On this third Sunday of Advent, our worship themes are joy, wonder, and amazement. In the midst of a weary world, we allow ourselves to be amazed at the miracle of Christmas, the miracle of God choosing to come and dwell with us. As we notice what God is doing and celebrate God’s faithfulness, joy follows.
This is week 3 of our Advent theme How Does a Weary World Rejoicefrom A Sanctified Art, which is where the quotes I include in this sermon originate. A few other bits borrow from my 2020 Advent 3 sermon. Today’s message focuses on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, Psalm 126, and Luke 1:57-66.
Here’s the worship livestream and sermon podcast audio.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
In these first couple weeks of Advent, we’ve talked a lot about the weariness of this world. We’ve recited some of the many signs of brokenness around us, personal griefs all the way to global disruptions.
But Advent is not only about brokenness. We need to face the pain and suffering in and around us; we need to acknowledge our weariness, as we talked about in the first week of this season; but the hope of Advent—the message of Christmas—is that weariness is not the end of the story.
We acknowledge the depths of our weariness in order to deepen our rejoicing at the gift God gives to us at Christmas.
Traditionally, the third Sunday of Advent focuses on joy. Here’s your church history lesson: This Sunday is known as “Gaudete Sunday” from the Latin translation of Philippians 4:4. “Gaudete in Domino semper.”
Anyone here fluent in Latin? I don’t know much, but you can figure most of this one out. “Semper” means “always” like in the Marine Corps slogan, Semper Fidelis—always faithful. Domino is the Lord, the one who has “dominion.” In is “in” – that one’s easy.
And Gaudete is rejoice. So, “Gaudete in Domino semper”: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Or even more succinct version we read in 1 Thessalonians: “Rejoice always.” Say it with me: “Rejoice always.”
Congratulations, you just memorized an entire Bible verse. Rejoice always. And verse 17: “Pray without ceasing.” There’s another one to memorize. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
On this Advent Sunday of joy, we don’t turn away from the brokenness in the world, but we take a day to pause and rejoice at the promise of Christmas. Gaudete Sunday is the one where we light the rose-colored candle.
I’m not sure why pink rose is the color of joy and rejoicing, but that’s the tradition, and it’s an important reminder. We are waiting in joyful anticipation. We are waiting for God to break into the world, and God breaking in is good news! Rejoice!
So, what does it look like to rejoice always? If rejoicing is just forcing yourself to be happy, then I think it’s impossible to follow Paul’s instructions. Maybe if we shut our eyes to everything going on in the world, but that’s certainly not what God wants either.
Our question this Advent is, “How does a weary world rejoice?” Today’s answer is “We allow ourselves to be amazed.”
In her reflection on today’s theme, Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity writes:
“Amazement is a precursor for joy. Joy can’t be coerced out of us. If joy feels out of reach, can we first allow ourselves to notice and take in the amazing wonders in each day, wonders we can too easily ignore: the swirl of silky white creamer in your morning coffee, the carefully-crafted bird’s nest in your favorite tree, the doe-like steps of a toddler as they discover the confidence to walk, the dappling beams of sunlight refracting through your window.
Allowing ourselves to be amazed requires a posture of paying attention—and then saying yes to wonder when it washes over us. Amazement is also a balm for the weary. It awakens those who feel numb. It renews those whose senses have been dulled. Surprisingly, it may turn into joy.”
When we look at what God is doing in this world, perhaps especially when we contrast God’s promises with the brokenness so visible around us, when we allow ourselves to be amazed by what God is doing, then rejoicing becomes possible.
Paul can instruct us in 1 Thessalonians to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances, because we know what God is up to. We know God is acting out of love; we know God has not abandoned this world. We recognize Advent as the dawn before the light breaks.
When we allow ourselves to be amazed at what God is doing, with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can trust and believe God is at work, even when it’s hard to see.
Our first reading ends with Paul writing, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.” That’s the key. When we look to God’s faithfulness, then we can rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances.
