Singing Loud For All To Hear…

A survey of the ‘happiest nations’ show Afghanistan coming in dead last which shouldn’t surprise anyone. But close to it is Zimbabwe. The list varies by the measure used to judge happiness.

First century Israel the reason was quite clear. Rome was in charge even when it came to their faith. High priest became a political appointment. Even though he was deposed by in AD 15 his position remained so strong as to list his name with his family members who came after (Trites 65).

Paul was in Rome, in prison possibly even Tullianum or Mamertines, a dungeon that included a lower entered only by rope. It was a place of death, not punishment. It is a place that makes the worst you have heard of Turkish or Mexican prisons lights of hope. Dark, dank, dismal, and deadly because for Roman prisons this was usually the last stop before death.

Yet, Paul saw the light of Christ shining in world. The Holy Spirit blew fresh, new life, across Asia Minor and Southern Europe. The hope that Jesus offered would continue no matter what was ahead for Paul. He knew this was not his last stop. Paul knew that Jesus was the life-given and that the life He gave could not be taken away by Rome or anyone else. That is JOY.

An oft repeated theme in Christmas movies is the lack of Christmas joy. We are told that it is the magic which makes Santa’s sleigh fly and various other half-truths. According to this story arc, when hope fails, Christmas is in danger.

But joy isn’t happiness. Happiness is situational. It can be driven by endorphins and presents. It flows from feeling good for whatever reason. “Joy transcends present circumstances (Fee 46)” and the joy Paul received from this church is stressed in the word order that translates “with joy the prayer making (ibid.).” In fact, "Every time Paul thinks of his friends in Philippi, he is filled with joy. The entire letter throbs with personal intensity (Dunnam and Ogilvie 253)."

Joy isn’t regulated by one’s blood-sugar level, the size of a present, whether someone answers your text or not. Paul is in a horrendous place, yet he seeks God on their behalf because of the joy he feels for their continued support. His “hardships made him better, not bitter (Lightner V2 649).”

JOY BREAKS WITH THE USUAL

Joy also flies in the face of the world’s expectation. At least 14 times Paul uses the word ‘joy’ or ‘rejoice’. Philippi is unique for Paul. He started churches from synagogues but there were not enough Jewish men to form a synagogue in Philippi. He causes an uproar by casting a demon out of a slave girl and interfering with the commerce of the city. They are taken by the authorities, beaten, and put in prison. While there they are freed by an earthquake and explain to the jailer the way of salvation.

The oddity of this church with Lydia, a wealthy woman, a slave girl who had been possessed, and a jailer who came to know Christ must have seemed a strange group to the rest of that Roman colony. Yet, to these and the rest Paul emphasizes his ‘joy’ for the church by the word order, “with joy the prayer making” sets the joy apart as key in what Paul wants to communicate.

Jovie, played by Zooey Deschanel sings but not in front of people and it is in this context that Buddy explains, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear (Favreau).” It’s not till she challenged what was her normal and start singing in front of the crowd on a New York Street that Christmas is saved.

Consider how John also defied the world’s expectation. Luke lists names and titles and places of importance in the world but “the word of God appears among the powerful and prestigious, but not to them…John lives in a place with no name ‘in the wilderness’ (Edwards 106).” In fact, to hear John one had to leave their comfortable places and go out to the wilderness a place in which Israel found trial, grace, and the hand of God.

CHANGE IS REQUIRED

Luke’s introduction of John is the longest in the gospels. In fact, it is two times as long as that by Josephus (Edward 101). He calls for a baptism of repentance which is hard thing to reconcile in Jewish thought because such a thing is not found anywhere. This isn’t the baptism a convert to Judaism would undergo.

"The seriousness of his call to repentance was to be met by a willingness on the part of Jews to submit to the public act of baptism. It was a strong message that demanded a clear moral response and radical change (Trites 66).”