Sunday, December 12, 2021

Third Sunday of Advent
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Psalm 85
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 7:18-28 (29-35)

Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”

Advent is a season of lights. We begin with darkness, representative of the darkness of our lives. Each Sunday we light a new candle. As we draw closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus the light grows until that joyous night when we can light the Christ candle and celebrate His coming. We have finally reached the third Sunday, Christmas Day is coming quickly and we can feel the excitement building. On this day, we finally have more candles lit than are dark and it is often referred to as Gaudete Sunday or the Sunday of Joy for that very reason. Finally, the light is greater than the darkness and will continue to grow. This joy is found in our readings for the day.

The book of Zephaniah is hardly joyful. The prophet announces to the people that God will bring judgment to the nations, including His people who had abandoned their faith. Yet, the prophet does not leave them without hope. Today's reading tells of the restoration that will come when God completes His work. Zephaniah foretells the rejoicing that will go on within the city of Jerusalem. “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not fear evil any more.”

To the Jews, prosperity meant God was near, misery meant that He had abandoned them. Though God was never far away, it was not hard for them to fear when things began to go wrong. When the nations could overwhelm them with their power, it was obvious that God was no longer protecting them. Yet, God has a purpose for all things, including those times of pain and suffering. They help us to turn to Him, to trust in Him. God did not intend for the Jews to be destroyed, He knew that He would provide salvation in His time and way. After judgment, God cleanses His people; He purifies their lips and they call out to their God. The day will come when He will bring them home. “At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, saith Jehovah.”

We struggle with trusting God. It began so long ago in the Garden of Eden when Eve believed the lie of Satan about the Word of God. She did not trust that He spoke the truth; she saw goodness in the thing He said would bring pain and took it into her own hands. The Israelites did not trust that God would take care of them. They grumbled in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. They turned to other nations for help against their enemies. They asked for a worldly king when they had the King of kings as their ruler.

God does not force Himself on us when we turn from Him. He allows the natural consequences of our mistrust to humble us before His throne so that we will cry out for the One we know can overcome our difficulties. He never allows more than we can bear, but He does allow enough that we will remember His covenants and faithfulness so that we will trust Him again. Over and over again throughout history, God did this with His people. They were defeated by their enemies and then restored when they turned to Him. They were taken into captivity, but then were returned to their home when they looked for Him. We suffer our own consequences when we turn from God, but He is always near to respond when we repent and trust Him.

The past few weeks have been crazy. My husband was out of town last week, so I had the house to myself. I usually like to do something to pamper myself when he is gone, but that was impossible last week. I am preparing for a party, so I had a lot of cleaning to do. I did a lot of shopping for the ingredients I’ll need when I begin cooking. I had to do my decorating. I also had the carpets cleaned. I stayed up much too late at night and was up much too early in the morning. I didn’t even manage lunch or dinner out. Some days I barely managed to eat. This week is going to be equally busy, but now I’m working on final cleaning, baking, and food prep. I have some more shopping to do, too. I love it; I enjoy sharing my home with my friends, but I confess that it can be exhausting. Despite it being the most joyous time of the year, I am not always happy.

Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, ‘Rejoice.’” Paul is not telling us we should be happy all the time. He is teaching us to rejoice in the Lord always. In everything we do, in everything we are, we are to live in the joy that is found in our relationship with God; we are to trust that God is greater than our exhaustion and busy-ness. During Christmas we recognize the coming of God in flesh, we honor and remember the child in the manger. However, we aren’t waiting for God to come again. He is here now, dwelling amongst us, walking with us, guiding us, loving us with a tender and compassionate love. We can rejoice in the Lord always because He is always with us. In good times and bad, we can trust God because He is always faithful to His promises.

This is supposed to be a happy time, but the hustle and bustle of the season makes it stressful. Demands from co-workers and family give us little room to rest. Exhaustion leads to illness, which makes everything harder. There is not enough time to do everything, not enough energy to accomplish all the tasks and not enough laughter to get us through. It is made especially difficult when faced with people who expect that smile on your face at every moment. “What is the matter with you, it’s Christmas!”

Yet the joy and peace to which Paul refers is not the kind of joy and peace that most people are seeking at this time of year. As a matter of fact, it is the very seeking of an external joy and peace that makes us even more stressed. As we chase after laughs and good feelings we lose sight of the real source of our joy and peace. We forget that Paul has called us not to be happy, but to rejoice in the Lord. We forget that the peace of God does not necessarily come with peace on earth, but that it is something that dwells within the heart of a Christian who trusts in God.

