I'm preaching this Sunday morning on joy. A couple of things struck me as I was reading some of the many texts in the Bible that stress joy. First, joy is never really and encouraged suggested like, "You just need to try to be more joyful." Joy is COMMANDED. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" You can almost see Paul here as a drill sergeant barking orders, "Rejoice in Lord always; I'll say it again, 'Get some joy!'" That's a command. That sounds way too much like my Dad saying, "You will eat your Brussels sprouts and you will like them." (I ate them, and they weren't bad!). Can you really command someone to be joyful. God evidently things so!
Second, joy is often spoken of along side times of pain, struggle and loss. Jesus promised that the apostles that despite the difficulty of the coming cross, their joy would restored in Him, "So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy" (John 16:22). The example Jesus uses is that of having a baby (John 16:21). There is great pain in childbirth, but then that pain is overwhelmed by joy when the baby is held in the mother's arms. So sometimes we must go through great sorrow, but that sorrow cannot overwhelm our joy. Jesus says, "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete" (John 16:24).
Jesus wants us to know that joy and sorrow are never completely incompatible. Our faith that God is working in our struggle in ways that we don't understand at the moment means that we can know His joy even in the middle of the storm. He doesn't always stop the rain, but He always assures us that He is there with us. Because He is with us and assures us that He will make our joy complete, we can praise Him in the storm.
2 comments:
"Rallegratevi nel Signore, sempre...": dal tono della lettera, non sembra che la comunità di Filippi avesse
particolari problemi; anzi, è una delle comunità che maggiormente ha collaborato con l'apostolo. L'invito
alla gioia non nasce quindi, probabilmente, dalla contrapposizione ad uno stato d'animo negativo, ma dal
desiderio di presentare alcuni tratti fondamentali della maturità cristiana. "la vostra affabilità sia nota a
tutti gli uomini...": la gioia ha un valore missionario, una dimensione pubblica: tutti devono poterla
conoscere. "Il Signore è vicino...": la motivazione profonda della gioia è la vicinanza di Cristo. Si tratta
dunque di una gioia teologica, non psicologica. "Non angustiatevi per nulla, ma in ogni necessità
esponete a Dio le vostre richieste, con preghiere, suppliche e ringraziamenti...": l'apostolo indica anche la
via concreta per vivere la gioia cristiana nel quotidiano: tutto deve essere presentato a Dio nella
preghiera.
"E la pace di Cristo... custodirà i vostri cuori...": pace è l'altro nome della gioia cristiana. Da non
confondersi con la comodità, la spensieratezza, il rilassamento, e neanche con l'ottimismo e il buonsenso
umano. La pace cristiana consente di affrontare anche le disgrazie più incomprensibili, ritrovando le
ragioni della speranza. Una predicatrice italiana
For those of us who may be a little rusty in Italian, Google Translate renders our brother's comments like this:
"Rejoice in the Lord always ...": the tone of the letter, it seems that the community of Philippi had
particular problems, and indeed is a community that mostly has worked with the Apostle. The invitation
the joy was not born then, probably, by the contrast to a negative mood, but the
desire to present some basic characteristics of Christian maturity. "Let your gentleness be known to all men ...": the joy is worth a missionary, a public dimension: everyone must be allowed
know. "The Lord is near ...": the motive of joy is the closeness of Christ. It is therefore a joy theological, not psychological. "Be anxious for nothing, but in every need your requests known to God, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving ...": the apostle also indicates the concrete way to live the Christian joy in daily life: everything must be presented to God in prayer. "And the peace of God ... will guard your hearts ...": peace is another name of Christian joy. Not to be confused with the comfort, cheerfulness, relaxation, and even with the optimism and common sense human. Peace Christian can face even more incomprehensible misfortunes, finding the reasons for hope. A preacher Italian
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