Rejoicing Sunday
Commentary
The third Sunday in Advent is officially called "Gaudete Sunday," which means "Rejoicing Sunday." Joy is the announced theme. Churches that use advent wreaths sometimes use a pink candle rather than a blue or purple one on this day to symbolize the different mood. The theme is explicit in the first two lessons. The Gospel text deals with baptism and its consequences (if we may assume that Luke uses the baptism of John as a somewhat anachronistic "type" of Christian baptism here).
Zephaniah 3:14-20
The prophet Zephaniah was active in the southern kingdom of Judah during the latter part of the seventh century. He may have been a descendant of King Hezekiah (1:1). He was a contemporary of Josiah, best known for instituting the deuteronomic reforms described in 2 Kings 23. The oracles recorded in his book, however, seem to predate those reforms, condemning the practices that they sought to correct. In essence, then, the book supports the work of Josiah and, for once, we see a prophet and a king in concert.
Our text for today presents the final words of the book, its concluding oracle. Up to now, the book has been devoted almost entirely to condemning Judah and other nations, predicting divine judgment that is going to come upon them. With this oracle, the mood changes suddenly and we find a promise of restoration. The promise is grounded in deuteronomic "remnant theology" (see the verses immediately following our text, Zephaniah 3:12-13). This perspective also informs our First Lesson from Micah next week.
Theologically, the main point of the text is that it identifies joy as the end result of judgment. It does so with powerful images. Shame will be turned into praise (v. 19)! That one line alone offers a poignant text for Americans, who live in what James Sanders terms "a shame-based society." This passage is also, I believe, the only biblical text that actually portrays God as singing (v. 17). It even reveals God's choice of music: loud party songs. Incredibly, we are the cause of such celebration, the source of God's joy. Our Lord delights in us. We also see the advent theme of connecting joy with the coming or presence of God. Repeatedly, the text says, "The Lord is in your midst" (vv. 15, 17). This is Zephaniah's version of the Immanuel theme: "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
These images are all tied to God's plan for the remnant, or we might say the "leftovers." The latter term implies those who might have been overlooked or unwanted until now. And that is accurate: verse 19 makes clear that Zephaniah believes the remnant will not be composed of those who were strong enough or wise enough to evade disaster, but of the oppressed, the disabled, and other rejected people of the earth. The image of the partying God, singing and dancing with such people, prepares us for the New Testament portrait of Jesus (called "a glutton and a drunkard") feasting with the outcasts of his day.
Philippians 4:4-7
Paul's letter to the Philippians is often called the "epistle of joy," and these verses highlight that theme as well as any. It is connected to gentleness, an attribute of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1) which is thus expressive of grace. In the Gospels, Christ certainly does not always seem to speak or act in ways that we would call "gentle," but that may reveal a difference between the English and Greek terms. The concept here means "not putting oneself first." It implies recognition that we are all beneficiaries of grace and so ought to be willing to extend this to others.
Joy is tied also to "thanksgiving." Have you ever met a grateful person who was not happy? Or vice versa? Perhaps the greatest deterrent to joy in our culture is the mistaking of privileges for "rights." It's in our founding documents: "an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thomas Jefferson was a tremendous statesman, but a terrible theologian. People are seldom grateful for getting what they believe they had coming to them. Rather, they are bitter when they don't get what they think they deserve. To give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18) means to view life itself as a gift, liberty as a bonus, and every moment of happiness that we pursue, much less attain, as so many additional perks. Such an attitude produces joy and stifles anxiety (v. 6).
Finally, joy is linked to the presence or coming of God. We may almost miss this line, "The Lord is near" (v. 5), but this is the point to accent for Advent. As in the First Lesson from Zephaniah, the source of our joy is the nearness of God. Everything depends on this and, of course, such nearness does not have to imply temporal proximity.
The benediction in verse 7 speaks of God's peace as something that surpasses all understanding. Just as God's ways are not our ways or God's thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), so the peace of God transcends what we term "common sense." People who experience this peace may be thankful and joyful even though things do not appear to be going well for them.
Luke 3:7-18
The theme of joy is less evident here. Instead, there is a lot of talk about judgment and morality. Crowds come to John to be baptized. He calls them a brood of vipers and tells them to bear fruit, that is, to repent. He says that trees that don't bear fruit get thrown into the fire. Then, he lectures them on social ethics and, finally, he indicates that if they think he's harsh, Jesus will be even worse: the great winnower who gathers wheat and burns the chaff. After all this, the text concludes, "So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people" (v. 18). Where is the "good news"?
