Rejoice in the Lord!

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! (Philippians 3:1a)   This sentence seems to conclude the first section of the letter, before we head on to other things.  Paul ends this long, opening discussion where he began: with joy.  The Philippians are invited to submit themselves and humble themselves as Jesus did, to trust God in life and in death, and to face the sufferings and fickleness of others.  They are invited to do all of this not with a grumble or an eye to outdoing or getting even, but with joy. Joy, in fact, may be a key to this kind of cruciform Christian life.  Joy is the first word and the final word.  Paul prays with joy at the beginning of the letter, and he commands the Philippians to rejoice at the end.  Why, I wonder?  Some Christians carry the terrible weight of the cross in a dour, serious, even grumpy manner.  Others are full of bad news: quick to point out fault, keyed in on every possible danger or pitfall, and full of cautionary tales.  Others still slave away to the duties of faithful Christian living and make sure never to commit a pleasure.  It is not hard to find oneself sinking down beneath their righteous frown.  This, dear friends, is not the gospel—a word which quite literally means Good News.  Remember how the angel spoke at Jesus' birth: "I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people" (Lk. 2:10).  Great joy is what Jesus brings!  Freedom, forgiveness, and life everlasting he brings!  The power of death and sin have been defeated!  We have hope, a future, a reason to live with deep, full-bodied joy!  In Christ, nothing can now separate us from the love of God—not even sin—and we may take heart that "the one who is in [us] is greater than the one who is in the world" (Ro 8:33-39; 1 Jn 4:4).  We have nothing to fear. A thread of psychology has recognized six basic human emotions through a study of facial expressions that one can reliably find across different cultures throughout the world.  What I have noticed is that when I am disgusted, angry, fearful, surprised, or even sad—I have a tendency to tense up, become anxious, hold on to what I have and move into defensive mode.  These are the first five of those six common emotions.  Only one of the six sets me free to live with open handed anticipation that sets my heart at ease and lowers my defenses: joy. So how does one live the Christian life as if it's good news and not bad—in such a way that others might actually be attracted to our expression of the gospel?  By practicing joy.  Paul knew this long before the psychologists of today.  We reflected a few weeks ago on C.S. Lewis' idea that emotions tend to catch up with actions.  Act like you love someone long enough, and you may just find that you do.  So it is with joy: give yourself to the practice of rejoicing long enough, and you may just find yourself becoming joyful.  It is one good, gospel-informed first step toward living in the joy of the Lord and humbly moving through this world like Jesus in a way that attracts others rather than repelling them. Besides: we Christians have a real good reason to rejoice: Jesus!  He is the heart of our good news, gospel confession.  So, my brothers and sisters: take on this practice that Paul commands the Philippians each and every day: rejoice in the Lord!