"Rejoice in the Lord always!"

Philippians 4:1-9
Therefore, my beloved brothers, my longing, my joy and crown, in the same way stand firm in the Lord, beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Indeed, I ask you, loyal comrade, help these women, who worked together with me and Clement in the Gospel and the rest my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is near. Do not be anxious, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your request be known to God. And the peace of God surpassing all reason will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Henceforth, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is praise worthy, if any virtue and if any praise worthy thing, consider these; that which you learned and you received and you heard and you saw in me, do these and the God of peace is with you.

"Rejoice in the Lord always!" These were probably the first words of scripture I ever memorized. Maybe even before John 3:16, because these words were part of a song that we all loved to sing in Sunday school when I was a child. Easy to sing, much harder to do.

I've been thinking about and reading scripture much more these days. Our canon is one of the few things that has not changed much in the last several centuries, so it is easy to take comfort in it in this time of turmoil for our nation, and indeed, our world. I've read lots of scripture, mostly from the Psalms, but this particular scripture is not one that is easily heeded in times such as these.

It's as if we live in a suddenly upside-down world, isn't it? The economy doesn't make sense. Politics doesn't make sense (if it ever did). Our financial future seems uncertain. In the midst of it all, it's hard to say "Rejoice in the Lord always!" when there doesn't seem much to rejoice about.

I'm constantly reminded that God's demands on my life are different from those of this world. For decades, our culture has been convinced that success would be proven in our bank accounts. There has be theological support for this, even. Some call it Prosperity Gospel. Others simply believe that if they are good, honest people that they will be rewarded in their bank accounts. Somehow, that logic seems flawed now.

So, I try to remember that God's covenant with God's people asks us to love God and love neighbor. God will be faithful to God's people. We are children of God and our hope is in the resurrection, not in material wealth.

So, in this stressful time of crisis, I think it must be possible to "Rejoice in the Lord always!" because we answer to a God who is bigger than this crisis.