3rd Sunday in Advent (Year C) December 12, 2021
Zephaniah 3:14-20, Philippians 4:4-7, Luke 3:7-18
Some years when we light the Advent wreath, we assign
to each candle a theme, and they usually go in this order… Hope, Peace, Joy,
and Love. This week, one of the words we hear in each reading is the word
“Rejoice” which is a derivative of the English word we call “Joy.” On this
third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate “Gaudete Sunday” – inspired by the Latin
word “rejoice.” This Sunday, halfway through the Advent season, we are called
to be joyful as we continue to wait for the incarnation of Jesus Christ. On
Christmas Day, we celebrate the incarnation of God… who came to live among us,
as one of us.
The readings for Advent this year highlight God’s
promises as spoken through the Prophets. Zephaniah speaks God’s word of joy,
promising us a hopeful future, and calling us to rejoice, not just with our
voices, but with all our hearts. In the responsive reading, Isaiah reminds us of
all the ways God has delivered us in the past, and how those promises remain
valid and true today. Even when we can’t feel the fulness of the promise, God
continues to deliver us. We are called to shout out loud and sing for joy. And
in our epistle reading from Philippians, Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord
always… again I say rejoice.” It’s a reminder that centering ourselves in the
joy of the Lord is not the same as looking for happiness… those two things are
not the same.
Happiness and joy often feel elusive, but I think for
different reasons. As we enter our second straight year of COVID-restricted
holiday celebrations, we are saddened by the unfulfilled plans and expectations
that lay littered around feet. We pray for peace and work for it to come, but
the world seems more conflicted than we can remember before and it feels like
we are spinning our wheels.
Some events are out of our control, like weather that
tears through communities and upends businesses, homes, and lives… our prayers
go out to those harmed and killed in the tornados that ripped through the US
this weekend, those whose lives are forever changed. And even when it feels
like we should be about to do something about the other crises we see before us
– poverty, gun violence, inequalities based on race and gender to name a few,
we are often at a loss on how or where to begin. With all of the suffering,
loss, and uncertainty in the world we live, what is there to rejoice?
The first step to rejoicing may be to understand the
difference between joy and happiness. Often, we use those words
interchangeably… joy tends to overlap with happiness and we think that they are
the same. But is that true?
In short, happiness is often connected to the here and
now. The feeling of happiness is linked to the release of endorphins, which
give us a boost to combat fear, unhappiness, and unease in our day-to-day
lives. Happiness is related to the people, places, and things that give our
lives meaning, and is a strong emotional response to the things happening
around us. But happiness is often fleeting. It can come and as go as our circumstances
change. One day we can feel on top of the world… and the next day sad or angry
or discouraged, often wiping away our very memory of the happiness.
Joy is different. It is not related to short-term
experiences, but in faith terms, is a response to the long and ongoing nature
of how we recognize and experience God’s love and faithfulness. It’s easy to
praise God during the good times, but when we are afraid and discouraged,
rejoicing in the Lord can feel difficult at best and impossible on some days.
Each of these writers, Zephaniah, Isaiah, and Paul understood something that we
need to remember… that God is faithful no matter what our circumstances are.
When we rejoice in the Lord, we are not giving thanks
for things that are going our way. We are giving thanks that God is with us, no
matter what. Joy, unlike happiness, lasts no matter what challenges we face. In
fact, joy is most fully realized and understood amid our struggles and
concerns. Our joy comes in knowing that God’s love can withstand all of the
disappoints we experience – and that the new life that emerges is often better
than the world we could imagine for ourselves.
While each of the Old Testament prophets wrote in
different circumstances, they each looked forward to a day when the Lord’s
coming would bring great joy. Even Zephaniah, who in Winnie the Pooh terms is
considered the Eeyore of all the prophets, ended with a word of joy. He looks
forward to a day which proclaims the Lord’s presence, for the joy of renewal
and restoration, as they come home from exile. Even while Isaiah speaks of doom
and gloom, he looks forward to the Lord’s coming as a time to shout with joy,
“Surely God is my salvation.”
