The Third Sunday of Advent - 16 December 2012
Zephaniah
3:14-20
Canticle
9: Ecce Deus, Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians
14:4-7
Saint
Luke 3:7-18
Background: Gaudete Sunday
This Sunday in Advent,
along with its cousin in Lent (Laetare) are known as “refreshment
Sundays”. In the old lectionary
and calendar, the Season of Advent had many of the penitential aspects of the
Season of Lent. Alleluias were
suppressed, the color for the season was purple, and the Gloria was not
sung. Therefore the theme of these
Sundays was one of joy, a relaxation of the stricter atmosphere of the other
Sundays of the season. The color
for the day is Rose, and the readings reflect a joyful aspect to the
season. Now many churches are
using blue as the color for the season, although some still preserve the rose
vestments for this day. The name
for the day, “Gaudete”, comes from the initial word of the old Introit for the
day:
Gaydete in Domino semper: iterum dico,
Gaudete. Medestia vestra nota sit
omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis: sed in omni oratione petitiones vestræ
innotescant apud Deum. Benedixisti
Domine terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob.
A combination of
Philippians 4:4-6 (see the Second Reading for the day) and Psalm 85:1, the
verse is translated as:
Rejoice in the Lord,
always; again I say rejoice. Let
your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety
about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the
captivity of Jacob.
Underlining the joy of
this day may be difficult in a culture that has not participated in the
reflective character of Advent – thus the change of character will be difficult
to demonstrate.
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The 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.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
The 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
as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I 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.
At 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 wrote in the seventh century BCE,
probably during the reign of King Josiah.
What is notable about this period was the program of religious reform
that Josiah attempted, and that probably gave us a great deal of recovered and
edited materials from the Pentateuch.
Nevertheless, this was a period of anxiety and of prophetic
concern. Zephaniah, in verses that
precede this reading, utters condemnations against the people of Jerusalem for
their abandonment of YHWY, and their syncretism of Canaanite gods and the
worship of the Lord. Zephaniah
warns against a false sense of complacency with the demise of the Assyrians
(612 BCE) seen as God’s retribution against Assyria for its destruction of the
Kingdom of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).
Against this background Zephaniah changes his
tone. Jerusalem is asked to “sing
aloud” to “shout” and to “rejoice”.
Why? The Lord has given
victory to Zion and has gathered those who have been affected by the kingdoms
around them. The final verses
sound almost shepherd-like in their tenderness. That would be an appropriate theme, which is connected to
kingship, especially the Kingship of David. It is not only haughty Jerusalem, however, who is redeemed,
but also “the lame”, and “the outcast”.
True joy for a nation cannot be reserved only for the elites, but must
be a condition for all.
Breaking
open Zephaniah:
1.
Zephaniah
seems to have lived during a period of both hope and despair. How is your time like his?
2.
What do you
have to rejoice about in your life or world?
3.
Who are the
outcasts in Zephaniah’s world? Who
are they in your world?
Canticle 9, The First Song of Isaiah Ecce
Deus
Isaiah 12:2-6
Surely, it is God who saves me; *
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *
and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *
from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say, *
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples; *
see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *
and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
In this psalm, the first Isaiah
momentarily relinquishes his theme of judgment in the oracles that have both
preceded and that will follow these verses. It is a respite, if you will, such as Rose Sunday is in the
reflections of Advent. What will
follow in the chapters attributed to another Isaiah is a period of
comfort. Here we have an
anticipation of that joy. What are
interesting are his references to a day, upon which the people will say, “Give
thanks to the Lord.” The Day of
the Lord is usually a time of judgment and wrath – a time to be dreaded. Here Isaiah turns that notion on its
ear, and sings the praise of a merciful God.
Breaking
open Canticle 9:
1.
Why do you
think first Isaiah inserted this note of joy into his harangue against
Jerusalem?
2.
What notes of
joy insert themselves into the sorrows of your life?
3.
How can you
give thanks during a time of trial?
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your
gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Following a section in which Paul has specific
instructions for two women in the Philippian congregation, Euodia and Syntyche,
Paul now returns to a more general exhortation: Rejoice in the Lord.
This is a final and memorable, due to its repetitive nature, exhortation
to the Philippians as to how to live together in Christ. The comment to Euodia and Syntyche, “be
of one mind” in the previous section gives us a clue as to what Paul wants to
accomplish in these final verses.
As usual Paul lists out the virtues that he wants to commend to them:
gentleness, reassurance, prayer, thanksgiving, and the peace of God. This is the conversation that the
Philippians are to have with one another during this period of waiting (The
Lord is near).
Breaking
open Philippians:
1.
What is
talked about in your church?
2.
Does it meet
Paul’s standards?
3.
How could you
change that?
Luke 3:7-18
John 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? Bear 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. Even 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."
And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In reply
he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has
none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Even tax collectors came to
be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He
said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."
Soldiers 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."
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in
their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John 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. His 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."
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the
people.
All is not joy on this day. In the midst of the encouragements of
Zephaniah, Isaiah, and St. Paul, we must hear the refrains of repentance that
the Baptist will offer here.
Popular, the crowds cross a difficult wilderness to come and be baptized
by him, John the Baptist not only preaches a message of anticipation of the
Christ, but also foreshadows Luke’s clear social message, evident through out
the Gospel. John is clear. Status is not a thing of birth or
ancestry; it is rather an aspect that comes from the very details of life. Three groups wonder what it is that
they are required to do: the crowds, the tax collectors (collaborators), and
soldiers. They are the full
spectrum of Judean society – the pure of blood, those who are not respected for
their position in society, and those who are the oppressors. He has a lesson for each.
And what is his vision of the One who is to
come? The promises are a bit harsh
– the Holy Spirit/Fire, also the One who winnows and discards that which is
worthless. In a light moment,
perhaps added by an editor, these fiery promises are classed as “good news
(preached) to the people.
Breaking
open the Gospel:
- Luke describes the spectrum of his society by using “the
people”, “the tax collectors” and “the soldiers”. How would you describe the society
in which we live, using three examples?
- How are John’s words “Good News”?
- How are the Holy Spirit and fire connected?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Stir up your power, O Lord, and
with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our
sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.
All commentary and questions are copyright © 2012
Michael T. Hiller
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