“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”Philippians 3:1 ESV
Reflection: how can Paul instruct the believers in Philippi to rejoice?
One of my default goodbye greetings is “have a great day”, or something similar to that. It is my sincere hope for them, whoever I am parting ways with, that their day will be good. And this is especially true if I hear that they have had a difficult day to begin with. It is a genuine hope and wish from me. But, I am wondering, is that like telling someone that has no money for food, that you hope they will have a good meal that day, without actually giving them money to buy food? To wish someone well, without pointing to a solution, is kind of like pouring “salt in a wound”, especially if you have the ability to offer a solution. It would clearly be better to offer to help that individual that had a bad day, or money to the one who needed food.
As Paul is getting ready to wrap up this beautiful letter to the believers in Philippi, he seems to “command” them to rejoice. That seems very strange, right? Because we often think of rejoice as a feeling, an emotion. But let’s look for a second at the meaning of this, as it is not a common word used in our modern world. Webster’s dictionary defines rejoice as, “to feel joy or great delight”. In other words, a feeling. But if we look at the biblical context, using Strong’s definitions, “χαίρω chaírō, khah’-ee-ro; a primary verb; to be “cheer”ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well:—farewell, be glad, God speed, greeting, hail, joy(- fully), rejoice.” We see here that rejoice is also a salutation, on meeting or parting, almost as we say “be well”, or “take care” or “enjoy the rest of your day”. Because all of these are in a way telling those who you part ways with to do something good, as a desire for their wellbeing.
But what often such “well wishes” miss is the object for where that should come from, as we looked at in the beginning. Paul is not just saying “be well” or “enjoy the day”, but he says to “be well in the Lord!” Or “Be joyful, enjoy the day, in the Lord!” It is the object of the joy, of the well being, of the peace and strength that matters. Just as he told the Ephesians “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Ephesians 6:10 ESV So if we now re-read the focus verse, we see the salutation is not an empty “Rejoice”, but specifically
Rejoice in the Lord!
It is the object of the rejoice that matters, which is the Lord. That is the whole point, and must be the source of all of their joy. Paul picks his farewell salutation back up again in chapter 4, because he gets a bit distracted “by the dogs” as we will look at tomorrow. Let’s read ahead, because Paul gives more context and reason for why and how they, and we, should rejoice in the Lord, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 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, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9 ESV.
There is a lot here, so we will study this further when we get to it. But, in summary, we do not have to wait to “feel” joyful, or even wait for our life situation to be great, before we can rejoice. Paul rejoiced from a prison cell. Because the reason for our joy is not from our own feelings, nor our circumstances. The object of our joy, and reason to rejoice, is our Lord Yeshua, Jesus Christ, and what promises and inheritance we have in him.