"Rejoice" is a great biblical word and should be a part of every church's vocabulary. That it isn't is a sign that we have not fully grasped the magnitude of Christian gospel.
The command to rejoice can be found in many places in the Bible. The Psalmist, for example, says, "Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad." (Psalm 96:11) But, why is he telling them to rejoice? Well, a line or so down he says that it is because Israel's God is coming to judge the world.
Now, we may find coupling "rejoicing" with "judgment" strange and even nonsensical. This term, after all, has for us thoroughly negative overtones. A great celestial flyswatter is reaching down from the sky to strike from the sky to strike the hapless soul who has crossed over the line.
This may be our concent of judgment, but it is a parody of the biblical concept. What the Psalmist is celebrating is not that God is coming to whack them, but that He is coming to save them.
At the moment, the pagans may be lording it over God's people, but one day -- hopefully soon -- God is coming to decide in their favor. He is coming to put all wrongs to rights. He is coming to fill the earth with His justice. In the meantime, creation is to clap its hands in celebration and anticipation.
The Psalmist words are, of course, found in the Old Testament, but what about the New Testament? Do we find this same language being used in it? Well, yes we do. Paul, for example, in Philippians 4:4, writes: "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice."
The Psalmist was rejoicing because God was coming to vindicate andd save His people, but why is Paul rejoicing? Well, because God, at long last, has done what he promised he would do in the Old Testament. God has visited and redeemed His people through sending Jesus, His one and only Son, and is now flooding the world with His judgment (justice).
This latter thing -- flooding the world with his judgment -- began when Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning. This great cataclysmic act said Jesus was indeed Israel's promised Messiah, David's greater son and world's true king. In other words, the resurrection reversed and overturned the judgment of the world.
On Good Friday, the court of the Jews, the court of the Gentiles and the court of popular opinion -- all three -- had judged Jesus as an impostor, a blasphemer and a subversive character, one worthy of death. But that human verdict was declared null and void on Easter morning. By raising Jesus from the dead, God said publicly what He said more privately at Jesus' baptism: "This really is my beloved Son."
So, the raising of Jesus from the dead is the first installment of God's judgment or justice coming on the earth, but what is its future installment? It is God saying the same thing about everyone who has been to Jesus the Messiah in faith and baptism -- everyone who is "in Christ" -- everyone who heard and responded to the call of the Gospel.
This declaration will be made publicly when Jesus comes again but is already operative in a believer's life in the present. The Spirit -- the Holy Spirit -- bears witness with our spirit that even now we are children of God. Paul tells us in Romans 8:16. And so, this present assurance of final vindication is at least one reason why Paul tells the Philippians -- and by extension, us -- to rejoice.
But there is still more. "Rejoice" is not just something you feel inside; it is something you do out there on the streets in your community. The pagans in the Greco-Roman world regularly held great celebrations (festivals, games and shows) to their gods and goddesses -- and even to Caesar. Paul's point is that Christians ought to be celebrating Jesus, the true King, with even greater vigor, enthusiasm and boldness.
All of which prompts me to ask: How might we 21st century Christians put celebration back into Christianity?
O God, the King eternal, who dividest the day from the darkness, and turnest the shadow of death into the morning; Drive far off from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep thy law, and guide our feet into the ways of peace; that having done thy will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when the night cometh, rejoice to give thee thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Rev. Victor H. Morgan is rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Blue Ridge.