Philipians 4:4-7. "The Lord's Nearness Brings Joy, Confidence, and Peace."

In this podcast episode, Tim breaks down the profound meaning of the phrase, “The Lord is near,” from Philippians, which encapsulates four key Christian doctrines: divine omnipresence, eschatology (the end of the world), the incarnation, and the means of grace. These doctrines reveal God's presence everywhere, the imminence of His judgment, His incarnation as Jesus to save humanity, and His ongoing presence through baptism, communion, and the Word.

The omnipresence of God assures that He is always with us, observing and sustaining all creation. Eschatology reminds us of God’s coming judgment, urging readiness while offering comfort in Jesus’ sacrifice. The incarnation demonstrates God’s nearness in Jesus Christ, who became human to redeem us. The means of grace—God’s Word and sacraments—ensure His presence in our lives, bringing forgiveness and salvation.

These truths inspire three blessings: joy, arising from God’s love and nearness; confidence, knowing God hears and answers prayers; and peace, as Jesus’ sacrifice secures forgiveness, victory over death, and a hopeful future.

In conclusion, Christians are called to rejoice, trust, and live in peace, assured of God’s unchanging love and presence.

This Sunday sermon, based on Philipians 4 verses 4-7, was preached at Grace of God Lutheran Church on December 15, 2024.  This sermon is preached by Pastor Timothy J. Walsh, a member of WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod). Scripture selections come from the New International Version.

Intro Music "On the Way" by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Outro Music "Divenire" by Ludovico Einaudi
copyright (℗) by: Ludovico Einaudi (in 2006)    

Transcript

Peace and joy to you in the name of Jesus, born in Bethlehem to be your Savior, friends. Amen.

The most important phrase in today’s epistle reading - our sermon reading - is the sentence at the end of verse five. “The Lord is near.” Everything that the apostle Paul writes in these four verses hangs on that assertion. I’ll go further. Not only these four verses, but the whole of Christian doctrine - the whole of the Christian faith - is suggested in those four words, “The Lord is near.” There are four particular doctrines of the Christian faith which that phrase should call to mind. Those are the doctrines of divine omnipresence, of the end of the world, of the incarnation, and of the means of grace.

What is a doctrine? Doctrine essentially means a teaching. A doctrine is an idea taught as something to be believed. Every religion has doctrines. Political parties have doctrines. We, personally, as individuals, have doctrines. If you have an opinion about the way toilet paper rolls ought to be placed in their holder, you have a doctrine of toilet paper roll installation. Christians speak of true and false doctrine. Not every idea which claims to be true, which claims that it ought to be believed, is true. People lie. People invent teachings to further their own goals. The only rule and standard which we have for evaluating doctrinal claims is the Bible.

Again, our phrase, “The Lord is near,” suggests four doctrines in particular. First, the doctrine of divine omnipresence. That doctrine is this teaching: God is everywhere. God is near to us at all times and in all places. He fills the universe which he created, as the apostle Paul says in Acts chapter seventeen verse twenty-eight: “In God we live and move and have our being.” This does not mean that the universe is God. The chair you are sitting in is not God. The food you ate this morning is not God. But God holds all these things together; he is the ground of all existence. He is never far from any one of us.

The second doctrine suggested by our phrase is the doctrine of the end of the world. We also call this “eschatology,” which is Greek for “the teaching of the end.” The Bible teaches that we should be prepared at any moment for God to bring this present age to an end and judge all people, living and dead. God is near in that way; his judgment is near. Even if we individually don’t see his judgment before our lives end, at death we take a shortcut to that final judgment. And death is not a particularly remote possibility for anyone, even if we forget that day to day.

Both of these doctrines - of the end, of God’s omnipresence - both are, of themselves, terrifying. God’s omnipresence means that he sees everything. Luigi Mangione was caught this past week after five days on the run, partly thanks to the ubiquity of cameras in our lives today. Cameras are everywhere, it seems. But not quite everywhere. God is everywhere. He knew where Mangione was every second of those five days.

God’s ability to arrive unexpectedly in judgment also terrifies us. When police officers found Mangione at the Altoona Pennsylvania McDonald’s and asked if he’d been to New York recently, reports are that he got very quiet and started trembling. His judgment had arrived unexpectedly, asking exactly the question he didn’t want to hear. When God comes to judge, he who knows all things can also ask exactly the questions we don’t want to hear. “What was that thing you said to your mother during your worst fight ever?” “Why haven’t you told your spouse the truth?” “Why did you break your friend’s confidence?” The God who is everywhere at all times - who is always near to us - his day of judgment is not far off either.

So we need to understand another doctrine suggested by that phrase “the Lord is near.” We need to understand the doctrine of the incarnation. “Incarnation” means “becoming flesh.” You hear the word in the carne; if you know some Spanish, it’s the word for “meat,” “flesh.” The doctrine of the incarnation is that on one day about two thousand years ago - we aren’t totally sure what the day was, but we commemorate the event on December 25 - on one particular day, God became a man, in order to live life among us. As the apostle John writes, “The Word, who was in the beginning - the Word who was with God, the Word who was God - the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” This is Jesus, the eternal Word, the Son of God who is true God from true God. In our Old Testament reading today, the prophet Zephaniah foretold the reason for Jesus’ incarnation; the work he would do by becoming man. Verse fifteen of that reading, “The LORD has taken away your punishment.” The incarnate Son of God died in our place - in my place, in your place. A truly human being, dying to keep others safe. 

