Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, "Rejoice."  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil 4:4-8)

    With Thanksgiving Day, most of our society turned its attention to Christmas.  However, for the Church, it is the season of Advent, a time in which we stand on our tip-toes in anticipation that the "Lord is at hand."  Advent leads up to Christmas.  Perhaps the Book of Revelation expresses best the sense of Advent in the writer's greeting to the seven churches;  "Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come..."  (Revelation 1:10)  We rejoice that Christ has come to us and dwelt among us, that he is with us now through the Holy Spirit, and he is coming again to remake our world--a new heaven and a new earth!

    We need this expectation.  There is a gap between what is and what ought to be.  We can see it all around us and feel it in our bones.  Paul experienced it himself.  As he writes this letter to the church in Philippi, he is under house arrest.  Yet, even in these circumstances, he is experiencing joy and peace.  He is not fretting, bemoaning, or worrying about his loss of physical freedom;  he has spiritual freedom!  He knows that "the Lord is at hand," no matter what predicament he finds himself in.  So he urges the Philippians to rejoice, to pray, and to think positive thoughts.  Then they will experience the guardian of peace in their lives.

    When I was in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, I sometimes had to pull guard duty--in towers overlooking the base.  The guard's job was to continually scan the perimeter for any enemy movement.  In the same way, God is at hand in our prayers, looking out for any adversarial signs in our lives such as worries, fear, or doubts, so that we can have God's peace.

    Advent is an important season in the church's life.  In celebrating it, we remember how God came to us in Jesus;  we also experience God in the present through the Holy Spirit;  and we have hope that God has a "plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10).