“I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus,” Charlie Brown says in** *A Charlie Brown Christmas.* **“Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.” That short animated story captures something important. Christmas is supposed to be a happy season. It’s supposed to be full of excitement. It’s supposed to be full of generosity and charitableness towards others.
But what about when we don’t feel that way? What about when Christmas is coming but we don’t feel Christmassy? What about when instead we feel discouraged, downcast, or depressed? Is there something wrong with me? What should I do? Retreat from the world like a snail pulling into his shell? Force myself to put on a happy face that doesn’t at all describe how I’m feeling inside?
The Apostle Paul gives us the answer in his letter to the Philippians. He says “Rejoice always,” but what he means is not the outward joy that fills a child’s face to see the lights and presents at Christmas. That kind of joy is certainly a beautiful thing, but Paul speaks of something much deeper. He says to rejoice “in the Lord” always. So whether you are feeling Christmassy or not, whether you are bubbling over with excitement for the big day this week or thinking you’ll be glad when it’s over, rejoice in the Lord always. The Lord is near.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians was written from prison. He was in Rome under a sort of house arrest while his case was being heard. It’s hard to know what it was like for him but I have to imagine that with all of this going on it would be difficult to be in a cheerful mood. How are you supposed to feel when your life is in the hands of a Roman emperor who can do whatever he wants with you?
The tone of Paul’s letter then is quite surprising. He is encouraging. He is thankful. He is joyful. And it’s not because of some good news he’s heard about his case, though he does say that he believes that God has more work for him to do. And it’s not because he’s just that kind of unflappably cheerful guy. The key is that little phrase, “The Lord is near.”
That conviction is what filled him with joy. It’s what led him to write this letter. It’s the basis for his encouragement for the Christians in Philippi and for us, recipients of this letter so many years later. Paul is writing to us, believers in Christ, and he is telling us what it means for us that the Lord is near. And what great words these are to consider with Christmas only a few days away.
Paul says
4Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In the season of Advent we will often emphasize the “Threefold Advent of Christ.” That is, how does Jesus come to us? There are three ways. He came in the fullness of time when he was born of the virgin Mary, more than two thousand years ago. He comes to us today in Word and Sacrament. He will come again on the Last Day.
We can reflect on Paul’s words to the Philippians in that light. Rejoice in the Lord always. The Lord is near.
What does that mean in the light of his first coming? Christmas is a joyful time, but not always in the ways that people think. We might have in our heads a Thomas Kinkade painting-sort of Christmas, where everything is just perfect, with the right amount of fresh, pure-white snow, and glowing lights, and smiling children. But if that’s our expectation, if that’s what we believe that Christmas has to be, we’re setting ourselves up for deep disappointment. Christmas can sometimes be a time of great sorrow. We remember people we’ve lost and feel lonely without them, especially if it’s our first holiday apart. We miss the good old days, which maybe in our heads are a little more painterly than they actually were. The weather might not cooperate. I don’t think we’re going to have a white Christmas when it’s 70 degrees this year!
But even our beautiful nativity sets are probably not all that accurate to the real scene at Bethlehem all those years ago. You don’t have the smell of the animals. You don’t have the dirt and the cold. It does sometimes snow in the mountains of Israel, but not all that often. The shepherds that night weren’t rejoicing because of how idyllic the scenery was. They were rejoicing because of what had happened. The angels appeared with a message, “Good news of great joy which will be for all people.” And after the shepherds saw the child they couldn’t help themselves. They went and told others the message they had been told about the child. They returned to their flocks glorifying and praising God. The joy they had was the joy of faith.
That joyful celebration is what has echoed through history and continues even today. Even our mistaken expectations of Christmas joy stem from the birth of Jesus. It’s just that world has hollowed it out so that it’s no longer a joy of the heart in faith, but merely an outward shell of joy. But if we remember that the real joy of Christmas is not idyllic snowfall and all our relatives smiling around the Christmas tree but rather the simple fact that Jesus was born for you, then Christmas can be joyful, even though there may be reasons for us to weep. Didn’t the prophets weep, while also looking forward to the Messiah’s coming?
The Lord is also near to us in Word and Sacrament, and that leads us to rejoice in the Lord always. The birth of Jesus took place a long time ago, but that doesn’t mean he has been far away from us ever since. Before he ascended into heaven he promised, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” He promised that to us who hold to his teaching, he will come and make his home in our hearts.
This leads us to rejoice in the Lord always because we are never far from our God, from his forgiveness and his love. When we are struggling to find peace and joy, we can find it in the Word of Christ. When we are feeling burdened by our sins, Luther says, “Our joy in God will exceed our sorrow in sin. … Let joy have rule, let Christ be greater than our sins.” This is a busy time of year. There are so many things going on. But nothing is more important than the Gospel. Jesus took time with his disciples away from the busy crowds to meditate on God’s word and to pray. How important it is that we not let the busyness of this season get between us and our Lord who is near. Would you say, “I was too busy and forgot to open my presents. I was too distracted and never ate any Christmas dinner.”? How is it that we, who have the golden treasure of the Gospel, say, “I forgot to open my Bible. I didn’t get around to praying.” The Lord is near. He hasn’t forgotten you. Hear the Gospel. Rejoice in his love and forgiveness.
And in the third place we can rejoice in the Lord always because he is near in his coming again on the Last Day. The passage of time brings us many troubles. In our own individual lives each one of us is hurtling towards the day we die. In the world around us, what did Jesus say? “There will be terrible times in the last days.” As with Paul in prison, this would seem to be very much the opposite of a cause for joy. And yet, Jesus turns this into a reason for rejoicing. “There will be terrible times in the last days. Wars and rumors of war. Famines and plagues. The love of many will grow cold. They’ll hand you over to be persecuted. And when you see these things happening lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
And we see this very thing happening. Paul and Silas singing hymns while in prison. Martyrs smiling at death. It’s very frustrating to the godless world. But that’s not why they do it. It’s because they let those things remind them that the Lord is near, and that gives them joy. It gives us joy too. Have you ever smiled at a Christian funeral? You can. Christians can laugh and cry both at a funeral. They can cry because the wages of sin is death and Jesus also wept at the grave of Lazarus. And they can laugh, because death has lost its sting. It has no power over us. We belong to the Lord who has all power over death. And the Lord is near. He’s coming soon.
So then, in order that we may rejoice always, so that we do not lose the peace which surpasses all understanding, let us not lose sight of the fact that the Lord is near. This was the joyful message of John the Baptist. Even as he warned people of their sins, he pointed them to their Savior. “Repent” he said, “The Lord is near.” He’s near also to you. Near in the celebration of his birth. Near in his Word and Sacrament. Near in his coming again. What peace he brings! What joy! I will say it again, Rejoice!
Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson