Advent 3- Rejoice!
Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is Latin for “Rejoice”, which came from a part of the liturgy that was traditionally assigned for today (intriot). … Advent is a pretty penitential season. It can feel a bit like Lent, as we consider making ourselves ready for Christ’s coming, which also means being ready for judgement. It is a time to consider one’s life and values. It is a time of repentance and purification. And the context of this wilderness makes Gaudete Sunday stand out.
Our reading from Zephaniah is full of joy. We are told to sing, to rejoice, to shout. Why?
“The Lord has taken away the judgements against you, he has turned away your enemies; The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.” (Zeph 3:15).
Throughout the reading we are reminded that God is in our midst and that we have no reason to fear. He will stop disasters and turn away enemies.
“He will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival” (vv17-18).
God says,
“I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you” (vv19-20).
It’s hard to imagine words we would rather God speak over us.
From Isaiah we hear,
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. … Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Is 12:3, 6).
And in Paul’s letter to the Philippians we are instructed,
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil 4:4).
… These readings are full of joy and exhortations to be joyful.
In the Gospel, we hear that John the Baptist has come to give good news (Lk 3:18). … We can be thrown off a bit when we look at John’s good news, though. His good news to the crowds included calling them a “brood of vipers”, which in the Gospel of Matthew is reserved for the Pharisees and Sadducees. John’s good news looks like the crowds being told to share their clothes and food with those who have none. It looks like tax-collectors being told to collect only what is prescribed. For soldiers it looks like telling them to not extort money from people, and to be satisfied with their wages.
I’m not sure we see this as good news. … How would you feel if someone comes to you and tells you to give away what you own? “If you have more than what you need, give it away to those who are in need. Stop gaining money in an ethically dubious way (even if colleagues and friends are doing it- stop investing in companies that are ethically questionable).” How would you feel? Would you receive that as good news? … We might feel guilty. We might even see it as a good thing to do, but I’m not sure very many of us would feel this is good news.
When I stand in line at the grocery store, I see some interesting “good news” on the magazine covers. They are hoping this news is good enough to get us to buy the magazine. The “good news” I see are things like,“Diet breakthrough”; “Can’t sleep? Try the ‘socks’ cure for insomnia”; “Makeup artists’ secrets for big, beautiful eyes”; “Belly-fat cure!”; “Candy Keto- drop 24 lbs in 14 days”; “12 minute worry cure”; “The young forever diet”; “’Fountain of youth’ smoothie”; “Look 10lb slimmer”; “Hard abs”; “Farewell to flab”; “Burn fat fast”; “Make hot dogs your superfood”; “Hack your fat hormones”; “Dating lessons from pandemics past”; “Get beach body ready”; “Fast Love”; “12 instant money hacks”; “29 ways to get fancy skin without fancy products”; “Is your skin too clean? The one thing we are all doing wrong. (And how to fix it)”; “What were we even fighting about?! Stop the dumb arguments”; “Get the love you deserve”.
It’s interesting that the “good news” on the cover of these magazines are about change. They assume something is wrong and we want to fix it. They assume that we aren’t happy with the way we look, so they promise the perfect diet, the perfect makeup tips, and the perfect workout. They assume we worry about looking old. They assume we can’t get restful sleep, and we are plagued by worry. They assume our relationships are troubled by conflict, and we desire to feel more loved. … Why would the articles in these magazines be good news? It gives us hope that these things that we dislike about our life have a cure- there is a fix for what we feel is broken.
We read about John’s words to the crowds calling them a “brood of vipers”, and giving warnings about axes laying at the root of the unfruitful trees, and that they should share what they have with those who are in need- And his exhortations are described as being “good news to the people” (Lk 3:18). Why is this good news?
We should remember to connect this to the reading from last week. John’s message is about preparing the way for the Messiah- the one they have been waiting for to lead them- God’s anointed King. John’s ministry is about preparing the way for his arrival. This arrival is something the people have been yearning for. It is a joyful thing to hear he is on the verge of arriving. And that is good news! … But, there are preparations that need to be made. John warns them that they can’t rely on their family connections- They may claim Abraham as their ancestor, but that isn’t going to be enough. It’s not that the messiah is going to come and only the Romans will be forced to look at themselves in the mirror. Everyone will have to stand in front of that mirror. Everyone will require heartfelt repentance. They need to be washed, to be purified. … And it is to be a repentance that includes an outward expression- good works. It is outward evidence of an inward change. This is what John calls the “fruit of repentance”. … Again, this is only preparation. The Messiah will come after John, and he is greater than John, and he will baptize with the Holy Spirit, which looks forward to the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). But, he will also baptize with fire, which symbolizes judgement. According to Luke, John’s words were “good news”. His challenges to them regarding ways they need to change to be ready for the messiah, that was “good news”. …
In our society we don’t always receive correction very well. Change is uncomfortable, and we often don’t think we need to change in the way we are told to change. We will receive the correction if we believe that there is something that needs to be fixed. Like, if we aren’t getting restful sleep, or are in need of loosing a few pounds, or feel like we are looking old, … and there is a promise of fixing that in three easy steps. …
If we don’t see John’s words as good news, then maybe we don’t believe we are in need of preparation the way that his original hearers believed they were in need of preparation. … In our society, our bad self-esteem, our self-consciousness, tends to be more about our looks, or our wealth, or weather we feel respected. In our society we tend not to be self-conscious about our virtue- how kind we think we are- how generous- how loving- or how self-less.
Solomon Schimmel is a psychologist who wrote a book on the Seven Deadly Sins. He writes,
“Although many people suffer from feelings of inferiority, it is not usually because of their sense of moral or spiritual inadequacy. They don’t typically ruminate about how unkind, dishonest, or insensitive they might be, but about how incompetent, ugly, or professionally unsuccessful they are. They do not aspire to greater virtue but to greater recognition. This sense of inferiority and self-deprecation is not what the moralists want to cultivate as the basis for humility. On the contrary, the person who feels inferior about his social status, wealth, or looks is accepting values which from the religious point of view are inappropriate as a criteria for evaluating true self-worth. What the moralists want us to feel inferior about are our ethical, moral, and spiritual faults.”[1]That is what John is aiming at. What would we have to believe about ourselves, and about our world to hear what John says as good news? He is holding up a spiritual mirror to us, so we can look at ourselves truly- so that we can prepare for the shift that the messiah will bring into our lives when we truly welcome him. In fact, without seeing ourselves accurately, we might not welcome him at all. We might see no need for him. … As we come close to God it is a bit like driving into the sun with a windshield that has a lot of scratches. We see every little nick and bit of dirt as the sin reflects off each deviation in the surface of the windshield. When we drive at night, we don’t notice the scratches at all. … This isn’t to make us feel terrible about ourselves, but it is about seeing ourselves honestly. That is humility- seeing ourselves accurately. Not seeing ourselves as better than we are, but not seeing ourselves as worse either. We see ourselves accurately- through God’s objective and loving eyes- The one to whom “all hearts are open, all desires known, and from [whom] no secrets are hidden”. We see ourselves as broken AND profoundly and deeply loved by Someone who sees everything we are ashamed of and try to hide- who even sees the things we should be ashamed of and aren’t. Today is joyful because we await the one who comes to us because we are broken and because we need him.
[1] Schimmel, 43
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