I keep telling these things to myself. “Be grateful you don’t live in Syria. You
have a roof over your head, a car, health insurance. Heck, you can even afford to buy some things
at Whole Foods. How good is that?” I know that’s all true. But even with those blessings, I get weary. I have tough days. I get dark moods. At times, life can feel really hard. And I
remember the words of a wise Scottish pastor from well over a century ago. Ian McLaren said it well. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a
hard battle.” Everyone you meet,
McLaren said, everyone.
You don’t have to be living in Syria to be fighting a
hard battle. In the midst of normal
(whatever that is) life you can fight all sorts of things that threaten to
bring you down. No matter how wealthy,
famous, accomplished you become, those battles they never leave you. The tragic
deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain show you that.
But in the midst of life’s battles, you can find
joy. You can live in joy. You can find a way to higher ground. And in these words, written by a man full of
joy even as he fought battles after battle, God shows you the way. Let’s listen and hear what God has to
say.
How do you find joy in life’s battles? How do you find that higher ground? Here God tells you. You find joy by realizing that even as you
fight the battles, God’s love has already won the war. And when you know that, then joy comes even
in the toughest of circumstances, even in the hardest of times. That’s what God shows you here in Paul’s
letter. Because Paul doesn’t find himself
in only one battle. Paul finds himself
in the middle of three. And, he lays them out here, one after the
other.
First, Paul talks about the fact the Romans have
imprisoned him. Day and night, Paul has a
Roman guard chained to his body. He has
no respite, not even to use the restroom.
Every moment, that guard’s presence reminds him of how profoundly he has
lost his freedom. Yet
Paul talks about it as a great opportunity.
He has a captive audience to talk about Jesus, and boy is he doing just
that. His example is even inspiring the Roman
Christians to do the same.
But Paul doesn’t have only the Romans to deal with, he
has other Christians hitting him hard too.
We don’t get the exact context,
but it seems not every Christian leader had Paul’s picture in their
wallet. Some may even have had it on their
dartboards. Yet, how does Paul
react? Basically, he says,
Whatever. He concludes. As long as Jesus gets proclaimed, I’m not
going to let that stuff rent space in my head.
But then beyond those things, if that’s not enough,
Paul has to battle an enemy within. Paul
knows he could die. At any moment, the
Romans could execute him or simply throw him into the certain death of the
coliseum. And that stress is hitting him hard, so much
so, that he honestly admits. I don’t
know whether I want to live or die. That
doesn’t mean that Paul was contemplating suicide, at least as we think about
suicide. Honestly in the ancient world, people
didn’t have that category. The only suicide
they knew was say if you were dying for a cause like the philosopher Socrates. And
they might even see that sort of death as noble. And Paul
is likely thinking along those lines, how his death might inspire others. And he still had a hope that the Romans might
release him, that he might get out. But still, teetering between life and death
every day, it was hard.
Yet in the midst of those battles what does Paul
say? He says. “I will continue to
rejoice.” How can Paul rejoice in the
face of all that? He tells you. He writes.
Even, if I die, even my death will turn out for my salvation. How can he say that? Paul knows, that even if he loses a battle
here or there, even the battle for his life, God’s love has already won the war.
Do you see what God is saying? God is telling you, once you know my love,
how infinite, how unconditional, how unshakable it is, you can face the
battles, even lose some. Why? You know, my love has already won the
war. My love has already given you the
victory, even over death And, when you
know that, it brings you to a higher ground; where you find perspective. You realize.
You don’t need to sweat the small stuff.
And it’s all small stuff. The
only thing that ultimately matters, God’s love for you, you already have. And nothing can take it away. And how do you know that? You know that because God didn’t just tell
you that. In Jesus, God came and offered
up everything for you. In Jesus, God
defeated death and anything else that can separate you from God’s love. Because Paul knew that he could rejoice in a
prison, in the middle of battles within and without. And when you know that love, it too will get
you through anything. Just ask Clarence
Fountain.
You see, Clarence Fountain died this week too. He didn’t kill himself. His diabetes did that. But in his 88 years, Fountain had joy, even
when that joy didn’t make sense. When
he was 2 and got an eye infection, his caregiver thought a solution of lye
might cure it. And from that awful
moment, Clarence Fountain never saw again.
When he was 8, his parents sent him away to the Alabama school for the
blind. And there, when he was a
teenager, he and four of his blind classmates began singing gospel. And together they became known as the Five
Blind Boys of Alabama. For years, they
had success, and then, well they didn’t.
When others, like Sam Cooke, crossed over to secular music, they kept
singing gospel. And it cost them. But then thanks to the Broadway show, the
Gospel at Colonnus, they returned to fame.
But no matter how their fortunes rose or fell, Fountain always had the
joy. When he performed, he’d say. “I didn’t come here looking for Jesus. I
brought Him along with me.” And he sang he said not for fame or fortune
but to bring people to the higher ground, the higher ground that had found
him. And ten years ago, when his diabetes forced
him to retire, Fountain still lived on that higher ground. An interviewer asked
him, if he was sad about no longer singing with the group. And Fountain said, "with a voice as calm and quiet as a prayer. 'Everybody has a point in life when
your time is out. Everybody’s time is coming. But I thank Him for letting
me live as long as I have.'” And that joy, that peace that Clarence had,
you can have. Everyone can. And if you wonder what it looks like, well,
let me let Clarence Fountain tell you –
You can live on the higher ground. You can be close to heaven right here on
earth. All you need to know is
this. No matter what battles you lose,
Jesus and his love have already won the war.
His love has given you the victory, even over death. His love has put you on the higher ground,
and nothing and no one can ever take that away.
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