As Paul was writing to the church at Philippi, it is believed
that he was under house arrest in Rome, not in prison per se, but unable to
continue his travels to build new Christian communities and give encouragement
to those already producing fruit. And still, Paul could say, “rejoice” at a
time when most of us would at least consider giving up or giving in. I wonder
if he had been asked what he had to be joyful about, he would have dismissed
his confinement and discomfort as insignificant in comparison to the joy that
was promised. In his confinement, he not only wrote of the promise of the
Lord’s coming but also how close God felt to him, even then. And so, as much as
anyone, Paul would be the first to claim the joy that God brings – Paul would be
the first to say, “Rejoice,” carrying the joy of Advent with him wherever he
went, even inside a Roman jail and ultimately to his death.
Let us remember that our Advent experience is not only
about waiting, it is also about preparation. It is a time when we are to seek
out – to look for – the coming of the Lord and to believe God’s promises for
restoration, peace over violence, and perfect love that casts out fear (which
is the #1 stealer of joy.)
And that brings us to John the Baptist. He was sent to
prepare the way for Jesus… sent into difficult and complicated times, maybe
like the ones we are experiencing today. His message was simple and very, very
hard to achieve. Repent – turn your lives around – and come back to God. This
doesn’t just mean apologizing for our mistakes or beating ourselves up for the
things we get wrong. Repentance is the first step toward transformation.
Repentance requires change.
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much joy in
John’s message – he calls the people who follow him into the desert a brood of
vipers – poisonous snakes who are dangerous to the world and everyone around
them. It’s quite surprising that they didn’t head back home immediately. But no,
they kept following and listened. And here is where the joy comes in. He
teaches them these things:
Living a life of faith in God isn’t just about
changing ourselves on the inside. We must bear fruit – there needs to be
evidence of our trust and faith in God that others can see. He reminds them
that this new expression of faith doesn’t rely on our ancestry, our traditions,
or our histories. No, this faith is about preparing ourselves for the One who
is to come.
John’s instructions were simple and went against our nature
to preserve ourselves over others. He didn’t ask them to start by changing the
world, but to change themselves. He didn’t ask them to abandon their old lives
to follow him in the desert, or to lead an uprising or a revolution. He asks
them to share what they have with those who have needs. He asks tax collectors,
notoriously known for their cheating ways, to be honest and fair, and for
soldiers to avoid abusing their authority.
“Go home,” John told them. Go home to
your families, your neighbors, your vocations, your friends. Go home and live
your lives as deeply and as generously as you can right now. Do what the
Lord requires of you and do it now. Be generous now – Be
merciful now – Do justice now. Easy message –
hard to follow through…
On this Sunday, we are called to seek
out joy. This can come in a variety of ways. Are we moving toward repentance,
not seeing it as a “one and done,” but something we are continually examining? As
we wait, are we looking for ways to put our faith into action?
And while that exercise in faith doesn’t
feel like it would be joyful, it turns out that the very act of watching and
waiting and examining our relationships with God can inspire great joy. When we
remember where we have come from, and are reminded of God present with us on
our journeys, we can hold these things in balance with one another… that while
we are not worthy of God’s saving grace, the best “good news” is that nothing
in our lives is beyond redemption. We rejoice and find joy in knowing the God
is good, all the time, even in the midst of our struggles, pain, and
disappointments.
Is this easy? No… it takes intentional preparation. It means amending our lives and turning towards God. Advent is calling us to do those things and encourages us with a promise, rather than a threat... Jesus is coming and he is bringing abundant and new life to everyone.
On this Gaudete Sunday, as we wait and
prepare, we are also called to rejoice. Not only is this the message of the
angels to the shepherds, but is still the message we need today – “Fear not,
for I bring you good tidings of great joy...” The coming of the Messiah is the
Good News message we need. We opened our service today with one of the most
joyful carols of the Christmas season. Today’s readings remind us that it’s
never too soon to hear these words: “Joy to the world! The Lord has come.” And
for this we give thanks!
Peace, Deb
(c) Deb Luther Teagan, December 2021
Resourced from Sermons That Work - The Episcopal Church www.episcopalchurch.org
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