Well, first, we should note that John does baptize the people. This is easy to miss. At first, it seems like John refuses to baptize people until they prove they are worthy. But that's dead wrong (it would make no sense, since the whole purpose of the baptism is for "the forgiveness of sins"). He does baptize them in verse 16, even though they have not yet borne any fruit worthy of repentance. The issue is on what basis they are to be baptized. Not because they are children of Abraham. They are, in fact, children of serpents, like the one in the garden of Eden (cf. John 8:44). Similarly, we come to baptism not as Americans or as Lutherans (or Baptists or whatever) but as helpless sinners, children of serpents. The fruit worthy of repentance is to be borne after baptism, though John tells them about it before he baptizes them. And then he goes on to say that Jesus is going to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
The image of Jesus separating wheat from chaff is not linked to an end-time judgment of good people from bad people. Rather, it is a symbol of the purification that Jesus' baptism of spirit and fire has on us. It is as though John is saying, "Yes, I'll baptize you, you brood of vipers, but let me tell you what's going to happen then. I put water on you. Jesus is going to pour the Holy Spirit all over you and it's going to burn. Then, by golly, you'll start producing fruit worthy of repentance."
The question, "What then shall we do?" is central to this pericope. What, for Luke, constitutes "fruit worthy of repentance"? Three examples are given, and notably all three have to do with money. This should not come as a surprise to those familiar with Luke. The basic point seems to be "Don't use power to oppress others, but instead give up power (possessions) to others."
"Joy" is not mentioned specifically in this passage, but in Acts 2 we find a description of baptized people who now bear the fruit John here describes. They are said to be people "with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people" (Acts 2:46-47).
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Can we believe that God is carrying on a war against all sinners? He is, of course, according to the Scriptures. Jeremiah gives us pictures of God attacking his sinful people in the form of that mysterious Foe from the North (Jeremiah 4--6). Ezekiel declares that there is a breach in our wall of defense, caused by our sin, and that the role of a true prophet is to go up into that breach and by sacrifice and intercession to turn aside God's attack (Ezekiel 13:5). Earlier in Zephaniah, the prophet portrays the Day of the Lord when God the Warrior attacks all the sinful inhabitants of earth (Zephaniah 1:14-18). And in the New Testament, we are told that Christ is "destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). God hates sin, according to the Scriptures, and he wars against every sinner.
To announce salvation to Israel, therefore, Second Isaiah declares to her that "her warfare is ended" (Isaiah 40:2), that is, her warfare with God. And so, too, here in our Zephaniah text, the battle has been stilled, because God has cast out all of his enemies and left for himself a faithful and humble remnant (Zephaniah 3:11-13). The fourth line of verse 17 reads in the Hebrew, "he will hold his peace in his love," and the reference is to the war cry of God in 1:14. No longer does he shout as he enters into battle with his foes. The shouts and clang of battle have been stilled, and there is peace, because God has defeated his enemies.
That is a picture of the future in Zephaniah, a time that will come "on that day" (v. 16). That phrase is found in most of the prophetic writings, and it always refers to an indefinite time in God's future, when he completes his work on earth and brings in his universal rule.
Further, says the Hebrew text of 17b, on that day God will be in the midst of his people, "a Mighty Man to save." No longer will he come to us in war, but his presence with us will be as a God of salvation, as a God of peace, who resides in the midst of his faithful folk.
Surely that is a cause for the rejoicing for which our text calls in 3:14. No longer will God be against us, but we will have peace with God -- peace that passes all understanding and that the world can neither give nor ever take away. That is a cause for singing and rejoicing and exulting, because we are totally dependent on God.
