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.
This short verse from the book of Philippians is only tangentially related to Advent. The rather opaque ‘the Lord is near’ is the only real Advent connection. But the whole book of Philippians in some ways captures the Christmas spirit better (as it is most commonly understood) than many of the more dour Christmas texts about God coming in wrath.
The book of Philippians is upbeat, Paul is in a tremendous mood (he only goes on a few rants against people he disagrees with). Philippi was the first Greek city he preached in, and it was one where he had great success. The church flourished, the people of Philippi supported Paul in his mission financially, (which he appreciated) and he in return gushed about them. Paul is writing from prison in Rome, but that does not seem to dampen his spirits in the least.
Some historical notes: Philippi is inland off the Aegean sea, in the northern part of Greece, and it was named after Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander the great. In Roman times, it was a place where lots of retired Roman centurions were given land as a pension after their service in the army, which set it apart culturally from the more Greek cities around it. It is also where Brutus and Cassius met their demise in their battle against Anthony and Octavian after the death of Julius Caesar (I’m not sure if that’s ironic or not).
This short section we have this morning is part of the longer closing passage of Paul’s letter (as always, Paul has a hard time saying goodbye, so his closing drags out for two of the four chapters of this letter). But his message is familiar. Be happy, be good, because God is near and the spirit is with you. Just before our passage he gently chides Euodia and Syntyche who are in conflict. Just after this he reminds people “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.” But in this passage he focuses on rejoicing-on letting our anxiety flow through us, offering our troubles to God, in prayers of supplication and thanksgiving, so that the peace of Christ might fill us and all of our hearts.
We live in times of troubles, but there is something wonderful in being invited to acknowledge that those struggles that so often dominate our lives can be set aside for a time, not denied or eliminated, but lifted up, so that we might walk in joy with one another.
This Christmas season,
May it be so.
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