CONTENTMENT (6): Paul's Rejoicing

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy… Whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice… Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all… Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me… Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord… Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Philippians 1:3-4, 1:18, 2:17-18, 3:1, 4:4

I began this series of Reflections on contentment because I needed to learn the lessons. The frustration I felt at being ill was not the illness itself but the unnecessary difficulties caused by what seemed to me doctors' poor listening skills, the assumption that I had symptoms I didn't have and working from the basis that symptoms occurring at the same time in the same part of the body were just coincidence. It was nearly six months before I saw a doctor who listened carefully and took seriously the possibility of a common cause.

One day, as I was reading Philippians, I realised that I had much to learn from St Paul who had experienced so very much worse than me through misunderstanding, injustice and weak thinking. Paul’s contentment with life was not limited to his financial situation (Philippians 4:10-13) but embraced his whole life as a political prisoner. More significant than that, his contentment wasn’t through gritted teeth, persistently reminding himself of God’s goodness when he might want to shout at the injustice of it all! Paul rejoiced!

Paul rejoiced at the preaching of the Gospel by insincere Christians wanting only to make life more difficult for him in prison and he rejoiced at being ‘poured out as a drink offering’ for his readers. And he told them to rejoice in the Lord, to rejoice always. Just, ‘Rejoice’! This wasn't the fatalistic rejoicing of a man in denial but intelligent rejoicing inspired by Paul's faith in God. As this ability to rejoice is so important to authentic contentment, I plan to spend two weekends reflecting on it.

Paul’s detention at Rome must have reminded him and his readers of when he first arrived at Philippi. He and Silas were unjustly arrested, flogged and imprisoned yet at midnight, they were ‘praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them’ (Acts 16:25). Their joy had not been daunted by their experience and their mission at Philippi continued uninterrupted even in prison. They remind me of the when the Apostles were ‘rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name [of Jesus]’ and the Hebrew Christians who had compassion on prisoners and 'joyfully accepted the plundering of your property' (see Acts 5 & Hebrews 10).

Paul and Silas also remind me of the best piece of advice I have ever heard, which I think was said by Dr R T Kendall when he was my Minister at Westminster Chapel in London. (This is how I remember it.)

When you don’t know what to do, or even what you should pray for, worship. You can’t go wrong when you worship!

Paul ended up in Rome after being arrested in Jerusalem. Escalating from what was probably a genuine misunderstanding, Paul had to be rescued by Roman soldiers from a Jewish lynch mob. Then the Jewish authorities tried to bring other charges against him and even backed an assassination plot, which caused Paul to be transferred to Caesarea. Successive Roman governors kept him in jail for years just to appease the Jewish authorities. When Paul was about to be sent back to Jerusalem for what would have been a mock trial, he appealed to Caesar and so began his journey to Rome. But Paul was able to see what Joseph many centuries before had seen in his own unjust treatment: 'You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good' (Genesis 50:20).

We’re not to rejoice in the evil of a situation but in the way that God can redeem it. It was wrong of Judas to betray Jesus, it was wrong of the Jewish leaders to arrest Him, it was wrong of Pilate to condemn Him and it was wrong of the soldiers to mock Him, but the crucifixion was pivotal in the redemption of all Creation and for 2,000 years Christians have rejoiced in it. If God can redeem something so tragic, he is well able to redeem anything that can happen to us and it is on that basis that we can rejoice!

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

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