Wisdom from Behind Bars: Choose Joy

WISDOM FROM BEHIND BARS: CHOOSE JOY

Rev. Karen Pidcock-Lester

First Presbyterian Church, Pottstown, Pa.

October 19, 2014

Philippians 3:17-4:7

John 14

Introduction to the Scripture

Making our way through Paul’s letter to the early Christians in Philippi, we continue reading in the third chapter. You will remember that Paul writes from a cell in a Roman prison, facing a possible death penalty. He writes to people he loves and does not expect to see again.

The Christians in the Philippi are anxious. As believers, they struggle with opponents outside the church, and there is disagreement inside the church. Struggle is the context for these words of Paul – that’s what makes this wisdom behind bars all the more powerful.

Someone has said “Joy always takes root amid adversity; there is no other soil for it to grow in.” (Nathan Eddy, Feasting on the Word, p. 163) Paul’s struggle is soil in which joy is growing. In this portion of the letter, we hear some of Paul’s most familiar and joy-filled words, words we often see painted in pastel colors andcurly fonts on refrigerator magnets or facebookposts. Given their context in this letter, it would perhaps be more accurate to chisel these words in stalwart fonts in blocks of wood or stone.

Let us hear the Word of God, Philippians 3:17-4:7

I wonder if your stomach or shoulders ever get in knots.

I wonder if you ever carry a vague but potent dread through your days.

Do you ever listen to yourself and hear you are speaking faster – or slower – than normal, do you hear yourself snapping or lashing out with combative words towards everyone, or towards one lucky lightning-rod person? Do you ever lie awake with your mind on a gerbil wheel of thought? Or perhaps you notice yourself pulling inside or shutting down?

These things are worth paying attention to. When they appear, they are cautionary signs that something is missing in our soul: joy.

Theologian Daniel Migliore notes, “Joy cannot coexist with harshness or impatience, retaliation, vengeance or violence…joy accompanies patience, gentleness, kindness, forbearance…” (Philippians and Philemon)When these are not to be found, joy has left our spirit.

Joy is a characteristic of the Christian life because it is a sign of being close to God. Joy is the “outcome and sign that the risen Christ is present.” (Eddy, p. 159-160) Like the flag that flies over Buckingham Palace when the queen of Great Britain is in residence, joy is a sign that the risen Christ is in the vicinity.(Eddy, p. 159-160) So if the companions of joy—gentleness, patience, forbearance -- have been replaced by anxiety and anger and dread in you,take notice: these are signs that joy has left the building.

Apparently joy has left the building in the household of faith in Philippi. There is no judgment from Paul in these verses. He is not naïve. He does not sit in that Roman hell-hole looking through rose-colored glasses telling the Philippian believers to get some for themselves. Paul knows life gives even bold and courageous believers a great deal to be anxious about. No doubt he’s felt these cautionary signs himself.

But Paul says to his dear friends and coworkers in the gospel, “if joy has left the building, get it back.”

Get it back. Do not go too long, don’t even go a day, without getting it back. “Believers,”he says, “you don’t need to be anxious. Even if you encounter struggle or disagreement, even if the world is in turmoil, or people die or make your life difficult or abandon or attack you, you need not live without joy, because ‘joy is independent of all things on earth.’” (William Barclay, p. 75) So when joy leaves you, you can get it back.

How? How can we get joy back when it has left us?

This is where Paul gives believers wisdom from behind bars.

The first thing Paul tells them to do is “Rejoice.”

“But things are so bad…How do I rejoice?”

“Rejoice in the Lord…”

Because you are in the Lord, choosejoy, says Paul.

“Joy is not a feeling, it is a discipline;” someone has written, “joy is not an emotion dependent upon circumstances, it is a discipline of perception, a reconsideration of things from a different perspective.” (Eddy, p. 161)

A discipline is something we can choose to do. We cannot conjure up happy feelings, but we can choose to cultivate a way of perceiving what is going on around us and within us; we can choose to cultivate a habit of considering things from the perspective of being ‘in the Lord.’

Steve Hayner is the president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. 25years ago he was a young minister in Madison, Wisconsin, the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Craig Barnes, now the president of Princeton Seminary, has been friends and gospel coworker with Hayner since those days. He recalls that “on Sunday nights, they would meet with two other couples in ministry. Perched on a sofa and some chairs borrowed from a dining room,” they would go around the circle and check in with each other. “One of us would describe a mission that was going down in flames. We would protest that we had offered so many prayers about it. ‘Surely Jesus shouldn’t have to wait to heal the church,’ we would say. And at the end of [each] dark night, Steve would say something ..about choosing to live joyfully.”And since then, every letter Hayner has written has borne the sign-off “Joyfully,” before his name.(Craig Barnes, “Faith Matters: Joyful to the End,” Christian Century, Sept. 14, 2014)

Choose to live joyfully.

If we want to do that, we must first findthe source of joy. Where does joy come from?

“Joy has its source in the continual presence of Christ.” (Barclay, p. 75)Paul knew Christ was in that prison cell: where, how did he see Christ’s presence there, I wonder? However he experienced it, it was a source of joy to him, even in the face of imprisonment and death.

