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Introduction
A former adviser for the federally funded National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine made a point in his research
report that was really interesting. He said comedians Bob Hope and
George Burns both made it to their 100th birthdays. Michael Irwin of
UCLA says "Laughter releases endorphins—those 'feel good' hormones
suspected of boosting immunity—and that might make you more resistant to
disease.
At the very least, he wrote, laughter reduces stress
hormones, that have a bad effect on immunity. David Katz is a preventive
medicine specialist at Yale School of Public Health. He writes, "If
you're the strong, silent type, a good belly laugh now and then may be
especially important. Doctors used to think hard-charging Type As were
at heightened risk for heart disease, but we've moved on from that…".
"We know now it's having a so-called Type D personality—someone
who bottles up emotions—that really causes an increased risk of heart
disease and possibly cancer," Katz says. The popular proverb is
“Laughter is the best medicine,” and
Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine," and
contemporary research seems to underscore this truth.
So, laugh!
It's a prescription for healthy living. Research at the University of
Maryland has shown that laughter relaxes blood vessels by releasing
these chemicals into the blood stream. And they’ve shown that a good
hearty laugh will actually reduce blood pressure and produce a lower
heart rate on the spot!
I would put the counsel of the apostle
Paul in that same category. In
Philippians 4:4 he gives spiritual counsel, not psychological advice
when he tells the believers: Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! I want you to notice, this
is a command! It may seem odd to actually command someone to be joyful,
but that’s exactly what he does! And then he repeats it. He’s saying,
“Rejoice! Now! I mean it!”
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul
chooses the imperative verb form
KAIRETE and issues an apostolic order that the Christians should
rejoice. And then he repeats it to add emphasis! Not only that, but
seven other times in this short letter, Paul uses the word joy or
rejoice. And he’s in a dank Roman prison! And in
3:1 he uses the same imperative as in
4:4 – rejoice in the Lord!
What we have in the few verses under consideration this morning is a
prescription for an abundant and fulfilling life in Christ. Let’s open
our hearts to receive the Word, making it a point to under-stand God’s
loving will for us, and to resolve to obey it.
1. Cultivate the Habit of Joy
Verse 4 gives us our first directive for abundant living. Paul
teaches that if we want to live the kind of life God graciously wants us
to live—the life that Jesus died to provide for us—we are coing to have
to learn to cultivate the habit of joy. The verb used is present tense
and it means “get into the habit of rejoicing”.
Can you
just tell someone to rejoice and expect them to? Well, Paul did right
here! And here’s the big reason why he could do that: joy is the second
fruit of the Spirit. And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have
the capacity to experience joy. But it is a choice. It’s a silly
question, but how would you rather live – with joy or without joy? Let
me share 3 things about joy.
First, joy is neither
psychologically or pharmacologically obtained. And you don’t get joy
from materialism. And you don’t get it from people or being with the
right person. That’s the biggest lie the devil ever laid on us. We know
it’s not true, but most of us live as though if we get enough stuff or
meet the right person, we’ll finally be happy. And we re-learn how
untrue that is 100 times a year. Joy and happiness are found in being
forgiven.
Our biggest problem is guilt, because we know we’ve
sinned and we have offended our Creator. Most of us spend our energies
just trying to avoid Him, running from Him. But He wants us to know that
if we will quit running away and turn to Him in faith, He will forgive
our sins and heal us of what’s killing us. Jesus has already made full
payment for our sin debt on the cross. And He calls to each one of us to
come and be forgiven. Then there’s joy.
The other thing
about joy is that genuine joy is not dependent on circumstances. We
don’t have to have sunny skies, fat wallets, lots of loving people
around us and a healthy IRA to be happy. The joy of the Lord doesn’t
depend on having no problems; the joy of the Lord is our strength to
carry us through our problems.
Bethany Hamilton, once ranked as the best amateur teen surfer in Hawaii,
lost an arm to a tiger shark in October 2003. Both her compassion and
competitiveness, however, have reached a new level. Soon after the
attack she began to raise money to restore a man's eyesight. While
visiting New York City, she gave her ski coat to homeless girl. When
asked about the gift, she said she had more than she needed in life.
Referring to her competitiveness, the story in USA Today states: "As
always, Hamilton remains undaunted. She has told her father that if
having only one arm proved detrimental to reaching the top in
competitive surfing, then she'd see about playing soccer. She has an
underlying trust that God is taking care of her. That’s the joy of the
Lord being her strength.
