Rejoice: Philippians 4:4-5

Philippians 4:4-5 (NRSV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

We're at the homestretch of Advent.

And so rejoice.

The Lord is near.

Do you ever think about that?

About the Lord being near?

And that being a cause to rejoice?

As Advent draws toward its closing, and we have both "watched" and "prepared," it is now time to rejoice.

It's what you do when you feel in the air that good news is coming!

When change - needed change - is coming.

Rejoice in the Lord always seems perhaps sometimes hard to do. There are times, perhaps, when it feels too dark to do so.

Times when it seems like terror is winning.

Crime is succeeding.

Violence is having its way.

And yet still that is what our Lord desires from us.

Rejoicing.

And perhaps when we do, we will see the truth that is fully holding sway. 

I rejoice in you Oh Lord! Remind me always - even in fear - that you have the eternal reign over this world. Amen