[AI translation] The reason I chose today to read this Word is because, according to the old calendar, today is what is called Carnival Sunday. And carnival is a time for fun, for merrymaking, for carefree merriment. Everybody loves to be merry, every man longs for merriment, for he needs it like the sunshine... Well, then, this desire of the heart of man is not alien to the Word of God: to rejoice! In fact, the Bible speaks of the fact that God originally created man for joy that lasts forever. Of course, this joy was the joy and gladness of being with the Lord. And ever since man broke this fellowship, ever since man fell out of the joy and happiness of the paradisiacal state, he has in fact been in constant search of the joy he lost. The carnival is nothing more than a heightened and condensed form of the instinctive search for joy of sad man. It is interesting that the ancient Greeks had a special god who represented joy: Dionysus. And it is very characteristic that this god of joy was also the god of death. This must have been the result of the observation that on this earth joy always appears immediately in a veil of mourning. "Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die" is the ancient motto of joy even today. This is the tragedy of human joy. We ourselves feel that the joy of life and the sadness of death are very close. "Even in laughter the heart aches and at last joy turns to sorrow", says a wise man of much experience in the Bible. That is why a pessimistic person no longer dares to rejoice in anything for fear of being disappointed again... Is there real, genuine, pure joy in this world, a joy that is not threatened by death or sadness? Is there a joy that does not have to be feared, that will vanish, disappear like a mirage? Is there a joy in which one can live courageously? Surely there is, for this exhortation, Rejoice in the Lord always, surely refers to such rejoicing."Rejoice", says the Word of God. And it sounds so strange! As if it were a military order. Is it possible to do that on command? If they say: turn right, or left, or watch out, or rest - you can! But if it's a command: "Rejoice! No, it can't be like that!? Joy is somewhere deep inside, you can't do that, it's born in the heart. You can make people happy, you can make them laugh, and there is a whole entertainment industry in the world that almost manufactures happiness and joy - but you cannot manufacture joy. Joy is part of the deepest mood of a human being, and we cannot control it ourselves, much less can anyone else control it in us. Joy is a piece of our innermost self. That is why this call is so special: rejoice!
But what is even stranger is that it continues: "At all times". So then it is quite impossible. If it were only a question of rejoicing when things are going well, when there is nothing wrong: then such an appeal would be understandable. Like once, one of my little boys woke up in the morning, sat up in his little bed, looked around and when he saw me, he said, "Daddy, I'm so happy about something, but I don't know what!" Yes, when the young, healthy zest for life is in one's heart: then there is nothing special in such a command: be happy! But what about the woman of almost eighty, who the other day complained that she wanted to die, that she had no joy left in her life. Her husband is dead, her strength is gone, her health is gone, her possessions - she had plenty - have come to nothing. She has only one daughter left, and she treats her badly, her life is full of bitterness and humiliation. In such a situation, too, is there a saying: rejoice?! Obviously, for thus says Paul: Rejoice always!
This is precisely the point of this call, that we should and can rejoice not only when joyful things happen to us and around us, but also when we feel like weeping, when our hearts are breaking, when terrible and tragic things happen to us. It is precisely this "at all times" that shows that we are talking about something quite different from the joy of the world. The carnival, which, at least originally, lasted until Ash Wednesday, is almost a symbol of the joy of the world. There is time until Ash Wednesday, until then we can rejoice! Well, the joy that has such a limit that it can go on until then, but not after that - the joy that lasts until Wednesday, or until morning, or until an illness, or a death, or a quarrel, or fifty-five years of age: that is not real joy. This call is precisely to "rejoice" beyond these limits. In fact, "rejoice always!"
But is that possible? Is it possible? Is it not the case that the apostle Paul can say this because he does not know enough about life, about the shadow side of life? Is it perhaps written by someone who sits in a good, comfortable armchair and has everything his eyes desire? Surely not! But when Paul exhorts us to rejoice in every situation, he is in prison. In the least joyful of situations. With the shadow of a death sentence hanging over his head. From here he writes to Philippians, "Rejoice always. Not that there is trouble, brethren, great trouble, but that you rejoice always. And in Philippi, the people remembered how Paul and his companion had been scourged, how they had been thrown into prison there too, and they also remembered how Paul, even there, in the most unpromising situation, with his feet in a stocks, sitting on the ground, sang praises to God, because his heart was full - not of complaint and bitterness, but of joy! Is this normal? To rejoice in such a situation?! Is it possible? Is there such joy that nothing can harm?! Strange, but there is!
When the Lord Jesus predicted to his disciples that they would be persecuted, and abused, and told all kinds of lies, he told them to be happy, and he encouraged them word for word: "Rejoice and be glad...! And that Jesus Christ spoke the truth is evident from what we read later about Peter and John, that when they were once well beaten and commanded to preach the gospel no more, they went away rejoicing, "...that they were counted worthy to be reproached for his name's sake. And every day in the temple and in every house they did not cease to teach and preach Jesus Christ." (Acts 5:41-42) So, behold, there is indeed a joy which no fire of hell can burn up, burn away. So there is such a thing as "always"! Yes: it is possible to rejoice at all times, even in a sad situation!
