The Third Sunday of Advent, Year C

Rejoice!

Readings: Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 3; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18

When I was a child my grandmother gave me some of her old books. They were about a little girl named Elsie Dinsmore who was awfully good. I am certain that grandmother gave me the books because she wanted me to be more like Elsie. They had, I am certain, the opposite effect. For Elsie was just too perfect to be believed. She spent her life overcoming terrible tragedies. She always did what was good and right, and as I remember the stories now, it was often at the expense of others. She was quite insufferable, especially since through it all, she never stopped smiling.

Reading over Paul's letter to the Philippians reminded me, just for a moment, of Elsie Dinsmore. There he is in the midst of chaos, singing to these people, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice."

Now you may think that it is easy for someone like Paul to talk that way. After all, he doesn't have to worry about mortgage payments. The crime rate in Philippi is not climbing at an alarming rate. The world is not heading into ecological and economic disaster. He is not about to be attacked by terrorists.

Except for one thing! This joyful hymn is coming from Paul, a person who has experienced great personal tragedy. He has been beaten, persecuted, and thrown in jail for his faith. And yet he is able to call on his inner resources, on his relationship with God, on his faith, not simply to get him through it all, but to enable him to rejoice.

And then there are the Philippians. This community to whom he is preaching is a community under fire. First of all, they are under fire from within. They are bickering amongst themselves about who the leaders of the congregation should be. They also face opposition from other Christian communities who oppose the inclusivity of Paul’s message. The Christians in Jerusalem want these new converts from Philippi, a flourishing Greek community, to assume the traditions of the Jewish roots of Christianity. The Jewish faith means absolutely nothing to them. Finally they are threatened by danger from a hostile environment. Simply by becoming Christians they have opened themselves up to persecution. They live in the Roman Empire where it does not pay to convert.

Paul’s appeal to joy is not simply encouragement. He is calling the people back to God. He knows that faith is their greatest resource. They trust in a God who walks with them. They have experienced the great love of God. God is a part of their daily lives.

The prophet Zephaniah also sings to us across time and place about living joyfully. His fiery message reflects the turbulence of his time, a time of social injustice, a time of secularism. The leaders of Israel have exploited the people shamelessly. They in response have turned away from God. They feel the sting of God’s judgement. They feel abandoned. “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion,” he proclaims with passion. “Rejoice and exult with all your heart. The Lord has taken away the judgements against you.” They are words of transformative hope. His passionate song rings out to the people reminding them of their close relationship to God. Their hope lies in God, who offers empowerment. God continues to call them back into covenant, time and time again. They are God’s people; God continues to walk with them.

John the Baptist also sings out a message of great hope to the converts who have followed him out into the Judean wilderness to be baptised.

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you of the wrath to come?” Not exactly words designed to please the people to whom he was preaching! John is preaching a challenging message. He is preaching against Imperial Rome with its worldview based on ammassing power and material wealth for itself. He is preaching against the religious institutions with their elaborate systems run by powerful priests. The way he lives his whole life speaks out against corrupt power. He baptises in the River Jordan, not in a beautiful Temple with its gilt and opulence. He is preaching out in the wilderness. He is calling people to repentance. He calls them to prepare for what they have been waiting for all these years. He calls them to transform their lives as they await the coming Messiah.

And they respond to the song. “What should we do?” they ask him.

“Share what you have with the poor, “ he tells them. “Be honest in your work. Be satisfied with your wages. Don’t be chaff or you’ll burn in Hell.” John is not one to mince words. These are not the lyrical reminders of Zephaniah. His words are judgemental and harsh. But they sing just the same. Those who are fit for the Lord are those who go beyond lip service and actually produce the fruits of repentance. “You have to make changes in your lives,” John tells them. “You need to be transformed.” Difficult as they may be, these are not earth shattering revelations. For the world to become a better place these people need to act. They need to conduct their affairs with integrity and compassion. Not that it will eradicate all the pain and injustice that exist in the world, but it will be a starting point. It will begin to put things right. His words fill the people with hope, expectation and joy.

What song of joy do we sing as we prepare for the birth of Christ? “How can we sing?” I can hear you saying. Look at the hopeless situations in the world around us! War in Afghanistan, terrorism, violence on our once peaceful streets, failing economies, changing ecology, secularism ... We live complicated lives. How can we possibly rejoice in the terrible society in which we live? How can these passages speak to us of joy when all we can see is turmoil and trouble?

It has been said that Advent is a time for joy, not primarily because we are anticipating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, but because God is already in our midst. That is something to sing about. Let us prepare for the birth of Christ by allowing God to transform our sorrow into joy, the chaos and turmoil of our world into peace. Experience assures me that if we do, then the world will change for us. It will be bathed in light. It will be beautiful. Hope will be renewed. Like Elsie, we will begin to see the world not for what it is, but for what it will become when God ushers in the Kingdom.

The Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

Dare To Rejoice!

