설교문을 글로 포스팅 하기 위해서는 완전한 재창작의 과정을 거쳐야 한다고 배웠습니다. 말에 기반한 설교가 글로 나타나기 위해서는 부적합한 표현이나 내용이 있을 수 있기 때문입니다. 그러나 그렇게 정제된 설교문을 내어놓지 못하고, 그냥 이번 주에 했던 설교 전문을 올리게 되어 죄송합니다. 나중에라도 시간이 허락한다면, 좀더 정제된 글이 되도록 수정 작업을 해보도록 하겠습니다. 설교학 수업에 사용하면서 대대적인 수정 작업이 있었습니다. 내용을 제대로 기억하지 못해서 성적은 그다지 잘 나오지 못했습니다만, 시간을 참 많이 들였네요. 여전히 읽기를 위한 설교문은 아닙니다. 다음에 시간이 될 때, 번역은 읽기 위주로 해보겠습니다.
Stop! And Rejoice!(Philippians 4:4-7)
Introduction
Listen to this story of my good old friend, Jack.
Recently, this guy has gone through a very difficult time. He got kicked out of his job. His savings account was getting nearly empty. He was starting to miss his monthly bill payments. Rent became a big issue. That’s not all. His mother wasn’t doing well. She was about to undergo a surgery. Lots of things were going on. You know, everything was messed up.
By the way, he goes to church every Sunday. So one day at church, needing some guidance, he opened up the Bible, and read. Philippians 4:4. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Oh well, it’s the Word of God. I mean, it’s a good word. But what’s so happy about it? Why should he rejoice? He’s got problems! He is not in that mood. In fact he thinks this is terrible advice! If a friend told him that, he would just punch him in the face. “Hey, I’m having a hard time, and you want me to rejoice? Are you happy because I’m in trouble? I have suffering after suffering. What is there to be so happy about it?”
Does the Bible really mean it? Does God really want us to rejoice in our sufferings? I mean, do we have to rejoice in this hardship?
Rejoice, and be Gentle!
The answer is yes! We should rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS! The Bible had to emphasize this twice. “Rejoice, again, rejoice!” Why? because this is hard to listen. We have bunch of things to worry rather than rejoice. Think about your everyday lives. Students have quiz after quiz: test after test, and then finals. How about the married couples? Rent after rent, bills after bills, and you have all different kinds of issues. Can you imagine a life without worrying? It is easier for us to worry, rather than rejoice. And It was same for the Philippians too. They were under a threat of persecution. So The Bible had to say, “Rejoice, don’t you hear me?, Rejoice!”
Moreover, in v.5, God commands us to show our gentleness to all. Gentleness? Yeah, gentleness. Gentleness is against the worry and anxiety. They can’t go together. If you are anxious, you can’t be truly gentle.
One day, when I was in school, I’ve got a phone call from my wife. My wife is a gentle woman. But this time she wasn’t gentle at all. She was screaming, I could hear from the behind my daughter crying. Something was wrong. So I asked her what happened. She said, my daughter – she was about 10 months then – locked herself in a room. I told her to call 911, What else could I do? I was more than 200 miles far from there. My wife was very anxious. And she wasn’t gentle at all. And she slamed the phone off.
I was so worried. But she didn’t answer the phone. All I could do was just to pray and wait. Several minutes later she called me. Somehow she became very strong to break the door with her shoulder. Then she saved the baby. And you know what? She became gentle back again. When she was anxious, she couldn’t be gentle. Anxiety cannot go with gentleness together. In oder to be gentle, you gotta avoid the anxiety.
I know. It’s not easy. But we should rejoice, and be gentle, even in our sufferings. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. It was probably in the notorious Roman emperor Nero’s reign. So he didn’t know when he was gonna be killed. I mean, even Paul who wrote this letter had things to worry in sufferings. Maybe his cases were even harder than ours. But God is telling us, through his letter, that we should rejoice!
So, let me clarify this again. God tells us in our suffering. “Rejoice, and rejoice again.” And, yes, he means it. He had to command us twice because it’s hard for us not to worry, especially when we are in sufferings. And also God wants us to be gentle.
But why? Why does God command us to rejoice rather than worry in our sufferings? What should I say to my good old friend Jack? I mean, what is the reason for the command, “Rejoice, and rejoice”? What makes us just calm down and rejoice? The answer to this question is in v.5.
Our Lord is Near!
“Our Lord is near!” We should rejoice because our Lord is near! Jesus is near. I mean, he is coming back. Isn’t this a great hope for us? At the end of the days, our Lord will come back. He will take away all the burdens and sufferings. There will not be sadness or worries any more. This will be the ultimate solution for the worries and anxiety.
But that’s not all. The expression, “Our Lord is near” also means that he is near with us right now. I mean, You are not alone! God is with us in our sufferings. He shares the agony and worries of our lives.
Last week, I met Juleigh at church. I knew that her two sons had their first football match. So I asked her how was it. And she answered that Justin did well, but Jordan had a bad day. And when she said that, she looked very disappointed at the loss. It seemed that she perfectly empathized with her son. I mean, Jordan is the one who would be disappointed losing his first match. But I could see the same kind of disappointment from his mother too.
Probably she will keep doing this. When her sons go to high school and prepare for their SAT, she will be there doing the same thing. When these two little guys become grownups and find someone they love or lose their love, when they do a good job or when they experience any kind of failure, she will be there sharing the joy and the happiness, the sufferings and worries. And you know what? This is what God is doing for us. This is what it means God to be with us.
