Rejoice Always! Rejoice Always? Really?

Scripture — 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Rejoice always.

Devotion

If you were to ask the average Christian, “What’s the shortest verse in the Bible?” it’s likely that you get this answer: “Jesus wept.” That’s the King James Version’s translation of John 11:35. That sentence has two words in English, with only nine letters in total. The NRSV adds a couple of words and several letters to more closely capture the meaning of the original Greek, “Jesus began to weep.” The Greek actually has three words and 16 letters: edrakusen ho Iēsous, or “wept the Jesus.” Greek often puts the definite article before a name. (In Greek, Luke 20:30 has three words but only 12 letters, kai ho deuteros. In English has three words and 12 letters “and the second.”)

Now, you may be wondering why I’m yammering on about the length of these verses. There are a couple of reasons. The first is that today’s verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:16 is also one of the shortest verses in the Bible. “Rejoice always” has two words and 13 letters in English. The Greek original – pantote chairete – has two words and 14 letters. So, arguably, this could be the shortest verse in the New Testament, depending on how you’re counting. I bring this up as one who, admittedly, sometimes gets into Bible trivia.
However, there’s another and better reason for considering “Jesus wept” at the same time as we focus on “Rejoice always.” Please allow me to explain.

There are Christians who believe that “Rejoice always” implies that sadness, weeping, and the like are always inappropriate for Christians. I have heard this opinion taught even by some influential pastors (none of whom were my own pastor, by the way). They assume that since we should always be rejoicing there’s no room in the faithful Christian life for grieving, crying, and so forth.

There are many problems with this idea, but one of the biggest is the example of Jesus himself. We know from John 11:35 that Jesus wept as he drew near to the tomb of his friend Lazarus, who had recently died. The most obvious reading of this verse is that Jesus felt deep sadness over the reality of his friend’s death and he felt empathy for those who loved Lazarus and were grieving for him. Some Christians argue that Jesus really wasn’t sad in that way, but that he wept over the unbelief of the people. That seems to me a forced reading. But even if it’s the right interpretation, you still have Jesus weeping, not pretending to weep, but actually weeping. You don’t see Jesus rejoicing always at the moment, at least in any obvious way.

What I’m saying here might seem obvious to you and hardly worth mentioning. But I am concerned about how many Christians have been led to believe that “Rejoice always” means “Never, ever be sad or express sadness.” I once attended a memorial service for a baby who had died. The baby’s parents spoke, and all that talked about was how happy they were that their baby was in heaven with Jesus. I’m sure that was real. But I worried that they were burying their grief in a way that was neither honest nor healthy. When you do that sort of thing, your grief inevitably shows up in ways that are not so healthy or helpful.

You may remember a devotion I wrote a few days ago based on 1 Thessalonians 4:13. It was called “The Secret of the Missing Comma.” In that devotion I talked about how people misread what Paul and his colleagues want for the Thessalonians. The writers did not want them “to grieve as others do who have no hope.” Rightly interpreted, this verse does not prohibit grief or its expression. Rather, it invites us to grieve with hope. When a brother or sister in Christ dies, we are free to feel sad, but our sadness is mingled with confidence that they are with the Lord.

Similarly, “Rejoice always” should not be understood as demanding that we never feel or express sorrow. As it says in Ecclesiastes, there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Eccles 3:4). Yet, even in our weeping and mourning, there can still be an element of rejoicing. We can still be glad for God’s goodness and grace. We can still look ahead with joy to the life of the age to come.

In tomorrow’s Life for Leaders devotion I want to work a little more on what it means to rejoice always. Here’s a clue. It doesn’t mean “Just be happy.” Stay tuned.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Is It Okay to Grieve? Or Should You Just Be Quiet?.

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