Luke 2:36-40 36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

When I read the gospel reading set by our lectionary for today, my instant response was, ‘why are we only reading the verses about Anna? Why not those about Simeon, too?’ Because of course, when the time for Mary’s purification came and Jesus was presented in the temple, Simeon and Anna were both there, both giving their prophetic witness to the true identity of the Christ child. Surely Simeon and Anna go together in bible readings, don’t they? Like Sampson & Delilah, or the Pharisee and the tax collector. But then my feminist upbringing kicked in – ‘girl power’ and all that - and I thought, ‘how great that Anna is acknowledged here on her own in our lectionary reading for today’. I decided to look Anna up in my ‘Who’s who in the bible’ reference book – and it turns out there’s really not much known about Anna other than what this passage in Luke tells us.

Her father was called Penuel, which is Hebrew for ‘face of God’. Her family line was through the tribe of Asher, which was not highly regarded by most Israelites because there was a lot of intermarriage and a history of dabbling in paganism. I suppose that goes to show how God will use even people with dodgy past histories to bring glory to his name – there is hope for us all!

But Anna was a very devout lady – after she was widowed, she spent virtually all her time at the temple, praying and worshipping, and for many decades. I thought a bit about how Anna’s temple-centred life differs from our life, even if our life centres on church. Some of us spend an awful lot of time here at church, but do we spend the majority of that time on worship and prayer? For that matter, our worship and prayer doesn’t need to be done solely here at church, but can be practiced throughout our daily routine.

Not all of us are called to be prophets like the prophetess Anna. But each one of us does have a role to play in God’s plan. For some, it will be active and obvious – as in the roles of evangelists, clergy, readers, intercessors, wardens, choir members or sides persons. For others, it’s quiet and out of public view, like those who care for people in need in the community or witness their faith to co-workers in their workplace. For many, it will be a mixture of the two, sometimes one, sometimes the other. God uses both the obvious and the subtle to reach the people he wants to reach. And the gospel writer Luke wants to draw readers of every age and stage of life into the picture. No matter who we are, or where we are, the story of Jesus becomes our story.

Mary and Joseph needed the wisdom of the old prophets Simeon and Anna at that moment; and the old man and old woman needed Jesus, they had been waiting for him, and now they thanked God for him. Anna and Simeon and all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel were living in patient hope, long-suffering, at a time when suffering had become a way of life.

These two aged saints are Israel at its best: devout, obedient, constant in prayer, led by the Holy Spirit, at home in the temple, longing and hoping for the fulfilment of God’s promises. God is doing something new, but it’s not entirely new, because hope is always joined to memory, and the ‘new’ is God’s keeping of an old promise. Anna and Simeon are a portrait of the Israel that accepted Jesus. Those who rejected him misunderstood their own tradition and so were not capable of recognizing him as the continuation of Israel’s hope.

One thing we can learn from this lesson is that it’s about trust. Time and time again Joseph and Mary had to trust God. They didn’t understand everything the angels had told them about Jesus’ conception and birth, but they trusted. At the presentation in the temple, they didn’t know exactly how to respond to Simeon and Anna, but they accepted how they reacted to Jesus, in trust.

And that’s something we all must learn to do. We all must learn to trust God. Sometimes faith is messy. Things can happen that we don’t understand, or that seem to hinder, rather than help us to accomplish the will of God. And all we can do is trust.

The elderly Anna learned to trust God. She showed her trust in God by living a devout life, something that all of us are capable of doing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Anna was looking forward to the promises of the messianic age, ‘the consolation of Israel.’ Again not only are we capable of that, the New Testament commands us to do it, looking for the fulfilment of God’s promises for the redemption of the whole world.

What Israel didn’t realise was that God’s appointed redeemer would deal with the suffering of the world by sharing it and taking it upon himself. The face of God shown to us in Jesus Christ is that of a suffering servant – who suffered on the cross for our sake – who still suffers alongside us, though glorified in heaven. It’s not about ‘girl-power’, or ‘manpower’, it’s about the power of God and his graceful nature, seen in the face of Christ. Our Emmanuel, who came to raise the lowly, and humble the arrogant – let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. Amen.

