Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:4-5)

We are back to finish off the letter to the Philippians now that our Vibrant Weekend and Prayer Guide have finished up!

We find ourselves flipping a new page in the Philippian letter. Paul has taken the first few chapters to tell us of the mindset of Jesus (i.e. humbling himself to the cross and submitting himself to the Father alone and not to his own recourse), how he himself has sought to live out of this same mindset of Jesus, and how the Philippian church and those within it experiencing fights and division (like Euodia and Syntyche) should live out that Jesus-mindset too.

Having said all that, Paul returns to the theme of joy. This is also where he began back in chapter one as he told of his praying in joy for the Philippian Christians, thankful for their partnership in the Gospel and for God’s work in them that God himself would see to completion.

Even as Paul rejoiced in his prayers, now he invites the Philippians into the same. Joy and prayers. We’ll come to the praying part tomorrow. Today it’s enough to talk about joy.

One of the most significant antidotes to the mistrust of our fellow Christians that breeds division like that between Euodia and Syntyche, is a healthy sense of the joy of the Lord. If we remember the angel’s announcement to the shepherds that we heard last week: the Gospel is good news of great joy for all people. If we somehow recognize that our joy is gone or has been replaced by fear, doubts, or suspicions, it is an indicator that our own heart needs tending in the presence of God before we can engage fruitfully again with our fellow Christians. We somehow need to receive again the good news of great joy in our own hearts so that what spills out of us in encounter with others might also be seen and heard as a joyful, Gospel word.

How do we do that? Many ways. One is simply by practicing. If you don’t feel joyful: try rejoicing and giving thanks to God anyway. It very often is the case that working a habit like rejoicing for an extended period of time, even when we aren’t emotionally in the mood for it, can serve to usher our emotions gently along until we do begin to feel it. Another way to find joy in the Lord once again is to remember and to seek to trust that indeed “the Lord is near.” Even when everything else might feel like its coming undone or when it feels like there are enemies all around—a recognition of the presence of God in that place can change things. Even valleys of death’s shadow can be transformed into an experience of God’s care and provision when we remember that he is there, too.

Of course, a third way to renew our joy is simply by talking to God. We’ll touch on that more tomorrow.

This kind of joy in Christ makes it possible to make known the mind of Christ to those around us. The word Paul uses to describe it here is “gentleness.” Another word for that gentleness Paul tells us to make evident to all, is forbearance. A willingness to let things go or to delay our reaction or desire for retribution. Doing so offers a gracious, merciful forbearance as God has done for us. Again, we can do this because the Lord who has displayed his gentle forbearance with us, is near. It’s a cause of joy. A cause for taking on the same mindset.

So: rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!