Rejoice! It’s a word that means to show great joy, delight, or happiness. One might wonder why Zephaniah, one of the gloomiest prophets of the Old Testament might find cause to be joyful. He is writing in the seventh century before Christ during the Babylonian captivity of the Hebrews, a time of constant terrorism when fear ruled the land. Yet he ends this passage with a pure song of joy.
The Apostle Paul also brings a joy-filled letter of thanksgiving for the community of Philippi. He did as well last week for their hospitality and in this passage for their gentleness. “Rejoice in the Lord always” Paul writes “and again I will say, Rejoice!”
We light a pink candle on the Advent wreath today. This third Sunday of Advent is also called “Gaudete Sunday” because “Gaudete” which means “Rejoice” was the first word of the introit—the entrance psalm for the day. A very pious Anglo-Catholic priest once said tongue-in-cheek that we use pink vestments because Mary wanted a girl.
Strange John the Baptist throws a wet blanket on all this rejoicing. Imagine the crowds dancing down to the river Jordan to his shouts of “You brood of vipers!” I’ll bet they didn’t see that coming. What a paradox we get on this Third Sunday of Advent: rose colored vestments and words of joy and then this fire and brimstone sermon from the Baptist.
John was perhaps the wildest and craziest prophet. We listened to his ranting but then the end of the Gospel which declared “John proclaimed the good news to the people.” Good News? Really?
Well, actually it’s there if we take a closer look. When he answers the crowds’ question about how to live in the demanding present—What then shall we do?—he’s basically telling us: simply live. “If you are a tax collector, don’t cheat as you collect taxes. If you are a soldier, be a good soldier and do your duty.
If you’ve got a lot, share it with someone who doesn’t have much and be happy with what you’ve got.” This was pretty amazing and reasonable advice from someone whose own response to life was to retreat barefoot in the wilderness, live among the beasts and eat locusts and wild honey. Simply live. Live simply
As easy as all this may seem and in spite of the call today to “rejoice,” the reality is that this is a season when many people feel isolation, melancholy, and hopelessness. There are people who literally have no place to call “home.” There are hungry children, there are refugees from Latin drug lords, and people struggling just to keep their homes and put food on the table.
There is probably an elderly woman who lost her husband and whose children live far away or an elderly patient in a nursing home who has no family. There are couples on the verge of separation or divorce and feeling so very estranged and lonely.
There is the gay or transgender son or daughter who has just come out and wants to be home for Christmas but fears rejection. There are people dealing with major health issues, with addiction and with debilitating depression and anxiety.
I spoke with a client on Thursday who lost his job in 2017, was divorced in 2018 losing his home and all assets, has untreated ADHD, was raised in family drama and is estranged from his mother who has narcissistic personality disorder. There are a lot of people who have no reason to “rejoice”.
What is to be the source of their hope? It will only be found in someone who will be kind enough to shine light into their darkness. The reason Zephaniah and Paul are telling us to rejoice is because God has reached out to us, come to us, taken on flesh and become one of us so that we might become more like God. And we become more like God when we become that light in their darkness.
Times are not all that different for many people like those to whom Zephaniah preached so long ago. If old Zephaniah were to visit America in this season of Advent, I think he would be saddened to see how many people have closed their minds and hearts to the genuine pain of our world. He would likely rally us—as John the Baptist did—to join God in the work of caring for those who are starving for some reason to rejoice.
I think we still need agitators like John the Baptist about whom Oscar Wild once said, “Agitators are a set of interfering people who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community and sow the seeds of discontent among them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary.”
If their words have moved us to do what we can to make life better for those who live in darkness and care for those who need a reason to hope, to be the incarnational representatives of God’s grace –a shining light in their lives—let our gentleness be evident to all and then we can and should, indeed, rejoice.
When you come forward this morning to be fed and nourished by the Gifts of God, put out your hands and know that you hold Life and Hope in them. And, rejoice, because God is with us and the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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