Christingle!

Despite the still icy and snowy conditions, we had a great turnout for the Christingle service at 4:00pm today - over 225 people. Wonderful to see all the families that come to this service. A real privilege to speak to them about God's love for the whole world, made manifest through Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the World. Now just need to stay awake for tonight's Christmas Eve Communion at 11:30pm!

Advent 4

Isaiah 7: 10-16 & Matthew 1:18-end
Are you prepared for Christmas? Every year, I send cards and presents across the pond; and every year, I vow to send them before the international posting deadline. I keep making that vow to myself, but I can’t ever seem to fulfil it. Maybe, like me, you still have shopping to do as well. We probably could all improve in our forward planning. But we can be thankful that God is a forward planner! Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah reminds us that God began preparing for Christmas from a very early time. And that’s what led up to the wonderful miracle that happened in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.

Matthew’s gospel emphasises the fact that Jesus was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. That’s why he refers back to Isaiah 7:14 – ‘therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel’. But expectation of a virgin birth was never actually part of the Jewish vision of the Messiah-to-come. Matthew use this Isaiah text because it fit the actual facts that he needed to tell – in other words, Matthew’s story of the virgin birth was shaped by the true event itself. But the emphasis in both Isaiah & Matthew isn’t the virginal status of the mother; it’s about the importance of the name ‘Immanuel’.

The meaning of Immanuel and the meaning of Christmas are the same - one simple truth, four little words: God – is – with – us. The Holy God of Israel, wrapped up warm in humanity, crying real tears, in a real city, with real parents, who are trying their best to take it all in: God is with us. He’s on our planet – on our countryside – in our manger – Immanuel! ‘God is with us!’

From the birth of Christ, fast-forward 2000 years and those four words that changed history can now change us. In fact, those four words are the only words that can bring meaning to the deepest places of our hearts. The challenge for us is to recognise God’s presence in all situations and circumstances. We might doubt God’s love in times of grief, pain and trauma, but we will find comfort, healing and strength when we are able to experience that God is with us even in such times.

For the woman whose partner has left her and the children, who continually struggles to pick up the pieces: God is with you. For the elderly person who can no longer care for themselves, and must now rely on the care of others: God is with you. For the teenager struggling against peer pressure to fit in - tempted with alcohol and drugs: God is with you. For the person who is seeking truth, and looking hard at Jesus as a possibility: God is with you.

At Christmas, in the quiet moments, many of us revisit our own past, which for some might bring back wonderful memories, but that’s not always the case – it’s not always comfortable and cosy - for some it overflows with sadness. But Matthew’s Christmas gospel invites us to look at the wider perspective, that we are not alone. We never have been, and we never will be, because God in Christ stepped out of eternity, and into time. And God chose a cave in Bethlehem to communicate one simple abiding truth: God is with us. And those four words have the power and the beauty to change our every waking moment.

Matthew’s Christmas gospel asks us to take the past seriously, to recognize how the past shapes the present, and to honour what God has done for us through it. And in the present we can find not just a lonely moment, but an opportunity for faith and service and the possibility of new beginnings.

The Advent challenge for us, on our own & as a church, is to follow Christ in becoming Immanuel in our broken world. In simple acts of service, inclusion and grace, God’s love is made clear and present. In particular, an awareness of, and care for, those who have significant need is a tangible reflection of God’s care: Setting aside time to volunteer in a caring ministry, or welcoming lonely people into our celebrations – these actions offer healing and transformation to a world that sorely needs it.
Whatever actions we might choose to do, this is the key to experiencing Immanuel again this Advent and Christmas: to offer ourselves as ‘little Immanuels’ in practical ways in the world.

Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, as we make preparations to celebrate the birth of your Son Jesus, we thank you that you have planned our future from the beginning of time. We thank you for Mary’s willingness to say ‘yes’ as you called her to be the mother of our Lord, and that Joseph listened to the Angel and was not afraid. May we, too, be willing and unafraid to do your will. Most of all we thank you that you have not left us alone, you have given us Jesus Immanuel, God with us. Strengthen us, that others might see you in us; and humble us, that we would see you in them and in each other. And may we look to the future with hope, serving you and all your people with joy. Amen.

