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“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,” --Paul The Apostle, Philippians 4: 6-7 (NIV)

Paul’s letter to the Philippians might be summed up in one word—rejoice. He uses the word 8 times in this short letter. What’s noteworthy about his multiple uses is that he wrote the letter while under house arrest in Rome. It might have been in Paul’s mind to model to his readers a hopefulness undeterred by circumstances. Knowing the kind of pressure the Philippians were under, Paul names the inner challenge that is often at the core of our failure to sustain our faith when we’re under pressure—anxiety. Anxiety causes a powerful emotional compulsion within to relieve the pressure, which is why Paul commands them to “not be anxious.” (4.6)

Paul’s command can be confusing, however, because no one stops feeling anxious as an act of will. It’s perfectly reasonable that the Philippians would be feeling anxious because of their knowledge of Paul’s hardship and because of the relational conflict among them (4.2), as well as pressure coming from others who were insisting faith in Christ needed to include circumcision (3.2). Anxiety can disconnect us from our wisdom and make us more apt to lose sight of God’s rule, which leads us to navigating our own way. Paul was alerting them to the need to be aware of their anxiety and its effects. No one escapes the pain and discomfort of anxiety 1 because it’s part of our natural wiring. Anxiety is God’s internal warning system alerting us to take precaution when we sense danger. The action we take is reflexive and usually unconscious. For this reason, our reflexive reactions can bypass our conscious thoughts and convictions. A good deal of the wisdom needed for living life is gained by learning to act on our rational knowledge while resisting our anxious reflexive urges. Psychologists refer to this as the regulating of emotions, but how do we do this?

“…unless you repent, you too will perish.” --Jesus, Luke 13.3 NIV

Most of what we learn about life we discover through experience. Between infancy and adulthood our knowledge of how we can get what we need and want grows, then much of life becomes a pursuit of those things. A natural self-orientation develops as a result, something that is essential to identity but something that can also have significant ill effects if, along life’s way, we don’t learn to consider the needs and desires of others. To the extent that self-orientation is unhealthy, it can cause us to see ourselves at the pivotal center of life with everything and everyone revolving around us, including God.
 
In Chapter 13, Luke tells a story of, what I believe to be, Jesus’s intent to expose self-orientation. In this story Jesus was told about some Galileans who were executed by the Romans in the Temple. (Theologians speculate the violence might have occurred in retaliation for some anti-Rome action by the victims.) Jesus responded by asking if these martyrs were worse sinners than other Galileans, a rather pithy but not uncommon statement for Jesus. Jesus then reminded the crowd of a similar tragedy that took place near Jerusalem in which a tower fell killing 18 people. He then posed the same question asking if these victims were worse sinners than others who were spared the same fate, followed by the statement, “…unless you repent, you too will perish.” (v.5) We know that Jesus, the consummate teacher, is instructing but his point is not obvious. Without interlude or explanation, Jesus then told a short parable.

God Has Made Us Alive in Christ --Paul, Eph. 2.5

There are many good things about the way we Americans celebrate Christmas—parties, Christmas cards, gift giving, light shows, trimming the tree, decking the halls, Christmas music, sharing goodies. During the Christmas season, many corporations slow down, people cheer up; Scrooges and Grinches are unwelcome.

Christians need not feel guilty about taking part in our cultural traditions. There’s nothing bad about waking up on Christmas morning and delighting in the materializing of our Christmas lists, watching our favorite Christmas movies and appreciating the warm fuzzies they produce, enjoying egg nog, or gathering with the people we care the most about.