Rejoice!

Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


12 χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· οὕτως γὰρ ἐδίωξαν τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν.

How to blog in the Sermon on the Mount?  Unlike some folks, I think that this passage applies to us today rather than simply to Old Covenant Israel.  This passage comes right at the end of what is known as the Beatitudes where Jesus says "Blessed is..."  He kind of turns the world upside-down by saying that it is a blessing to be poor in spirit, humble, etc.  Here He talks about rejoicing when you are persecuted for His name's sake.

Note that Jesus does not give a suggestion.  He uses the imperatives with χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε.  He could have used a future which has a wear imperatival sense, but He didn't.  He used the imperative here.  What does that mean?

First, it means that we are to rejoice and be glad when we are persecuted.  This seems rather paradoxical.  Persecution is no fun, yet we are commanded to rejoice.  Even those who say that we should preach the gospel of Jesus rather than the misogynist Paul have to acknowledge this.  These are words that are quoted from the Lord Himself.  We can't take this lightly.

Second, it means that we are to have a future perspective.  The word translated "for" here is ὅτι, which gives the sense of "because" or "for this reason," though translating it "for" here makes for smoother reading.  In other words, when we ask ourselves "Why should we ever rejoice and be glad in persecution?" the answer is, "Because your reward is great in heaven."  Then He mentions the prophets.  When you read through the stories of the prophets you realize that they had pretty rough gigs here on earth.

But those of us who have a hope of eternity with God can indeed rejoice and be glad when persecuted.  We realize that everything on this earth is but a moment compared to eternity.

What kind of perspective do you have on all of this?  Do you know of any other way to make sense of this seemingly paradoxical command?

Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

4 Χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε· πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαίρετε.

What to choose from Philippians 4?  There are a lot of great passages, but this is the one that speaks most clearly to my heart right now because I needed to be reminded of this.  When are we to rejoice?  πάντοτε.  There is no getting around this word with exegetical gymnastics.  We are to rejoice always.  At all times.  No matter what is going on, we are to rejoice.

That does not mean that we rejoice in our circumstances.  I did not have a particularly good weekend for a few reasons.  I was not about to rejoice in the circumstances.  However, Paul does give me a legitimate direction for rejoicing.  I am not to rejoice in my circumstances, but ἐν κυρίῳ.  And just in case we missed it, Paul tells us again.

This is both convicting and uplifting.  It is convicting because I see how poorly I do this.  I get caught up in the moment, start to feel sorry for myself, and just generally spiral downhill.  It is uplifting because we would not be given a command that we could not obey by the power of the Spirit.  Why is it possible?  The Lord is always worthy of our rejoicing.  When He becomes our focus then the crush of the world becomes less important.

Where are you putting your focus?  Are you wallowing in your circumstances or are you focusing on the risen Savior?  Will you join me in repenting from looking at the world?

I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:17-19

(17) Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,

(18) yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

(19) GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

This is the very end of Habakkuk and we see that he has learned a valuable lesson. He has done a 180 from his previous lament. He wondered earlier why God ran the universe the way He does. Now he realizes that God deserves praise no matter what is happening.

I'll be honest about suffering. I've never really suffered a whole lot. My senior year in high school was pretty miserable because I didn't get along very well with my stepmother. It was no fun when my parents divorced and I was in 7th grade. We had a molar pregnancy in between Lily and Noah. None of these things were good to go through.

The only one that I endured as a Christian was the molar pregnancy. Looking back, I think it was much harder on Amanda than it was on me. I think it was hard on me only in that I didn't want to see Amanda suffer so much. At any rate, it was nothing like a cancer diagnosis or losing one of our children to disease or accident.

My point is that my experience does not carry much weight, but it seems to me from the clear reading of Scripture that we are to rejoice at all times. There will be times when the fig tree does not blossom. The Christian life is not all happy-clappy joy joy. Trials will happen. I may not have suffered through the worst that this fallen world can throw at me, but I stand on the authority of God's Word that the proper response is still rejoicing.

Of course, that is impossible apart from knowing Christ. Unless we are in Christ God is just a capricious monster who pulls the wings off of flies. But if we do know Him, we can trust that God is a loving Father who knows what is best even when we don't.

Praise!

Psalms 146:1-2
(1) Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
(2) I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

It looks to me like the commitment here is not to make praise a conditional thing. The promise is not to praise the Lord while things are good. Rather, it looks like a commitment to praise the Lord in all times. I am reminded of Paul's imperative for us:

Philippians 4:4
(4) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

This isn't a matter of personal preference like choosing chocolate or vanilla ice cream. This is an imperative. But how do we do this?

I really recommend John Piper's Book When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy. It is full of practical spiritual disciplines that will help in this fight.

Incidentally, the verb translated "praise" in the Psalm is "halal." That is where we get "hallelujah" from.

Lead Me Lord

Psalms 43:3-4 ESV
(3) Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
(4) Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.


This little passage seems to contain a key for me. One thing I have hungered for lately is more joy in the Lord. I have prayed along with David that I want a return of the joy of my salvation. I wonder sometimes if I am just chasing an ecstatic experience. Maybe I should try a Pentecostal church?

At any rate, I think that there is a deep peace and joy that Scripture promises us. God provides it for us through His Word. We get to go to Him through Christ. What more could there be in life?

This is something I need to remember more and more. It's easy to forget and become dissatisfied. If I am in Christ (and I think I am) then what more could there be?

Incidentally, note Psalm 42:11 and Psalm 43:5. I think a good argument can be made that these should be read together.