Prepare ye the way

Advent 3 - Matthew 11:2-11

The candle we lit today on our Advent ring is for John the Baptist, and our gospel reading helps us to think about his particular role. After all his hard work preparing the way for the Lord, unfortunately John the Baptist was imprisoned for speaking out in truth about King Herod. And from prison, John could only get snippets of news about Jesus. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus a question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus affirms that he is ‘the One’, and gives examples of his liberating and healing work, which was fulfilled the prophets: ‘The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor’. Then he teaches the crowd about the role of John the Baptist, explaining that, as great as John was, anyone who embraces God’s reign and his Kingdom is greater still.

John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy foretold by Isaiah, ch 40: ‘A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God”’ John lived a life of discipline and simplicity. He influenced many people to come into the desert to be baptized, confessing their sins. He didn’t soften his message to gain approval. When Jesus came, John pointed people to Him. He did a wonderful job preparing the way for Christ. No other prophet was greater than John. But Jesus says that those who embrace God’s reign and the coming kingdom are greater still.

John was filled with the Spirit while still in his mother's womb which helped him fulfil his mission. But John the Baptist didn’t know about the nature of Christ as King in God’s kingdom. His limited knowledge of Christ is obvious from the question he had to send his disciples to ask. But because of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, followers of Jesus can receive a measure of the Spirit that wasn’t available until after Jesus ascended and was glorified in heaven. St. Peter says in Acts 2:38, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’. It’s a gift that wasn’t available to those under the Old Covenant. And like all gifts, you must receive it to be able to use it.

John the Baptist lived under the Old Covenant; but even those who are ‘least in the kingdom’ now live under the New Covenant with its better sacrifice, hope, and promises. Those who turn to Christ are immediately brought into the kingdom of God's Son - Colossians 1:13 says ‘...he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves’.

We can know many things which Jesus hadn’t taught His apostles until after the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost. Jesus said, in John 16, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”.

And the depth of knowledge about Christ has increased over the centuries, because many can read in their own language about Christ from all that’s recorded in the bible, and so we are able to know about God’s grace through the cross and the forgiveness of sin in a very personal and accessible way. We can share God’s kingdom vision of justice and mercy, and the future glory of a transformed creation. Our true greatness only comes by our relationship with Jesus Christ, made possible by the Spirit when we turn to Christ; and by his Spirit, when we ask, Christ lives in us and we live in him.

When we know Jesus has given such great blessings to us, we want to dedicate our lives to Christ, and produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, to nurture and enjoy the fellowship of the family of God, and proclaim the gospel of Christ and the kingdom in its fullness. We are called to seek out the places in our world where joy is being robbed, and to challenge the unjust ‘killjoys’ of our society. We are called to wait actively for Jesus to return. This is our source of patience and hope as we wait for God’s reign to be fully realised, both in this world and the next.

As we actively wait for the One who will come again, we must reflect on how we, as a church, can best point people to Jesus and prepare the way for his second coming. We need to identify areas of neglect in our community of New Brighton. To be salt and light, we must refuse to buy into the scepticism of our time, and commit ourselves instead to hope and compassion, and standing for truth and justice. In the way we live, speak and interact with each other, we can demonstrate that joy can be known in this world without oppressing, bombing or ignoring others, and without buying into rampant consumerism and achieveism. We need to allow the light of Christ to search out all the ways in which we inhibit the growth of his kingdom.

To finish, it seems appropriate to pray again the Advent candle prayer we prayed earlier: God incarnate, Prince of Peace, we confess that we have lost sight of your promises. We confess that we have accepted the depths of violence and poverty and despair experienced by so many today. We confess our cynicism and our doubt, and pray that we of little faith, may prepare a path for you, and give you the space to come into a broken world. Amen.

Advent 1

I've been too busy to post lately.

We had a great all-age Advent Sunday service last week, followed by the Deanery Advent Carol Service in the evening, both of which I led. Boy, I was exhausted at the end of it all!