Zephaniah 1:12 quotes those people who say that God does nothing, but to the contrary, our very lives are in God's hands. God is our Creator who breathed the breath of life into our nostrils in the first place, and who now sustains the regular pumping of our lungs in and out. God is the Maker who set the creation into order and who now sustains its every process by his faithfulness; were he to leave the universe alone, it would collapse into chaos. God is he who gives us all the good gifts of life, of food and clothing, teaches Jesus, and even of our ability to have children and our families, adds Hosea (9:11-14). God is the Lord of love, who accompanies us daily, who constantly forgives us and guides us and strengthens us on our way. He keeps us from falling into temptation and constantly points out the way to life abundant. He draws near to us when we are in distress, and carries us in his everlasting arms. When we rely on his loving action in our lives, he sometimes gives us the power to soar up on wings like eagles and to run and not be weary. But always, he gives us the ability to walk steadfastly forward, day by day. In his loving action, we find our security, and in his promises we have our hope for the future, knowing that nothing in all creation, and not even death, can separate us from the love he has for us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, for all of these reasons, we rejoice and exult because God is present in our midst in peace, coming to us not as an enemy but as our everlastingly faithful Friend.
Not only do we rejoice over God's peaceful presence in our midst, however. Our text from Zephaniah also tells us that the Lord rejoices over us, celebrating because he can be in our company. That is an almost unimaginable thought that Zephaniah gives us in v. 17 -- that God exults and sings because he can be with us. Can you imagine that? The God who rules the universe being glad that he can be with you! The King of all the ages made happy by his fellowship with us! Us! You and me, little incidents in the span of time, a cause for the eternal God to rejoice!
Could it be that is what God has wanted all along? That he created us in the first place for no reason at all except that his love produced us? And that he has desired nothing else except to make us into his people -- a faithful people with whom he could enter into covenant fellowship; a trusting people to whom he could pour out good gifts; a loving people who would answer to his love with our own love for him?
When we look at the Son of God in the New Testament we find that all that is true. For Christ is the one who has given us peace with God, isn't he? He is the one who has defeated our enemies, our sin and death. By his death on the cross and his resurrection, he has given us back our lives, stilled God's warfare against us and made us new creatures. Christ is now the Son of God who dwells in our midst, in whom we find our joy and sure hope for the future.
To be sure, the full promise of this Zephaniah text awaits its fulfillment. We still flirt with sin every day and cause our Lord to grieve rather than rejoice. We forget that he has conquered sin and that we could be rid of it. We still fear our death and the death of those whom we love, forgetting that the Lord Christ has conquered death and that in faith we can share his eternity. The remnants of evil still haunt our world, and many do not rejoice. Many even do not welcome the presence of Jesus Christ in their midst.
But the full promise comes, good Christians. It surely comes. Zephaniah gives us a picture of what that time will be like, and Jesus Christ has guaranteed its coming. So already, now, in this interim time, we can share in the gladness, knowing that in the kingdom of God, this is the joy that lies out there ahead of us.
Zephaniah 3:14-20
The prophet Zephaniah was active in the southern kingdom of Judah during the latter part of the seventh century. He may have been a descendant of King Hezekiah (1:1). He was a contemporary of Josiah, best known for instituting the deuteronomic reforms described in 2 Kings 23. The oracles recorded in his book, however, seem to predate those reforms, condemning the practices that they sought to correct. In essence, then, the book supports the work of Josiah and, for once, we see a prophet and a king in concert.
Our text for today presents the final words of the book, its concluding oracle. Up to now, the book has been devoted almost entirely to condemning Judah and other nations, predicting divine judgment that is going to come upon them. With this oracle, the mood changes suddenly and we find a promise of restoration. The promise is grounded in deuteronomic "remnant theology" (see the verses immediately following our text, Zephaniah 3:12-13). This perspective also informs our First Lesson from Micah next week.
Theologically, the main point of the text is that it identifies joy as the end result of judgment. It does so with powerful images. Shame will be turned into praise (v. 19)! That one line alone offers a poignant text for Americans, who live in what James Sanders terms "a shame-based society." This passage is also, I believe, the only biblical text that actually portrays God as singing (v. 17). It even reveals God's choice of music: loud party songs. Incredibly, we are the cause of such celebration, the source of God's joy. Our Lord delights in us. We also see the advent theme of connecting joy with the coming or presence of God. Repeatedly, the text says, "The Lord is in your midst" (vv. 15, 17). This is Zephaniah's version of the Immanuel theme: "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
These images are all tied to God's plan for the remnant, or we might say the "leftovers." The latter term implies those who might have been overlooked or unwanted until now. And that is accurate: verse 19 makes clear that Zephaniah believes the remnant will not be composed of those who were strong enough or wise enough to evade disaster, but of the oppressed, the disabled, and other rejected people of the earth. The image of the partying God, singing and dancing with such people, prepares us for the New Testament portrait of Jesus (called "a glutton and a drunkard") feasting with the outcasts of his day.
