“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Let you moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
Our Lord’s return is a major theme of the Advent Season and it is one reason for the mix of devotion, joy and sobriety. If splitting an atom fills the atmosphere with fire burning bright as a falling star, evoking terror and wonderment – what will the Day of Christ’s coming bring upon us? The Uncreated Light of Christ, shall shine upon all: wheat and chaff, the good and the bad, his siblings and his enemies. Christ himself told his disciples that his return would take your breath away; it will stop your heart. But at the same time, he said to his little flock: “Stand up! Look up! Your redemption is drawing near!” So, St. Paul declares to the Church:
“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
The expectation of Christ’s return is meant to shape the life of the Church. St. John wrote:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one who has this hope in himself purifies himself, as he is pure.”
Note that it is our expectation, our anticipation of Christ’s Second Advent that shapes us in patience and holiness. St. Paul says the same thing in Titus:
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own…”
Indeed those who were once not “a people” he has made into a “people of his own, of his very own;” a nation, a commonwealth, a kingdom – a Bride. ” Adam looked upon Eve and declared, “This is now my woman, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” And now as the celebration of the Nativity of Christ draws near, the Last Adam bids us to look upon him, our God, who has stooped to become “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh” in order that we may partake of his Divine Nature.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
We are sobered by the looming Second Advent of Christ and the end of all things and yet we rejoice. St. Paul tells us to “be careful for nothing.” St. Peter tells us to “cast all our care upon Christ because he cares for us,” which is another way of saying what Paul had said. And in both cases the saints are simply saying what our Lord said to the Church: “take no thought or care for tomorrow.” This state of mind is a state of peace; the state of being a Catholic and it is a consequence of believing that “the Lord is at hand.”
“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
The word St. Paul uses that is translated as “moderation” is practically untranslatable – certainly not with a single English word. It packed with meaning that Paul’s original audience would have understood: big-hearted, generous in forgiving, shunning resentment and revenge, even shunning one’s own privileges and rights.” It is a word that characterizes the Christian life as peaceable, nonviolent, quiet, gentle and tender. It is the generous treatment of the other person when the demands of strict justice may cause injury to one’s self. There is that person who will make an obstinate stand for what is due him – but not this person. All that is behind the word that is translated as “moderation.” It is the self-understanding of a person who knows, come what may, he will be safe in the arms of Jesus that prompts him not to be forever standing on his rights.
But let me put this into the Philippians’ context. Our Epistle for today is a response to the circumstances described in the beginning of the fourth chapter of Philippians, a very public quarrel has broken out between two women in the parish who were leaders in the Church. It is possible that they were hosting separate house churches in their homes. Something has come between them. Paul writes “they are women who fought at my side in the spread of the gospel along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers… Please, come to terms, please agree with each other, in the Lord. I order you – please, I beg you, see to it that you pastors help them come to an agreement in the Lord. Their names are written in the book of life.”
After laying all that out, Paul then writes:
“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Let you moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
“In light of our Lord’s return it is high time for you Philippians to get your household in order. Settle your quarrels. Don’t let your personal disagreements splinter the Church. Don’t allow your personal disagreements to make the Church a joke in the pagan community. The Lord is at hand.”
So let me ask you this question: Is your household in order? What matters most to you today? What if you knew for certain that our Lord would return tomorrow? What if you knew for certain that you would die tomorrow? If you knew you were to see Christ face-to-face tomorrow what would be important to you today? Christ will come and you will see him, one way or the other.
As you lie dying it will not matter that you have been rich, or great, or honored, or privileged, or poor, or influential in the world. Such things are accidents of history. They are full of vanity, self-esteem and self-deception. A Catholic has the great advantage of looking at such things now as he will look at them when our Lord returns. This is Christian Exceptionalism: to weigh things as Christ weighs them. It is a pure gift – a gift outright from God – to view one’s self with a disinterested and dispassionate eye. The fruit of such self-examination is a heavenly mindedness, Christ mindedness.
As soon and in proportion as a Christian believes that Christ is coming, he will feel indifferent to human affairs. I do not mean that he will not love or care for people, but he will not be controlled by desire, fear, self-reliance or a sense of helplessness. His “self,” his sense of self-regard, of protecting his share in the pomp and vanity of the world will fade away. He will see clearly. Catholic Exceptionalism enables him to live beyond fear, beyond suspense, beyond covetousness, beyond self-protectiveness. He will learn to live patiently, cool and discriminating, lenient, kindhearted and forgiving. He is sober, discrete, moderate, mild – concerned not so much with self-regard as self-mastery. May God grant us such growth whether the years roll on or not – whether his coming is delayed or whether it is today.