But there is a secret to this, and that is the one word we have not yet spoken. This one word is: in the Lord! "Rejoice in the Lord always" - that is literally the call. Perhaps I could say: rejoice in everything that God has given you in the Lord, in Jesus Christ. In that, in every situation, in every time, find the true joy that God has given you in Jesus. What has he given? First of all, forgiveness of sins. I have already discovered: this is the first and greatest gift God has given me. Because my sins are the ones that threaten me the most, the ones that are the greatest danger to me. Not a possible illness, nor the malice of men, nor some material loss, nor even bereavement - but my sins. And therefore it is not the greatest gift of God that I should see, for example, or have my bread, or my family - of course it is all good and a great gift that I should have them; and if, for example, I should not see, but be blind, or have no bread, or lose my family: all this would be a trouble, but not the greatest trouble, not a fatal trouble. The greatest evil would be if I had to die without forgiveness and stand before the judgment seat of God! That would be the greatest calamity, the most terrible sadness, the most desperate tragedy. That is why I say that the greatest gift of God in Jesus, the Lord, is forgiveness of sins! That is why, when someone receives it, he is convinced of it: whether he is healthy or sick, whether he is rich or poor, whether he is free or a prisoner, whatever his situation or condition, he rejoices, he feels unspeakable joy in his heart! A joy so heavenly that it radiates even the most stifling of all! Indeed, he who has received forgiveness of sins in the Lord can no longer despair or despair, for there is always some secret joy in his heart.
Then we receive not only forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ, but also a good friend who comes with us everywhere. The divine Lord of our lives, who ceaselessly counsels, guides, helps, blesses, who gives us the great triumphant joy of His victory in the Paschal victory. Whoever has Jesus Christ at the centre of his life can always rejoice in something, can always find a reason to rejoice. Those whose lives revolve around Jesus Christ can understand this command to rejoice very well: Rejoice always! God is the state and the place of joy - and this is what Jesus has brought to us in tangible proximity. The joy of God and the joy of heaven touches and permeates the one who comes into contact with Jesus Christ, who belongs to Jesus Christ, who has placed his life in the Lord's hands, who is wrapped in the grace of God that Jesus Christ is - who lives in Jesus Christ the Lord! In the Lord! So he no longer lives in his own lies, in his own wickedness, or sorrow, or sad memories, or bitterness, or anger - for one can live in such things, so that all one's thoughts and actions are governed by them - but he lives, thinks and acts in the Lord! In the Lord! So then it makes sense to say, "Rejoice in the Lord always!" Indeed, it is the only way it makes sense. Without the Lord, it is utterly meaningless, foolish to ask anyone to rejoice in Him at all times. Anyone who is a stranger to the Lord does not understand this call, cannot understand it. The only way to rejoice at all times is as the apostle says: in the Lord!
Does this mean that one can no longer have natural joy? Is it then that only spiritual joy is true joy, religious joy, for example, such as the experience of forgiveness of sins or the devotion of being with God, Jesus Christ? Can't one rejoice with a full and pure heart, for example, in a bright sunny day, or a quiet path in the woods, or a happy company of friends, a happy marriage, the birth of a child, a raise, or a nice concert? Yes! Very much so! There is so much beauty on this earth, all of which is there to be enjoyed. We are not angels or ghosts, but flesh and blood human beings put on this earth by God. It is never a problem to rejoice in the beauties and gifts of this world - indeed, that is good, necessary - but it is a problem not to rejoice well. We do not meet in it and through it God, the Giver of all truly beautiful and good gifts. And then these good things in themselves, these joyful things, become a bale. Try to rejoice in a beautiful mountain landscape or music so that you see not only it, but God behind it; try to see in it, or hear in it, the visible reflection or echo of His glory: joy is redoubled in your heart! Natural joy is sanctified and deepened by joy in the Lord! But I would also like to make it most emphatically clear that any joy in which there is no room for the Lord is a joy unto death! Like that embodied in the Greek god Dionysus.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice!" Why does the apostle say it twice in a row? Obviously, because he knows how soon we forget that he who is in the Lord has every reason to rejoice in him continually. Even the old, desolate, bitter woman I just mentioned? That too, yes! But only in the Lord! If we do not forget the Lord and Saviour we have, we can rejoice in all times. Apart from the Lord, however, I do not wonder if sooner or later someone in this life should become bitter.
Huxley: In his Brave New World, he talks about a miracle cure. Well, there is such a medicine. For instance, "God knows"; or "I know that God is, God knows that I am"-that's a great pill, for instance. If a child of God is in any kind of situation, in danger, in distress: if he takes this pill, three times a day - that is, he says out loud morning, noon and night: "I know that God is, God knows that I am! - - he will inevitably experience the effect, which will be that he will no longer be able to cry, no longer be able to worry, no longer be able to despair, the bad feeling that has been in his heart will disappear, his face will be revealed and he will be warmed from within by some triumphant joy. Try it!
But it only works if you are in the Lord! Not even a miracle pill like this works anything outside the Lord! Outside of the Lord, at best, there is only such joy as, "Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die! But in the Lord, it is: eat, drink, be merry - for we live forever! Oh, how good it would be for us, and for the people around us, if we could truly rejoice at all times! Well, we can! In the Lord! You can try it! Surely it is true, for Jesus Christ said, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may remain in you, and your joy may be full." (John 15:10-11)
Amen
Date: 8 February 1959.
Lesson
Jn 15,7-11