Philippians 4:4-5 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean that you like the way your world is going. You may be stuck in a job you don’t like. You may be unhappy with your family. You may be one of those people who don’t like the direction the country is heading. Many American Christians have felt under fire from our current culture’s proponents. More and more of our core moral beliefs are rejected by the society around us. Maybe that has you feeling embattled, too.

When we feel under stress or attack, our patience wears thin. The anger comes out. We aren’t ourselves. We are like the people in those Snicker’s commercials: you know, the ones who are hungry and are griping and snapping at the people around them. “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry,” the announcer tells us. We become whiney and pushy. We get aggressive.

The problem is, at those moments we become all too much ourselves. We let the purely natural, purely human “me” come out, and it’s no fun for us or anyone around us. In fact, it’s a joy-killer. And unlike the TV commercials, a few bites from a Snickers isn’t going to fix it.

“Gentleness,” treating everyone around us with dignity, being careful with them as though our relationship could be fragile and easily broken, often isn’t valued. We don’t want to be pushed around. We don’t want others to take advantage of us. Gentleness often doesn’t get me the immediate results I want.

It wasn’t really valued in the ancient world, either. The Greeks generally saw it as a sign of weakness. But Jesus maintained his gentleness through the criticisms of his ministry, and the injustice of his trials, and the cruelty of his crucifixion. His enemies were the ones shouting and tearing their clothes. They carried on like children throwing a tantrum. They never seem very happy in the story, even though they seem to be “winning.” But the author of Hebrews can say of Jesus, “Who, for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Gentleness and joy go together. Crabbiness and aggression call for repentance.

No matter what’s happening to us now, the future gives us every reason for joy. “The Lord is near.” There is a phrase that has been used to defend certain social or foreign policies for several years now. “The right side of history.” It is politically charged, I know, and I don’t want to go into all the political ramifications here. I simply want to point out that you and I, as Christians, are the only ones who know how history actually turns out. We are definitely on the right side of history, because at the end of history, Jesus returns.

And when Jesus returns, he wins. Everything, everything, will wind up his way. And when Jesus wins, his people all win, too. “When these things begin to take place,” Jesus tells us near the end of Luke, “stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Don’t be afraid. Don’t feel sad. Lift up your heads. Take this all in with joy. You are about to be delivered from earth to heaven.

Even more, Paul promises us that it’s near. We don’t have to soldier ahead much longer in a world we don’t like much or a life we don’t like much. Jesus’ return is just around the corner. Heaven’s joys are almost in our grasp. It’s so close we don’t have to wait to celebrate. Let the joy begin already. For God’s gentle people, it is time for joy, because the Lord is near.