Honest Emotions Part 2

Honest Emotions Part 2

PAUL’S PERSPECTIVE

The first chapter of Philippians gives a glimpse into the context from which Paul admonished his readers to rejoice. To begin with, he was in prison. What made that especially distressing was that something terrible was happening outside his locked cell. Hucksters were on the circuits, preaching Christ with impure motives and taking up offering to fill their own pockets.

It was unthinkable to Paul that people would use the Gospel of Christ to elevate themselves and build personal empires. Besides, it was unfair. Evil men were so free to preach, while Paul, who loved the Lord sincerely, was locked in a prison cell.

Certainly Paul had little reason to rejoice. And he didn’t rejoice – at least not about being in prison or about evil men “using” the message of Christ. But read what he wrote in Philippians 1:18, “But what does it matter?, the important things is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice”. What did he rejoice in? that Christ was being preached.

He didn’t gloss over the issue of hucksters. He didn’t try to convince the readers of his letter that everything was peachy in Philippi. He said, “There’s something rotten going on here. And it distresses me deeply”. On the other hand, he didn’t dwell on the damage of the hucksters and drown himself and others in seas of despair. He didn’t say, “The church in Philippi is doomed. We might as well close up shop and go home”.

Paul acknowledged the hucksters, openly lamented their threat, then placed the whole tragedy in the context of God’s overall activity in the world. That freed him to rejoice in the one little part of the whole fiasco that was indeed praiseworthy; that even if it was done for wrong motives, at least Christ was being preached. In that, Paul, could genuinely rejoice.

Philippians 2:14-18 provides another illustrations of Paul’s style of rejoicing. In this passage Paul challenges his readers to “become blameless and pure, Children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation”. Why did he want them to do this? So that “I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing”. Paul wanted them to remain steadfast in their faith so he could rejoice in two things: first, that his efforts to establish and nurture that little group believers had led to genuinely transformed lives. And second, that someday he would receive a reward from the Lord for his faithful service.

He continued with these words: “Even of I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice”. In the midst of beatings, imprisonment, and impending death there was something Paul could sincerely rejoice in.

Paul’s didn’t deny the reality of the situation. he openly acknowledged that he was sitting on death row, “being poured out like a drink offering”. But he didn’t drown in self-pity because of that. He found something in that ugly situations worth rejoicing about: that loves had been changed and someday he would be rewarded for his part in that process. That’s what he choose to focus on.

Paul gives a final, simple challenge to his Philippians readers to “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say again: Rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). In other words, “Do what I did. Whatever situations you’re in, find something praiseworthy. Don’t deny the problems. Don’t ignore the hurt. But find some little part of the situations that’s praiseworthy, and in that you can “rejoice in the Lord always”.

A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE

Benjamin Weir, a Presbyterian minister, wrote about his struggle to maintain sanity and emotional equilibrium during his sixteen months as a hostage in Beirut:

“As first days of June passed, I began to realize there were two different ways to regard the passage of time. One was to regret each day as freedom lost, twenty-four hours of my life spent without profit. This was true. I did yearn to be active. I also longed to be close to Carol and in touch with my family. However, to concentrate on this kind of regret would only be frustrating and depressing.

Perhaps practical faith and hope and the will of survive required a different point of view. So I choose to add up the days with a sense of achievement, insofar as possible. At day’s end I would say to myself, Well, you made it through another day. Now, you must have strength for the next one.

As the light dimmed, I would sing to myself, “Now the day is over. Night is drawing nigh. Shadows of the evening steal across the sky”. And I would thank God for providing me with resources and stamina beyond my expectation.

In the morning, I would thank God for another day of living, refreshing sleep, sound body, and assurance of his sustaining presence. After my first exercise period, I would do my Bible “reading”, recalling passages that came to memory. I reviewed various psalms and fragments of them. I would choose each day a figure from the Old Testament – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Gideon, Samuel, Saul – and tell myself his story of faith.

I tried to reconstruct the account of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection. I detailed the travels of Paul, adding with mental pictures those places in the story that I had visited. I was astounded at Paul’s persistence in the face of obstacles and dangers. I returned  again and again to Romans 8:28, “In everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose”. This assurance was the foundation for my grip on sanity and hope”.

Benjamin Weir discovered the formula of Paul used. Lament loss. Grieve over death and separation. Get angry about tyranny and inequity. Be saddened by the disappointments of life. But put those heartbreaks into the overall context of the ongoing activity of God in the world, your life, and in eternity. Then focus on the praiseworthy portion of the situation so you can rejoice authentically.

PERPLEXED BUT NOT DESPAIRING

Paul applied this principle repeatedly. He wrote to the Corinthian church, “We are hard pressed on every side, but nor t crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Cor 4:8-10).

Paul again acknowledged the dreadful reality of living in a sin stained, evil – tarnished world. He said we’re hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. But true to form, he looked beyond the pain to something he could rejoice in. there may be pain, he said, but it will neither crush us nor throw us into despair, we’ll be neither abandoned nor destroyed.

Why? Because “we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence” (2 Cor 4:14). In the fiercest storms and the darkest nights, when there’s not one iota of temporal comfort to cling to, Paul rejoices in the eternal reality of Heaven. The day is coming when the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is going to raise him to life eternal!

WHAT ABOUT US?

That’s a nice little Bible study. But what do Paul’s words mean to us today?, what do we do if we’re neck-deep in marital troubles, or child-rearing frustrations, or financial, physical, or vocational difficulties? What do we do if we’re carrying around unfinished business that bogs us down in an emotional quagmire? How do we get from here to authentic rejoicing?

First, refuse to deny the pain, the frustration, or heartache. Denying our difficulties or pretending they don’t debilitate us in various ways is deceitful. Thoughtlessly chanting “Praise the Lord anyway” is not being real. So let’s go beyond that. Let’s drop the hypocrisy and be honest with ourselves.

Sure, it’s hard to give up our Norman Rockwell picture of life, but that’s not reality. Reality is that our parents were imperfect and behaved in ways that brought us pain. Reality is that miscarriages cause grief. Reality is that wayward teenagers can rip a parent’s heart out. Reality is that losing a job can create devastation. Reality is that there is heartache in this world, and sometimes you and I are caught in the middle of it.

When that’s true, we need to acknowledge our gut-level responses. We need to admit to ourselves that we’re afraid, lonely, disappointed, or angry.

The second step is to honestly tell God how we feel. He can handle our authentic cries of pain and disappointment. He can even help us work through them.

That was a hard thing for me to grasp, because my religious background placed tremendous emphasis on God transcendence. I heard over and over again that God was sovereign and holy. That’s true, but it was overemphasized that it led to deterministic theology. It said, in effect, “God decreed it, so don’t ask questions, just be quiet and go along with the program”.