Nevertheless

Yesterday morning we closed out our series on corporate disciplines by looking at the discipline of celebration. When you read that sentence it doesn't actually make that much sense. It seems that celebrating is an uninhibited moment, a time to cut loose (insert Footloose joke here). If that's the case, that doesn't sound like something that should be categorized as a discipline. After all, disciplines are about routines and willpower and things like that. This just sounds like church people trying to suck the life out of all of the good stuff. If you think that, you're missing out.

Celebration is the linchpin of all of the other disciplines. Without joy, all of our efforts are eventually reduced to drudgery. Celebration is what gives life to all of the other parts of our lives because celebration is the outpouring of joy. Joy is not an emotion or a feeling. Rather, joy is holding on to "nevertheless." Joy is seeing today's circumstances in light of God's promises of tomorrow. To understand this is to understand why we speak of celebration and joy as disciplines. To experience joy is to willingly look past the present to what lies ahead.

That is why Heb 12:2 speaks of Jesus enduring the cross "for the joy set before him." Jesus understood what lay before him at the crucifixion. How did he go through with it? The easy answer is to say that he was being obedient. That is true that following through on God's plan was an act of obedience, but I think we all know that understanding how obedient we are being doesn't make it any easier to endure. Jesus went into the events of the Passion with his eyes open. God didn't pull a fast one on him and trick him into a death on the cross. Jesus knew full well what was coming and how bad it would be. The joy of what was to come sustained him. Knowing that we would be restored to him, redeemed from our separation is where his strength came from that day.

Paul gives us a command and then an action plan in Philippians 4:4-8.
⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
We all know parts of this passage, but Paul wrote them all together for a reason. He commands us to rejoice in verse 4 and encourages us to put away anxiety in verse 6. Don't miss out on verse 5 - when we fill our lives with joy, the character of our lives changes and it's apparent to everyone. How is all of this possible? Because "the Lord is near". This is the nevertheless. God is not distant, has not forgotten us. No matter the circumstance or situation, we can still have joy because He is near. Joy is not denial of our situation, joy is seeing clearly that God is close at hand no matter what we face. Joy is trusting that God is alive and active, redeeming every moment of our lives. That's where the peace in verse 7 comes from. How do we keep all of this together? Paul tells us in verse 8. We intentionally set our mind on the excellent and praiseworthy things around us. We don't stumble across joy - we choose it.

Let's do that in these coming weeks. Let's choose joy and let's remind each other of our choice.