“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Philippians 4:4
Have you ever scrolled through your social media feed and seen nothing but tragedy? After experiencing this, do you feel overwhelmed with the sadness and anxiety of those you know? No longer is it merely those you have personal contact with on a regular basis. Now, because of social media, it also includes people you knew from your childhood, your high school from decades ago, and friends of friends who became your “friend” because they once sold Pampered Chef and you like food. (Maybe that last one is just me.)
And as this happens even more frequently amid recent circumstances, we are quickly realizing something—Philippians 4:4 might just be the hardest verse to live out.
The question then becomes: how does one obey this verse by maintaining joy during times like these? The short answer is to just ask the shepherds, the wise men, Mary, Simeon, and the rest of those within the events of that first Christmas who experienced some sort of loss and sacrifice, but all left with a deep-seated joy.
Shortly after my family and I moved to Alabama the struggle laid out in the opening described me. Through social media we had heard of a young boy in our community who had recently been diagnosed with cancer leading to the removal of one of his eyes. This boy’s family then sought to raise money for the treatments, the care, and the long hospital stays, and my emotions propelled me to help this family out as best I could. Having never met this boy or his family (and still haven’t to this day), his picture and story alone touched my heart to the point of action.
It was during these days of helping this family that our social media feeds seemed to fill up with more stories, more children, more cancer, and more needs—the majority from people we had never met. And each story seemed to be equal or more dire than the last. I began to feel overwhelmed knowing that I could not help them all nor give to them financially nor handle emotionally following each of their stories day-by-day. I couldn’t do these things because my resources, as well as my capacity to handle such things, were both limited. I was also quickly realizing that my joy was fleeting.
Keep in mind this was pre-last election, pre-social justice riots, and, apparently, pre-inventing of the word “doomscrolling.”[1] This was also pre-790,000 COVID deaths in our country.[2] And pre-5 million COVID deaths in our world.[3]
Imagine how many people, maybe even you, are struggling to find and retain joy during this holiday season right now. Struggling to cope much less rejoice.
During that first Christmas the circumstances seemed much less than ideal for the birth of God’s Son…at least in our minds. Everyone given the opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus on one hand was asked to sacrifice something on the other.
The shepherds sacrificed their nightly routine at work in order to rouse the flock and visit the Christ. Doesn’t seem like much of a loss until you consider the extreme lengths some will go through to make sure sickness is shortened or outright done away with to keep their work schedule going. A daily routine seems that important.
The wise men sacrificed riches. Mary sacrificed reputation. Simeon sacrificed time to visit the Temple daily. And yet nearly every character left their sacrifice and loss rejoicing like this—
“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”
Luke 2:20
The only one within this story who had an opportunity to see the Savior but left with something less than joy was King Herod. Why is he the only one who left unable to rejoice? Let’s remind ourselves once more of the exact words of Philippians 4:4—
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Herod was trying desperately to defend his position as “King of the Jews.” In doing so he thought he was retaining joy, but it was actually in sacrifice of it. Herod left without joy not because he didn’t have a chance to see Jesus as the others, and not because he didn’t desire joy itself. But because he sought his joy through circumstance, not “in the Lord.”
In contrast, the shepherds left rejoicing even though they were still poor shepherds. The wise men left on their long journey home with gladness but fewer riches. Mary’s reputation was still marred in the minds of many and yet she was still the proud mother of a Son. Simeon’s joy was so great after seeing Jesus that His exact words were, “now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” (Luke 2:29) He was speaking of a satisfaction so great that he was prepared to die.
So how do people like you and I find that same deep-seated joy that permeated the hearts of those that first Christmas? By grounding our joy in the reality of Christ even within the loss, fear, and sacrifice that is sure to come either by choice or by circumstance.
The Christmas gift of Bethlehem was not comfort for anyone including Jesus who found Himself wrapped in “swaddling clothes” while being poked by a manger’s straw. The gift was the promise wrapped within the Baby Himself—the promise of eternal hope, eternal peace, and eternal joy. A promise that Paul, the same writer of Philippians 4:4, would also say nothing could separate us from (i.e., Romans 8:37-39).
Ron was honest in his post that many times we don’t feel like rejoicing and it is upon Christ to cause us to “feel” that joy again. Yet, although the circumstances may wrap our joy in tears, the gift of the manger will always remain in the hearts of those who believe. That is why every Christmas, no matter the circumstance, we can still proclaim and boldly sing— “Joy to the World! THE LORD IS COME!”[4]
Merry & Joyful Christmas everyone!
[1] “The Science Behind Doomscrolling,” https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/science-doomscrolling/story?id=74402415
[4] This song was originally written by Isaac Watts to describe the future Second Coming of Christ. Yet, as we sing it every Christmas, the lines quoted here remain applicable to His first coming as well.
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