I would like to begin today by making some comments about that wonderful New Testament passage, Philippians chapter 4, in which the Apostle Paul says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”Rejoicing in a Hard WorldIt is interesting that Paul says this in that letter. All the way through the book of Philippians he is constantly speaking about rejoicing and telling the Christians he was writing to—and through them, us as well—to rejoice. At that point in his life he was languishing in a prison cell, facing possible death in the arena, being torn apart by wild beasts. So it is an interesting thing for him to say to the Philippian Christians: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice.”And of course it raises the question for us: How can we rejoice? How can we rejoice when the world is so filled with pain, with injustice, with anxiety, with difficulties, and of course with the inevitability of death? All of these things are a reality for us.We can ignore them, of course—or at least we can try to—but it is not particularly easy, and it is not really a long-term solution, because they will all catch up with us eventually, in one way or another. We can allow the problems, the difficulties, the pain of life to destroy us, to overcome us, and we can simply yield to them—but then, of course, we are destroyed; we are overcome.Personally, I am yet to come across a better answer to this question than the one the Apostle Paul provides in the book of Philippians—and what we might call, broadly speaking, the Christian answer. This is because I think that Christianity acknowledges the problems we face in this life. It does not try to minimise them, it does not try to say that they do not exist, and it does not give answers which are too easy. The Christian answer provides us with an ultimate hope in God—ultimately in Christ—and it gives us peace and joy in our relationship with God as we wait for that hope to be realised.Again, I would like to be emphatic: this answer acknowledges the fact that there are serious, painful, difficult problems that we face in life, as we suffer, as we die. Even if we have come here this morning and are feeling very happy in our lives at the moment—if we are in a good moment personally—there will still be anxieties and difficulties that surround us of which we are aware.As I have reflected upon this passage this week, I notice that I am anxious about different things now than I used to be. When I was younger, things which seemed incredibly significant to me—insurmountable, maybe—were anxieties about my personal future, about questions of identity, what I was to do, who I was to do it with, and so on. As I have grown up a bit (I hope, anyway—at least as I have got older), my anxieties are now more around fulfilling my personal responsibilities to other people, to people who are dependent upon me in one way or another, and also concern for those around me who are growing older, perhaps less well, and are drawing closer to their inevitable ends.Of course your anxieties will be different from mine, but you will all have them. This is the world that we live in. As I say, the Christian view does not deny any of it, but takes it seriously. These things are real, and they are significant. But the Christian view does not give suffering and death the last word. Rather, the Christian Scriptures and the Christian gospel hold out hope to us in Christ.The Kingdom as a Wedding FeastWe see something of this today in Christ’s description of the kingdom of heaven in that marvellous parable we have just heard. He says that the kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.That comparison between the kingdom of heaven on the one hand and a wedding feast on the other is repeated in various different places and in various different ways in the Scriptures. For example, in the book of Ephesians Paul says that the natural union of a husband and a wife is a mystery that refers to Christ and the Church—Christ as the groom, the Church as the bride. And we see the fulfilment, if you like, of this image in the book of Revelation, at the very end of Scripture, in which that relationship between Christ and the Church is once again compared to a groom and a bride in the context of a wedding feast.I would like us just to think about that for a moment. Consider what a wedding feast is like. I would say there is actually nothing more joyful than a very well-organised and happy wedding day. They are not all like that, but many of them are. And a joyful wedding followed by a feast—well, it is hard to imagine anything happier in this world.When that happy day arrives, the bride is never lovelier; the guests deck themselves in their finest clothes; and then the bride and groom are sacramentally united in the presence of God, and a great celebration with eating, with drinking, with talking and fellowship and dancing follows. And of course no expense is spared for that day, because it is the most special day. You would not spend that sort of money usually, but you do on your wedding, because it is so special. And as I say, there is nothing happier than a day like that.We recently went to a very good wedding, I would say. The food was lovely, there was wonderful dancing, and everybody was incredibly happy. I am sure we have all had experiences like that.Scripture compares this sort of thing to the kingdom of God. Scripture says that the new world that God is preparing for us is something like that. What we have to look forward to is filled with life and laughter and joy and happiness. The end is not destruction and death and inevitable nothingness, but the end is like a wedding feast, with Christ as the groom and the Church as the bride.Death Swallowed UpIn our reading from Isaiah chapter 25 we see this spelled out in another way. Isaiah sees this mystical vision of a mountain on which the Lord of hosts makes for all peoples a feast of rich food and of well-aged wine. And he even goes so far as to say that on this mountain he will swallow up the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. The Lord will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.So, friends, in that text we see another aspect of our ultimate hope: that life will reign eternally. And of course this side of the resurrection we know this is because of Christ and of what he has done for us.That is something about our ultimate hope in God. But again, that raises a question in itself, does it not? Because we have to live in the world now. We have to live in this world. We may have hope, but we also have a life, and we have to live it now. So what should we do? How should we live now?How Then Shall We Live?I would like here to turn back to the Apostle Paul in that chapter of Philippians, Philippians chapter 4. Again, remember the context: Paul in prison, facing death in the arena, with all the horror that that would entail—or may have entailed. It did not actually happen that way for him, but it could have done. And yet he says over and over again: Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. So he thought it was a possibility.What does he say next? He says: “Let your reasonableness”—that word could also be translated as gentleness—“be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”Notice here that the Apostle Paul does not simply say “Do not be anxious”—that would be a very, very difficult thing to hear. Rather, he says, in effect: turn those anxieties over to God in prayer. Do not be anxious, but turn those anxieties over to God in prayer. Pray; supplicate (which means ask for things); give thanks for the good things that God has given to you; and let your requests be made known to him.In everything—in all things—God has opened up for us a channel of communication whereby he offers to share our burdens with us. It is not to say that he will take all of our burdens away. But it is to say that he will be present in them and through them and with us, and we can share them with him. Do this in everything, the Apostle Paul says.So then the question for us today is: How are we going to do that? Do we do that? And could we take more advantage of the fact that this wonderful resource of prayer is open to us?The Peace That Surpasses UnderstandingAnd then there is this beautiful phrase, which is so famous: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.I remember my mother saying that phrase to me as a child, and it having an impression upon me. What does it mean? Well, surely it implies that there are some things that we will simply not understand in this life. Of course there are. There are many things that we will not understand: why we suffer as we do, in the way that we do; why there is so much pain and difficulty in our world. God does not promise to explain everything to us so that we can comprehensively grasp it, but he does promise us peace in and through it—a peace that surpasses understanding, a peace that will be present even when we do not understand.Whatever Is True, Whatever Is HonourableAnd finally: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things… and the God of peace will be with you.”I think these words are in some ways more relevant—more challenging, let’s say—to modern people than perhaps even to those who lived in the first century. And I think this is because there are simply so many options for us in terms of what we turn our minds to. Those of u