+St Paul tells the Philippians: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice!
There are times, when I read this passage that I want to yell at Paul—"hey pal, easier said than done!”
Life isn’t easy.
All of us here have had our share of losses: deaths, unemployment, divorce, fear, disappointment. Just last week bomb threats affected schools and businesses here in WNY and across the country. We seem to be living on the edge, nervous, wondering what’s next. These are uncertain times.
It’s as if outside these doors we live in a season of worry and fretting rather than in a season of gratitude and rejoicing.
But then, every Sunday we approach this altar, we lay our burdens down and we rejoice and give thanks for the wonder that is the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
You see, this is the thing about being a follower of Jesus ---even in the worst of times, we gather around this altar and offer all that we are and all that we have in a great Thanksgiving of love and community. Amidst the encroaching darkness of this world we find light, we express hope, we experience joy.
But then we walk out these doors and run smack dab into a world that has seemingly gone mad.
It was the 6th anniversary of the school massacre at Sandy Hook this past Friday. And on that day, the newly rebuilt Sandy Hook school was placed on lockdown due to the threat of a gunman on the loose within the school.
On that same day a 7 year old girl traveling with her father is detained by the border patrol and somehow no one notices that she is in dire straits and she dies of dehydration and shock. 7 years old.
Our world is full of darkness, it can be hard to find the light.
Yet Paul says, rejoice. Rejoice!
And you know what, he is absolutely right.
For without hope, without joy, without gladness, how will we ever survive what’s happening in this world? We won’t. And that’s Paul’s point.
The Christians of Philippi were frazzled, frightened and fragmented; outsiders were trying to draw believers away from God, many Christians faced persecution. Paul wanted them to know that, no matter how rotten things might seem, they would not be defeated.
Paul gives the Philippians and us the secret to finding joy and peace: Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is the dynamic, the spirit and the emotion that opens us up to joy and peace and hope. Gratitude is the one emotion where we are truly focused not on ourselves, but on the gift and the giver. When in a spirit of thanksgiving, we turn ourselves toward God and toward Life and Light and Love.
Gratitude is a matter of perspective, it’s about what we focus on, what we pay attention to in our lives. The folks I know who project gratitude regularly are the folks who make it a habit to pay attention to whatever is positive in their lives.
The grace of gratitude comes when we’re able to discipline ourselves to develop a healthy perspective, when we learn to be patient and to show our gentleness to everyone. The grace of gratitude comes when we lose the assumption that life would be better without the obstacles, troubles and deprivations that come our way. Because even in the midst of all that pain, we find gratitude. It may be simple, it may feel fleeting, but it’s there.
Corrie Ten Boom, who with her family lived through the holocaust, often told the story of how she and her sister Betsy survived in a flea-ridden Nazi prison camp. One day Betsy said “I have found something in the Bible that will help us. It says, ‘In all things give thanks’. Corrie said, “I can’t give thanks for the fleas.” Betsy replied, “Give thanks that we’re together. Most families have been split up. Give thanks that somehow the guards didn’t check our belongings and we have our Bible with us.” Corrie gave thanks for that, but she would not even think of giving thanks for the fleas. But later, they found out that the only reason they were not abused by the guards was because their captors were so repulsed by the fleas that they wouldn’t even enter the sisters’ cell. Corrie allowed as how this taught her to give thanks for all things, because within the greatest darkness lies a spark, maybe even just a sliver, of light…
Gratitude and thanksgiving are not simply about the easy and pretty places in our lives, rather they’re about accepting that all of life, even pain, sadness, grief and loss, is a precious, glorious gift, for so often what emerges from great sadness is new wisdom, greater strength, and overwhelming hope that even the fleas have something good to offer us!
My friends, the world is a chaotic, confusing and hurting place, but there is a way out of this mess. And it is about ready to arrive. A babe in a manger. The Prince of Peace who will, as John tells us in today’s Gospel ,teach us to share…to be kind… and to speak the truth. A babe in whom lies all our hope and all our joy.
How is it that we can rejoice in all things, even in the dark and painful and frustrating things? Because God so loved the world that God sent God’s only begotten Son to walk among us and to teach us that hope always defeats doubt, Light always overcomes darkness and Joy always emerges from despair.
It is Advent my friends, the hope of the world is about to be born Rejoice. Rejoice I say, Rejoice! Amen
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