Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. From the beginning to the end of this Epistle, in every chapter, multiple times, Paul is rejoicing. This letter to the Philippians is saturated with joy.
Paul is rejoicing for all kinds of reasons. He's rejoicing for the people in Philippi, how wonderful they are, how much he loves them, for the good work they do, and for their faithfulness. He's rejoicing for their love, their care, and their affection. One of the ways they had manifested that affection was by sending one from their community to help Paul while he was in prison. He's rejoicing for that affection they have for him personally. He's also rejoicing because now it's time to send the guy back. He's rejoicing because that guy, who has been missing his friends and his family, gets to go back. He’s rejoicing for the people back home, because they will get to see him again, and they get to find out what it was like when he was with Paul.
Paul is also rejoicing in this letter for Jesus Christ, for that self-emptying love we talked about a couple of weeks ago. That is at the heart of this letter in which Jesus, the Incarnation of God in this world, gave everything up. He manifested that love by becoming one of us, and then dying in the most shameful way possible, on the cross in a public execution. Paul is rejoicing for that love of Jesus. He's rejoicing that he and the people in Philippi have found their salvation in Jesus. He is rejoicing for all of this. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
“Always” is a particularly poignant word, because Paul is in prison at the time he wrote this. We think that this is probably his final imprisonment that will eventually lead to his execution. He doesn't know that for sure. He's hoping to appeal his case to Caesar, and that he will be merciful. But we know Caesar, in the end, is not.
Paul is suffering because he can't do what he wants. He's imprisoned, his freedom has been curtailed. He is suffering because he's thinking about his mortality and what might be coming. Paul has immense suffering, and yet in the midst of that suffering, he is finding all kinds of ways to rejoice, not just in the suffering, but also because of the suffering.
He is rejoicing because as a result of his suffering, good things are happening. One of the good things he rejoices about in the midst of the suffering and because of the suffering, is that the Good News is being spread. He's very grateful and full of joy that the Good News is spreading. The people are seeing what Paul is going through, and through that they are learning more about Jesus. He is rejoicing that in his suffering he is drawing people closer to Christ and Christ’s suffering.
Paul is grateful for the sharing of the Good News. There is a funny moment in the Epistle where Paul digresses about people who share the Good News for good motives, and people who share the Good News for bad motives. While that's not really good, he rejoices in both of them, because the Good News is being spread. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Paul’s personal suffering is a manifestation of the way that Rome acts. Rome has what they call the Pax Romana, which means the Peace of Rome. But the Pax Romana is the most unpeaceful peace you can have, because it is held together by violence, by cruelty, by fear. The Romans are trying to instill in Paul this fear by the cruelty of what they will likely do to him. Cruelty is what inspires fear in people, making them wonder if they might be the next one. Pax Romana was a world that glorified violence. It was a world in which the best rejoicing they had was to go to the gladiator games and cheer as people hacked each other to death, or cheer when animals tore people apart.
It was a cruel and fear filled world, a world in which the peace was not one that brings thriving to people, but a peace that kept a semblance of stability in the state, and kept the people with power in power. Everyone else lived in fear. And in the midst of Paul's own experience with the violence of Pax Romana, he writes a letter full of joy. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Paul’s act of rejoicing, and which he is encouraging people in Philippi to engage in, is an act of resistance. In a world that is held together by fear, what is it but an act of resistance to rejoice? In a world that glories in cruelty, what is it but an act of resistance to be gentle? Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone so that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, the peace of God, not the Pax Romana, but Pax Dei; not the peace of Rome held together by violence and cruelty and fear, but the peace of God held together by love, gentleness, and grace.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone, and may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds and the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, the one who loved us so much that he came down to be one of us, and die for us, and rise for us, and ascend for us. This is the peace of God.
We have here two very different kingdoms, two different ways of being in the world. I wish I could say that this is all a history lesson when we talk about cruelty and violence and fear, but we know the world is still full of it. I wish I could say to you that you don't need to worry about rejoicing and gentleness anymore, but it is more important than ever, because we still live in a world saturated with fear and cruelty and violence. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. When you start living in the Pax Dei instead of the Pax Romana, you can allow that peace of God to well up inside of you, and to flow out into this world. We can show people a better way the way, the way of love that Paul keeps pulling us back to. The way of love shown to us in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So, my friends, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone, and let that peace of God that passes all understanding fill your heart, and well up, and flow out into this world.
This is normally the point in which I would say Amen, because it sounds like the end of the sermon. But alas, it is Pledge Drive season, and I'm contractually obligated speak about that. I’m sorry I have to do this. Next week will be the last time.
Our theme this year is Rooted in Grace, Sowing God's Peace. That is what we are trying to do at St. Mary’s in our ministry. We are trying to live a life of rejoicing, live a life of gentleness. We are trying to sow the seeds of peace in this world, and show people a better way. We do not need to live with cruelty, we do not need to celebrate it. We can live in the Pax Dei, that is what we try to do in all of our ministry here.
So as you're filling out those pledge cards this week, as you think about the ministry of Saint Mary's, I encourage you to think about the ways that we have brought you peace, or the way we bring peace to others in this community, the way we are trying to live in this way of love. If you're just visiting this week, you don't need to complete a pledge card. But I do encourage you to spend time thinking about that peace of God, and to find where it is that you can generously give to help bring more peace into this world, so that we can show the surpassing peace of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
AMEN