Right, we have our Lord who is with us in our worries and sufferings. He is our comfort. He is our hope and encouragement. He makes us to be gentle. And he commands us to rejoice! So rejoice! Even if you are in trouble, rejoice!
Now, the question arises, HOW? How can we do that? How can we rejoice in this world of worries? How do we make a happy smile in our trouble? Can anything help us to rejoice even in our suffering? Here’s what the Bible says, in v.6.
Do not be anxious, but pray!
“Do not be anxious about anything.” Anxiety doesn’t really help with anything. Can we change our situation by worrying about it? No. Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” And we know the answer. Anxiety cannot solve any problems.
There is an elderly mother. And her son sells umbrellas. Let’s call him Dumb. You know, we need umbrellas only on rainy days, right? So on a sunny day, he doesn’t make money. And this mom keeps worrying about the weather every single day. “What if it’s not raining tomorrow?” “Oh, it should be raining tomorrow for my son.” “OMG, it’s sunny today, what am I gonna do?” Can she change anything by worrying? No. Sunny day comes no matter if she worries or not. Sufferings come regardless of our anxiety. Anxiety is not the solution.
So, do not be anxious. Remind yourself that our sufferings will end when our Lord comes back. Remember that the Holy Spirit is with you in your suffering, sharing all the pains and worries. Avoid the anxiety and be gentle. And listen to what the Bible says in v.6, in the second half.
“In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Pray! Prayer, petition, and thanksgiving are the ways we can communicate with God. We should do this communication in everything. We should tell him about our financial situation. We should bring up a relationship issue. We must pray about the problems coming from our heart: sadness, discouragement, and anxiety. And you know what? God is more than welcome to listen to our prayer. Then why don’t we pray in thanksgiving? God is listening to us!
So, God’s command is simple. Rejoice! How? By praying you will be able to. You can bring up everything in your life through prayer. So, rejoice in prayer!
“However, pastor, sometimes nothing happens even when we pray. If the prayer cannot solve the problem why should we pray? If the prayer doesn’t change our situation, why is this better than anxiety? How does this work? What happens when we pray? What’s the result of prayer? What benefits can we expect from it?” And here’s what the Bible assures us in v.7.
The Peace of God will guard you!
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”So, when we pray, the peace of God guards our heart and mind. Of course prayer can solve the problems according to the will of God. Prayer can change our situations and circumstances. But you know what? Changing the situations and circumstances doesn’t take away our anxiety. I mean, getting money from God by prayer doesn’t take away your worries about financial difficulty. Just getting ‘yes’ answer to what we pray is not the ultimate solution, because we are still gonna worry about something else.
The poor mother of Dumb the umbrella seller, has another son. Let’s call this guy Dumber. And he sells salt. So on the sunny day, the first one Dumb will not make money, because no one needs the umbrella. But on the rainy day, the second one Dumber will lose everything because the salt will melt on water. Can you imagine what this poor mom would do?
Her life is just full of sadness. “OMG, it’s sunny today, what am I gonna do with Dumb? Nobody’s buying an umbrella!” “Oh poor Dumber. It’s raining today.” “OMG, it’s sunny. OMG, it’s rainy. OMG, it’s sunny again. What am I gonna do?”
Yeah, I’m making a joke. But maybe it’s what we do in our lives, too. If we solve one problem, there is another problem waiting for us. If we worry about all these problems, we will never get out of the anxiety. And this is where prayer can really help us. The Bible says, when we pray, the peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds.
The “guard” language here, it’s a military term. Do you know sentries in the Army? What they do is keep the safety of the camp. They watch the area for enemy or any potential danger. While they are in their duty, they don’t sleep. They must be attentive to everything: every little sound, every little movement. So the other soldiers can sleep safely. And when we pray, God is guarding our hearts and minds like a sentry, very attentively, very safely. From what? Anxiety.
And this peace transcends all our understandings. We may not understand at all. But the peace of God, instead of anxiety, can totally capture us, because of our prayer. In our understanding, in our eye-view, we may be still in the same situations. But the absolutely perfect God’s plan for us is way beyond our understanding. And the peace of God, as the answer of our prayer, will help us to be gentle, even though we cannot fully understand.
Our life may never be free from the tribulations. But, our heart that God is guarding can be free from worries. Apostle Paul and the people of the first church were killed in their persecutions, but they lived anxiety-free lives. They lived in joy even in the prison, and they died in peace even on the burning stake. This is what the peace of God can do. This is what our prayer can make of.
So, stop worrying, but pray for peace. It will lead you to the joy that transcends all of your understanding.
Are you complex in your mind like my good old friend Jack? Are you like the mommy of Dumb and Dumber? Do worries and anxiety capture your heart from time to time? Prayer can help you!
Conclusion
Right, our lives might still be full of sufferings. So we tend to worry again and again: However, stop worrying, but rejoice in prayer! Our God commands us to pray, so that we may be in peace. This peace makes us gentle. This peace makes us rejoice in the Lord. Are you having a headache in your anxiety? Stop worrying, but rejoice in prayer. Pray in thanksgiving. The peace of God will lead you to the gentleness and joy. Stop worrying, but rejoice in prayer!
September 27, 2009 The Grace(Hanmin) Korean Presbyterian Church in NY EM service.
October 26, 2009 GCTS in PR602 class. Major change has been done.