Bobby Griffith

The Birth of Joy Bobby Griffith

The ancient letter of Philippians invites us to joy-today. The Apostle Paul wrote this short note to a colonized outpost in the Roman Empire, a city named Philippi. It was a mining city built to provide wealth to the Roman Empire and also where retired soldiers went to reminisce about their glory days. It was a city trying so hard to be like Rome that it mimicked its entertainment, politics, and culture. What's remarkable about this letter is that Paul was in jail when he wrote it, yet it's a thank you note full of joy. He calls the Christian community to rejoice in all things and to endure all things joyfully. However, it is not out of a naïve focus on dying and going to heaven, but rather out of a willingness to embrace the reality of what it means to take hold of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection-to follow him in loving God and others. Philippians invites us to joy and to find something in which to rejoice in the midst of our hectic, never-satisfied world. It shows us that Christ gives us himself and that through him we can find joy in chaos, poverty, and suffering. Joy does not have to be happy-clappy, pie-in-the-sky ignorance of the world we inhabit. It comes through viewing our reality in light of Christ. We hope that through this short book you will come to understand that kind of joy. Jesus meets us where we are in our lives, not where we think we should be, or where we want to be. Philippians shows us that. It shows us the birth of true joy-found only in Jesus Christ.