Episcopal
Church of the Incarnation
The Third Sunday of Advent (C)
Zephaniah 3.14-20 Canticle: The First Song of Isaiah Philippians
4. 4-7 Luke 3.7-18
May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart, that
I may rightly and truly proclaim His holy Word. Amen.
We are
already to the third week of Advent.
This third Sunday in Advent is known, traditionally, as Gaudete
Sunday, from the introit which begins the service in the Roman Church. The color “liturgical rose” (which looks like
pink) is worn, rather than purple, on this day and on the third Sunday in Lent
(Refreshment Sunday), in places that are particular about these things,
and spend enough money on vestments to have a special set used for two Sundays
a year. The third Sundays in Advent and
Lent are a sort of mini-break from the disciplines on Advent (little Lent) and
Lent. But, enough of
history (or, if you prefer, trivia).
I call attention to the old name for this Sunday because the Latin word gaudete
means “rejoice,” and I
want to focus on the fact that the word “rejoice” is a command.
C. S. Lewis
once pointed out that this is the command that we ignore more than all the
others. Of the Ten Commandments, all but
two are stated as proscriptions (“Thou shalt not ...”) rather than as positive
injunctions. The fourth commandment
(“Keep holy the sabbath ...”) and fifth commandment (“Honor thy father and thy
mother ...”) are stated in positive terms.
Why is it
that we tend to better observe commandments about what we should not do
than those which command what we are to do?
Again and again in Scripture, we are told to rejoice. Let’s look at what
Rejoice in the Lord alway,
and again I say, rejoice. Let your
softness be known unto all men: the Lord
is e’en at hand. Be careful for nothing,
but in all prayer and supplication let your petitions be manifest unto God,
with giving of thanks. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesu (Philippians 4.4-7).
Rejoice! This is another way of saying “have joy” or
“be joyful,” “be filled with joy.” This
begs the questions, what is joy, and how does joy differ from happiness?
When
we stop to think about it, it is easy to realize that the fact that we may not
be happy at a given time does not mean that anything is wrong. The normal state of life is not happiness,
even if we are free to pursue happiness.
But, even when things are in fact wrong, that does not mean that we can
not experience joy. Joy, as opposed to
happiness, is not experienced as emotion, but as a state of being, a state in
which we recognize that we are given joy; we are given joy in this life
as a foretaste of the kingdom of heaven.
There
is not one blade of grass, there is not one rock or stream or color or cloud in
this world that is not intended to make us rejoice. For each blade of grass, each part of this
world reflects our part in it, our part in creation as those called into being
in the image and likeness of the Creator.
Rejoicing, therefore, is a matter of focus. The command to rejoice is a command to not
look down, but to look up, to focus on the eternal.
Focus
on the eternal. That is exactly the
practical advice that Paul gives to the Philippians after repeating to them our
Lord’s call to rejoice. The lectionary
selection stops at verse 7, but in verses 8 and 9, Paul enjoins us to translate
our joy into action, saying:
[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever
is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do;
and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4.8-9).
Perhaps C. S. Lewis had this
passage in mind when he wrote, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown
in. Aim at earth and you will get
neither.”
This season
of Advent calls into focus that all our life on this earth, all our pilgrimage
in this world, is to be one of joyful expectation. This is to be a season of present joy, that
we are called sons and daughters of the Most High; that His only Son came into
this world to redeem us from the bondage of sin. This is to be a time of expectation that, no
matter the joys of this life, they are but a foretaste of heaven.
As a
society, we have been desensitized, progressively, to that which is base and
evil. What would have been considered
smut when I was in college is now what can be seen on a TV commercial in prime
time. And so we don’t react as readily;
we don’t realize as readily that our gaze is being drawn downward, when all of
Scripture calls us to look up, to focus on what is right and good and holy, in
the knowledge and love and service of God.
When we do
look up, when we do focus on that which is true and pure and lovely and
gracious, our eyes and our souls are drawn even higher, to the source of all
that is true and pure, all that is lovely and gives grace. When we look up we can, with Paul, do
what is worthy of praise, do what communicates grace to others. And it is then that the God of peace will be
with us, that we can experience the peace and joy of the sure knowledge of
salvation.
The God of
peace will be with us. It is more
accurate, actually, to rephrase that, for God is with us already. When we focus on what is right and good, when
we rejoice, then we can experience God in our lives, but He is here
already. He is with us. That is the cause of the rejoicing called for
by the Prophet Zephaniah, and by Isaiah in the canticle we sang this morning,
that God is in our midst. As Isaiah
says, “... ring out your joy, for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy
One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.6).
Joy itself
is a matter of focus, and so we can find joy expressed even in the harsh words
of John the Baptist. John does, indeed,
call the people a “brood of vipers;” he speaks of wheat being separated from
chaff. And yet, right after John is
quoted as saying that “... every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire ...” (Luke 3.9), we also are told “So, with many other
exhortations [John] proclaimed the good news to the people” (Luke 3.18). Luke can describe John’s harsh words as good
news because they speak of how we are to live in recognition that God is in our
midst. The people are filled with
expectation, and John does not disappoint, saying, “... one who is more
powerful ... is coming” (Luke 3.16). The
Good News is that the One whom John referred to is here, in our midst. He has come.
He is with us. Our God is not far
off. He is not distant and
unknowable. He has come among us and
taken on our very human nature that this might be lifted up and redeemed, and
when we can focus on this wondrous gift, this wondrous presence, then our
hearts can rise, and with the prophet we can “ring out” our joy.
We are
called, commanded, to be joyful. We are
called to look upward, focus upward.
What we are called to do we must develop as habit: a habit of daily prayer; a habit of regular
worship on the sabbath, and of fellowship in the
Church; a habit of studying Holy Scripture.
In effect, in this season of preparation, Advent, let’s exercise our
spiritual muscles; let’s develop the habits of joy; the habits of sons and
daughters who recognize that “the Lord is e’en at hand.”
In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.