So Paul tells the Philippians “The Lord is near to you, too.” Look for him. Find him. If the flag is flying, Britons look for the queen. The reverse is also true: if they see the queen, they know they will see the flag. (Eddy, p. 159-160) In the same way, Paul knows that if we trust that the risen Christ is already in residence and we look for him, then joy will appear.

As I wrote this sermon on Friday, I realized I needed to put the pen down and practice Paul’s wisdom. Since the day before, my gut had been in a knot and I had already lost a night and a day to dread. What a waste. I didn’t want to lose any more of these beautiful autumn days to that.

“Ok,” I said to myself, “Begin with the assurance that the Lord is near and look for him.” Ten minutes later, I had spotted and jotted down 15 sightings of the risen Christ in residence in the previous week. Here are a couple of them:

when the chair of the stewardship committee told the moderator of the

deaconsthat she needs help with the stewardship dinner, the moderator

askedthe deacons and within minutes, she had all the help she needs;

the Lord was near.

when Jane Marshall and her daughters sat in the hospital room this week

with John, the longest night of their lives became the holiest; surely, the Lord was near.

I had stood outside the choir room on Thursday night and listened to the

committed ringers and singers rehearse; surely the Lord was in that place.

achurch member picked up the phone to call a man who has been having some trouble and hasn’t been in church in a while-- “I just want to check in,” he said; the Lord was near.

two elders who find themselves on different sides of an issue sat at a kitchen table doing the hard, deliberate work of formulating astatement they can have one mind on, and they did; the Lord was near.

ahusband and wife who have thrown their best efforts at an intractable family problemwith no solution yet in sighthave been able to lay anxiety aside and rest in God; the Lord is near.

I walked into our office one day and found an envelope which had been dropped on my desk. The envelope had no name, but a note told me to pass the contents on to a particular person who is in hard times; the Lord was near.

Sometime we may need help noticing the presence of the risen Christ. There are people who can do that, fellow believers; sometimes we need physicians, counselors, pastors. That’s fine; they are near.

After that 10 minutes, I was confident again that the risen Christ was close at hand…and I could do what I hadn’t been able to do all night or morning: pray.

This is what Paul instructs believers to do next: talk with the One who is near. “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication…let your requests be made knownto him…”

Prayer is our disciplined response to anxiety, conflict, fear, struggle…

“Prayer is the believers’deliberatepractice of regarding things from another angle,”

talking with Christuntil we see things from another point of view–his;

talking about anything and everything, holding nothing back – “let your requests be made known to God” Imagine the conversations Paul had with God from his jail cell…

“And make sure your prayers include thanksgiving,” Paul says to the Philippians. Give thanks for the sightings,for thegifts and blessings… butPaul’s wisdom also instructs believers to give thanks for the struggles themselves, because the one who has power to make all things subject to himself can transform even the most earthly things -- even persecution and imprisonment and disagreementsamong loved ones, even death, he can transform all of it--into glory. If Euodia and Syntyche and their Philippian coworkers practice choosing joy, they will uncover a gentleness, a forbearance, a wise mercy to share with one another…and who knows how the Philippians’ faith and life will be deepened, strengthened, widened through it all? This is how God transforms us from one degree of glory to another.

“Pray,” says Paul. “Look for the One who is near and talk with him,”

When we do, something will happen, Paul continues. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When we choose to rejoice in the Lord, when we trust he is near and talk with him, something we will not be able to explain or generate ourselveswill begin to settleupon us. Paul says it will surround us like a Roman garrison, keeping fear, harshness, anxiety at bay,keeping peace and gentleness within.

On Friday, I began to experience that peace again. Nothing had changed except my orientation, but as I prayed I felt a familiar shifting in my heart and mind. Christ and I were keeping company again and it was well with my soul.

I know that I will get turned around again and lose sight of the One who is near; we all do, even those of you who have practiced rejoicing in the Lord longer than I, for we none of us have arrived at the goal. But we press on, choosingto live joyfully, and reminding one another the Lord is near.

SteveHayner recently reminded his friends of this again, as he had 25 years ago. Hayner is now at the end of his ministry. He has pancreatic cancer, and he doesn’t have long to live. Hayner and his wife Sharol use the Caringbridge website to keep friends informed about his condition. Recently, the Haynersposted a photo of themselves on a sofa with five grandchildren on their laps – everyone is laughing. …Steve’s wife Sharol posted this on the website: “Last Sunday night our five–year-old granddaughter Anna asked her mom and dad when she might get her regular grandpa back. This led to a conversation..about Papa’s prognosis and the new body that Jesus was going to give him in heaven. [Five-year-old]Anna said, ‘I wish I knew if Jesus was going to heal him here or in heaven. But I know that Jesus keeps his promises. We can trust him.’”

“Well, there it is.” (Barnes) This is the outcome of a life of choosing to live joyfully, bearing fruit in a grandchild.

This is what believers do;

this is what we are here in the church to help one another do:

amidst all the adversity, rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!

The Lord is near.

Together, we canchoose joy.

Let’s do it.

Amen.