The Preposition Makes All the Difference ~ Philippians 4:1-7 (Life Together Series, No. 6)

 

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! ² I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ³ Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus ~ Philippians 4:1-7

When it comes to email or texts. Tone is everything. How we receive and understand emails has everything to do with the voice that we often unconsciously supply. And all of us, I imagine, have experienced someone misreading our emails or vice versa misinterpreting someone else’s text. I imagine that you will resonate with these examples:

Example One: 

He writes: If you don’t get that to me by 1:00 pm today, we’re going to miss our deadline.

I hear:  Hey dummy, we’re going to miss the deadline and it’s your fault.

He meant: Today’s 1:00 pm deadline is particularly critical. It’s very important that I get your feedback today, so we can deliver on schedule. Thanks for your help!

Example Two:

I write: yep

He hears: I’m really busy. I don’t have time for you, and by the way, you’re not worthy of a capital Y.

I meant: Yes.

And I want to be honest this morning. This happened to me this week, when I received Paul’s email:

Paul wrote: ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

I heard: You’d better start showing more gratitude. Don’t make me say it again. For goodness sake buck up because He is coming and He knows. And stop with the whining and just pray more. If you do that – and do it well – then you’ll be okay but, if you’re still anxious, well, it’s all your fault. You just don’t have enough faith.

He meant: I really, really, love you. Live your life joyfully with the awareness that God is near. And God doesn’t want you to suffer from anxiety but be the source of your rejoicing. So you can talk to him about it. And he will listen and give you peace.

To read him rightly, in other words, I had to rightly hear Paul’s voice and better understand one little preposition – “in”. Let me unpack this.

1.    Paul says these commands “in the Lord” which means “in love” (vss. 1-3).

In our text this morning we are told to “celebrate” and “stop being anxious” and it’s easy to hear those commands in a finger wagging, irritated sort of way, particularly if we begin with vs. 4 rather than vs. 1. However, if we start earlier we get a very different tone for Paul’s remarks about prayer and anxiety. They are said with deep affection – in ways that commentators say are unprecedented in the New Testament. 

This chapter is notable for its deep expressions of personal devotion piled on top of each other by the Apostle Paul. He calls the church: “brothers (and sisters)” [pointing out that we are a divine family and hold equal status in relationship to God our father]; “beloved” [it’s a verbal adjective which highlights those at Philippi as people Paul really loves. They are the “loved ones” or, as my wife, likes to say, “the lovelies]; “longed for” [this word is another verbal adjective and is only used here highlighting its intimacy; one scholar translates it as “homesick tenderness,” which rightly acknowledges Paul’s pain of being separated from them]; “joy” [the people themselves not their performance is Paul’s joy]; and finally “crown” [which refers 
to either the garland given to a guest at a banquet or a victor’s wreath for an Olympian winner. Imagine that Paul is saying they are his gold medal or best, present ever]. And all of these words, my dear ones, are what Paul means by the phrase, “in the Lord.” A phrase which parallels the words “in Christ.”

These words will shape everything we hear next – every command, every admonishment. They set the tone. The difference between a critique that is bathed in love versus a critique said without love is the difference between open heart surgery with anesthesia and open heart surgery without it.

To encourage one another “in the Lord” means to speak with deep affection and care. If you can’t do that, then don’t say it. Always remember that Jesus was the Word of God sent in love. That should impact how we hear, act on, and speak the word of God today. We must spur each other on, for sure. But we aren’t doing it “in the Lord” if it doesn’t occur “in love.” It is after all of these endearing terms that Paul then gives the command, “Stand firm” and addresses a fight currently happening in the church. That’s why we must deal with inner turmoil and arguments very seriously but “in” love. It’s also why Paul will encourage and promote “rejoicing” and yet then say, “let your gentleness be evident to all.” Again, the word gentleness is interesting because it’s so rare. One translator offers “sweet reasonableness” as the best translation. The word had legal connotations and was the opposite of “strict justice” and meant “making allowances so that justice is not overly harsh toward others.” It means that if you are struggling, if you want to “rejoice” and yet find yourself unable, Paul’s command is not intended to be unreasonable or strict. It’s said “in the Lord,” “in love.” It’s meant to bring healing and hope. And if you wonder or want to know if you’re speaking “in the Lord,” gentleness is the evidence, Paul says.

2.    Paul with deep affection understands that “in the Lord” means location, location, location (vss. 4-6).

So “in the Lord” refers to the way we should hear Scripture and speak it to others. That we must admonish one another “in love.” But “in the Lord” also refers to the location of our rejoicing and prayer. Paul doesn’t simply say, “Rejoice” but “Rejoice IN the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! . . . the Lord is near.”

