Today in the Spirit: Advent 3C (Gaudete)
The Church traditionally calls Advent 3 Joy Sunday, or Guadete (meaning “rejoice”). In many cases (though not all), the Church’s assignment of Bible readings reflects a definite shift in tone from expectation with fear for the judgment in the world to anticipation with joy for those who align themselves with God’s redeeming work in the world. The choice of Gospel readings indicates the desire of the Church to concentrate one more week on the ministry of John the Baptist, less now on his appearance in fulfillment of prophecy (Advent 2) and more on his personal attitude and public preaching in ministry. In the assigned Gospel reading for Advent 3C from Luke 3:7-20, we overhear as worshipers John’s interaction with various groups of people–hangers-on in “the crowd,” tax collectors and Roman soldiers–over what the “fruit in keeping with repentance” will look like for each of them. On the coming of the Messiah, he teaches everyone, “‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’” (16). At the end of the reading, we learn from Luke that John’s confrontative style in ministry results in his imprisonment by the tetrarch Herod. This is where he remains until his execution.
The assigned OT reading from Zephaniah 3:14-20 strikes up the tone of joy in our worship with a prophetic call to Israel to “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O Jerusalem” (14). Looking far ahead past present-day calamity and restoration, emphasis in the passage is on the presence of YHWH, who will himself engineer a future reunification of God’s people, “when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord” (20). The appointed Psalm 85 comes up fairly frequently in our Sunday worship (here and at Advent 2B and Pentecost, Proper 10B). Like the Zephaniah reading, it takes up the themes of return, restoration, and salvation from God, ending with the memorable words, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall flourish out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven” (10-11, BCP, New Coverdale).
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The selected NT reading from Philippians 4:4-9 contains the Apostle Paul’s most well known lines on maintaining joy in the Lord in our daily life as Christians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand” (4-5). Interestingly on Joy Sunday, the Collect contains no reference to joy or rejoicing. This is the only Sunday Collect in the BCP addressing Jesus Christ by name. The prayer is for the “ministers and stewards of your mysteries” (teachers and preachers and pastors of every generation), that, like the OT prophets and John, they “may likewise make ready your way” by turning people from disobedience to obedience before “your second coming to judge the world.”
The Collect
O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
He Will Exult over You with Loud Singing (Zephaniah 3:14-20)
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
Zechariah 4:14-20
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.
Our reading brings to a climactic conclusion an ecstatic vision of the restoration of God’s people given to Zephaniah beginning in v. 9. The repeated images of singing should draw our attention. The beginning of the reading encourages the people to “sing aloud” (14), and in the middle, we hear YHWH “will exult over you with loud singing” (17, same Hebrew root word in both cases). The loud singing (or “shouting,” NET) of God in the text is that which compels the same from the people of God. The people’s singing for God will echo that of the LORD for his beloved people with whom he has maintained his covenant of love.
Dear Lord, help me in my weakness, I do not often hear your singing for me from the heavenly throne. Deaf to your rejoicing, I fall too easily into worry and doubt and despair. Yet I know from Scripture that you celebrate my being found in faith. It recalls the shepherd holding the lost sheep on his shoulders and the woman clutching the lost coin in her hand.
Today, Holy Spirit, renewed by the encouraging vision of Zephaniah with its sight and sound of your loud singing for me, I lift my voice and sing your praises in the company of the church.
Again (Psalm 85)
4 Restore us then, O God our Savior, *
Psalm 85:4-7, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
and let your anger cease from us.
5 Will you be displeased at us for ever, *
and will you stretch out your wrath from one generation to another?
6 Will you not turn again and quicken us, *
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your mercy, O Lord, *
and grant us your salvation.
Or, “Restore us again…revive us again” (4,6, ESV). In Hebrew, the adverb “again” appears in verse 6 but not verse 4, yet many English translations insert it in both cases. To be restored “again” or revived “again” may sound redundant. It says the same thing twice. However, in the context of this temple singer’s prayer, it emphasizes the understanding that throughout their history, the people of Israel have strayed frequently and must rely on the character of God to “speak peace” (6) and show “steadfast love” (10) repeatedly to his beloved people.