Philippians 4:4-7
Paul's letter to the Philippians is often called the "epistle of joy," and these verses highlight that theme as well as any. It is connected to gentleness, an attribute of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1) which is thus expressive of grace. In the Gospels, Christ certainly does not always seem to speak or act in ways that we would call "gentle," but that may reveal a difference between the English and Greek terms. The concept here means "not putting oneself first." It implies recognition that we are all beneficiaries of grace and so ought to be willing to extend this to others.
Joy is tied also to "thanksgiving." Have you ever met a grateful person who was not happy? Or vice versa? Perhaps the greatest deterrent to joy in our culture is the mistaking of privileges for "rights." It's in our founding documents: "an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thomas Jefferson was a tremendous statesman, but a terrible theologian. People are seldom grateful for getting what they believe they had coming to them. Rather, they are bitter when they don't get what they think they deserve. To give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18) means to view life itself as a gift, liberty as a bonus, and every moment of happiness that we pursue, much less attain, as so many additional perks. Such an attitude produces joy and stifles anxiety (v. 6).
Finally, joy is linked to the presence or coming of God. We may almost miss this line, "The Lord is near" (v. 5), but this is the point to accent for Advent. As in the First Lesson from Zephaniah, the source of our joy is the nearness of God. Everything depends on this and, of course, such nearness does not have to imply temporal proximity.
The benediction in verse 7 speaks of God's peace as something that surpasses all understanding. Just as God's ways are not our ways or God's thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), so the peace of God transcends what we term "common sense." People who experience this peace may be thankful and joyful even though things do not appear to be going well for them.
Luke 3:7-18
The theme of joy is less evident here. Instead, there is a lot of talk about judgment and morality. Crowds come to John to be baptized. He calls them a brood of vipers and tells them to bear fruit, that is, to repent. He says that trees that don't bear fruit get thrown into the fire. Then, he lectures them on social ethics and, finally, he indicates that if they think he's harsh, Jesus will be even worse: the great winnower who gathers wheat and burns the chaff. After all this, the text concludes, "So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people" (v. 18). Where is the "good news"?
Well, first, we should note that John does baptize the people. This is easy to miss. At first, it seems like John refuses to baptize people until they prove they are worthy. But that's dead wrong (it would make no sense, since the whole purpose of the baptism is for "the forgiveness of sins"). He does baptize them in verse 16, even though they have not yet borne any fruit worthy of repentance. The issue is on what basis they are to be baptized. Not because they are children of Abraham. They are, in fact, children of serpents, like the one in the garden of Eden (cf. John 8:44). Similarly, we come to baptism not as Americans or as Lutherans (or Baptists or whatever) but as helpless sinners, children of serpents. The fruit worthy of repentance is to be borne after baptism, though John tells them about it before he baptizes them. And then he goes on to say that Jesus is going to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
The image of Jesus separating wheat from chaff is not linked to an end-time judgment of good people from bad people. Rather, it is a symbol of the purification that Jesus' baptism of spirit and fire has on us. It is as though John is saying, "Yes, I'll baptize you, you brood of vipers, but let me tell you what's going to happen then. I put water on you. Jesus is going to pour the Holy Spirit all over you and it's going to burn. Then, by golly, you'll start producing fruit worthy of repentance."
The question, "What then shall we do?" is central to this pericope. What, for Luke, constitutes "fruit worthy of repentance"? Three examples are given, and notably all three have to do with money. This should not come as a surprise to those familiar with Luke. The basic point seems to be "Don't use power to oppress others, but instead give up power (possessions) to others."
"Joy" is not mentioned specifically in this passage, but in Acts 2 we find a description of baptized people who now bear the fruit John here describes. They are said to be people "with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people" (Acts 2:46-47).
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Can we believe that God is carrying on a war against all sinners? He is, of course, according to the Scriptures. Jeremiah gives us pictures of God attacking his sinful people in the form of that mysterious Foe from the North (Jeremiah 4--6). Ezekiel declares that there is a breach in our wall of defense, caused by our sin, and that the role of a true prophet is to go up into that breach and by sacrifice and intercession to turn aside God's attack (Ezekiel 13:5). Earlier in Zephaniah, the prophet portrays the Day of the Lord when God the Warrior attacks all the sinful inhabitants of earth (Zephaniah 1:14-18). And in the New Testament, we are told that Christ is "destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). God hates sin, according to the Scriptures, and he wars against every sinner.
