Today, we take time in our Lenten journey to pause and listen to St. Paul’s words in which he calls us to “[r]ejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (v. 4). We hear this invitation, knowing what it feels like to say, “Truly, it is uplifting when I am moved to genuine delight on account of good news, which has come at the right time!” Yet, as soon as we acknowledge this, we are reminded of times when it was hard to feel like rejoicing; to take delight. In fact, for many of us, times of being downcast are remembered more readily than the times of joy and delight. Precisely, when we are so “lifted up” we long that it would last forever. But alas, many of those times of joy and delight seem to go away like the morning mist.
But St. Paul is not speaking about our moods—good or bad; he is speaking about the good news which is comes from outside of ourselves; it is a gift. Specifically, it is God’s gift to us; to the world. That unconditional gift of grace in Jesus Christ—love that is undeserved—comes to us; it is offered to us, even when we are futilely turning to alternatives for life, forgiveness, acceptance, and belonging.
Already, in the second chapter of the Letter to the Philippians, verses 6-11, we learn that the Lord Jesus gave himself for us, for the world, with such incredible self-emptying, so that in faith we might belong to him and thereby have every reason “[t]o rejoice in the Lord always,” even when we are not in the right mood. The very ‘manner of being’; the ‘way we are’—to which St. Paul calls us—is a gift to receive with thanksgiving to God when you and I find it hard to ‘feel’ like rejoicing, praying with thanksgiving, and making our petitions to God. The reason for rejoicing is the Lord Jesus Christ. The focus of our rejoicing is the Lord Jesus Christ. With the mind fixed on Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord, there is every reason to rejoice in his company; in his presence. He is there for and with us.
With all of this in mind, we pray: O, God, you know only too well that I stand at the foot of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, asking that you give me a heart filled with thanksgiving; grant that through the power of the Holy Spirit your peace, which is beyond my understanding, will keep my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. In his Name I pray. Amen.
Rev. Winston D. Persaud, PhD
Professor of Systematic Theology
Director, Center for Global Theologies
Holder of The Kent S. Knutson & United Evangelical Lutheran Church
Chair in Theology and Mission
Wartburg Theological Seminary