Frederick Buechner is a Christian author. He says that our big
temptation in the world is to go where the world takes us, to just drift
with whatever current comes our way. When good things happen, we rise to
heaven; when bad things happen, we descend to hell. “I know this to be
true of no one as well as I know it to be true of myself. I know how
just the weather can affect my whole state of mind for good or ill, how
just getting stuck in a traffic jam can ruin an afternoon that in every
other way is so beautiful that it dazzles the heart. We are in constant
danger of being not actors in the drama of our own lives but reactors.”
Paul’s point in
Philippians 4 is that Joy, for the Christian is already in our
account. God has provided it through the forgiveness we have in Jesus,
and the fruit of His Spirit living in us. We don’t have to work it up,
go looking for it to try to find it. We already have it as a gift from
God, so we just need to appropriate it to ourselves. Joy is a choice we
make every day.
We actually make this choice many times a day.
When I face a disappointment or a problem I have the privilege to choose
either to succumb to sorrow or anger or self-pity or retaliation. Or, I
can choose the joy of the Lord and rise above all that garbage.
Nehemiah 9:6 - The joy of the Lord will be
your strength. At any time during your day you can choose victory
in the joy of the Lord, or you can choose the putrescence of worldly
misery.
2. Project Your Gentleness
So, the first part of our prescription for abundant life in Christ is to
cultivate the habit of joy. Secondly, Paul tells us in
verse 5, we have an obligation as Christians to project to those
around us the difference Christ has made and is making in our character.
The same Spirit who produces joy as a fruit in our lives also produces
this virtue of gentleness or graciousness. Let
your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
There is a very interesting twist here. While joy is something we are to
choose and experience its benefits in our lives, Paul says that
gentleness (which we already have, too – your gentleness) is something
we are to project, or make evident to those around us. This gentleness
(graciousness) is a social grace. That is, it doesn’t just happen within
us, like joy. It occurs in the context of relationship with other
persons. We don’t have to be told to be gracious to ourselves—we do that
pretty much automatically. But we do need reminders to be gracious to
others.
When our Christian character shows through the
demonstration of gentleness to others, it is a witness to them of the
difference Christ is making in our lives. When I treat you well, it
speaks well of the love of Christ at work in my life. Conversely, if I
mistreat you by being ornery or cantankerous toward you, you are not
likely to be impressed nor to give glory to God for that.
Now,
when Paul says to “project” our gentleness, he means we are to wear it
like apparel that others see and experience. So, he urges us to do it
well, do a good job of it, put on a good show. But that should not lead
us to believe that it is some sort of sham or superficial behavior—you
know, being something that we are not, just to make an impression. The
truth is, the Spirit of God is birthing gentleness in us as a fruit.
We’re not simply pretending.
The apostle calls on followers of
Christ to be deliberate about how they treat others. I’m sure you would
agree with me that gentleness is in very short supply in our world. It
makes me weary sometimes, how ungracious people can be. There’s very
little regard for others, because people are so extremely interested in
only themselves. To most other people, you barely exist! That’s a very
sub-human way of behaving. And it ought not be so among God’s people. To
help us understand the importance of our behavior, Paul reminds us that
The Lord is near.
Many people
think this refers to the fact that Jesus is coming back soon, or at any
time, and we should always be “ready” in terms of living properly for
Him. That may be true, but we should also acknowledge the obvious. We
want to live well and serve others well for our Lord, because He is here
with us always.
Do you remember the little children’s chorus?
O, be careful little hands what you do. O, be careful little hands what
you do. For the Father up in heaven might just squish you like a lemon .
. . ! No, it actually goes: For the Father up above is looking down in..
love – so be careful little hands what you do! Our primary motive
for living well is to please the Lord who loves and saves us. And we are
also prompted by His Spirit who is empowering us to live circumspectly
before a watching world. Show gentleness.
3. Pray to Conquer Anxiety
So, we have thus far been commanded to rejoice in the Lord always, and
been encouraged to let our gentleness be evident to all. There is
another all-important aspect to our living victoriously and abundantly
in Christ. And that is prayer. We always find prayer in lists of things
we should do in order to stay healthy, spiritually safe, free from
temptation, well-resourced for life and as a matter of intercession for
others. But Paul gives us another, very specific reason to pray here.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God.
We need to pray if we want to conquer
anxiety. An exasperated husband finally asked his wife, "Why are you
always worrying? It doesn't do any good!" She piped back , "Oh, yes it
does! Did you know that 90% of the things I worry about never happen?!"
It's true, isn't it? We do worry about things that will never
happen, but the worrying doesn't prevent them. Research indicates that
among mentally healthy people the things they worry about can be broken
down in this way: 40% -things which never happen. 30% - things in the
past which cannot be changed or corrected. 12% - needless worry about
their health. 10% - petty miscellaneous worries. 8% - real and
legitimate concerns.
