In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, the Apostle Paul writes: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

How can we rejoice always? Personally, I do not always feel joyful. I don’t know anyone who feels happy 100% of the time. How can we rejoice when children die of starvation or veterans sleep on the street without a home? It sounds impossible.

I don’t believe Paul is telling the church in Thessalonica to pretend to be happy even when they are not. I don’t think he’s telling them just to think positively or to deny reality. After all the church in Thessalonica was a church under persecution. They knew suffering and sorrow.

Instead, I think Paul is pointing to something deeper. It’s easy to rejoice and give thanks when you’re happy and the world seems like a fair and just place for everyone. It’s a deeper thing to rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances.

Perhaps we could make a distinction between joy as a momentary feeling and joy as a lasting posture or way of moving through the world. In other words, we may not always feel happy in the moment, but we can still be joyful people.

Think of it this way: climbing Mount Everest wouldn’t always be a pleasant experience; you might not feel happy when your fingers and face begin to freeze or when you were exhausted from climbing. But you might still go up the mountain with a joyful posture, moved forward by the promise of reaching the pinnacle of the mountain.

Likewise, for us, rejoicing always is an act of confidence in God’s love in Jesus Christ. We move through the world with a joyful posture because even in the darkest of times we cling to God’s deep love for us.

Furthermore, we know this love is stronger than any suffering, sorrow, or death we might face. When Jesus rose from the grave, God conquered sin and death. Christ suffered and died, but suffering and death did not get the last word on Jesus. Death does not get the last word on us either. Joy does. Love does. God does.

In this light, rejoicing always becomes an act of protest against all the forces that defy God’s love and joy. When we rejoice always, we say, “I am on the side of joy. I am on the side of life. I am on the side of Christ.”

One person who exemplified this posture of joy was Martin Rinkhart who wrote the familiar hymn “Now Thank We All Our God.” Rinkhart was a minister during the 30 Years War of the 1600s in Germany. He and his family lived in Eisleben, which became a city full of refugees from the conflict. Often there wasn’t enough food in the city. Furthermore the city was struck by a vicious plague. At the height of the plague, Rinkhart was doing as many as 50 funerals a day.

In these circumstances, Rinkhart wrote a hymn of thanksgiving: “Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices, who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices.”

Rinkhart’s life must not have always seemed fair or happy, but he clung tightly to God’s love and promises. He protested the death around him by praising the God of life. He lived these words: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.”

May you also find a daring confidence in God’s love for you. May your joy be a protest against all the forces that defy God. And may God teach us to rejoice always.

 

Note: This post originally appeared in the Brodhead Free Press and the Independent Register as part of their weekly “Pastor’s Corner” column.