Most of the faithful gathered for worship on this Third Sunday in Advent will not feel as much Joy as the liturgy recommends. Perhaps they’re discouraged about the state of the world, or perhaps they’re just tired of Christmas shopping. The Ghost of Christmas Presents brings lots of guilt and remorse: a nostalgia for how we remember the Old Days, and a realization that we live mostly in a land of broken dreams. So the Joy of Gaudete Sunday may come as a welcome oasis in the wilderness of Holiday “Festivity”. “When Santa Claws, it’s time to pause.”
Perhaps some words from the Prophet Zephaniah (3:14-20)? “Rejoice and exult with all your heart!…The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.” Zephaniah dares to dream GOD’s dream, to hope GOD’s hope. Here is an interruption of gloom with a vision of God-With-Us, Immanuel. Even though we fear that the Dark Side is winning, this Prophet says that our vindication, our salvation “is in your midst”. “I will remove disaster from you…I will save the lame and gather the outcast.”
The Epistle is but a mere four verses from Paul to the Philippian believers, 4:4-7. Here is an echo of Zephaniah: “Rejoice always in the Lord; again I will say, Rejoice!” But don’t you understand the urgency and chaos out there? Our motive for Joy is not for a pleasant life, but because the Lord is near. Dare we believe that? “Joy snaps us out of our fascination with what is toxic, degrading, ugly and divisive in the world around us and urges us to become witnesses to God’s tenderness, beauty and intimacy…” (Martin L. Smith, in SOJOURNERS)
Kathy Beach-Verhey introduces us to Luke’s Gospel account of John the Baptizer’s message (3:7-18): “There is no getting to Bethlehem and the sweet baby in the manger without first hearing the rough prophet in the wilderness call us to repentance.”(FEASTING on the WORD, C 1:69) We have little benefit in the face of the ChristChild unless we’ve moved beyond our former tawdriness. The Baptizer made some concrete instructions: to make unselfish choices, to live within one’s means and to do justice. Baptism became the mark of God, and those who were so marked have been constrained to a new ethic and a purity of heart. Remember that YOU were baptized–and be glad!
Cultural Christmas has become a rat-race. The Sundays of Advent bring a compulsion to offer a counter-cultural Joy to the world which is weary of tinsel. Angelic admonitions to “Fear Not!” are gladly heard, yet difficult to believe. A bold prophecy of this weekend’s scriptures may yet buoy the spirits of the jaded in your pews.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My encounters with scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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