In the biblical witness, we find the superlative expression of such sober confidence in Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians. Background The textual evidence suggests Paul wrote this letter to the Christian community in Philippi about the 63 AD while he awaited trial in a Roman prison on the charge of sedition.

Being a leader of an illicit sect whose credo, "Jesus is Lord" demoted Caesar, Paul, and his apostolic ministry, was confronted by Jewish and Gentle opposition. This instigates civil unrest. Such disturbing of the Pax Romana is a capital offense. The shadow of such an ignoble end vanishes in the presence of Paul's radiant joy.

Paul employs the word joy in its verb (chairo) or noun (chara) form 16 times throughout the letter, eight times referring to his own joy and eight times referring to the joy of the Philippians. In his commentary on Philippians, Gerald Hawthorn offers this definition. "For Paul joy is more than a mood or an emotion. Joy is an understanding of existence that encompasses both elation and depression that can accept with submission events that bring delight or dismay because joy allows one to see beyond any particular event to the sovereign Lord who stands above all events and ultimately has control over them." (p.21)

The source of joy

The source of Paul's joy is Jesus. It is a joy grounded in the fact that God decisively and irrevocably changed the world and the destiny of every soul in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and his promised return. Paul breaks forth in jubilation celebrating this truth in Philippians 2:5-11. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Most scholars believe this passage is a unit onto itself, a hymn, possibly composed by Paul and known to the Philippians. It reads as a choral creed "cut and pasted" into the letter. This joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). If order of place implies priority of importance, joy is second only to "the still more excellent way" of love (I Cor. 12:31). As "an understanding of existence" (Hawthorn, p. 21) joy is a confidence that permeates one's worldview. 2 Life with its pleasures, mishaps, tedium, tragedies and triumphs is "always and everywhere" interpreted in relation to the Lord.

For Paul to be joyful is to demonstrate abiding trust in God's care because the "the past belongs to his mercy, the future to his providence, the present to his love" (Augustine of Hippo). Occasions of joy Paul gives ample reasons to express joy. While his in prison, the community of Christians in Philippi sends him a care package, financial support for his needs, by way of a believer named Epaphroditus (2:25, 4:18). Paul sends him back to Philippi with his letter to thank them (2:29) for the "fragrant offering" (4:18). He updates them on his situation and exhorts them. Paul's numerous reasons for joy testify to an ability to discern God's presence in his time of trial.

He celebrates the fact that his imprisonment advances the Gospel (1:13). The men guarding him know he is under arrest for faith in Jesus Christ. Their gossip about this unusual prisoner becomes "good news" testifying to Christ. Paul's willingness to suffer emboldens other believers to speak the word of God without fear (1:14). Even if some have mixed motives Paul still rejoices because Christ is being proclaimed (1:19).

The believers in Philippi are praying for Paul. This gives him assurance. With the help of the Spirit of Christ, Paul is convinced such intercession and strengthening will lead to his deliverance from suffering (1:19). Whether this deliverance comes by way of execution (he will join Christ in eternity) or by acquittal (he will be able to visit the Philippians) Paul is unashamed (1:20-21). He affirms that either outcome honors the Lord (1:20). Paul is expansive in his joy. He is certain whether he lives or dies God speaks the final word. Four times, he mentions the day of Jesus Christ, a day of final judgment (1:6, 1:10, 2:16, 3:20).

This is the eschatological potency of joy. Paul knows the mystery--believers can lose particular battles yet God has already won the war. Years ago, a dear friend named Sarah expressed such confidence ten days before she died after struggling with emphysema for years. She removed her oxygen mask, sucked a gulp of air and boasted in a wheezy voice, "I am a believer--I spit watermelon seeds in the face of death. Now light me a damn cigarette." Our laughter not the Marlboro nearly killed her.

