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Do You Live with Joy?
The words we heard in today’s choir anthem are the words of a joyful spirit. They spring from a heart filled with joy.
That is what we do when we gather to worship each week. Together, we make a joyful noise to our God.
But can we say that we live our lives joyfully? We should ask ourselves this question.
Do I live with joy in my heart?
When I wake up in the morning, do I see a bright and hopeful day? Or do I see a dark and gloomy day ahead?
It can be hard to live with joy. When we look around us, we don’t see much to be joyful about. We are surrounded by our worries and problems. We can’t seem to find a moment’s rest in our daily life.
Even with what’s happening in the world as we speak, there’s so much darkness, violence, destruction, and suffering.
So we say, “If only…”
IF ONLY everything was okay in my life… IF ONLY all these problems disappeared… IF ONLY all was alright in the world…
Then maybe I’ll be joyful.
Yet St. Paul tells us today,
Rejoice in the Lord always…
He doesn’t stop there. Right away, he says—
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)
Rejoice, and rejoice. Rejoice always.
These words may not be easy for us to accept so quickly. We want to reason why we shouldn’t or cannot rejoice.
The irony here is that circumstantially, Paul wasn’t in a good place when he wrote these words. Far from it. He was in prison when he said, “Rejoice!”
He had no idea whether he’d live to see another day. He lived not knowing what tomorrow held in store.
While in prison, he also heard about a conflict that happened between two women (Euodia and Syntyche) in the Philippian church.
Yet in his letter to the Philippians he says, “Rejoice always.” Philippians is known as Paul’s “joyful” epistle. The words “rejoice” or “joy” appear about 11 times!
Paul had a very different understanding of joy.
Rejoice with Recognition
For him, joy was not an emotional response to our circumstances.
That’s how we tend to understand joy. An emotional high. It is dependent on our circumstances. If that was the case, then Paul had nothing to rejoice about.
Paul rejoiced not because everything was going well, but because behind the immediate circumstances of his life, he was able to SEE clearly God’s hand at work.
Not just in his life, but also in the life of the community he loved.
When he encountered the living Christ, Paul saw the old age pass away and the NEW one beginning. It completely transformed his perspective on life.
He says earlier in Philippians—
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)
In any and all circumstances, Paul saw the power of living Christ at work. And so he rejoiced regardless of his circumstances.
Let Go and Trust God
In our journey, sometimes it’s difficult to see this. Sounds nice on paper, but hard to experience in reality.
Last week, Rev. Kim said how easily we forget God’s grace. He called it, “spiritual amnesia”. Just as we don’t remember too well, we don’t see all that well either.
We are spiritually near-sighted. We suffer from spiritual blindness. Spiritual blindness is an obstacle to a life of rejoicing always.
We can’t force ourselves to see what we cannot see. It is God who opens our eyes. But in order to see what we ought to see, we can do one thing.
LET GO.
LET GO of our fears and worries. LET GO of our prejudice and stubborn ways of thinking. LET GO of our desire to be in control of our life.
Through PRAYER, we can LET GO.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)
As long as we let these things have hold over us, we will only see what’s in front of our eyes. Our eyes will be fixed on the darkness we see. We ourselves will become dark, negative and cynical.
When we learn to let go of these things and entrust them in God’s hands, we will be free to see what we could not see before. Scales will fall from our eyes.
We will find a little bit of sunshine in the darkest day. We will see our foggy horizon clearing up. We will experience a deep sense of calm in the midst of a storm.
Isn’t that what Paul said?
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
Rejoicing comes from hearts and minds that are surrounded by the peace of God.
We rejoice because we trust that God who began the good work in Christ is still at work in our midst.
Rejoice Always
In that sense, joy is not just some “feeling”. It is not a mere display of excitement. Rather, it is our attitude towards life. Our way of being.
It is more like a quiet confidence, assurance, and inner gladness. That way, we can rejoice “always”. Our attitude will not easily change according to our circumstances.
Don’t mistake what I’m saying as being invincible. We will always be affected by what happens in our life.
We are fragile and vulnerable. We will get angry, sad, frustrated, and disappointed at times. Though we are not of this world, we are still in the world.
But our joy will keep us from being overcome by the power of darkness that tries to swallow us up. It will make us strong, resilient, and hopeful.
Listen to what the prophet Habakkuk said—
Though the fig tree does not blossom
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will exult in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17, 18)
YET I WILL REJOICE! It is a bold and powerful declaration. To rejoice when there seems to be no reason to rejoice – that is faith. As people of the resurrection, we live by this faith, with joy.
As God’s people, let us stand firm.
No matter what may be happening in our lives, let us not give up or be easily discouraged. What we often see with our own eyes is only a tiny fraction of what is really happening.
Instead of being reactive, let us be patient, gentle and kind. Let us look to God. God will grant us his wisdom and show us what to do.
God will give us the eyes of faith to see what is good and the strength to do what is good. Joy will flow out of our life like an endless stream of river.
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