Sermon preached Sunday, December 16, 2018, the Third Sunday of Advent, at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Littlestown, PA. Audio can be found here.
I can’t remember if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I was John the Baptist. It was my senior year of high school and our Spring musical was Godspell. It was great. My theater teacher set the play in a grungy urban landscape and my costume consisted of a beanie, dirty trench coat, and a tye-dyed t-shirt with the words “God Speaks” printed on the front. I had a spray bottle, the kind you see people with on street corners who are eager to wash your windshield for a bit of cash.
I opened the play by singing “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” and then immediately entered into a diatribe: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come!” I got to be angry and sarcastic and biting and, well, it was fun. Who doesn’t love the chance to scold and mock and whip-up crowds? This is John in Godspell. Energy and anger and passion.
In truth, John is not all that different from the prophets who came before him. If we look at the prophetic books of the Bible—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, to name a few—we see this time and time again. The prophets should, proclaim, declare God’s judgement on the people, usually for their turn to idolatry or their mistreatment of the poor, or, usually, a combination of the two. They warn people what is to come if they don’t change their ways.
…but then, it changes. While the prophet certainly has harsh words, that is never where the prophet ends. Eventually, the prophet gets to good news, to a promise from God that everything will be made right.
Our first reading from Zephaniah is a perfect example of this. Zephaniah is only three chapters long and the first two and half of those chapters is judgement and dire predictions. Zephaniah warns of the coming “Day of the Lord” and urges the people to repent and mend their ways. Then, halfway through Chapter 3, the tone abruptly changes and we hear this song of joy:
14Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem! (Zephaniah 3:14)
On and on he goes, celebrating the goodness of God and exuding confidence that God will make everything right. In all the prophets, God’s judgement is always followed by God’s word and the fulfillment of God’s promises.
John the Baptist follows this same pattern, even if it doesn’t immediately sound like it. Hear again the judgement:
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7b-9)
Trees cut down and thrown into the fire for not bearing good fruit, for not bearing the fruit of righteousness. Simply being descendants of Abraham is not enough. John then goes on to answer some questions about how to live in this new way: share your clothing and food, don’t take advantage of others, live in peace. …and then comes the good news:
“I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:16-17)
This is good news, as unlikely as that might seem, with all the talk about unquenchable fire.
It’s good news because it means that God is coming to make things right, to do away with all the things that seek to destroy us and keep us from abundant life.
Those things will be cut down. Those things will be thrown into the fire. God will separate out our sin, our individual and corporate complicity in unjust systems and oppression, our greed, our selfishness, just as the harvester separates out the wheat from the chaff. And everything that hurts us and that hurts others is burned. Done away with. And we are left whole and holy. Beloved children of God, baptized with the Holy Spirit and with the cleansing fire of righteousness.
This is good news and cause for rejoicing!
Today is the third Sunday of Advent. Historically, Advent developed as a penitential companion to Lent and held the same kind of somber notes as those six weeks in preparation for Easter. Since Advent had this more subdued nature, the Third Sunday was seen as a break—the JOY Sunday! It has been called Gaudete Sunday, after the word for “rejoice” in Latin. Even though our observance of Advent has changed over the centuries into something more about quiet expectation instead of penitence, you can tell by our readings that this is still the Sunday of Rejoicing.
Other aspects remain, as well. The color for Gaudete Sunday is Rose, or pink, which is why our third candle in the wreath is a different color. If we wanted to go all out, we could even change all the paraments, but it’s not really necessary and, well, we don’t own any rose paraments!
Regardless, this is a Sunday of joy and rejoicing—of celebrating what it truly means to have God come and live among us and change the world as we know it. In just a few minutes we’ll sing our hymn of the day. It’s a beautiful tune that highlights the longing we feel for God’s presence and God’s light in our lives. The last verse speaks to the promise we celebrate:
“Shine your future on this place,
Enlighten every guest,
That through us stream your holiness,
Bright and blest, bright and blest;
Come down, O Sun of Grace.” (ELW 261 “As the Dark Awaits the Dawn”)
Even in the midst of this troubled world, even when faced with violence and injustice and death and pain and suffering, even when our hearts are heavy with grief, the Sun of Grace comes to us, shining among us and illuminating a splendid future. So, this morning, let’s rejoice together.
Let’s celebrate with Zephaniah and proclaim God’s commitment to us:
“20At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
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.” (Zephaniah 3:20)
Join in with Paul in his quiet confidence:
“4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:4-5)
Echo the Isaiah in our Psalm this morning:
5Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
6Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 12:5-6)
Today is a day of rejoicing!
Amen.
Drinking from a Deep Well 