Last year December was almost overwhelming, my first December as an ordained minister. This year I feel much more prepared, at least mentally. All the extra services combined with the family's expectations (not to mention my son's birthday) and unexpected pastoral situations, December is very busy.

This weekend is my son's birthday party, a sleepover followed by a trip to Blackpool (Ramp City indoor skateboard park). Six 12-year-olds. Will I get any sleep?

Also on Sunday is the annual Christmas Tree service, where we decorate the tree at church, and the band plays the music for the carols. I am leading the service and I am also in the band (guitar), along with my son (cornet) and daughter (flute). Should be fun.

I like Advent, because in this season we make a big deal about both the Incarnation and also the Second Coming. The Incarnation is just mind-blowing, that God would dwell amongst us in the form (at the beginning at least) of a little baby. Christ's return is something I yearn for - the new creation - come soon Lord Jesus.

Remembrance

Isaiah 25:1-9 & Revelation 22:1-5

Remembrance Sunday brings to mind a variety of feelings. Some people here may have experienced war or have relatives who’ve been affected by war. Some here may have loved ones currently serving in the Armed Forces. Others, like me, have little involvement in the realities of armed conflict, but we all have immense respect for those who have put their lives on the line for our freedom. Today, it is important to remember.

Many of you will have seen some of the many war memorials in France. It’s a humbling experience. Travelling through the Somme in the summer, we visited the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, which bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in WW1 and have no known grave. The whereabouts of their bodily remains will always be a mystery - and how disturbing this must have been for their families.

We have mixed feelings about war. We hope that we live in a country where conflict is only entered into when necessary to protect our freedom or the freedom of vulnerable people. We hope that world leaders consider long and hard whether war is justified before entering into armed conflict. We hope that those who fight in our Armed Forces will fight with honour. But evidence from contemporary conflicts shows that sometimes wars start with questionable motivations, and sometimes conflict brings out the most shameful behaviour, not just in the enemy, but in us and in our allies.

Sadly, we still count the dead, as bodies are flown back to the UK, and we read their stories in the newspaper. At the end of WW1, you wouldn’t be able to fit the names of the dead in a single newspaper. The sheer numbers are hard for us to comprehend today. WW1 was known as ‘the war to end all wars’. It has been followed by WW2, Korea, the Falklands, the two Gulf Wars, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan and conflicts in other areas where British & Commonwealth troops have been engaged. It is important to remember.

Some of us who were at the service of Remembrance in Liscard on Thursday were disappointed because at the 2 minute silence at 11:00, some people just walked on past, carrying on their conversations. At that one point in time, which is set aside for remembrance, they had forgotten. But on reflection, those people remind me of the fact that all of us, at times, take our freedom for granted. And that’s why the work of the Royal British Legion is so important, lest we forget.

This year, the British Legion has done something really different to mark Remembrance Sunday. They’ve made a single called ‘2 Minute Silence’, which is available online to download for £1 - and as well as the silent track, buyers also receive a video file showing individuals standing silent in remembrance: famous actors, sports stars, politicians and musicians as well as serving and injured soldiers. I found it quite moving. Chris Simpkins, from the British Legion, hopes that people will appreciate the significance of the absence of sound: ‘Rather than record a song’, he says, ‘we felt the UK public would recognise the poignancy of silence and its clear association with remembrance.’ Let us hope so, too.

A Facebook campaign has boosted the single into the Top 40 – and because it’s a ‘new entry’ in the charts, BBC Radio 1 is going to play this silent song during the Sunday afternoon countdown. A completely noiseless charity single in the charts for the first time. The Official Charts Company says they’re ‘not aware that any track like this has ever made an impact on the Official Singles Chart before. But even aside from that, this [is] a great achievement by the Royal British Legion - and for a great cause, of course’ – what a contemporary way of encouraging Remembrance in the public arena, especially amongst younger people. The Royal British Legion knows it’s important to remember.

We remember the many people who have fought to protect freedom and bring peace. But in our remembering, as Christians, let us not forget the one who puts the vision of freedom and peace into our hearts – he is the one who comes to bring us ultimate freedom and peace.