Readings: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Magnificat; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

The hopeful news of Advent is that in the midst of suffering, oppression and persecution, God is faithful. God is faithful to the promises of the covenant. God is faithful to believers. God is actively faithful in a world in need of freedom, justice and peace. That is cause for great rejoicing. Perhaps not the kind of rejoicing that we see happening all around us at this time of year. The weeks and days leading up to Christmas are filled with joyful occasions – parties, Santa Claus parades, concerts, casual get-togethers. It becomes difficult to distinguish the good news of Advent hope from the holiday hype. Surely the challenge of the season is to clear enough space amid the frantic pace of life as we shop till we drop to the hum of “muzak” coming over the PA system to know the joy that is at the heart of Advent.

Today is known as “Gaudete” Sunday. “Dare to rejoice” Sunday! It is there in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. “Rejoice always!” he says to the persecuted believers in Thessalonica. What strange advice to give to people in the midst of hostility. But, as one who has endured suffering, Paul knows so well that it is not about feeling ecstatic, about being on cloud nine, but about the joy that rises quietly from within, from one’s personal trust in God and from the sense that God is with us. That is true joy, for it happens even when circumstances are difficult. It is a joy that comes even in the midst of deep suffering.

In his joy, the prophet Isaiah sings a hymn filled with images of great hope to the people of Israel. They were returning to their homeland after a long period of exile. They faced the inevitable task of rebuilding their cities and communities. It would be a formidable task. Yet they brought with them skills and expertise. They brought passion for their homeland. They had all the material things they needed to rebuild their lives. What they lacked was the spiritual dimension. They had lost their sense of covenant, their connection to God. They had lost their faith. They needed the prophetic word to be shared so that faith and hope could be restored.

In many ways our current world situation is similar. These are difficult times in which we live. You cannot turn on the news without hearing about tumbling markets and loss of jobs. It is a world-wide crisis. For most of us that means prioritizing. It means putting aside things we want and choosing instead the things that we need. It means finding a way to pay off our debts and learning to live within our means. For others it means real hardship. We hear every day about lay offs and closures. It hits every sector of the economy. Many may wonder what there is to hope for. Where is the joy?

There are places in the world where people are living without hope. It distresses me to read in the newspaper about the beautiful people of Zimbabwe and how they are suffering. Imagine an inflation rate eighteen digits long! I cannot even say the number. Then consider living in a country with the highest rate of AIDS infection in the world. Add a cholera epidemic, the closing of hospitals whose doctors have not been paid in months, and constant water shortages. Our world needs to hear and heed the prophetic voice.

So often, Advent is a forgotten season. It gets lost in the busyness and rush and commercialism of Christmas. It needs to be different, particularly this year. As Christians, we have something important to share with a world in crisis. We know and have experienced that when we find joy and peace, when we turn to God in our grief and sorrow, we are able to face the storms of life. We cannot be grateful for the terrible and ugly things that happen. But we can dare to rejoice. We can dare to rejoice with confidence that God’s promises will be kept. We can rejoice with the assurance that God is not the author of such things. They pain God. God’s will is to be present with us in all that we do; not to change it, but to be there. Emmanuel, God is with us. And so we do indeed dare to rejoice. We demonstrate our trust through rejoicing, through prayer, and through thankfulness for all that God has done in our lives.

Once again the Gospel focuses on the great prophetic figure of John the Baptist, one who dared to rejoice at the coming of the Saviour. His was not an easy task. He uses the words of Isaiah to describe his vocation, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.” There is in those words a poignant sense of loneliness. God has called him to a task which alienates him from society. He feels alone and at odds with the world.

As a Christian in a secular society, I often feel as if I am a voice alone crying in the wilderness. As my mother always used to say, “It’s like talking to the walls.” When we speak out about issues we are seen as fanatical or eccentric. Yet giving voice to the voiceless is clearly the call of the gospel.

I think we all begin to feel as if we cannot make ourselves heard or understood. It becomes especially difficult at this time of year. For this holy time in our church year is a time which is celebrated by the secular world, but without any real understanding of what is being celebrated. They don’t even listen to the message. They simply dismiss it. The Christmas tree is simply a festive decoration. Carols are not sung if they are too religious.

But amazingly even when Christmas is completely secularized the image of the mother and the child in the manger never really disappears. It appeals to people. They like the feelings of joy and happiness surrounding Christmas. They appreciate the warm 'fuzzies'. They greet each other in a different way. They like the sense of celebration. It may even get them out to church, although they’ll probably complain at how crowded it is. They like the giving and receiving of gifts. It is a time of outreach to the poor and to those in need as people loosen their purse strings. And for a little while the world is a better place, although we know that those feelings will not last.

The reason that does not happen is that it is not rooted in God’s call to service. For those who honour our king do not know him. It is to be sure, an acknowledgement. But it is mere lip service. That can be discouraging, even disillusioning. Or it can bring us to a clearer understanding of the call of the gospel. We are called to reach out with the gospel message. Although we may feel like a voice crying out in the wilderness, we are not alone. God is with us. Let that transform our actions during this approach Christmas. Dare to rejoice during this holy season, “For the spirit of God is upon us”. Christ is born in us.