Every Sunday, and perhaps in your daily prayers, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer – your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. What is God’s will? When Jesus was on one of his teaching rounds his family came to see him one day. A message was sent to Jesus: “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you. Jesus replied: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
In the Garden of Gethsemane we hear the famous quote by Jesus when he is struggling with the next stage of his life – being put to death – saying Father, this cup is too much to bear please take it from me. But he closes that prayer with the often quoted statement. Not my will be done but your will be done.
So what is the will of God?
Many believe that the will of God is to keep all the commandments – do all the right things – obey the law – thou shalt and thou shalt not. The law is important – even Jesus said so. I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. But we also know that the law cannot save us. As Paul says – if we could be made right with God through the law, Christ died for nothing!
So what does Paul see as the will of God? Well, interestingly enough, he says in today’s reading what the will of God is – and it might surprise many people. He says: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for THIS is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
So there were 3 things Paul highlights here:
Rejoice always.
Pray without ceasing.
Give thanks in all circumstances.
And notice that these have a permanent place in our lives – always, without ceasing, in all circumstances.
Rejoice always.
The candle we lit today – the 3rd Candle – is often known as the Joy candle or the Rejoice Candle. We often confuse joy with happiness – and that’s where we can misunderstand what Paul is talking about regarding the will of God. If Paul wanted to be “happy” he certainly chose the wrong path: In his own words from 2 Corinthians: Flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
And yet he says in Philippians 4: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice. So what is there to rejoice about? Well, St Paul says, it’s about the victory that Jesus has won for us – that at the end of all our days of suffering there is the joy of knowing we’ll be in heaven where there will be no more suffering or death.
And it’s the assurance that we have NOW of knowing that we will be in heaven that brings the joy as he goes on to say in our bible reading: May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
So we don’t live our lives wondering if we will be in heaven but assured that whenever that day is that God, our faithful God, ensures that for us. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. It’s easy to encourage others in those times but not so easy when we ourselves are the ones going through the difficulties. And that’s why Paul encourages us to pray without ceasing.
Pray without ceasing.
But let us remember that praying doesn’t mean folding our hands, bowing our heads and closing our eyes. That would be really hard to do – especially while driving. But it means always knowing that God is with us which is what he promised when the angel told Joseph that Mary’s child would be called Immanuel – God with us. And also Jesus last words before he ascended to heaven – I am with you always.
There are times when we do make that quiet time for prayer but it is so comforting to know that God is with us in those difficult times. Which is what Psalm 23 reminds us – even though I walk through the darkest valleys I will not be afraid because you are with me. And it’s only when we understand that close relationship we have with God that we are able to give thanks to him in spite of all that is happening in our lives and around us.
Give thanks always
Remember all that Paul went through? And yet he was still able to give thanks to God and in fact he says that he rejoices in this sufferings as it showed him the need for God in his life. That he couldn’t do it on his own.
Whether we believe in God or not we cannot avoid suffering. But when we know God in our lives we give thanks – not for the suffering but for knowing that our suffering will end and we will rejoice in Heaven for all eternity. And that’s why it’s God’s will that we rejoice always – why we pray without ceasing and are able to give thanks in all circumstances.
And that all began and was made possible because of Christmas where God loved the world so much that he sent his one and only Son so those who believed in him would not perish but receive eternal life.
