Musings for the Third Week in Advent

Sunday, December 13, 2009
Third Sunday of Advent

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Pastor Macholz

INTRODUCTION
The presence of the Lord "in your midst" in the wonder of the holy supper is cause for singing. The nearness of the Lord in prayer, in every circumstance, is cause for rejoicing. The coming of one "more powerful" than John, even with his winnowing fork in his hand, is good news--and cause for exultation--for us who are being saved. Great joy is the tone for the third Sunday of Advent.

Lucy, martyr, died 304
Lucy was a young Christian of Sicily who was martyred during the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian. Her celebration became particularly important in Sweden and Norway, perhaps because the feast of Lucia (whose name means "light") originally fell on the shortest day of the year.

Prayer of the Day (ELW)

Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God, and open our ears to the preaching of John, that, rejoicing in your salvation, we may bring forth the fruits of repentance; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

First Reading

Zephaniah 3:14–20

The prophet Zephaniah's message is mostly one of judgment for sin. This reading, however, which comes from the conclusion of the book, prophesies joy for Judah and Jerusalem. Judgment has led to repentance, and God's salvation is at hand.

¹⁴Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
¹⁵The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
¹⁶On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
¹⁷The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
¹⁸as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
¹⁹I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
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.

Psalm (ELW)

Isaiah 12:2–6

In your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isa. 12:6)

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not ^| be afraid,

for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might,

and has become ^| my salvation.

³With joy you ^| will draw water

from the wells ^| of salvation.

⁴And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call ^| on God's name;

make known the deeds of the LORD among the nations;

proclaim that this name ^| is exalted.

⁵Sing praises to the LORD, who 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.

Second Reading

Philippians 4:4–7

Despite being in prison, Paul is remarkably upbeat as he writes this letter. Here, he urges his friends in Philippi to trust God with all their worries and concerns, with the hope they will experience God's joy and peace.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Gospel

Luke 3:7–18

John the Baptist heralds the mighty one "who is coming." John teaches that preparation for God's reign is not a matter of identity but of bearing fruits of merciful justice, radical generosity, and vocational integrity.

⁷John said 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? 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." ¹⁰And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" ¹¹In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." ¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" ¹³He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages." ¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, "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."
¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Reflection

The third Sunday of Advent is/was known as Gaudete Sunday because in Latin, the first words of the opening antiphon for that day’s Mass were "Gaudete in Domino semper" "Rejoice in the Lord always". Those words, from Philippians 4:4 set the tone for the day as they are added to the other readings.

Zephania exhorts the people of Israel to ‘exult with all your heart’ for God has removed judgments from them.

The psalmist calls all within earshot to ‘sing praises to the Lord who has done gloriously.’

The second lesson (see above)

And even in the Gospel, after his seeming browbeating of those within earshot and a massive call to repentance, Luke ends this section with these words: ‘So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.’

With the above references in mind it’s easy to see why, even though John’s exhortation may sound contrary to the fact, this is known as Rejoice Sunday. His words are filled with hope and promise as he tells the people that one who is mightier than he is on the way. In fact, he’s so powerful John is not worthy to untie his sandals.

So frequently we hear John’s admonition in tones that are negative and off-putting yet when we dig deeper we discover great depth and power in what he has to say. No matter how bad it might be or be getting, no matter what we have done or left undone, the One who is coming brings forgiveness and cleansing and healing.

Our understanding of that is part of the preparation for Advent. Clean out the clutter. Rejoice in the Lord. Celebrate!

Jesus is coming. Rejoice and give thanks.

Let us pray

• For wisdom for the leaders of this nation, that they might find a way toward civil discourse and honest evaluation of the realities in and with which we live.
• That those who seek companionship during this holiday season may discover the desire of their hearts
• For those who mourn the loss of loved ones as they enter these days
• For warmth for those who have no coats
• That we might hear the Christmas story once again with new ears and see it with new eyes

Quote

Advent Optimism

It is important to remember the deep, in some ways anguished seriousness of Advent, when the mendacious celebrations of our marketing culture so easily harmonize with our tendency to regard Christmas, consciously or otherwise, as a return to our own innocence and our own infancy....

But the Church, in preparing us for the birth of a “great prophet,” a Savior and a King of Peace, has more in mind than seasonal cheer. The Advent mystery focuses the light of faith upon the very meaning of life, of history, of [humanity], of the world and of our own being. In Advent we celebrate the coming and indeed the presence of Christ in our world. ~Thomas Merton