Let me be clear: Thanks IN all circumstances does not mean thanks FOR all circumstances! I’m not thankful for the wars happening in our world. I’m not thankful for the deaths of family members of people I know in this community. I’m not thankful for people losing their jobs, or for sickness, or disasters. In fact, there’s a lot I’m not thankful for! Mosquitoes.
But Christian joy goes beyond our circumstances. Our joy, our thanks, our rejoicing doesn’t depend on our situations. The One who has called us, who has created us, who has claimed us is faithful, and so we can rejoice. We can give thanks. We can open our eyes to look past the cynicism of this world, and be amazed at the places where we see God breaking in.
Perhaps you remember last week’s message from the prophet Isaiah. It began, “Comfort, O comfort my people.” Our opening hymn was a paraphrase. Isaiah is addressing God’s people during their time in exile in Babylon. The message was that their time of exile was coming to an end, the price of their sin had been paid, and it was time for them to return home.
Today’s Psalm is from the same time period, talking about the end of the exile, describing the joy the people felt as they returned. I love the first verse of Psalm 126. It says, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.”
God’s rescue plan was so great, so miraculous it seemed unreal. It seemed too good to be true, like an impossible dream. Isn’t that the hope of Advent?
In Advent, we dare to dream that God is on the move, we dare to dream that this world is not all there is, that God has not given up on us, that there is something worth rejoicing about.
Verse 2: “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.”
What a gift to be able to look and see what God is doing, to recognize the good and great actions of the Lord. No matter how hard the present is, God’s people can look back to see God’s faithfulness in the past, and trust God will continue to be faithful in the future. Even those who sowed tears will finally reap with shouts of joy, because God is at work.
What a gift to see the promise of Christmas, God coming to be with us. As the song says, “A thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices.” The light of the world is shining.
Pastor Cecilia Armstrong writes, “In the psalm reading we are reminded that whenever amazing things happen, we find a way to rejoice: ‘The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.’ When we acknowledge our weary world while remembering what God has already done, and what God is doing, THEN we can rejoice.”
We heard last week that Elizabeth spent the first five months of her pregnancy in solitude. Then in month six, Mary comes to stay with Elizabeth, and she stays for three months.
I learned last week—thanks to Brad—there’s a tradition that perhaps Mary served as midwife for Elizabeth, leaving shortly after the baby’s birth. Sounds very plausible. But even if she didn’t stay quite all the way through John’s birth, Mary’s presence helps Elizabeth accept the gift God has given her.
When the child is born, Elizabeth is the one who insists the angel’s instructions be followed, and the child be named John. Zechariah backs her up, and his voice is restored, and Luke tells us, the crowd is amazed. After months of Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy, they finally allow themselves to be amazed.
We won’t hear it next week because of the Christmas program, but when Zechariah’s voice is restored to him, he responds by singing a song of praise to God. He is filled with awe at the birth of his child, not just that a child has been born, but wonder God’s promise is fulfilled. God has been faithful to him and Elizabeth.
Pastor Garrity writes in her artist statement, “In this image, I wanted to capture the moment Zechariah’s voice returns to him. I decided to depict only half of Zechariah’s face; this miracle is not really about him, but about what happens through him. When he confirms John’s name, he sheds his distrust of the angel’s impossible news. His skepticism and weariness subside as he awakens to the joy in his midst. He allows himself to be amazed.”
Where are you experiencing awe and wonder this Advent season?
I think it’s harder for us as the number of Christmases add up, as the advertisements seem to dominate the season more and more each year. The divisions in our country increase, and Black Friday season revenues hit all-time highs. That doesn’t inspire amazement or rejoicing for most of us.
But the promise is still true. Christmas is still a miracle. Will you allow yourself to be amazed, to practice joy?
Will you allow yourself to rejoice?
Because God is still at work. God’s love is for you, and God is not done with you. Weariness is not the end of the story. Those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
No matter what your circumstances are this year, may God bless you with amazement, wonder, and joy in this season. Amen