Our bible readings today are all about God’s promises for freedom and peace. The reading from Revelation 22 reminds us that the day will come when there will be no more pain, no more conflict, no more war. It’s a prophecy of the New Jerusalem, of Eden restored, the time to come when earth will merge with heaven in the new creation. And the first reading from Isaiah 25, written some 700 years before Jesus came to begin the merger, prophesies the same thing:

The context of the Isaiah reading is a time in Israel’s history when things are bleak – civilised society has become disordered, and Israel is badly afflicted. Verse 2 says: ‘You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin...’ We’re not told which city this is – it could be Babylon, but it seems to move beyond this to any city characterised by arrogance, injustice and the misuse of power. It’s every city devoted to greed and exploitation. This city is in ruin, and Isaiah praises the Lord for having done ‘wonderful things’, which he had planned long ago. This prophecy speaks of God’s ultimate intentions to humble those who exploit the weak.

Isaiah is inspired to speak for all the poor and needy, those who are crushed and abused by indifference and greed. In the abusive city the poor are surrounded by the merciless who care only for themselves. Isaiah speaks the word that God will intervene against that city, and even the heartless will glorify and fear the Lord because God eliminates the old way of living and being. From verse 6 both the city and the ruthless have disappeared, leaving only the generous and caring presence of the righteous Lord. The vision is of a mountain. On ‘this mountain’ is the great banquet for all peoples, in the fullness of the Kingdom of God, who offers this feast as a sign of generosity, security, and joy - but goes even further than that. Isaiah imagines that the whole earth has a ‘pall’ over it – a shroud of death – weighed down by sadness and loss. The world is gripped by the power of death that crowds in upon every chance for life. This isn’t just about the awareness that we’re all going to die. This is about the active negation of well-being; everything that limits humanity and our well-being, and prevents communion with others or with God. That’s who death is, and that’s the death that God will swallow up. The apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 15:54, ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’. This is the good news of Jesus – this is his accomplishment on the cross. And 700 years before Jesus, Isaiah envisions nothing less than a radical, complete transformation. The final act of transformation removes the shame of helplessness and exploitation; of not being able to resist the powers of death. All of that will be overcome. This is our faith – it is important to remember.

In verse 1, Isaiah says, ‘You are my God.’ By the end of the passage he’s joined by all who welcome the Lord’s kingdom: ‘This is our God.’ This is the community that hopes in confidence that the Lord will prevail. The city of abuse cannot escape the God whom Israel trusts and praises: the Lord who has power to save and to transform. Armistice is about peace, but Christians understand ‘peace’ as more than just the avoidance of war. It’s about building relationships between people, communities, and nations, founded on justice. We start here in our own parish, in our own community, building relationships of peace. And for that we need God’s help, to change each and every one of us: to give us a passion for peace and justice and to follow Jesus, who is the path to peace.

Lord God, give us the will to pledge ourselves to serve you and all others, in the cause of peace, for the relief of want and suffering, and for the praise of your name. Guide us by your Spirit, give us wisdom, give us courage, give us hope, and keep us faithful now and always. Amen.

Philippians 4:4-9; Luke 15:1-10

‘...There is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents...’, these words tell us just how much every person matters so much to Jesus our Great Shepherd – he goes to great lengths to look for those who turn to him - and it’s amazing to think that each one of us is so loved by God our Father in heaven.

When the shepherd in the parable finds his lost sheep and the woman finds her lost coin, both the shepherd and the woman do the same thing: they call their friends and neighbours together and say, ‘Rejoice with me’, because I’ve found what I have lost. And in our first reading from the letter to the Philippians St. Paul says to the church, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’

Joy can be experienced in many circumstances and in human relationships. But we live in a world where there are natural disasters, political catastrophes, economic hardships; accidents, illnesses, death and widespread wickedness, and none of us are exempt from suffering. So how in the world does the apostle Paul expect us always to be joyful? Does he want us to move through life as if we’re on some kind of spiritual ‘cloud 9’, oblivious to the awful things that sometimes go on in the world around us? No - that kind of joy is mindless naiveté and it isn’t attractive to anyone seeking a real and grounded basis for faith. So how can we rejoice when the road seems long and tiring, the skies are dark, the path is rough and when life is hard?