To announce salvation to Israel, therefore, Second Isaiah declares to her that "her warfare is ended" (Isaiah 40:2), that is, her warfare with God. And so, too, here in our Zephaniah text, the battle has been stilled, because God has cast out all of his enemies and left for himself a faithful and humble remnant (Zephaniah 3:11-13). The fourth line of verse 17 reads in the Hebrew, "he will hold his peace in his love," and the reference is to the war cry of God in 1:14. No longer does he shout as he enters into battle with his foes. The shouts and clang of battle have been stilled, and there is peace, because God has defeated his enemies.
That is a picture of the future in Zephaniah, a time that will come "on that day" (v. 16). That phrase is found in most of the prophetic writings, and it always refers to an indefinite time in God's future, when he completes his work on earth and brings in his universal rule.
Further, says the Hebrew text of 17b, on that day God will be in the midst of his people, "a Mighty Man to save." No longer will he come to us in war, but his presence with us will be as a God of salvation, as a God of peace, who resides in the midst of his faithful folk.
Surely that is a cause for the rejoicing for which our text calls in 3:14. No longer will God be against us, but we will have peace with God -- peace that passes all understanding and that the world can neither give nor ever take away. That is a cause for singing and rejoicing and exulting, because we are totally dependent on God.
Zephaniah 1:12 quotes those people who say that God does nothing, but to the contrary, our very lives are in God's hands. God is our Creator who breathed the breath of life into our nostrils in the first place, and who now sustains the regular pumping of our lungs in and out. God is the Maker who set the creation into order and who now sustains its every process by his faithfulness; were he to leave the universe alone, it would collapse into chaos. God is he who gives us all the good gifts of life, of food and clothing, teaches Jesus, and even of our ability to have children and our families, adds Hosea (9:11-14). God is the Lord of love, who accompanies us daily, who constantly forgives us and guides us and strengthens us on our way. He keeps us from falling into temptation and constantly points out the way to life abundant. He draws near to us when we are in distress, and carries us in his everlasting arms. When we rely on his loving action in our lives, he sometimes gives us the power to soar up on wings like eagles and to run and not be weary. But always, he gives us the ability to walk steadfastly forward, day by day. In his loving action, we find our security, and in his promises we have our hope for the future, knowing that nothing in all creation, and not even death, can separate us from the love he has for us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, for all of these reasons, we rejoice and exult because God is present in our midst in peace, coming to us not as an enemy but as our everlastingly faithful Friend.
Not only do we rejoice over God's peaceful presence in our midst, however. Our text from Zephaniah also tells us that the Lord rejoices over us, celebrating because he can be in our company. That is an almost unimaginable thought that Zephaniah gives us in v. 17 -- that God exults and sings because he can be with us. Can you imagine that? The God who rules the universe being glad that he can be with you! The King of all the ages made happy by his fellowship with us! Us! You and me, little incidents in the span of time, a cause for the eternal God to rejoice!
Could it be that is what God has wanted all along? That he created us in the first place for no reason at all except that his love produced us? And that he has desired nothing else except to make us into his people -- a faithful people with whom he could enter into covenant fellowship; a trusting people to whom he could pour out good gifts; a loving people who would answer to his love with our own love for him?
When we look at the Son of God in the New Testament we find that all that is true. For Christ is the one who has given us peace with God, isn't he? He is the one who has defeated our enemies, our sin and death. By his death on the cross and his resurrection, he has given us back our lives, stilled God's warfare against us and made us new creatures. Christ is now the Son of God who dwells in our midst, in whom we find our joy and sure hope for the future.
To be sure, the full promise of this Zephaniah text awaits its fulfillment. We still flirt with sin every day and cause our Lord to grieve rather than rejoice. We forget that he has conquered sin and that we could be rid of it. We still fear our death and the death of those whom we love, forgetting that the Lord Christ has conquered death and that in faith we can share his eternity. The remnants of evil still haunt our world, and many do not rejoice. Many even do not welcome the presence of Jesus Christ in their midst.
But the full promise comes, good Christians. It surely comes. Zephaniah gives us a picture of what that time will be like, and Jesus Christ has guaranteed its coming. So already, now, in this interim time, we can share in the gladness, knowing that in the kingdom of God, this is the joy that lies out there ahead of us.
