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Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! (Philippians 3:1a)

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This sentence seems to conclude the first section of the letter, before we head on to other things.\xa0 Paul ends this long, opening discussion where he began: with joy.\xa0 The Philippians are invited to submit themselves and humble themselves as Jesus did, to trust God in life and in death, and to face the sufferings and fickleness of others.\xa0 They are invited to do all of this not with a grumble or an eye to outdoing or getting even, but with joy.

Joy, in fact, may be a key to this kind of cruciform Christian life.\xa0 Joy is the first word and the final word.\xa0 Paul prays with joy at the beginning of the letter, and he commands the Philippians to rejoice at the end.\xa0 Why, I wonder?\xa0

Some Christians carry the terrible weight of the cross in a dour, serious, even grumpy manner.\xa0 Others are full of bad news: quick to point out fault, keyed in on every possible danger or pitfall, and full of cautionary tales.\xa0 Others still slave away to the duties of faithful Christian living and make sure never to commit a pleasure.\xa0 It is not hard to find oneself sinking down beneath their righteous frown.\xa0

This, dear friends, is not the gospel\u2014a word which quite literally means\xa0Good News.\xa0 Remember how the angel spoke at Jesus\u2019 birth: \u201cI bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people\u201d (Lk. 2:10).\xa0 Great joy is what Jesus brings!\xa0 Freedom, forgiveness, and life everlasting he brings!\xa0 The power of death and sin have been defeated!\xa0 We have hope, a future, a reason to live with deep, full-bodied joy!\xa0 In Christ, nothing can now separate us from the love of God\u2014not even sin\u2014and we may take heart that \u201cthe one who is in [us] is greater than the one who is in the world\u201d (Ro 8:33-39; 1 Jn 4:4).\xa0 We have nothing to fear.

A thread of psychology has recognized six basic human emotions through a study of facial expressions that one can reliably find across different cultures throughout the world.\xa0 What I have noticed is that when I am disgusted, angry, fearful, surprised, or even sad\u2014I have a tendency to tense up, become anxious, hold on to what I have and move into defensive mode.\xa0 These are the first five of those six common emotions.\xa0 Only one of the six sets me free to live with open handed anticipation that sets my heart at ease and lowers my defenses: joy.

So how does one live the Christian life as if it\u2019s good news and not bad\u2014in such a way that others might actually be attracted to our expression of the gospel?\xa0 By practicing joy.\xa0 Paul knew this long before the psychologists of today.\xa0

We reflected a few weeks ago on C.S. Lewis\u2019 idea that emotions tend to catch up with actions.\xa0 Act like you love someone long enough, and you may just find that you do.\xa0 So it is with joy: give yourself to the practice of rejoicing long enough, and you may just find yourself becoming joyful.\xa0 It is one good, gospel-informed first step toward living in the joy of the Lord and humbly moving through this world like Jesus in a way that attracts others rather than repelling them.

Besides: we Christians have a real good reason to rejoice: Jesus!\xa0 He is the heart of our good news, gospel confession.\xa0 So, my brothers and sisters: take on this practice that Paul commands the Philippians each and every day: rejoice in the Lord!

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