The Third Sunday of Advent is known as “rejoice” Sunday. We know that Advent is a season of waiting and today we are called to be joyful as we await the coming of Jesus Christ. Paul is quite emphatic about it saying:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. In our Old Testament reading, Zephaniah calls on us to sing aloud and rejoice. Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
We have been experiencing tough times these last couple of years and many would say there’s not much to rejoice about. With the suffering, loss, uncertainty, and the state of our beautiful and broken world, how can we hear these words and rejoice? Like Israel, in Psalm 137, when they were asked to rejoice while living in exile in the land of Babylon: How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? Perhaps it’s because most people would associate joy with happiness.
Happiness is and emotion that is often connected with what is happening to us and around us in our day to day life. And let’s be honest that day to day life has not been all sunshine and rainbows. Happiness is fleeting – it comes and goes depending on our mood, so Paul doesn’t say – be happy always – again I say – be happy.
Happiness lasts for just a moment sometimes. And sometimes the same situation can produce times of happiness and times of sadness. Sometimes it’s based on our mood rather than the actual situation at hand.
When we are discouraged and afraid, rejoicing in the Lord can be a hard sell. But the truth is that joy should not be influenced by happy or unhappy circumstances.
Joy, unlike happiness can be experienced no matter what the challenges. When you look at Paul’s life I would be surprised if he didn’t have times where happiness was not present but he was able to rejoice always. The prophets looked forward to the day of Jesus coming as a time of great joy but towards the end of his earthly ministry not everyone was happy with him. Zephaniah is an interesting book of the bible: Zephaniah mentions the day of the Lord more than does any other book in the Old Testament. It speaks of the people of God’s fall to Babylon and the judgment and restoration of all humanity in the future. It speaks of God’s time of judgment on the nation of Judah where he saw in the day of the Lord the destruction of his country, his neighbors, and eventually the whole earth.
Zephaniah wrote that the day of the Lord was near, that it would be a time of God’s anger at sin. Zephaniah has been called the most despondent of the prophets BUT he kept the last word for joy—joy over the Lord’s presence, joy over renewal and restoration, and joy over God’s children coming home. Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. Most of the prophets were asked to deliver messages of doom and gloom. Isaiah also speaks of doom and gloom but he looks forward to the Lord’s coming as a time for shouting joyfully, “Surely God is my salvation.”
Paul was under house arrest when he wrote his letter to the Philippians, a time many would not find much happiness. And still, Paul could say, “Rejoice!” We might wonder what he had to rejoice about in that situation. Paul rejoiced because he looked forward to the Lord’s coming, but he also rejoiced because the Lord is always near. Paul experienced the Lord’s constant presence in his imprisonment and so, he could say, “Rejoice!” Paul carried the joy of Advent – the joy of expecting Jesus to come wherever he went – even in a Roman jail.
Advent is not only a season for waiting. It is also a time of preparation – a time of looking for the coming of the Lord, for the fulfillment of God’s promised restoration, for the peace that overcomes all violence, and for that perfect love that casts out fear. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. He was sent into difficult, complicated times – times we might even say like we are experiencing at present. And his message was simple: repent; turn back to God. For John, repentance was not about punishing ourselves because of the ways we have let God and others down;
To repent meant turning back to God for hope, for peace, for love, for joy. Even though John’s message sounds harsh and angry: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” they do not turn and leave. Instead, they listen to his sermon. John will teach them about how to find joy in their life.
He doesn’t ask the people to change the world, but rather to change themselves. He tells the crowds to consider sharing what they have with those who lack what they have plenty of. He told the tax collectors to be honest and fair. He told the soldiers to act with integrity and not abuse of their power. “Go home,” John told them. Go home to your families, your neighbours, your vocations, your friends. Go home and live your lives as generously as you can. Be generous Be merciful now Promote justice now. What John is trying to teach is that we can discover joy in our own lives by bringing joy into other people’s lives.
John was no stranger to joy from the moment he first met Jesus – before he was born. When Mary went to see Elizabeth, Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting and the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and with a loud voice she said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth voiced how the baby in her womb leaped for joy at the presence of Mary and Jesus. No wonder it then became John’s great joy to always be pointing to Jesus.
Today, it is our great joy to be waiting for the coming of Jesus. So, as we wait and prepare, we are also called to rejoice. The coming of Jesus, God’s promised one with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News we wait for. It is the joy the angel will speak of when appearing to the shepherds, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” This brings us hope and joy even amid our struggles and unhappiness so we can rejoice and sing with gusto, “Joy to the world! The Lord is come.” And the Lord has come and the Lord will come again and that brings us and the world great joy.
