The Sunday of Joy!

Gaudete 2012- Third Sunday of Advent- The Sunday of Joy.
Philippians 4:4-7

"Do not fear; do not worry; rejoice in everything. Does that mean that everything that would happen to them would be good? Obviously not. They faced terrible persecution and would have terrible things to deal with. Of course, they would have absolutely no control over what happened to them. Many Christians around the world face the same thing today. In Egypt, in Iraq, in Africa, in China, and in many other places persecution is just a heartbeat away. Think of the parents of the children murdered this weekend in Connecticut. They had no choice in the events that over took them and ripped their babies from their arms and hearts. Two things are necessary for us to consider.

First, joy is often a decision, and not only an emotion. It will certainly come up as an emotion at times, but many other times will require that you make a decision to rejoice. Just using this week's terrible events, you can see both sides of the argument. If you discover that your child was not one of the victims, you would understandably be overcome with joy; you would rejoice to see your baby walk out whole and uninjured. On the other hand, if your child was among the victims, it would be a very hard decision to rejoice about it. I am not saying that someone in the position should be laughing and happy. Joy is not simple happiness. It is ultimately an expression of trust in God, even in terrible circumstances. Remember our brothers and sisters around the world that face persecution every day. At Columbine it was reported that the killers targeted Christians. That is real live persecution here in the United States. Paul's command is clear: rejoice in all things. It does not mean to be happy about all things. 

Second, we need to turn to the Lord to be able to make the decision to rejoice. Paul tells the Philippians to take all of their requests to the Lord. They are to do it with thanksgiving. Supplication is a strong word showing that we can express our needs to God with great feeling. Look at all of the Psalms David gave us while he was persecuted by Saul and his rebellious sons. Crying out to the Lord often means just that: to cry out in agony to the God who loves us and has sent these hard times our way. 

Thanksgiving will be the best indicator of where your heart it. If you can thank God in the circumstances then you will be able to rejoice in them as well. I believe that eventually you will see his kind hand leading you in even the most difficult of times. God sculpts us from hard providences. Just as Jesus learned obedience the very hardest way, our God will shape our character with the hard things that come our way."

-Pastor Gene Franklin, 
from the sermon Joy In Hard Places.