Devotionally, this observation reminds us that we are always, consistently, moment by moment, in need of restoration by our loving Father. The practice of remembering to say “again” ourselves in our petitions to God is proof of our heartfelt understanding that union with him comes only from his infinite mercy. We must never think Jesus greets our prayers sternly, thinking, “What, you again?” Instead, we should find comfort in the fact that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” And so, the author goes on, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15-16).
Today, Holy Spirit, work in me the “confidence” that the author of Hebrews teaches in his writing and the psalmist exemplifies in his song to approach you “again” without hesitation, on the strength of the grace provided through Jesus.
Again I Will Say Rejoice (Philippians 4:4-9)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice” (4). Paul uses a Greek word translated as “rejoice” some ten times in his NT letters–but nowhere more impactfully to our souls than here. Why do we not forget this verse? It is the repetition. If not for the repeated exhortation, “again I will say, rejoice,” the first line might have become lost as in many other long lists of practical instructions Paul inserts at the conclusion of his letters. The extra line hits us right in the gut where, underneath our surface, doctrinal faith, there lies still so much lingering disobedience. With the repetition, Paul is turning up the volume on the idea of divine joy taking control of our psyches and demanding to sink in.
Devotionally, we might ask ourselves the real obstacle to permitting the joy of knowing Christ to reign supreme in our being. Is it not at the root the same two culprits at the bottom of all our sins: fear and pride? We are afraid to truly trust in God’s goodness. We lack trust in knowing deep down, as Paul writes in Romans, “that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (8:28). To the degree we are uncertain that this is true, we are fearful that something or someone else will have his way with us. In response to that fear, we let our pride exert itself by endeavoring with all our might to take personal control. We hold onto the notion, “If God cannot be counted on, I must act on my own.” The self-perpetuating cycle of fear and pride is a joy killer.
Today, in the Spirit, I hear in worship the repeated injunction of the Apostle to “rejoice” in Christ and receive it as a command to my soul to put away everything that would steal my joy.
What Then Shall We Do? (Luke 3:7-20)
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
Luke 3:7-14
An interesting feature of the first part of this reading is the series of almost identical questions from various groups of people listening to John the Baptist. First, the crowd asks, “What then [in response to your teaching, John] shall we do” (10), and John responds. The initial serve and return start a volley with specific associations within the masses seeking counsel for themselves; what about us, “What shall we do?” (12,14). The sense of the narrative is that these don’t exist as isolated interviews separated by time. They are consecutive conversations, like a contagion of curiosity running through people groups participating in the event (and there is no reason to think there weren’t still other interviews that Luke does not even record).
Here, we have a gospel movement, like fire coming down in a tent revival meeting in which the hearts of most are quickened. So Luke comments, “So with many exhortations he preached the good news to the people” (18).
Devotionally, we need to ask ourselves what the “good news” is and how we account for its movement among people—first in ourselves individually, then corporately in groups. We often measure spiritual life by how active we are in worship, Bible study, tithing, and serving. All that is good—but is all that really what moves the gospel forward, or really just the fruit? What is the seed that yields the fruit? It is repentance, beloved. It is when we recognize the countless ways in which we fall short of the glory of God and look for the remedy through our faith in Jesus on the cross that God makes gains. Repentance and faith, followed by the Holy Spirit providing refreshing power, move the ball forward in the kingdom.
Consider Peter’s teaching in another passage we read in the Advent season: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:8).” What does the Apostle say the Lord is looking for? Is it worship, devotion to the word or acts of service? First, let there be repentance. The “good news” begins not with our good behavior but with the realization of bad behavior, as with the groups listening to John in the reading, followed by a longing to fix it up.
Today, in the Spirit, hearing this stunning account of peoples’ desire to repent, we take account of our own and ask the Lord, “What shall we do?”
Today in the Spirit
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