Bible Passage: Philippians 4:4-7
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: November 30, 2025

Bulletin – November 30, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

To begin this morning, may I say to you that there are two ways we can approach the next few weeks in our culture.  On the one hand, we can say, along with just about everyone, “Christmas is near!”  And there is a way of saying those words that “detaches” them from real meaning and significance.  The word “Christmas” used more like it’s a deadline.  “Christmas is near!  I gotta have the presents purchased, wrapped, in the mail or under the tree.  I’ve gotta have the cookies made and the decorations up.  I’ve gotta have the cards mailed, at least to the people who sent one to me!  I gotta have the food ready for Christmas Day dinner.  I’ve gotta have the guest room ready.  Ahhhh!  Christmas is near!”  The sentence triggers anxiety.

May I suggest a better way to put things?  Well, it’s not really me saying it.  It’s the apostle Paul.  He said things in a way that brings joy and peace to the heart.  Paul said to the Philippians, The Lord is Near!  And this is not the cause of anxiety; it is the cure!

That wonderful little sentence is nestled in the middle of our text.  The Lord is near. (v. 5)  And on either side of it, Paul encourages us to live out the implications of this simple truth.  The first implication Paul states at the beginning of our text:  Rejoice in the Lord always!  I will say it again:  Rejoice! (v. 4)   We must take notice of that little prepositional phrase in the sentence:  “in the Lord.”  If Paul had simply said, “Rejoice always,” he may as well have told us to sprout wings and fly to the moon.  To enjoin people to “rejoice always” is, quite simply, cruel.  Who can “rejoice always” in this dystopian world where everything is broken?

This is where our little prepositional phrase comes in!  Joy is to be found “in the Lord!”  The great “joy-robber” in this world is sin.  Name me something that steals joy from living and I will show you the result and the effect of sin in this world.  But the defeat of sin is found “in the Lord.”  By his death and rising he has defeated sin and guaranteed the dawning of a new age when all things will be made new.  We begin to taste the powers of this coming age even now. He comes near to us in Word and Sacrament to bring us relief and joy instead of a guilty conscience.  He is near to us with his presence every day to work all things for our good, as he promised!  It is the “nearness” of Jesus that enables us to rejoice always!

Paul continues to apply the nearness of the Lord.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. (v. 5)   The word for “gentleness” is a fascinating word.  There really is not a single English word that conveys its meaning.  One of the best translations of the word I have run across is “royal forbearance.”  What is “royal forbearance”?  It is the restraint a king might show.  There is an example of this from the life of King David.  When he was fleeing from his son, Absalom, who wanted to kill him, a man named Shimei stood by the road as David passed by and yelled at him and cursed him and picked up handfuls of dirt and threw them at David.  David could have given the order and Shimei would no longer have been upright and taking nourishment.  But he didn’t.  He said to his men, “Let him be.”  That was royal forbearance.  One dictionary defines the word as “sweet reasonableness that knows when to relax the strict legal requirements concerning others.”

Of course the greatest example of such “sweet reasonableness” in the Bible is not seen in David, but in David’s greatest descendant, Jesus.   Think of how often Christ, the King, could have “thrown the book” at his disciples!  Think of how often he dealt with them with “royal forbearance.”  With “sweet reasonableness.”

Such gentleness will be on display by the sons and daughters of the King.  We must not “press our every advantage” in life.  We need not exercise our every right to do this or that in every circumstance.  We can “yield” to others.  The Lord is near.  He who watches over Israel neither slumbers not sleeps.  You are not the head executive who must enforce the laws and pronounce sentence on everyone.  There is a “sweet reasonableness” about your conduct.

Paul continues, Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (v. 6)  Notice what Paul does here.  He sets up prayer as the opposite of worry, because prayer is an act of trust.  Think about it.  Worry and anxiety arise when we think we have to “do” or “fix” or “endure” or “perform” or “control.”  And we don’t know how to “do” or “fix” or “endure” or “perform” or “control.”  But prayer is taking all of the worry and anxiety and giving it to God.  “Here, God, you “do.” You “fix.”  You “perform.”  You “control.”  Thank you for helping me!”  When we do this, we are never imposing on God or tempting God.  We are simply taking him at his Word and invitation.  He has said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, and you will honor me. (Psalm 50:15)  And, Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)  The Lord is near!  Talk to him!

And finally, the nearness of the Lord results in this.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (v. 7)  The peace

that God gives will stand like a guard at his post outside your heart and mind.  The peace of forgiveness, the peace that comes in knowing the Lord is always nearby, the peace that all is and always will be alright – that peace will deny access to troubling and disquieting thoughts and feelings.  “Halt, who goes there?  This heart is filled with the peace and joy of Jesus!  If you have come to disrupt that, be gone!”

May the next weeks be for you not a time of stress and worry!  But a time of joy and peace and quietness.  You will only find all of it in the Lord.  You will find it as you remember the Lord is near…YOU!

Amen.