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12th October 2024
SaturdayReflection
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'Holly Hearon shares'
'is T.J. and Virginia Liggett Professor of
Christian Traditions'
Commentary on Philippians 4:4-7
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"Joy" and "peace" are themes we encounter throughout the season of advent: on cards, holiday decorations, and in music streaming forth from malls and churches.
Yet experience shows us that "joy" and "peace" are often elusive, especially at this time of year.
Loneliness, family tensions, inflated expectations, unexpected crises, grief, and national events make them seem just beyond our grasp, except perhaps in the tinsel of holiday films.
The allusiveness* of "joy" and "peace" invite us to pause and reflect on what it is we are seeking when we speak of "joy" and "peace."
Is it an emotional high? A state of perpetual happiness? An absence of conflict?
Or do "joy" and "peace" represent hopes that have become little more than a seasonal habit?
Philippians 4:4-7 offers a helpful framework for exploring "joy" and "peace" in relation to the life of faith.
In verse 4, Paul urges the Philippians to "rejoice in the Lord always."
The inclusion of "always" suggests "regardless of circumstances"
The critical phrase, however, is "in the Lord."
There are many things that can be a cause of rejoicing: good news; an unexpected reprieve; achievement of a hard-won goal.
To "rejoice in the Lord always" points to a "joy" that is not only enduring, but that sustains us even when we are worn down by life challenges.
This requires something more than seasonal cheerfulness.
Critical, here, is relationship: our relationship with God through Jesus, but also our relationship in community.
For Paul, "rejoicing" is cultivated through mutual support:
"I am glad and rejoice with all of you - and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me".
And,
"I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me"
This does not necessarily mean that everyone always agrees or gets along.
Rather, it reminds us that each of us has a role to play in creating the supportive relationships that are the foundation of "joy" and a cause for "rejoicing."
In 4:5, Paul continues the theme of relationship with the command, "let your gentleness be known to everyone."
In English, "gentleness" is often associated with being "meek and mild."
In Greek, 'epieikes', is associated with tolerance, "not insisting on every right of letter of law or custom."
To embody 'epieikes' means to recognize that we have a choice in how we behave towards others.
It is not just about being nice or kind; it is about the exercise of power.
We are sometimes tempted to insist on exercising every right of law or custom because of fear or anxiety.
Paul counters these fears and anxieties with the command, "do not worry about anything,"
"but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
Paul is not saying that there is nothing to worry about or that the things we worry about are unimportant.
Rather he places our anxieties, fears, and concerns in the context of our relationship to God.
We are invited to make ourselves known to God, and to ourselves, at our points of greatest vulnerability.
Further, we are told to do so with thanksgiving.
Paul concludes in 4:7 with the promise of peace.
The peace that Paul speaks of is a gift because it is produced by God.
Yet it is not a gift to be received passively; to be set on a shelf and admired.
Nor is it an act of divine intervention that suddenly makes all things right (at least, from our perspective).
It is a peace that pushes the limits of our imaginations, challenging us to constantly reconsider what it is that makes for peace, for whom, and how.
Because God's imagination is larger than ours.
It is also a peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
To guard is to protect.
There is no shortage of evidence that our hearts and minds, two powerful forces that drive our imaginations and shape our attitudes and behaviours, need protecting - not only from the influence of outside forces, but sometimes from ourselves.
God's peace protects us by drawing us deeper into relationship with Jesus, the source also of our joy.
(*Allusiveness the quality of containing things that make you think of another particular thing, person, or idea)
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This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
'The Working Preacher team'
has enlisted more than 500 hundred friends -- biblical scholars, theologians, homileticians and pastors dedicated to the craft of biblical preaching --
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Holly Hearon
is T.J. and Virginia Liggett Professor of Christian Traditions and New Testament Emerita at Christian Theological Seminary.
Recent publications include "Communication in Context: Jesus Movements and the Construction of Meaning in the Media World of the First Century," in Bridges in New Testament Interpretation
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