Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7).
There’s something odd going on in this passage, which is part of the letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi. Do you see it? He’s giving instructions – rejoice in the Lord, let your gentleness be seen, do not be anxious, pray with thanksgiving about everything. And he ends by telling the Philippians what the result of obeying these instructions will be; the peace of God. All of that flows together and makes sense. But right in the middle we see “the Lord is near.” That’s not a command, nor is it a consequence of obeying, or of disobeying a command. Why is it here?
Paul was a excellent thinker and writer; he wouldn’t bring up something right in the middle of a list of instructions that wasn’t relevant, nor would the Holy Spirit inspire him to add something that wasn’t important. So this sentence, “the Lord is near”, right in the middle, is something to we need to pay attention to.
And, of course, it doesn’t take a Bible scholar to recognize why Paul put this sentence here. “The Lord is near” is the justification, the reason for everything he commands. It’s a very simple truth, and one that I’m sure you’ve heard many times before. But sometimes the simplest, most obvious truths are the very ones we need to dig the most deeply into. So let’s break this apart and look at it in some more detail.
The word translated “near” is engys which, according to the Blue Letter Bible, can mean near in time, near in space, or near in relationship. I think all three fit here; Christ is coming soon, he is already here, and he is so close to his people that we can truthfully be called his body. And that truth connects to everything else in this paragraph. Rejoice because the Lord is near – this is so important that Paul says it twice. Let everyone see your gentleness because the Lord is near. Do not be anxious because the Lord is near. Pray with thanksgiving about everything because the Lord is near. And God’s peace will guard you because the Lord is near.
The first thing Paul commands in this passage is to rejoice. This is the attitude with which we are to face this world; not as victims, but as victors. I don’t deny the reality I see around me, but I can still put my trust in the reality that I don’t yet see, and so I can rejoice. Jesus will come soon to establish his kingdom over this world. Rejoice! Until he does come, we are building his kingdom, retaking a world in rebellion. And he is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27). He is coming soon. He is with us and always will be. We are already his body. If I can’t rejoice over all that, I’ll never rejoice over anything.
To rejoice in the Lord is to remember that, even though I live in the world, I do not live as a citizen of the world, but as a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). We, all of us who follow Jesus, are a colony of heaven, a bridgehead of God’s kingdom, and God is using us, his children, to take back what belongs to him. “The Lord is near” is both a call to continue until the end and a declaration that the victory has already been won. Although we do not see him, the Lord is nevertheless near, and so we rejoice.
The next command, to “let your gentleness be evident to all” reminds us of something we so often forget; that God’s kingdom does not advance with violence, the way earthly kingdoms so often do. The kingdom of heaven has already been planted on earth, but people do not recognize it because God’s kingdom does not look like any human kingdom. The kingdom of God conquers by gentleness, by sacrificial service, and most of all, by love. “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). And we are his body, with authority to act as his agents on earth to carry out his agenda, and to do it using his methods. And we are not alone; the Lord is near. Because the Lord is near, I can act with gentleness. The Lord is near, so when I am wronged, which will certainly happen from time to time, I don’t have to take revenge in hopes of somehow obtaining some measure of justice. I don’t need to use the world’s methods to deal with the world; the Lord is near.
Nor is there any reason for anxiety. If the Lord is near, what is there to be anxious about? Now, I know how easy it is to say that God is in control; we tell each other that all the time. This passage, however, calls us to live out the truth of that statement. If God is good, which he is, and if all things are in his hands, which they are, then shouldn’t knowing that he is near affect the way I live my life? Obviously, I can’t make myself stop feeling anxiety simply by willing it. But I don’t have to act on what I feel; I can act instead on what I know. And I don’t have to dwell on what bad thing might happen, because even if I don’t directly control my feelings, I do have some control over what I pay attention to. Instead of paying attention to my fears, I can pay attention to the reality that the Lord is near. He already knows what’s happening, and what’s going to happen, and he already knows how he intends to use what’s going to happen for “the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Even in this dark world, then, I can live as a citizen of heaven, because the Lord is near.
Furthermore, because the Lord is near, I can pray with thanksgiving about everything. Our Father is not too far away to hear my prayers, or too remote to care; on the contrary, he is near in time, near in space, and near in relationship. I thank God, not because I know he’ll always give me what I ask for, but because I know that he hears, he cares and he loves to give good gifts (Matthew 7:11). I may not always get exactly what I, out of my own foolishness and selfishness, wish for, but I will always get exactly what I would ask for if I had perfect wisdom. What I would ask for if I were better about listening first, before jumping in with my own wish list. I pray with thanksgiving because I know that the God to whom I pray is near.
And finally, because the Lord is near, I can be certain that God’s peace will guard my heart and my mind. Nothing whatsoever can separate me from Christ’s love (Romans 8:38-39). As Jesus himself said:
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
All in all, this is a nice, encouraging reminder. But if you’ve been following Jesus for very long, you’re heard this, or something like it, many times before. Why am I bringing it up again? I bring it up because having heard something, and even being willing to affirm that it is true, is not at all the same as actually believing it. On the contrary, if I believe that the Lord is near, genuinely believe it, then that belief will radically transform the way I live my life. There’s no way it can’t.
As the Scripture says:
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds (James 2:18).
The things that are important for me to do are important precisely because Christ is near, and returning soon. Equally, the things that are not important, are that way because Jesus is near. If I actually believe that the Lord is near to me right now, that he not only sees but cares, and that he will return for his church, then I can’t help living a life that shows I believe it. Just saying it is easy. Too easy, in fact, and not especially helpful. To actually believe it is huge. It changes everything.
Living this way isn’t easy, however. Every day I’m surrounded by voices calling me to pay attention to this, or to that, or to anything except the fact that the Lord is near. Even just remembering which things are important and which are not can be a struggle. Paying attention and making deliberate choices about what I watch and what I listen to matters. I need to actually make the effort to remind myself, and perhaps even more importantly, to remind my brothers and sisters in Christ, that the Lord is near.
After all, we’re told in Hebrews:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25).
I need other believers. And you know what? They need me too. Holding on to the hope we have in Christ, living in the knowledge that the Lord is near, is not something God ever intended for me to do alone. The Lord is near, and is getting nearer. And the nearer he gets, the greater the need to encourage and remind my brothers and sisters.
So rejoice; the Lord is near!
Let Christ’s character show in your life; the Lord is near!
Don’t worry, don’t be anxious about anything; the Lord is near!
Pray about everything, and give thanks to God; the Lord is near!
And trust that God’s peace will surround and guard you; the Lord is near!