We can be sure a sense of well-being that ignores what’s going on around us isn’t what Paul has in mind when he tells the Philippians to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’. The letter he writes is filled with recognition of the difficult circumstances they are facing. At the beginning of the letter Paul speaks of his own situation as a prisoner facing execution. A little later he encourages the Philippians to remain strong in the face of the opposition that threatens them as well. But in spite of the realities of persecution and suffering, Paul repeatedly calls on them to rejoice in the Lord.

Among the many situations in which joy is experienced, Scripture tells us that it’s especially important in the life of God’s people to experience joy in response to all that God has done for us. There are some lovely poetic expressions of joy found in the Old Testament, especially in the psalms: Psalm 100: Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

And Psalm 96: Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

And in the New Testament, Jesus encourages his disciples to be joyful in spite of persecutions: In Luke 6, Jesus says, ‘blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven’. [Luke 6:22-23].

We know that God’s purpose is to redeem the whole world through the cross. And that is why we rejoice. We can rejoice that God the Father loves us so much, in spite of all our failures and mistakes, that he sent Jesus into the world to be our Saviour and our Lord. Jesus Christ’s coming into the world has brought great joy. In Luke’s gospel when the angel appears to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks at night, the angel says to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord”. [Luke 2:10-11].

We can rejoice in the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus: in John’s gospel after Jesus hints at his ascension to his disciples, it says, ‘Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ...Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy...’ [John 16:19-24].

We can rejoice that after Jesus ascended into heaven he sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and our guide. The Holy Spirit can bring an inner joy to believers – a joy that doesn’t have to depend upon external circumstances – when we remember and trust in God’s promises and the work of Christ on the cross.

Every day we can choose to believe in the unconditional love of a faithful God. Even in the midst of disaster, we can be joyful if we know we are loved by a God who is in control of the bigger picture, a God who will bring order out of chaos. We will still grieve; we will still shed tears, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and hope that he’ll see us through the storm; his grace and mercy will sustain us. Choosing to rejoice in the Lord means choosing to receive all that he wants to give to us. It doesn’t mean we deny the reality of our circumstances or pretend we have no pain. Choosing joy means acknowledging the truth of what is happening, accepting that this is a difficult time, even mourning and grieving; but also, at the same time, looking to Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. He has determined our eternal destiny and he knows what he’s doing, even when we don’t really understand.

Paul isn’t asking us to rejoice in our circumstances. He’s asking us to rejoice in the Lord and he says this repeatedly. Paul knows it’s good to be reminded again and again to rejoice in the Lord. Paul rejoiced in the Lord because what he desired above all things was to be in Christ, close to Christ, content in Christ and ultimately to be with Christ forever. His rejoicing is not about smiling at the tragedies of life. He rejoiced because even as he looked at the chains on his ankles and wrists, and had few to none of the comforts of life that most of us strive for, and as he heard about the persecution of the Philippians, Paul rejoiced ‘in the Lord’ because he knew that if he trusted God, God would make something good come out of his suffering, something that would glorify God, and Paul desired to glorify God far more than he desired to live in comfort.

Paul instructs the Roman Christians to rejoice in their sufferings [Romans 5: 3]. He didn’t say rejoice because of sufferings, but to rejoice IN them. And Paul isn’t alone in this instruction. The apostle James says: ‘Consider it pure joy... when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance’ [James 1:2-3]. And the apostle Peter says: ‘In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials’ [1 Peter 1:6]. So it seems that the New Testament teaches us to rejoice even through suffering, because God will bring something good out of something bad.

Finally, rejoicing ‘in the Lord’ is about priorities. What do you most desire? What is most important for you in life? What drives you to live and behave in certain ways? Whatever it is that we most desire, that is what we’re hoping will give us joy. But true joy isn’t found in the passing things of this world – it’s only found in the eternal relationship with God ‘in the Lord’. Rejoice in that.

Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice that he loves you.

Rejoice that he suffered and died for you; that he rose from the grave for you. Rejoice that he promises to return one day and that we’ll be with him in glory. The angels in heaven rejoice over everyone who turns to the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice! Amen.