Sermon - Rorate Coeli 2020 - Phil. 4:4-7

 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” This isn’t just some passing comment or obligatory greeting Paul makes to the church at Philippi. He makes it a point to emphasize that Christians ought to have joy in the Lord, because God gives Christians the gifts of joy, thanksgiving, and peace. As Christians, these are spiritual gifts given to you while still in this world.

Now, to be sure, this life isn’t always a bed of roses… or if it is it’s like walking barefoot through a bunch of thorny rose bushes. St. Paul knows this well, as he writes this letter while languishing in prison. We, like Paul, face many things in this life which threaten to steal our joy from us. For instance, here we are a few days away from Christmas, one of the more joyful times of the year for many, and it’s not looking so pleasant. 

Nationally, and even locally, drug and alcohol addictions, armed vioence, child abuse, and mental illness are much more prevalent than normal. We’re already a country struggling with depression and anxiety and suicide, and this year hasn’t made it better whatsoever. There’s hardly a family unaffected by the Corona Crisis in some way. As a congregation, we may wonder how we’ll ever recover from this year and what the future holds for us.

And yet, dear brothers and sisters, we are Christians and are filled with joy because Christ fills our hearts! This is Advent, Christ has come as a newborn babe to die for us, He will come on the last day and bring us to heaven with Him, and He’s coming to us now in His Word and Sacraments! “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!” Our Emmanuel is coming to “ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appears!” 

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.... Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth.”

With Satan as a tyrant who threatens us with the grave, we have a Savior, the branch of Jesse’s trees, the Key of David, who opens wide our heavenly home! He closes the path to eternal misery in hell, and He cheers us by drawing near to us in our times of greatest woe, so that we may be near to Him in everlasting bliss. As dark and gloomy as this world seems, He’s the dayspring from on high! Our gloom is just a cloud, death is merely a shadow, for when Christ the Sun of righteousness appears He scatters them all with His light. The sad divisions which are necessary in this life will cease when our King of Peace comes and binds us all together in Him.

Remember, “The Lord is at hand.” The Lord is real, He exists, and He’s not far away from us. He was laid in a manger, He walked on the earth, He hungered and slept, He thirsted and wept, He lived and He died. He rose. The Lord is near, He’s at hand, He speaks to you and feeds you today! Therefore, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Anxiety, or constant fear, is deadly to faith because it loses sight of God. Rather we are to pray in faith and thanksgiving: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” You do not need to be anxious or worry about anything in this life! God knit you together in your mother’s womb, He knew you before you were even conceived. He knows how many days and hours you have on this earth, and everyone of those moments is in the Lord’s hand. You will not die before God calls you home to heaven. No bad thing will happen to you that the Lord can’t sustain you through. This includes Covid, earthly rulers, enemies, poverty, and even death. Do not be anxious about anything.

Instead of anxiety and constant worry, God fills us with thanksgiving! Not only will God protect you in the future, but He’s already protected you from every future concern. God knows exactly what could happen to you, and He doesn’t just mitigate risk but He destroys the power of the devil so that every worldly problem may be defeated. 

Any concern we might have in life has already been answered in the cross of Jesus. Worried about tyrants? Jesus is your Prince of Peace. Worried about illness? Jesus heals every disease. Worried about loneliness? Jesus gives you an eternal reunion. Worried about poverty? Jesus makes you the heir of His kingdom. Worried about death? Jesus lives forever, so you will live forever. 

Every worry in this life is answered in Jesus. The Christian therefore needn’t be anxious about anything. Rather, the Christian is filled with thanksgiving over what God has already done. All worries are taken away from you! Every one of them! When worry still plagues your mind, lay it before the Lord, let Jesus carry that burden, and know that God’s taken care of it. Then give thanks! Since nothing worries you, you’re freed to give thanks to God for all of it! From the sip of coffee you have in the morning to the pillow beneath your head at night, everything is worthy of thanksgiving to God.

Above all and overall, this joy and thanksgiving which fills your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, gives you the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Even in the worst of circumstances, in the worst of years, in your darkest days, you have peace. You have peace like the martyrs, standing in the coliseum, surrounded by people cheering your death, staring at a lion about to devour you, and your heart is filled with peace since you know what comes next. 

You have the peace and calmness of heart like the saints who suffered in prisons for decades. You don’t just look for the good in this life, but you look forward to something far better in the world to come, which this world can never offer you. You look forward to heaven, peace and joy at the resurrection, a life without suffering or tears, a time when there is no more gloomy night. You have peace and contentment right where you are, right now, because in God’s wisdom all things will work together according to His purpose. Even if that means suffering today, you have peace which not even Satan can steal from you. 

This peace isn’t just stoic indifference, a teenage apathy, a mentality of “whatever;” that’s no good either. As Christians we care about this world and what’s going on around us, very passionately even, but not because we’re worried and anxious. Rather, we care because God cares about this world. He created it, declared it good, and even sacrificed Himself to a humiliating death on a cross in order to redeem this world.

Therefore we Christians get active and try to make a difference in this world. We don’t just sit on the sidelines and forget about it, but we live differently with a zeal and enthusiasm for the world to come. We know that this world is passing away quickly, so we waste no time. But in joy, thanksgiving to God, and peace we devote our lives to holiness and pointing everyone to our one Redeemer and Lord, Jesus the Christ!

We’re like John the Baptist, who in the face of the most prominent in this world, “he confessed, and did not deny, by confessed” Jesus as Lord. Come what may in this life, we Christians live in the spirit of John the Baptist with all joy and boldness in believing! We empty ourselves of worthless anxiety and give thanks to the Lord at all times. We are neither apathetic stoics nor headless chickens, but peaceful believers contented with God’s abundant providence.