What we understand from this verse is that
not only will our witness for Christ benefit if we demonstrate
gentleness toward others, but our lives will be fuller and richer as a
result. For the Christian, there can be a great deal of satisfaction and
joy just knowing that our attitude and behavior toward others is Christ-
honoring and is serving His purposes. We are actually cooperating with
His glorious plan to draw other people to the Lord.
The fact of
the matter is that we all have things we are convinced are worthy of
worry--and we are usually quite ready to start worrying. Some people are
very hyper about everything, and they worry about it all. James Thurber
once said about Mr. Harold Ross, then editor of the New York Times and a
very Type "A" and anxious man: "He lives at the corner of work and
worry." Is that where you live?
Jesus clearly taught that,
though healthy concern about truly important things is fine, worry is
less than His perfect will for our lives. You know, if I’m going to sin,
I’m going to do something more fun than worry! In
Matthew 6:34, He said, "Therefore do not
worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own."
Paul says, very simply, that,
in order to be rid of worry, you must pray. We must learn to stop our
old habit that we rely on when we have problems. Usually, we STEW. What
God wants of us is that we get on knees before Him, the One who can fix
problems.
A Jamaican proverb goes like this: If you're going to
pray, don't worry; if you're going to worry, don't pray. Specifically,
Paul says, instead of being anxious, do the exact opposite: in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. Three words here are related to prayer:
PRAYER.
This is the general word for praying, and it includes all kinds of
prayer: praise, devotion, adoration, worship, intercession...This word
will not tell you how to pray by letting you know what words to pray.
Prayer never begins with words. It begins in the heart, with an attitude
toward God. If we are to not worry about anything, we must come to God.
REQUESTS--Tell God your needs. This isn't a wave of the hand prayer:
"God, please meet all my needs". We are called to share specifically
what our needs are--the very things that we are worried about. If it is
finances, tell Him; is it stress in your home? Tell Him; Is it
difficulty with the boss? Tell Him; is it the fear of losing someone or
something? Tell Him; Are you just afraid and you don't know why? Tell
Him: "Lord, I'm just afraid and I don't know why!" Now, the promise is
clear--God is going to give you His personal answer about these things.
And that leads to the third word about prayer--
THANKS - with
thanksgiving. What does that mean? That means that God is very
interested in our being thankful toward Him for everything, including
the coming answer to our prayers. There is nothing more beautiful than
to be in prayer with someone and hear them say something like, "..and we
thank you, Lord, for the answer that is already on the way!"
There is the story of a small Kansas town where there had been a
terrible drought for many weeks and the farmers were in imminent danger
of losing their crops and their herds. The pastor of the community
church called a special prayer meeting so everyone could pray
corporately for rain. They gathered for the meeting, and the pastor told
the crowd, "I don't know if God will answer our weakling prayers today
or not!" This surprised the people, and they mumbled, "Why not?" The
pastor responded, "There's not much faith here!" "What do you mean?" the
now hurt people said. "You came to pray for rain," the pastor
admonished, "but not one of you brought an umbrella!" Pray with
thanksgiving.
The promise seems to be that, in the act of prayer,
even before the answers are evident, we experience some of God's answer
in the form of PEACE. That's the fourth and final habit. It's not a
habit really, because it's not something WE DO, per se. It is something
God gives us when we pray.
In the early days of WW II, when
older airplanes had been constructed mostly of wood and cloth, pilots in
a number of areas had to contend with rats. Before airplanes became all
metal, rats could do a lot of damage to planes. Once a pilot was hours
into a flight, and many miles out over the Atlantic. He started to panic
because he heard rats gnawing in the plane. Worried that the rats’ sharp
teeth were chewing through a control wire, the pilot could see himself
in real trouble if he lost power. Should he bail out? What could he do?
Well, he put on his oxygen mask and then put the plane into a
steep climb. He circled higher and higher...up thousands of feet until
finally the gnawing stopped. The pilot knew that rats couldn’t stand the
high altitude and they died when he got high enough.
Friends,
worry is a rat. And you’ll take your anxiety high above these earthly
confines in prayer, expressing sincere requests and thanks, you’ll kill
it. Christians, we have such an awesome privilege—this privilege of
prayer. What’s eating at your soul today? What’s chewing on your peace
of mind? Lift it to the Lord in prayer, with thanksgiving.
Present your requests to God. And the peace of
God (which transcends all understanding) will guard your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. I want to hold off on this tremendous
topic until next time, because we’ll need more time to do it justice.
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