2020: Rejoice in the Lord

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Centering Verse: Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Story Time!

What is your favorite, personal, sports moment? What memory do you have that you are particularly proud of in sports?

While you think, I'll tell you mine. It was my senior year of high school, during the basketball season. We were a pretty good team, near the top of our conference and definitely good enough to compete for the Sectional title. And I was a very good free throw shooter. In practice, we would shoot 200 free throws over the course of our 3 and a half hour practices.

Yep, you read that right, 3 and a half hour practices :-)

I shot about 98% on average during practice, meaning that I would typically make 196 of the 200 free throws each night. So, naturally, being that good of a shooter I never played in games. 

Actually, I'm not at all bitter about it. The truth was (and I knew this then too) that the players ahead of me were just all around better than me. So they played. And even though I had one great skill, I sat the bench. But late in the season, my coach approached me with an idea. Our starting point guard was a sophomore who was shooting about 50% on free throws. He needed to get better so he could make them at the end of games. Our coach proposed that I work with him on free throws. 

I did, and he got better and better in practice. Meanwhile, we won the Sectional and advanced to the Regional final against the #2 team in the state. At their court. And late in that Regional we were up 2 points with about 20-30 seconds left in the game. Sure enough, the other team fouled our sophomore point guard, and his free throw shooting was put to the test. Make them and we'd surely win. Miss and the other team would have a chance. 

He stepped up and went through the ritual I'd been teaching him. Find the nail with your shooting foot, bounce the ball three times, focus on the rim, elbow in, follow through. And he sank both free throws, clinching a Regional title for the team! After the game, as our fans rushed the court, he pointed to me amidst the joyous cheers, acknowledging our work. I had not played a minute of the game, but it felt like this belonged to me. It was my favorite personal sports moment. 

I found my greatest joy was in the team, in the accomplishments that we had worked on together.

Joy in the Lord is Relational

Our team verse starts with the phrase "rejoice in the Lord..." But notice some of the other phrases in these verses...

- The Lord is near.

- Present your requests to God.

- The peace of God... will guard your hearts...

- Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

- God will be with you.

All of these phrases are ones of togetherness, or relationship. Joy, nearness, sharing, guarding, practicing, with-ness. These are all things that we can only experience if we look outward and notice God and others. Let's take a deeper look at this.

Joy

Spiritually speaking, joy is not just when I'm happy. I mean, there's more than just that. Joy comes when I'm moving toward God’s active presence in the world. We know we are moving in this way when we sense the growth of love or faith or mercy or hope—or any qualities we know as gifts of the Holy Spirit. If I am becoming more kind with people, and I experience this movement as life-giving and Christlike, I am in a state of joy.

The key here is that joy is filled with hope, filled with growth, filled with purpose. This is why I can still experience joy in difficult situations, because I can see how it is leading me to develop perseverance or understanding, bringing me closer to some person in my life, or helping me look out and celebrate the accomplishments of others!

On the other hand, we can move away from joy. We find that happening as we move away from God’s active presence in the world. We know we are moving in this way when we sense the growth of resentment, ingratitude, selfishness, doubt, fear, and so on. If my outlook becomes increasingly gloomy and self-obsessed, I am in a state of desolation. I am resisting God and other people or, if not actively resisting, I am being led away from togetherness by other influences.

Let me put this in simpler terms. Back during my senior year of high school, not really playing in games was making me resent my teammates. I wasn't feeling grateful for making varsity and playing, I was doubting myself. That was leading me away from others. Choosing to help a teammate with his form filled me with love. I was working together again with someone for a purpose. I was investing in the team. Joy was growing in me.

Working Together

I could have done a lot of things to rekindle my growth and purpose in the team during that basketball season. I could have doubled down on my defense, reached out to others to help me with ball handling, etc. The keys to joy was not doing it alone and doing it with a purpose of togetherness.

God is always at work in the world. God is finding ways to bless us. Joy truly flourishes when we dive into that with God, and with others.

What Can You Do?

It's always nice to hear these things. But let's make it practical... what can you do today to refocus and move forward with purpose? 

What will help the team? 

What will bring others hope? 

What ways can you forgive and show mercy? 

What ways can you be grateful?

Is there something that you can help someone with in tennis? 

Can you really focus on encouragement and noticing the good in others? 

Could you commit to a good attitude when you aren't on the courts? 

Could you work hard through mini-tennis and footwork drills?

Do you need to keep a good attitude about the COVID requirements? 

Do you need to bring positive focus and leadership?

What will invest in the team, and what we can do together?

What will lead us to rejoice in the Lord, together?