We will spend a lot of time preparing for the perfect Christmas to make everyone around us happy, but we need to remember to keep our hearts and minds on God our Father. When things get out of control, when we get too busy to smile, when we exhaust ourselves into illness, we are reminded that none of that has anything to do with true joy and peace. Joy in the Lord have everything to do with our relationship with God and His place in our life. The Christian life does not guarantee a life without difficulty, so why would we think that the Christmas life would guarantee a turmoil-free idyllic state?

Instead of expecting unattainable happiness and perfect relationships, Paul reminds us to rejoice in the Lord always. When we do so, we keep our eyes, and our hearts, on the true prize which is peace in our hearts. When peace dwells in our hearts, we have a whole new perspective about the world around us. Instead of being stressed by too many activities, we realize that there is one thing that matters: Jesus.

John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Him. He came to be a witness to the coming of the Light, to testify to the gracious mercy of God. I’m not so sure we think about mercy when we think about John the Baptist. After all, he is a man who is perceived to be wild, harsh and demanding. He was very unusual and acted counter to the culture in which he lived. He lived in the wilderness, wore clothing made from camel's hair and ate locusts for lunch. He defied the self-indulgent ways of the culture in which he lived. He did not wear silk or linen and he did not feast at great banquets. He chose a simple life, a life in which he could focus more clearly on His vocation as a prophet of God. He identified with the prophets of old and lived as they might have lived. He preached about repentance and called the people who came to him a “brood of vipers.” There was nothing about John the Baptist that should draw people to him.

Yet, there was something about him. Even the temple leaders came to hear him speak. The passion story of Jesus shows us a group of men who rejected Jesus and refused to believe that He was the fulfillment of God’s promises, but that does not mean that they were not seeking the Messiah. As a matter of fact, since they were the educated and the religious experts, they knew more about the signs of the coming and they were anxious to see it fulfilled. In the end Jesus did not meet their expectations, but early in the story they saw possibilities with John. Many of them wondered if John might be the one they were looking for.

John knew he wasn’t the Messiah. In last week’s reading John was identified with the Old Testament prophecies as the one who would prepare the way for the Lord. John told them that he would baptize with water, but that the Messiah would baptize with fire. He encouraged the people to be prepared for the coming of the King by turning their lives around. His words, especially those about Herod, put him in prison.

Jesus began His ministry after John was in prison. Rumors trickled their way to John as his disciples questioned what they should do. They were loyal to John, but if Jesus was the One, should they follow Him?

John sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?” This seems like an odd question coming from John the Baptist, since his story is one of faith even before his birth. John leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary visited her relative. He identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist explained to his followers that God gave him a message that he’d know the Messiah because he would see the Holy Spirit descend when He was baptized. John knew that Jesus was the One who was sent by God to save His people.

So, why did John send his disciples to ask this question? Did he do it to prove to his own followers what he already knew? Did he doubt Jesus? Did he doubt himself? Did John question his own ministry? Was he afraid that perhaps he was not the promised messenger? Did he need the encouragement of Jesus that the work he was doing was what God wanted him to do? John was in prison; he was probably facing his own fears which brought on uncertainty. He wanted to know for sure that he was sending his disciples down the right path.

I have to admit that there are often times when I could use that kind of encouragement, and you are probably the same. Do you wonder if you’ve heard God’s voice correctly? Do you wonder if you are doing what God is calling you to do? Do you ever think that it is absolute craziness that God would choose you for that task? Do you wonder if you can even accomplish it? Do you ever face the fear of what might happen in you fail? Even worse, if you succeed? After all, John the Baptist was a successful evangelist and he ended up in prison. What might happen to us today? We cry out to God in our fear, doubt and uncertainty, “Surely there is someone better than me for this!” Did John wonder if he was really the one to fulfill the promise of a messenger? Perhaps Jesus was meant to be the voice crying out in the wilderness and the Messiah would come later?

It is encouraging that John the Baptist might have needed his faith reinforced. After all, if he whom Christ called the greatest man born of woman needed to hear that he was indeed doing the work God intended, then how much more might I need to hear it? I haven’t had visions. I haven’t been visited by angels. I haven’t had any miraculous experiences in my life to verify I’m doing the work of God. Jesus verified to the crowd, and to John, that John was what he said he was. He was the one crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord and Jesus told them to look for the signs that might reveal the truth.

The religious leaders did not believe. Unfortunately, many of the people who began following Jesus turned away at the end. Jesus sounded good in the beginning, but after a while He did not live up to their expectations. He didn’t do what they wanted Him to do. They began looking for another. They were looking for the wrong kind of Messiah. They were responding to their own worldly fears instead of trusting that God had a plan greater than their expectations. They hoped for salvation, but their expectations were too low and when Jesus didn’t climb to an earthly throne, they turned away from God. They didn’t want a Messiah that would change their faith, so they chose darkness rather than the Light.

