Rejoice!
September 18, 2011
Pentecost
College Community MB Church
Philippians 3:1-11
When I was in my last year of seminary, one of my good friends and I were talking about how we viewed and experienced the world. We were discerning our gifts together, how we might contribute to God’s mission in the world. She affirmed me, but then she told me something I have come back to again and again. “Michelle,” she said, “you will have to practice the discipline of celebration.” She did not have to explain; I knew what she meant. I gravitate toward the pathos of prophetic literature and psalms of lament. Advent and Lent are the seasons with which I most resonate. I am no stranger to “the dark night of the soul.”
So usually when I come to Paul’s words, “Rejoice in the Lord!” I feel a certain awkwardness. How is it that this man can issue this call to the Philippian believers? He is constantly facing adversity. In this letter alone he mentions an array of struggles: he is in prison, uncertain of his future; rival preachers are trying to stir up more trouble for him, his companion Epaphroditus nearly died from illness, the believing community he so dearly loves in Philippi is wrestling with the so-called “gospel” brought to them by those who insist that they must abide by certain Jewish laws, like circumcision, in order to really be God’s people, and he longs to comfort this group by being with them but cannot because he is detained.
I imagine the Philippians are watching this situation unfold and their anxiety is increasing about Paul’s future and its implications for the gospel message and mission. They seem to be a close community – generous, sincere, willing to participate in Paul’s work. Their confession that “Jesus is Lord” has shaped their lives. Paul’s dear friends in Philippi encounter their own struggles – tension with the Roman civic religion and authorities, remaining unified as other teachers come through town with various versions of the gospel. I am sure that at times they feel small, an insignificant minority living among the dominant majority. I am sure that at times they feel discouraged and question how much difference their efforts make. After all, Paul is in prison. Is this the future they have to look forward to? Will their neighbors issue a complaint against their “atheism”? Will the government decide to systematically seek out and punish Christians? Rome seems so powerful; its claim that “Caesar is Lord” is so loud.
Might they gravitate toward the lament: “By the rivers of Babylon – there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked us for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’” (Ps. 137:1-3). Do they see themselves in the exile story? Dominated by kings that claim their gods’ victory over Israel’s God? The story goes that Yahweh allowed the exile because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, and some responded to that story by turning to strict observance of the law. The Philippians might wonder, “What if these teachers of circumcision are right? What kind of security do we have that we have been made part of God’s people? What might we do to stir God to act, to overturn the power of Rome and establish his kingdom?” Might they often utter the words, “How long, O Lord?” Might this vulnerability open them to the threat of the dominant reality, the whisper of the narrative that sets itself up as an enemy of the cross of Christ? In another letter, Paul writes emphatically, “I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power for salvation to everyone who has faith” (Rom. 1:16). In this letter he gives us a hymn – an example of real power, Christ emptying himself. And again he says that he is confident that he will not be put to shame. The dominant reality may tempt us to give up on the way of the cross, discounting it as foolishness, but the gospel remains the story that God has indeed demonstrated his power and love in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Don’t we live in that same tension? Could Paul’s letter be for us – in our struggle to discern the true story? To make sense of our daily experiences in light of these competing narratives? Might our vision become dim? Might we sometimes see things upside-down? (Play: Derek Webb’s “What is Not Love”)
Knowing that sharing in the sufferings of Christ may find us in our own wilderness facing the temptation of alternative ways, Paul writes to us: “Rejoice in the Lord.”
Anything we might be tempted to put our hope in besides the gospel, even for a little while, even for the sake of practicality or expediency or relief, is rubbish. Dominating power? Count it as loss. Status and privilege? Count it as loss. Money, security? Count it as loss. Race, gender, employment? Far be it from us that we might embody the narrative that seeks to hold its claim over what is God’s!
Derek Webb sings in another song, “There’s got to be a love that stronger than our fear of everything… Cause there is a day that’s been inaugurated but has not yet come - that we can proclaim by showing that there’s a better way.”
Can we say and live out Paul’s desire: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing in his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead”?
After sitting with this text for a couple of weeks, this line, this call to rejoice speaks loudest to me. Maybe because joy is not my most natural inclination, these words of Paul remind me of the words my seminary friend spoke to me. In the midst of the “not yet” aspect of God’s kingdom, it is easy to become overly burdened. Jesus’ words to us today from the Sermon on the Mount remind us that each day has enough trouble of its own; he releases us from carrying unnecessary burdens by reminding us that God knows our need and will take care of us. We have become his children, been invited into his Kingdom mission. That’s our story. That’s THE story. The gospel, the good news, is that God’s story is one of promise: it will culminate in the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
One celebration we share on a regular basis is communion. It is a reminder that Christ suffered, and as his disciples we too will suffer. It is also a reminder that Christ was raised, and as his disciples we too will be raised to new life. Communion gives us an opportunity to celebrate that future, but it also challenges us to celebrate the “already” aspect of the kingdom. When our vision is shaped by God’s narrative, what do we see? How do we view the world? How do we interpret our experiences? Are we confident that the good work started here among and in us will be brought to completion?
Rejoice. Take joy. Celebrate. One of the most meaningful times of celebration for me is sharing a meal with friends. Breaking bread together. It is so easy to get out of the habit of inviting people in, but it is crucial to cultivate connections within our community. When was the last time you invited people to your table? When was the last time you invited yourself over to someone else’s table? To eat, to laugh, to share. Rejoicing is more than an act of will to feel happy or to have a better attitude. Rejoicing is a counter-cultural celebration among God’s people that passionately cries out, “Jesus is Lord! It’s true! Jesus has overcome! God is acting to deliver us!”
(Call & response) Say that with me: "Jesus is Lord! It's true! Jesus has overcome! God is acting to deliver us!"
What better way to embody that proclamation than in meaningful and mutual relationship? It is after our passage for today that Paul encourages the people in Philippi to renew their commitment to each other in unity, in being of the same mind. He urges individuals in the church to reconcile and agree with each other. Why? What makes such unity and such reconciliation possible? This story, this gospel, this Christ who gave himself up. Can we share Paul’s confidence in this reality so that we give ourselves up as well?
This brings to mind one other act of celebration I’d like us to consider. Reconciliation between members of a church community. This process may at first seem reason to worry, even lament. However, once reconciliation is under way, celebration can take place. Celebration that indeed in this interpersonal healing, the power of the kingdom is demonstrated.
Maybe you are blessed in ways that I am not and this comes quite naturally to you. Maybe you are a lot like me and celebration needs to become a practiced discipline. Let us all think for a moment about celebration, about rejoicing. How do you most express and experience joy? How do you most connect with the good news of God’s story? How do we as a congregation engage this joy and celebrate together? How might we grow in this area?
“Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To [say this] same thing to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you.”
Rejoice!
Amen.