When Paul tells the Philippians to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’, the word ‘rejoice’ doesn’t just mean ‘feel very happy deep inside’. It means, Get out on the street (with proper safe distancing of course) and celebrate! Lots of other people are doing it, after all – in Paul’s day, there were processions and street parties and religious ceremonies going on a lot, in public, and people could see what was happening. Paul wanted the Jesus-followers to do the same. In the Bible the word ‘joy’ signifies something you can hear. From some distance away; check out Nehemiah 12.43.
