"And Again I Say Rejoice!"

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow in maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with Christian love. All of God’s people here send you their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

“I have always believed that a big laugh is really a loud noise from the soul saying, “Ain’t it the truth!” Quincy Jones

Why does the Bible keep telling us to be joyful? In Philippians it says, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.” Does telling us to be joyful make us joyful? I really don’t think it does. So why does the Bible keep telling us to be joyful?

I like the comedian, Bob Newhart and he once said, “Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it, and then move on.” Yes, I think we all would admit that we need laughter and joy―especially if we are going to experience revival in our worship at Washington Cathedral. But telling us we need it doesn’t mean we are going to experience it. I think it’s like telling us the sum of the problem before we work on the math project. “Grow in maturity, encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Now we are headed towards joy whether we like it or not- - - if we can grow up in our faith. We are not so judgmental- - - we are not pulled in by people with ego-agendas to control and cause division in the church which causes its people to be disillusioned. We have a sense of perspective that can only come from spiritual maturity. And what is spiritual maturity? It’s Christ-likeness- - - and it takes a lot of prayer and personal Bible study to reach for Christ-likeness. Prayer and personal Bible study keeps us away from the polluting influence of those smooth talkers with agendas. It makes us aware of what is from the Spirit of God and what is not. It fills us with harmony and peace while we focus on encouraging each other. That is a recipe for joy! Add some cinnamon, chocolate and nutmeg- - - No, I mean add some greetings from Christians with love, some grace, some fellowship with the Holy Spirit and you have invincible joy―a joy that is contagious―a joy that we all know we need, but don’t always know how to achieve.

“At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.” Jean Houston

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White