The fellowship of joy Paul speaks of joy as a kind of currency exchanged amongst believers. We cause, share and even complete one another's joy. Paul calls this "koinonia" which is variously translated as "communion, fellowship, partnership, participation." He wants the Philippians "to complete his joy" (2:2). He exhorts them to receive the letter-bearer Epaphroditus "with all joy" (2:29). The apostle tells them "I rejoice with you all" (1:17). This communal sense of joy seems tidal. It ebbs and flows with an intensity that is greater than the sum total of its causes. It participates in the mysterious logic of the Lord's own promise, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of you" (Mt. 18:20). No wonder Paul is adamant in his entreaty to Euodia, Syntyche, "Yokefellow," Clement and the others (4:2). He yearns for them "to be in full accord and of one mind" (2:2) and thereby manifesting complete joy in the Lord.

The desire within joy

In Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis makes the observation, "Joy is distinct not only from pleasure in general but from aesthetic pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing....All 3 joy (as distinct from mere pleasure, still more from amusement) emphasizes our pilgrim status; it always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are our wanting. (p. 72)." Lewis puts his finger on the paradox evident in Paul's joy.

It is secure in the constancy of God and yet animates an impulse to ascend to a fuller and future consummation. Paul writes "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect: but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (3:14). Gregory of Nyssa describes such joy as the interior dynamism of the God-ward life: "He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows." Joy and perception In his poem, Burnt Norton T.S. Eliot offers this curious phrase "concentration without elimination."

Is this an ailment needing the attention of a gastroenterologist? Perhaps this describes the believer's perception shaped by joy. Paul's heart was utterly fixed on the Lord and his will and yet this intense focus did not cause myopia. It broadened and sharpened his attentiveness to God's activity in the surrounding culture. Standing in the middle of the Areopagus, Paul tells the men of Athens, "I perceive that in every way you are very religious for as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar "to an unknown god."

What therefore you worship as unknown I proclaim to you" (Acts 17:22). Paul views their pagan altar as evidence of a sincere desire for God. Paul exhorts the Philippians to consider this wide-angle vision when he tells them to recognize "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"(4:8-9). He wants the Philippians to understand that joy in the Lord clarifies one's awareness of the beauty, goodness and truth God sheds abroad in his creation. The words of the hymn come to mind, "All thy works with joy surround thee earth and heaven reflect thy rays..."

One afternoon I called on a parishioner in the hospital. I walk into his room to discover he was discharged that morning. The new patient in the bed sees my clerical attire and begins a conversation. He grimaces in pain and reports his illness. After a few minutes I offer to pray with him and he gladly accepts. As I leave he asks, "Do me a favor? Open the bathroom door and turn on the light." "Why," I ask. He replies, "Because I like the color of the wall. It distracts me from the pain."

I flip on the switch. The color is a cool lime like the skin of the citrus fruit. The man glances at the wall and nods. Joy and suffering Paul's confidence in the face of suffering is perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of his joy. He tells the Philippians, "Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you should be glad and rejoice with me" (2:17). Paul's punishment could run the gamut from a brutal flogging to decapitation. Is this "gladness and joy" nervous bravado?

The experience of pain confines us to a tyrannical present. A man stubs his bare toe on a door jam and hops around on one foot shouting expletives. It would take a fire in the house or his young daughter leaning out an open window across the room for him to ignore the pain. Only a transcending imperative overrules the demand of pain. Hawthorne comments, "joy allows one to see beyond any particular event to the sovereign Lord who stands above all events and ultimately has control over them" (p.21). Joy is Paul's transcending imperative. Convinced that God's will is 4 accomplished whether he lives or dies, he tells the Philippians, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (1:23). Such joy is not a passing mood or pleasant emotion.

It is the disposition of the soul persevering through the shocks of pain, fear, and mortality with a stake firmly planted, once and done, in eternity. "This is the soul whose "life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). Even during human acts of bestial violence and satanic ferocity this joy can break forth victorious as light incomprehensible to darkness and its minions. Kathleen Norris, in her book of meditation, The Cloister Walk, cites an account of a peasant girl tortured and martyred in El Salvador by hell-bound soldiers of the civil war in the 1980's.

