (Rejoice in the Cubs Always, Homiletics Magazine, October 2008, PP 48-49)
Joy may be ours if we remember to put into practice these things… and the Bible gives us good reason to do so. We do them because:
And why should we do these things?
• Christ is coming soon! 4:5
• God will give you peace! 4:7
When we keep this world and the next in perspective… when we remember Christ is coming and all this is pretty much temporal in nature. And when we find the where-with-all to commit what there is of this life that is troubling to God, we will find that God gives us peace and when we are at peace nothing may diminish our joy.
• Not conflict;
• Not incivility;
• Not worry;
• Not bad thinking or failure to practice our faith, will not diminish our joy.