But the death of Jesus was more than a simply human death. When Jesus became man, he did not stop being God. No mere man died for you. God died for you. To be blunt: Your death, or my death, would not matter very much. Not in the grand scheme of the world, not before the almighty God, who gave us our lives in the first place. But God’s own death: That mattered. That did something. Luigi Mangione killed Brian Thompson eleven days ago on a Manhattan sidewalk because he hoped that through killing this man, he might save some lives. It is unlikely that any such result will take place. Jesus died knowing - not just hoping, but knowing - that through his own death, he could save all people.

The doctrine of the incarnation, God’s nearness to us in the person of the man Jesus Christ, is a comforting nearness. God is near to us not to interrogate, not to condemn, not to destroy, but to forgive and save. 

The doctrine of the incarnation makes God’s omnipresence comforting. The God who loved you enough to die for you is with you at all times, guarding and guiding.

The doctrine of the incarnation makes eschatology comforting. Judgment on your sin took place at Jesus’ cross. When God comes to judge all people, he now has in store for you the crown of righteousness. There is a seat at God’s table, a room in your Father’s house, ready for you.

The last doctrine suggested by this phrase, “The Lord is near,” is also a comforting doctrine. It’s the doctrine of the means of grace. Again, God is omnipresent, he is everywhere. But God is specially present wherever his Word - the words of the Bible - are shared. God is present where his Word is preached or taught, and God is present in two particular rituals where Jesus commanded that God’s Word be attached to specific physical elements. We call these rituals the sacraments; baptism and communion.

In baptism, we have a visual, tactile preaching of God’s promise that Jesus has cleansed us from sin. And this visual, tactile preaching does what it proclaims. In baptism, God is near, is present, to cleanse us from sin and claim us as his own.

In communion, we have a visual tactile preaching of Jesus’ promise that he died on our behalf, in our place. And this visual, tactile preaching of that promise brings us what it proclaims. The Lord is near, the Lord is present in communion, handing over his body and blood, which he gave into death for our salvation.

Jointly, we call the preaching of the Word of God and the administration of the sacraments the means of grace. These are the means, the instruments, which God graciously uses to bring to us, as individuals, forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Because God is near - in all these ways - we have joy, confidence, and peace. Those three results, the apostle Paul outlines in our reading from Philippians. What are these blessings?

Joy, first. Joy is an emotional state. It’s a deep happiness. There’s a tendency in modern Christianity to separate joy and happiness very starkly. You’ve maybe even heard sermons saying, “Joy isn’t happiness.” That’s not correct. The distinction that should be made is in the depth and the cause of the feeling, not the category. Joy is an emotion. It is a deep happiness.

Happiness arises from circumstances. We are happy when we eat a good meal, or when we solve a problem. Joy also arises from circumstances. The circumstances which Paul tells us here bring us joy are that, one, we are loved by God, and two, the God who loves us is near; near in all the ways previously mentioned. God’s nearness brings joy to us.

Our joy, Paul says, is shown in gentleness. “Evident gentleness,” Paul says; gentleness shown in action toward others. This word gentleness means the characteristic of caring for others over myself. To show gentleness born from joy is to act with active consideration for others; patience toward others; humility before others. That attitude of gentleness results from joy because joy results from my knowledge of the blessings of my circumstances. Recognizing that my circumstances are such that I rejoice, I seek to make the circumstances of others lead to their own joy. 

The Lord’s nearness also yields confidence, Paul says. This is in verse six, where he encourages us, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Confidence is the opposite of anxiety. 

Anxiety exists because of sin. In a perfect world, a world where all things are well, we wouldn’t feel anxious, would we? The existence of anxiety reflects the brokenness of the world, and our own brokenness. This is not to say that if someone is indeed a Christian - if someone truly believes in Jesus - they will never feel anxiety. Paul’s words here were written to Christians, to believers in Christ, to God’s people. He knew that they felt, or might feel, anxiety. Paul is not saying - nor am I - that feeling anxiety makes you not a Christian. Paul is saying - so am I - that Christians have a response to anxiety. “In every situation, prayer,” Paul says in verse six. Prayer is the Christian’s response to anxiety. It is not a cure for anxiety. It is a response.

If I feel anxious about anything in my life, God says through his apostle here that I should pray about it. When I do, I should pray for two things. I should pray about what troubles me; and I should pray about my anxiety. God is near. He hears our prayers. He will act.

Knowing that - knowing that God is near to hear our anxious prayers - that’s what brings the last blessing Paul mentions as a result of God’s nearness. Verse seven, “the peace of God.” God’s nearness brings peace. 

Peace exists objectively, outside of my knowing that. There is peace, because of Jesus. Zephaniah tells us, “God has turned back your enemy.” Death, the enemy which stalks us each and every day, has been defeated at Jesus’ cross. Our enemy is vanquished. Peace has been won.

But that peace, which was won by Jesus at his cross, God gives to you as an individual. God is near with peace for your heart and your mind. Your heart, so often troubled and sick with guilt. Peace is yours. Your mind, so often caught up in worry, retracing what has been and forecasting what may be. Peace is yours. Your past is forgiven. Your future is secure. Your guilt has been taken away.

Rejoice always, friends. God loves you and will not stop loving you.

Have confidence, friends. God hears your prayers and answers them all for your good.

Be at peace, friends. “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.” 

Amen.