There was one in particular the solider talked about that evening...a girl on La Cruz whom they had raped many times during the course of the afternoon, and through it all, while the other women of El Mozote had screamed and cried...this girl sang hymns, strange evangelical songs, and she had kept right on singing, even after they had done what had to be done, and shot her in the chest. She had lain there on the La Cruz with the blood flowing from her chest, and kept on singing---a bit weaker than before, but still singing. And the soldiers, stupefied, had watched and pointed. Then they had grown tired of the game and shot her again, and she sung still and their wonder began to turn to fear---until finally they had unsheathed their machetes and hacked through her neck, and at last the singing stopped...Some declared that the girl's strange power proved that God existed. Exhortation to joy Karl Barth calls Paul's joy "a defiant nevertheless" (Hawthorne, p.21). It contains a certain amount of chutzpah.

I recall H. L. Mencken who defines chutzpah by referring to the Greek myth of Prometheus. It was hubris for him to steal fire from the gods. It would have been chutzpah for him to sell it back. One can imagine Paul's parting words to his mailman Epaphroditus, "You tell them in Philippi, by the time they read this letter I may have lost my head and to God be the glory."

In his final exhortation Paul hints how such "defiant nevertheless" is cultivated and practiced. Rejoice in the Lord; always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (4:4-7) Prayer is the key. Prayer with its supplication, thanksgiving and requests engenders joy in the praying soul. Prayer is contact and communication with God (John Paul II) who "is at hand."

In daily devotions, words spoken in secret to our Father who sees in secret, singing in the Spirit, sighs too deep for words, acts of sacrifice and trust, the believer shares everything with God. Marriage is the best analogy. Consider the fullness of just one week in the life of a husband and wife. They experience a range of moods, tensions and pleasures. Some spring from their own interaction, a disagreement over an expense, the pleasure of cooking a meal together, and the security of the marriage bed.

Others originate outside the home, challenges at work, negotiating the price of a new car, absorbing the media's report of a natural disaster. Regardless of the matter, life is shared and such mutual participation enlivens the marriage with joy. 5 So goes our prayer life with God.

The Lord "at hand" and so "in everything" with "thanksgivings" we make our "requests known." Any moment of the day however laborious or odd, painful or uplifting contains a reason for gratitude. You sense your heartbeat as you lie in bed-you are alive so thank him. The morning coffee and muffin are tasty-thank him. You belong to a family, a neighborhood, a workplace, a church-praise him. You are stuck in traffic-simply praise God for being God. Your present pain and suffering are not worth comparing to the glory that shall be revealed-confess, "I believe Lord. Help my unbelief."

The fruit of such prayer is frequently invisible or un-tasted. Regardless, we communicate with God. Some days, even for a long season, the communication seems barely a whisper. Contact seems a faint pulse. Joy thrives in the fact of the relationship. Psalm 119 speaks of such presence of God, once removed, "This is my comfort in my trouble, that your promise gives me life (Ps. 119:50)."

Here God's consolation is not in a vivid presence. It is in his promise-the footprint of the objective word spoken in the past, we ponder the utterance in the present, and anticipate a fast approaching future to subsume our desolation and gather us into the mystery of Jesus. A husband returns home after several days on the road traveling for work. He opens the front door and finds his house quiet. It seems empty.

Then he hears the sound of running water in the second floor bathroom. His wife is showering. He crosses the threshold. Will he climb the stairs and surprise her? Or sit at the kitchen table and wait for her to come down and see the flowers he places in a vase?

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen

----Fr. K. Brewster Hastings is the rector of St. Anne's Church, Abington, PA. He gave this devotional at a recent gathering of the Fellowship of Concerned Churchman at St. Mary's in Delaware