The Scripture
Philippians 4:1-9
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you.
The Sermon
At the top of this blog is a meme that serves as one of the pictures that runs on the “desktop” on the screen of my computer. Does the name Gladys Kravitz ring a bell? She was a neighbor to the main characters Samantha and Darren, on the TV show “Bewitched” that aired back in mid-60s to early 70s. (Show picture of the meme.) Here’s Gladys, peering out her window, watching Darren and Samantha’s house, looking for more odd things to happen that will send her into shock, as we can see from the expression on her face. The meme doesn’t talk about “bewitching” events, though. It says, “Looking outside to see which chapter of Revelation we’re doing today.”
How many of you get up in the morning, turn on your TV, radio, internet or open the newspaper with that same attitude? I do. Just when I think I’ve heard and seen it all, something else happens in the world to boggle my mind. Often it’s political, but it can happen with the neighbors, with people in towns or cities nearby, or sadly for some, right smack in the living rooms of our own houses.
The situation can be reasonably benign. For example, due to my cat Jupiter’s age, he is getting to the point where he tends to miss the litter box. I have a system for keeping things clean after such mishaps, but often I sigh and say to myself, “There he goes again,” and I have to remind myself that though the situation is inconvenient, I can thank God for pee pads and enzyme cleaner and a cat that is healthy enough to still pester me when I’m sitting on my couch. It is NOT the apocalypse.
There are many things that happen around us that are confusing, saddening, disappointing, and concerning. Another family crisis. A recurring health issue rears its head again and things aren’t moving along the way we wanted them to. The price of fuel goes up once more. The price of food skyrockets even higher with no ceiling in sight. We hear about war, and wonder if or when there will ever be the coveted peace on earth for which we long. We see homeless standing in the streets and asking for money at the entrances and exits to Walmart and Hannaford. Threats of weather dangers and environmental disasters loom as humankind seeks to wrest control out of the hands of the God of nature into our own hands, without success, and sometimes to our detriment. Morals and values seem to be given only glancing thoughts by influential people in the world. More people are being treated unjustly, and we don’t understand why.
And as a result, it’s easy for us to become an anxious, worried, discouraged and cynical people, peering out our proverbial windows at a world that continues to spin out of control.
It’s good for us to know what’s going on in the larger world around us. Some days I’m better at reviewing the news than others. I think like many, I tend to avoid this review so that I can maintain some semblance of peace, but I can’t help but be like Gladys, peering out the slender window or the crack in my front door to see what’s going on because, well, I just have to know. And then, I find I want to slam closed the doors and curtains and retreat to my safe space. After all, what is there to do about most of it? My little voice of complaint or protest, my little worries, won’t make much of a difference anyway. Our greatest hurdle involves leaping through the feeling of powerlessness that fills us. Each of us is but a drop in the bucket in a very big world. It’s easy to either obsess over things and complain, which can often while away many hours of our lives, or to worry, and to be downright scared.
Sure, somewhere, someone may be pushing solutions, but they are not coming fast and hard enough for our liking. So complaining and worrying seem like the only things left to do.
But the apostle Paul, writing to the church in Philippi, knew that complaining and worrying wasn’t going to solve a thing. Interestingly enough, he was writing from prison. According to an internet summary, “first-century Roman prisons typically featured poor ventilation, intense cold or heat, minimal food and water rations, and a heavy reliance on outside visitors or believers to supply basic survival needs like cloaks and food.” That life was much more like the apocalypse than the lives of Paul’s followers, and far much more like the apocalypse than our own lives of comfort. It’s obvious that Paul had a lot to complain and worry about. But what did he say instead?
He told the Philippian folk to “rejoice in the Lord always.” And he repeated it, just to be sure his readers would know he meant it. “And again I will say, Rejoice. Let your goodness be known to everyone.” In other words, “be good people,” in a world where not everyone is so good. Be different. Be the kind of people you want the world to be filled with.
“The Lord is near.” Perhaps a different kind of apocalypse was expected in Paul’s day, but he wasn’t advising people to stand by their windows and doors and watch with eyes as big as saucers. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Well, that’s not something we’re inclined to hear on the morning talk shows. Prayer, supplication, thanksgiving? People would laugh and squirm and hit the “off” button on their remotes if such a thing happened these days.
What I like about Paul’s letter is that it gives every person something to DO with their minds. When looking at the world around us and the day’s version of the apocalypse, instead of dwelling on the lies, the injustice, the unpleasant, the dishonorable, the impure, the foul, the spoiled and the broken, we focus on the opposite. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” I imagine myself sitting in my office with my co-workers and we are discussing the good things about our place of employment: the kind word spoken to us by a supervisor; the customer or client who responded with gratitude at our work; the good job we did on completing that project; the satisfaction we had when we actually put into action a plan that solved a particular problem.
In our world, too, as we look around us, we can focus on the good things: the politician who offers solutions and inspires us to cheer them on as they do their work; the people who are working behind the scenes, often quietly, but perhaps even a bit subversively, to ensure that decisions made on our behalf by our leaders are ones that will help us, and also benefit the least among us; the times when people we think are least motivated work together to make a difference in the world; the kind gestures in which people give away their time, talent and treasure to those who least expect it; the smile and hug received from a neighbor; the offer for help when you’re stopped with a flat tire on the road; the neighbor who shovels your sidewalk without being asked or paid; the flowers and plants and cards, the phone calls, the happy voices on the other end of the line.
Even the things we take for granted on a day-to-day basis: paved roads instead of gravel and mud, even if there might be holes and bumps from time to time. The snowplows that are traversing roads almost before the storm even begins. The sounds of sirens reminding us that people are on duty, ready to provide rescue at a moment’s notice.
There are people in our lives – ourselves and others – who, in spite of daunting circumstances, just keep going and doing and working for the best. Energizer bunnies, we call them. We all can tap into even just a little bit of that bunny inside us that keeps us going; that leads us to keep going even when we are discouraged. I find the serenity prayer to be quite helpful. “Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
That’s me with the cat mishaps. I have been trying different things – and recently ordered an extra-large litter box that has great reviews by people who also have senior cats who find the traditional litter box a bit difficult to navigate. If that solution fails, I will say the serenity prayer.
Here’s what we can DO: we can offer prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, letting our requests be made known to God. We may think God tires of our issues and our petitions, but isn’t it amazing to think that God is not like us and is willing to listen even if we ask for the same things day after day? We know also that God gives us the wisdom to continue trying for change, or to slow down, stop, and accept things as they are. We need someone greater than ourselves to show us the way.
Now that I’ve listed solutions and things we can DO and PRAY and consider as alternatives to being Gladys Kravitz, how do you feel? How does it feel to take the time to consider the goodness that exists in this world and the way things are going right, instead of what is going wrong?
If Paul could do it in a very uncomfortable place like a prison, then so can we. If Paul can rejoice, then now’s the time for us to do the same. I’m not saying it’s easy. And I forget. And there are times when I find it hard to focus on the good.
But at least I can try. There really is a lot to be seen and known and embraced in the world that inspires us, and it’s these things that serve to make the world a better place to live in. We may not be able to solve everything with a twist of a nose, like Samantha with her witchcraft, but we can make an about face and move in a new direction, away from complaint and worry to rejoicing and focusing on the good, at the advice and wisdom of the apostle Paul. It can’t hurt to try, can it? Let’s see what we can do! Amen.
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