Zephaniah 3.14-20; Philippians 4.4-7; Luke 3.7-18
It’s the third Sunday of Advent. Hurray! Anyone rejoicing at the thought of Christmas? We should be. It is a joyful season as we look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus our Saviour. The third candle in our advent wreath reminds us of John the Baptist who announced Jesus as the Saviour. That was his mission, his purpose. And he did it with great joy as he pointed people to Jesus.
The third candle is also called the ‘candle of Joy’ because people were full of joy at the birth of Jesus.
And so, this morning, we’re going to be thinking about the passage from Philippians and what Paul has to say about joy, anxiousness and God’s peace.
But first some background to Philippians, also known as the epistle or letter of joy, and Paul.
The Philippian church was started by Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:11-40). It was the first church to be established on the European continent (northern Greece). Paul wrote this letter to them from Rome, where he was imprisoned. The main purpose of the letter was to thank the Philippians for the gift they had sent Paul and also to encourage them in their faith.
If anybody had an excuse for worrying, it was the Apostle Paul. He was imprisoned several times, faced multiple beatings, was shipwrecked, went hungry several times and faced a lot of criticism.
His friends at Philippi were disagreeing with each other. This was bringing division in the church and Paul was not there to help them. Furthermore, there was division among the believers at Rome. All this was enough cause for him to worry. But he did not. Instead, he commands his readers to rejoice in the Lord!
Why you might wonder? Well, it’s because of who God is and what he has done. They and we are to rejoice ‘in’ the Lord because he is the source of all joy. In and through Christ Jesus we are saved, we are loved, we are held by God who delights in us, rejoices over us with singing, who knows us by name, who is faithful and promises to never leave us or forsake us, who cares about our sufferings and sorrows and walks alongside us, and promises us eternal life.
Besides, joy is a fruit of the Spirit and therefore our rejoicing is demonstrating his presence in us and among us. Joy is the antidote to complaining or grumbling, especially when things don’t go as planned. The Christian understanding of joy is deeply connected to the hope and assurance found in Jesus Christ, His resurrection, and the promise of eternal life.
Obviously, there are times when its right and appropriate to express sadness – eg. when we are mourning.
But Paul is keen to remind the church at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord always. He doesn’t want worry to steal their joy.
In verse 6 his command to the believers in Philippi and also to us is ... ‘do not be anxious about anything...’
Now of course serious anxiety is a medical condition. Where appropriate, professional help should be sought. That’s really important.
However, I’m using the word anxious to mean general worrying about things, not the medical condition.
How many of us have never worried or got anxious? Anyone?
The thing is that we worry about all sorts of things - our health, jobs, the future, our children, our finances, the weather and the lists goes on. If this were not enough, you only have to listen to the news – wars & all sorts of other atrocities, poverty and persecution happening in the world around us.
The Greek word translated “anxious” in verse 6 means to be pulled in different directions. The old English root from which we get our word ‘worry’ means to strangle. Our hopes and fears pull us in different directions.
In His sermon on the mount (Matthew 6) Jesus tells us not to worry about anything. God our Father, who takes care of the birds of the air and looks after the flowers in the fields, will take care of us too.
1 Peter 5v7 reminds us to cast all our cares on God for he cares for you and me. God knows our every need and will supply it.
That’s very well you might say. If God knows my every need, then what’s the point of praying about them?
Well, here’s the thing. God our Father delights in us. His heart is to bless us and satisfy our needs with good things. When we have a need for something, we must ask God for it.
God wants us to bring everything that concerns us to him in prayer. He does not want you or me to try and figure it out on our own. He doesn’t want us to get anxious about anything. Instead, he wants us to exercise faith and choose to trust him with our worries. As we bring all that troubles us to him in prayer, we can receive God’s peace and that in turn should cause joy to bubble up in us as we focus on his love for us and care of us.
One of the mistakes we make when it comes to praying is that we only want to pray about the ‘big’ stuff – things that really matter. Things like jobs, health, a big crisis, a disaster, things like that. Now I’m not suggesting that this is wrong. It’s not, and we must pray about these big things. It’s important.
But so often we don’t want to pray about the small things. We think its not worth bothering God with small stuff. Surely, He’s got bigger things to deal with.
This way of thinking is a big mistake. God is concerned about every area of your life – small and big alike. He knows everything about you and me – right down to the number of hairs on our heads!
Children have a lovely way of reminding us that we can pray about anything. Listen to this prayer:
Dear God, why does it always rain on my birthday? It never rains on Sam’s birthday and he’s only 3. I am 4. It rained last year and this year and I like the sun. Can you make it sunny when I am 5? Love Jonny.
"Dear God, I say your prayer every night, 'lead us not into temptation and deliver us some e-mail' but I never get an e-mail from you. Do you have my right address?"
No matter what is bothering you, you can always talk to God about it. If it matters to you, God wants to hear about it.
So far, we’ve seen that despite Paul’s hardships, he rejoices in God. Why, because his faith and hope are in God and he knows that God will take care of all his needs.
Paul urges the Philippian church and all of us to rejoice in the Lord and not to be anxious about anything. Instead, we are to present our requests to God with thanksgiving.
Just a small word of caution – God is not a genie who we control. Sometimes it will seem like God is not listening. Our prayers are not being answered – at least not in the way we want. At these times, we have to trust that God as our loving Father knows best.
That is why Paul says that once we bring our requests to God, trusting in His wisdom and provision, then His peace, which is beyond our human understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. No matter what your circumstances, you will know God’s peace.
Advent is a time to refocus on Jesus, the source of true joy. Let us to take all our worries in prayer to God and receive his peace. As Hebrews 4: 15-16 reminds us that we have a high priest, Jesus, who empathizes with our weaknesses. Therefore, let us boldly approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, where we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
And as we do that, may the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13). Amen