Keep Calm and Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4-8
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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What does it mean to rejoice? I mean, what does it mean to rejoice when it feels like the world is falling apart? There are devastating heat and storms as a result of climate change, ongoing wars driven by greed and hatred, and uncertainty about what the future holds for this thing we call the church. So again, I ask, "What does it mean? What does it look like to keep calm and rejoice in the Lord?"
It would be fair (or perhaps an understatement) to say that Paul has something to say about rejoicing in the Lord. For all his faults (as a human disciple like the rest of us), Paul has first-hand experience of knowing what it means to rejoice in a complicated situation. Writing from the confines of a Roman prison, Paul writes to the church in Philippi and extols them, "Do not worry about anything, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
Like that ancient church in Philippi, we need to hear that reminder to (as a paraphrase of Paul's letter) "keep calm and rejoice!" Because, like the many who came before us, we worry. We worry, we worry a lot actually; we worry about family, friends, relationships, work, and our physical and mental health. We worry, and these things that I named do not even begin to touch on the fears we possess for the church (bills that need to be paid, attendance, managing volunteers, etc.) and everything else that is going on in our world!
I think this is part of where we've gone wrong as a church and as people of faith. We worry about things that, in the grand scheme of the cosmos, don't matter. We worry if a nameplate is moved, if flowers are put in the exact position they've always been, if the music is somehow not the same music we heard in church as a child, and we let all these things get in the way of us tending to our neighbors inside and outside the church who are hurting. Again, like the church in Philippi, we worry a lot and, like them, do not always channel that energy into works that heal.
Woah! Is there a way for us to keep calm and rejoice? Is there a way for us to live in the peace and grace of God that holds our worries and joy together? Because friends, if we can figure out how to make that work, there is a miracle waiting to break forth and breathe something new into our presence. I want to believe we've experienced enough fear and hate and that we are ready to try something new, to live by a gentler way, God's way, God's life way.
Writing to the church in Philippi, Paul is filled with hope. Even though he is imprisoned, Paul is hopeful for the future of the church. Hopeful that they can solve their problems through fellowship and grace. There is hope for the church to be filled with the peace and gentleness of God, peace and gentleness that will subvert the systems of corrupt power and injustice that must be overturned. And it is with God's help we can find the strength to participate as co-laborers in this joyous work. There is enough to go around for all who are in need, and the church then, as of now, is called to pass it around freely and with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.
And I have hope, hope that we will one day (perhaps even tomorrow) embrace the life way of God, who hears our prayers and grants us peace beyond all understanding. And that hope is rooted in something amazing. I've experienced it over the last two weeks at a place called Massanetta Springs in Virginia. Yes, down in Virginia, in the middle of a heat dome, I found hope in the midst of a Middle School Youth Conference. It was life-giving, so life-giving, to see that many high school counselors, middle schoolers, adult leaders, friends, and colleagues gathering to have fun, worship, and learn together about how we can live more fully into the love, the heart of God.
What's beautiful is that the hope I experienced didn't lie only with the young people; I saw at camp adults as well who were willing and eager to be a part of work that is kin-dom building, that seeks to bring about just and equitable peace that upends our current understanding of how the world works. That is the good news we so often forget! That the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, is with us, has always been with us, and contains more grace, love, and peace than we could ever imagine. Enough so that we have no reason to fear, no reason to hate, no reason to hoard what we have, because there is more than enough for all of creation.
Friends, let your requests be made known to our God, who hears our shouts of joy and cries of lament. There is mercy enough, and there is grace enough so that no one needs to fear that God will run out. So, as beautifully and wonderfully made as we are (faults and all), let us find rest, keep calm, and rejoice that the Lord, our living God, is near.