Jesus had great words the crowd about John the Baptist. He said, “John was more than a prophet. He was the prophet promised by God.” And then Jesus said that this prophet, great as he was, is less than the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. That’s you. That’s me. That’s anyone who has come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

It is said that fear is a powerful motivator. Take, for example, a family facing a fire in their home. Fear drives them to escape the flames by running out of the house. Fear of failure drives many people to work hard. Fear is a negative motivator, but it can have positive results sometimes. It can also have devastating results, such as when our fear paralyzes us into non-action. A deer in the headlights is afraid of the car, but the fear makes it impossible to move out of the way. This can happen to human beings who are too afraid to get out of the situation that is causing their fear.

We fear death. We fear loneliness. We fear failure. Fear is rampant in our world today, perhaps rightly so. Fear can have a positive impact if it causes us to be more watchful or careful. It can also have a very negative impact if we respond with anger or hatred or violence. Sadly, that’s how many people do respond when they are afraid. Oh, many times we will ignore the underlying fear that causes us to act as we do. Fear gets covered up by other emotions and actions. Fear is seen as weakness, and in a world where the weak are manipulated and abused, any sign of weakness is buried by attitudes, words, and actions that seem powerful and strong.

Zephaniah gives us the Good News, “You will not be afraid of evil any more.” In a world where so much is driven by fear, this is something we want to hear, but we have a difficult time believing it. We don’t know when it will happen, but we know that we will hear reports of some disaster happening to a neighbor and we will worry that it might happen to us. We’ll hear the weather report forecast potentially dangerous weather and we will fear what might happen to our homes. We’ll hear about another outbreak of violence and wonder if it could happen to us. We’ll hear about the latest health concerns and worry about our family and friends.

Whatever we do this Christmas season, we are called to rejoice in the Lord always. While it is nice to be happy, to enjoy ourselves during the festivities of the holidays, Paul reminds us that it is not about laughter and satisfaction. It is about living in the Lord, dwelling in His presence even as He dwells in ours. When we rejoice in the Lord always, we live the life that manifests God’s grace to the world even in our times of difficulty. It means we recognize God’s presence with us at all times, even when we feel like the world around us is coming to an end, knowing that God can do a good work through suffering by burning away all those things that keep us from fully living in our relationship with Him.

Blessedness is often credited as the reward for a good life, but when we suffer some sort of setback then we must have done something to displease the gods. Even the Jews believed that prosperity had to do with God’s grace, and when they suffered it meant that God had abandoned them. He would only abandon His people if they were disobedient. But God is never far away. Even when it seems like the world is winning, God is in control. He has a plan and He is always faithful.

So, if we are more than John the Baptist, even as we are the least of those saved, then perhaps we are not nobodies. Perhaps we are called to do the work we are doing in this world. While this is true, it isn’t always easy. Those who do not believe the Good News of Jesus Christ will persecute those who share it with the world. John was beheaded a short time after the encounter in today’s Gospel lesson. It is unlikely that we’ll be beheaded. Few of us will ever be martyred, but we have seen the rejection of Christianity in our world. There are those who think faith is nothing more than a fairy tale. They reject the need for salvation because “I’m ok; you’re ok.” Jesus is missing in the celebration this month which has become Ramahanukwanzmas or simply “the holidays.”

We put so much work into preparing for Christmas and it is such a blessing that we can do so. But the real blessing is not found in the parties or under the Christmas tree. Our busy schedules are not necessarily bad. Our problem is that we lose touch with the very reason we are doing all these things. We lose sight of God. We forget that He is the gift, that He is the joy. We work so hard at being happy and at making others happy that we no longer experience the joy.

God’s salvation is nearby. This is a promise that we see fulfilled not only in the manger, but also in the work we are called to do sharing the Gospel. At Christmas we see how mercy and truth have touched the world, how truth and righteousness have joined together. God gives good gifts, the greatest of which is Jesus. He is the One that they were waiting for, and we are the ones who have benefitted. We are part of the Kingdom of Heaven, greater than even John the Baptist.

Jesus asked the people what they went into the wilderness to see. We can ask the same of those who ask us about Jesus. What do they see? Do they see people frenzied with the secular activities of Christmas, or do they see Christians living in the joy of the greatest gift? Do they see people who are putting on a show with fine clothes and luxurious living or do they see humble obedience? Something drew the people to John’s ministry, and something draws people to us. We might wonder and doubt, but we can rejoice because God is near, and He is faithful. If He has called us to the work of His Kingdom, He’ll provide us with everything we need to accomplish it.

The world might not know what they are looking for, but God is ready to show Himself. Let’s be ready and willing to share His grace so that they will see Him. We begin by rejoicing always in God and trusting in Him. The world will see our faith and some will come to believe in the one John proclaimed, the one who came to save the world.