Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Philippians 4:4 KJV
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” and then he adds, “again I say rejoice.” Whenever the Bible repeats something it is because God knows that it is easy for us to forget. Notice that Paul is not just telling us to, ” Don’t worry. Be happy.” That is impossible! Some days, terrible, things happen. There are times in our lives when it seems that evil has gotten the upper hand. Paul certainly knew this, because he was writing these words from his prison cell in Rome. What he is telling us is that no matter what is going on around us, in Christ, we can find a joy greater than our problems and pains. Paul was able to face unimaginable hardships, because he had learned to remind himself of this again and again. Just as it was for Paul, the same is true for us: the joy of praise is the oxygen of our Christian faith. With every step we take, no matter how difficult the way, we must remember to breathe in God’s grace and then breathe out His praise! I hope you are blessed with this song from Evan Craft, Redimi2 & Danny Gokey, which is the official English version from “Todo va a estar bien”. This praise song reminds me of the way we worshiped in our Brazilian church and reflects the heart of worship in a very special way.
Fact - 60 - 70% of long term are residents will not receive a single visitor in an entire year.
Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” Mark 6:36 The disciples had rowed across Galilee with Jesus, with the promise of some well deserved time off and rest. But when they arrived at the dock they were met by throngs of people and Jesus, ever compassionate, had taken turned their holiday into another long teaching session. By late afternoon the disciples were tired, they were hungry and it was late. What could be more reasonable than to send the crowds away? But Jesus didn’t buy into their thinking. Instead He told them. “You give them something to eat.” When it comes to visiting or serving in nursing homes, we probably feel overwhelmed just like the disciples. I know, because I feel like that almost every week. But Jesus isn’t asking us to figure it all out before we do something. He simply asks us to step out.
Now this idea of Jesus’ surprised the disciples and brought about a flurry of them trying to explain the facts to the Master (Ever tried that?} ” Look Jesus, it’s not just late, but we only enough money to buy enough food for everyone to get one bite. Where in the world are we supposed to find food for them out here?” Their words sound both reasonable, as well as strangely familiar, because most of us have tried to skate such logic by Jesus. “We’re broke, we’re too busy, we’re exhausted ourselves.”, and these are all real issues. But instead of going along with this way of thinking, Jesus began to outline His own plan, with a question. “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” the answer came back; “Five loaves and two fish.” (vs 38). Maybe you feel you don’t have much when it comes to serving residents in long term care. But Jesus only asks us to put our loaves and fish into HIs hands. We will be surprised how a little surrendered to Him can do amazing things!
Then Jesus moved to step two – Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.– (vs 39) Once we have given what we have to Him our next step is not, “Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work!” Instead, just like the Good Shepherd of Psalm twenty-three Jesus commands us to sit down in green pastures. He’s got this! We aren’t called to fix every problem. He just wants us to trust Him! At this point the disciples had two options: they could have thrown up their hands and walked away saying, “This will never work!” or they could obey. They chose option two and once Jesus had all they had in His hands, and they sat down to rest, He began to work. – And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. – (vs 41).
When we do things Jesus’ way, He will put back into our hands some very ordinary looking things, but they will now be empowered to do more than we ever dreamed. What is it that is in your hands today? Can you make a phone call? Can you send a card? Will you be able to visit? Will you pray? With 1.4 million people in long term care, that means that more than one million of them will not have a visitor for Mother’s or Father’s Day, their birthdays will be forgotten, and soon the last chapter of their lives will be closed. Why not bring them whatever it is that Jesus has put in our hands?
In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV
The Apostle Paul, who wrote these words to the Thessalonians, was an expert on giving thanks in everything. When Paul and Silas had first arrived there, they were still healing from the beating they had received in Phillipi, not to mention spending the entire night hey had spent in the jail. In Thessalonica things were going a bit better for the first three weeks, but then some people began stirring up trouble there also and they ended up leaving town just ahead of an unruly mob. I imagine that when the church gathered to listen to Paul’s letter read publicly, many of these new Christians nodded their heads in agreement. “Oh yeah! We definitely know what Paul means by “giving thanks in everything.” They had witnessed Paul thanking God while still in some terrible situations. Paul thanked God when he arrived in Thessalonica and was gladly received, and he thanked God when he had to head on to the next town because of persecution. So, this morning I ask myself, “Am I being thankful while still in this situation, or am I waiting for everything to work out first”?
The beauty and the adventure of this Christian walk is not only about the victorious outcome, but in the rejoicing, praying and giving thanks to God, while all we can see is suffering, unanswered questions and problems we cannot solve. On this earth we will not see every issue resolved, every injustice made right, or every wound healed. Instead, on this side of Heaven there are tears, doubts and frustrations, but God gives us the choice of complaining about everything or giving thanks in the middle of the mess. The verse urges us to do this because it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. It is His will in Christ Jesus, who gave thanks for the bread on the night He was betrayed, and later prayed for His enemies to be forgiven, while He was on the Cross. God’s will in Christ Jesus is the same for us, right here, right now, in the middle of everything, we are to give Him thanks!
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