So how does “in the Lord” function in rejoicing? Here “in” indicates inclusion, location, or position within something – like the “The party is in the house.” Or, “He was wounded in the leg.”

This means that our praise is not located in our circumstances but found in God, Paul says in vs. 5, who is near. Now scholars tend to argue over whether Paul is making a position argument, “Rejoice because God is close to you.” Or a time argument, “Rejoice because God is coming soon.” However, because Paul doesn’t elaborate and intentionally seems to maintain a certain ambiguity I see no reason why it can’t be both.

So we are invited to rejoice “in the Lord” because God is as close as our breath, is with us wherever we find ourselves, whether in the highest heavens or the deepest pits, as the Psalmist says. In some ways, location might not be the best way to make the point. God is not a place because there is no place where God is not. It’s like the old joke: An older fish is swimming toward two younger fish and asks, “How’s the water, boys?” And one of the younger fish asks the other, “What’s water?” Friends, you don’t have to find God. To rejoice “in the Lord” is to recognize the water you swim in, to be aware that you are never alone.

But to rejoice “in the Lord” also means that you don’t have to fake it. We can also rejoice in the Lord because God will come soon and make everything right, which means that not everything is right in the present. You don’t have to pretend that life is hunky dory. Paul is not counseling theological make believe or suggesting that worship is some fantasy, role play. This is why Paul can say that we can present all our requests to God. It means that I can “rejoice” and also understand and acknowledge that I feel anxious, afraid, tired, sad, sick or overwhelmed. To understand that the Lord is near is to recognize that what we experience now is not all that God has or wishes for our lives. You can have hope and rejoice because it doesn’t simply mean that you’re not alone but also means that God in the end isn’t finished. 

3.    Paul lovingly believes that “in the Lord” is the source of our rejoicing and prayer (vss. 7).

So “in the Lord” means that we are being encouraged gently and lovingly. And that we can rejoice because God is both ever-present, wherever we find ourselves, and will come and make all things right in the end. But that still isn’t all that “in the Lord” means. It also means it’s not all about you or your own power. The preposition “in” doesn’t only mean location but can also indicate the medium of something [He wore boots hand-crafted in leather] or the means of something [He left “in” a hurry.]

Paul doesn’t say “Rejoice FOR the Lord always.” Or, “Celebrate ABOUT the Lord always” but “in the Lord.” So the command to “Rejoice in the Lord” and to pray can’t simply mean to try harder, at least not in the way we have often understood it. Rejoicing then means surrendering yourself to the gospel message that God loves you, saves you, fills you, works through you beyond your own power. So as we come to understand what it means to be non-anxious let’s never forget that the command is NOT simply to choose NOT to be anxious. “In the Lord” or “in Christ” is not that we are merely saved by God but that we also live and pray by God’s power. So prayer, in this context, often feels much more like surrender than actually working harder - more like floating with the river than rowing against the tide.

So I believe that “in the Lord” means being plugged into God who does for us what we can’t do for ourselves. We are willful creatures who are asked to find our power “in” him. That’s why we need prayer. We are Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered beings. I worked in a furniture factory on an assembly line drilling holes in desk one Summer during college. The drills we used were pneumatic. If you didn’t attach them to the compressed air line they wouldn’t work. That’s how they were designed. And you couldn’t make it run by simply blowing into the tube. So we rejoice, in part, by surrendering to our inability to do so in the first place.

But I also want to recognize that while there is a challenge here to offer our anxieties in prayer to God, it must also be said that this is not the only thing that one might need to do. Prayer will help your anxiety. You were made for it but, while wait for the God who loves us and is near, some of us also might need to take medicine. There’s no shame in that. The whole challenge behind Paul’s admonition to not be anxious is the loving message that God cares so much for you and doesn’t want you to be anxious. You weren’t made for that. And in the same way that the power to be nonanxious doesn’t come from us but from God so also is the reality for many of us that being anxious is not simply our fault. 

So – brothers and sisters, lovelies, longed for ones, my joy and my prize, you are loved “in the Lord.” God is near and doesn’t want you to be anxious. So you can pray because God, himself, will guard you and will soon give you peace.
I’d like to end with a prayer that encapsulates what “in the Lord” means. If you would like to take it home with you after worship you can pick one up on the tables on your way out.

Prayer of St. Patrick ~ The Prayer of St. Patrick (A Great Example of "in the Lord")