AGAIN I WILL SAY, REJOICE!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.

[PHILIPPIANS 4:4-6 NRSVUE]

I’ve been spending a lot of time at funerals lately.

Over the past two weeks I’ve attended two funerals and been to calling hours for a third. I was also asked to preach at a fourth, but I politely declined.

In all the aforementioned cases, the deceased were around my age or older. With one exception, their lives were what could be considered happy and fulfilled.

I’m sure we’ve all had these stretches where deaths seem to come at a fast and furious pace. When I was younger, these periods served to force me to come to grips with my own mortality. Now, they are an even more powerful reminder that we are closer to the end than we care to imagine.

These past two weeks and this series of deaths have inundated me with memories of the final months of my mother’s earthly journey.

I recall her reaction when she would learn of the deaths of any of her friends. In every case, she would become very distressed, as if the hounds were nipping at her heels. I was not the most sympathetic ear for her fears. My reaction was one of dismissiveness, usually replying to her concerns with a flippant, rather insensitive remark. I recall those moments with a sense of embarrassment.

As my mother was nearing the end of her life, our conversations took a more determined tone. We spoke candidly, if not altogether clearly, about her wishes. To say she was defiant is an understatement. She surpassed the expectations of the medical team at the palliative care unit by a good four months. Yet as resistant as she was to concede to death, with each day she became more acutely aware that it was not a fight she would win.

When it became evident that her final days were approaching, one of my sisters and I made arrangements with a funeral home, much to the consternation of our other two sisters. Obviously, my vocational experience was an asset, and the process went smoothly. That is not to say that it wasn’t tearful, but emotions – at least in my case – took a back seat to planning and having a funeral that celebrated the dignity of her life.

Despite the sadness, we rejoiced!

The focus verses above from Paul’s letter to the Philippians remind us that when we rejoice always, our moments of deepest anguish are also moments of rejoicing. The apostle wrote this letter from prison to a people who were being persecuted.

He could have chosen to be bitter, focusing on the negative, all that was wrong with his life, or the problems with his congregation, or on all he had lost. But instead, Paul chose to focus on the positive, on all that was right, on all he still had.

Each time I read this passage, I get the feeling that he was writing this letter as much to himself as to the Philippians.

This is one of what I call my anchor verses; those passages I turn to when things appear to be getting challenging or frustrating in my own life. There’s another one similar to this in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]

This spirit of rejoicing seems to be Paul’s beginning and ending point of all his appeals to congregations. Likewise, I have endeavored to make it one of the pedestals of my life and my ministry.

It is human tendency to worry, to get ourselves stressed out, and frustrated to the point of quitting.  And none of that is going to solve anything.  I would encourage you to make these words a daily practice of your life as well.

We may feel worn out by the needs of the world crying out from every corner of the globe: poverty, war, famine, genocide, disaster, homelessness, greed, and injustice; the political division of our nation.

The practice of rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving helps us to develop an attitude of grace. Practicing a life of prayer “without ceasing” changes inconceivably the way we experience and interact with others.

And for those of us who are closer to the end of life than the beginning, those words, “the Lord is near” fill us with hopefulness for the future, not just for this life, but also for the life to come.

So, rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.