Hi everyone!
Welcome to worship for this 3rd Sunday of Advent, landing on December 15, 2024! It’s good to be back on our site, even if it’s only partially what it was before!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. You may use it to follow along with the service, or simply use the words on your screen. The bulletin will have the sermon though, which is also posted on this page below the video.
If you would like to enhance your worship experience online, you are welcome to have a candle in your space, lit at the beginning of the service and extinguished near the end after the sending hymn when the altar candles are extinguished. You are also welcome to participate in communion if you are comfortable, by having something small to eat and drink prepared for the right time in the service. Further instruction will be given then.
May the truth of God’s love and grace bring you joy, this day and always!
Holy God, by your Word may we be guided into your ultimate assurance of peace and joy, giving us hope in your Spirit of love and right relationship, in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.
“So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people.”
Yeah, because being called a brood of vipers really sounds like good news, thanks. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I totally feel like I’ve been “exhorted” whenever I’m called out for being a hypocrite. Nothing really brings out the joy of this festive season like having a crazy camel hair guy yell at us for apparently not understanding what he’s saying when we’re just trying to do the right thing. Thanks, 3rd Sunday of Advent John the baptizer, for the quality preachable content. *thumbup*
Of course, you could probably tell that I was trying to be as sarcastic as possible. I just thought it was funny that today’s gospel passage ends the way it does, when all John really did was rip them all a new one. So it’s like Luke had to spell it out for everyone, like okok John was being a bit harsh here, made them all feel bad, but he really was telling them good news. Like, yes he called them names, but it was meant to be good news…
But the thing is, John isn’t exactly wrong, is he? I mean the people were being hypocritical. The people didn’t really get it. The people really only had their own best interests in mind. And we might think, well of course they were like that, they don’t have the benefit of 2000 years of scholarship and learning and hindsight like we do. If they did, they wouldn’t have been so hypocritical, they would have understood it better, they would have been more like us in our comfy positions as God’s people.
Well, the thing is, are we actually much better?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we’re all only bad or anything like that. Nor am I about to point out individual shortcomings and sin shame anyone. I’m not even going to call us names like John the baptizer did. I’m just saying that we aren’t perfect either, in spite of our best intentions. Not by a long shot. No matter what we tell ourselves when we look in the mirror or post up on social media or let off in front of our peers and those around us.
And this is somehow… good news? We are somehow supposed to feel better knowing this? Can we somehow find any kind of joy in the midst of all that?
Are these the kind of exhortations John used to tell the people good news? Because it doesn’t seem to be hitting the mark exactly.
Again, this isn’t to say that we’re miserable like all the time. I’m just saying that sometimes, or perhaps often times, life can be difficult. And when it gets tough, we don’t always act or talk or be how we might want to be. We might get weighed down by the things. We might feel the strain and stress of it all. We might be overwhelmed with hit after hit, blow after blow, and website problem after website problem. And when it really comes down to it, sometimes in these situations we find that our hope is dashed, our peace becomes unrecognisable, and our joy might almost be completely gone.
Today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Advent that is centered around the theme of joy, but like we just talked about, it seems like joy isn’t always all that readily available, especially when we get to this time of year, in spite of what the greeting cards say. I mean it doesn’t really seem like a joyful time with the incessant rains and longer and darker nights. We don’t feel joy when we’re stressed out over our Christmas preparations, our Christmas gift buying, and various Christmas events that take up so much time. It doesn’t look like joy when there is so much division in our city and country, so much anger targeted toward those different from us, so much hatred because the world isn’t exactly as it should be according to us.
Yet, the texts that we get for today, I mean the other texts that don’t feature crazy camel hair guy, tell us of this joy. They actually do exhort us with rejoicing and encouragement. They lift up the reasons to be joyful.
But maybe it’s easy for them to say, right? Like they’re scripture writers, prophets, apostles. They were able to see first hand what God can do in and around their lives. They saw and witnessed the deliverance, the miracles, the reasons to be joyful.
But was it easier for them though?
I mean Isaiah wrote today’s portion while Israel was in their first exile from their land. Zephaniah, who I admit to not know much about either, mostly talks about the inevitable second exile of Israel and the impending judgement of God. And Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian church from jail. Not exactly joyful times these characters come from. Not exactly surrounded by joyful themes. Not many reasons apparent to us for them to ever talk about rejoicing at all.
But they do.
Somehow in their despair, they were able to rejoice. Somehow in their hurt and pain they were able to find joy. Somehow in the harsh realities of the life in this world, they were able to see good news.
The good news of forgiveness and grace. The good news of love and community. The good news of God with us. Then. Now. Always.
This doesn’t take away their hardship. This didn’t bring Israel back into their promised land or protect them from being exiled again. This didn’t free Paul from prison. I mean even after all that, after all their words, after all their realising their joy, bad things still happened. Hurt still happened. Life still happened.
And that is ok. Because their joy isn’t based on their current situations. Their ability to rejoice in the good news of God doesn’t come from just the good times. Their realisation of who they are in God’s grace isn’t dependant on their physical location, their own works and ability to cope, or even what preachers tell them how they should feel. Rather, all that comes from the will, the Word, the unending truth of God’s promises to us all, lifting us up into hope, peace, and the confidence that tells us that God will never leave us, never stop loving us, never stop welcoming us into a purposeful and meaningful life.
Again, this doesn’t mean that all our problems should go away or the weather should instantly improve or someone miraculously takes care of the rest of our Christmas preparations and/or gift buying. But it means that even when our situations change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, that God remains unchanged in how much we are included in this story that spans eternity, this salvation that spreads throughout space, this love that surpasses understanding.
And so when we inevitably face problems, let’s not just fall into the anger and frustration that would be so easy to do. Instead, let’s be reminded to look out for the ways that God might be present through it all. That’s what Advent is about, isn’t it? Preparing the way like we talked about last week?
So, then, what should we do?
Well, it isn’t about just going through the motions, but it’s about opening our hearts and minds. It isn’t about following the rules and obeying the laws, but it’s about learning how to see God in our lives, each other’s lives, and in the world. It isn’t about preventing bad things from happening to us or our loved ones, but it’s about recognising how through it all, we are always given reasons to rejoice. Always.
It might not be in the form of miraculous miracles or a prophetic prophecies or angels lighting up the sky in song, but it could be in the form of a baby born among us. It could be in the faces and kindness of our community and those around us. It could even be in the warm smile and generosity of a stranger.
The point is, even when life can be tough, who we are as God’s people doesn’t change. Even when the days are literally and metaphorically shorter and darker, there is still light that breaks through it. Even when we find ourselves in impossible situations, there will always be a reason to be joyful, because God’s undying love for us is here, has always been here, and will always be here in our hearts, in our communities, and throughout the world.
So again, I say rejoice. For God is with us, loves us, and saves us from a life without hope, and grants us a peace that never ends or leaves us.
As we come very close to the end of Advent and into the very busy hecticness of Christmas, may we continually be prepared to see God in the world and in our lives, that we be confident in the hope of our salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God. Amen.