Rejoice
always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
In
this season of Advent, as we prepare our hearts, minds and souls for the coming
of the Christ child - and the coming of Christ at the end of time - we light
successive candles on the Advent wreath.
This, however, is a special Sunday - the Third Sunday of Advent - when
we light the rose candle. Why is one
candle not like the others?
Advent
is somewhat related to Lent. It has the
underlying message of penitence in its message of expectant waiting for the
coming of Christ. The readings,
especially the Gospel readings for the last two weeks, have pointed toward the
end of time, and the Collects have the Last Days and repentance for sin as
their themes. In fact, today’s Collect
asks the Lord to
Stir
up [His] power...and with great might come among us, because we are sorely
hindered by our sins...
On
the Advent wreath, the three blue candles mark the preparation Christians undergo
while awaiting the arrival of Christ on Earth.
This
can be a difficult season for us, as liturgical Christians, because as we hear
the Lessons, Gospel readings, and Collects call us to examine our relationships
with God and one another, and to evaluate our spiritual lives in the light of
the future coming of Christ, it seems as if the rest of the world around us is
already celebrating the joy of Christmas.
All around us we there is food, parties, shopping, music and lights. In
the retail world, Christmas begins right after Halloween and then kicks into
overdrive on the day after Thanksgiving. Many people willingly participate in
this, barely putting away the leftover turkey before putting up every Christmas
decoration they own.- while we try to stay in the expectant and reflective
frame of mind to which Advent calls us.
While this calendar is fine for secular society, it has nothing to do
with the Child at the heart of the season. We won’t celebrate His birth - the
glorious and mysterious Incarnation of God - until Christmas Eve, and all the
early bird sales in the world won’t speed that up.
In
the old Latin Rite of the Mass this Third Sunday of Advent was known as Gaudete
Sunday. It took its name from the first
words of the Introit which come from Philippians 4.4:
Gaudete
in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.
-- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
We
light the rose-colored candle to remind us of that Gaudete,
that Rejoice! and in some places the priests and deacons wear rose-colored
vestments on this Sunday as well. Why do
we need a reminder to rejoice on this Sunday?
Because the happiness that comes from being surrounded by friends and
family, and from the full belly of Christmas feasting – the happiness we
associate with the season – is not the same thing as Christian joy.
It’s
because of the penitential nature of the season that we need the reminder. Even as we evaluate our spiritual lives,
looking for ways in which God is calling us to draw closer to Him, and
recognizing our imperfections and failures as we look forward with both awe and
anxiety to Christ’s coming, this Sunday calls us to hold onto our Christian
joy. Our joy as Christians doesn’t come
from the world around us, it comes from our relationship to God through Jesus
Christ.
Rejoice
always: this isn’t about wearing a goofy smile through life - like hiding
behind a mask from the realities of life, or worse, trying to avoid them
altogether. This isn’t some kind of existentialist escapism. For the Apostle Paul there is a definite
reason that you and I are to rejoice always, even living in a world where there
is war, violence, cruelty, poverty, and hunger.
We’re
to rejoice because in the face of all of that, we know, in Paul's words,
"If God be for us, who can be against us?"[1]
We’re to rejoice because we know that having been joined to Christ in baptism,
we will be joined to him in glory. We’re supposed to rejoice because our names
are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We’re supposed to rejoice because, as
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians just a few verses earlier than today's lesson,
"God has destined us not for wrath, but for salvation."[2]
The Day of the Lord is not doomsday, but a day of redemption for us because we
belong to God in Jesus Christ.
There
is another reason for us to rejoice always: despite the fallen, broken world we
live in, we see signs of its redemption, signs of its righteousness around us
and inside of us that signal the presence of God's Spirit. The saints continue
to reveal holy lives: the Word is proclaimed, the sacraments are celebrated,
the homeless are housed, the hungry are fed, acts of mercy take place as Christ
shows up anonymously around us. When Paul says "Rejoice always," he
is not saying "Cheer up!" or "Get happy!" He is talking
about keeping ourselves centered in the deep joy that knows, regardless of how
dark life may seem, we are children of light rather than darkness, not because
we are enlightened, but because we belong to the light.[3]
We endure, not because of our own steadfastness, but because of God's. Rejoice
in this always, without ceasing, and in all circumstances; this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We
are to pray without ceasing. This doesn’t mean a life spent on your knees in a
chapel or cave – at least not for everyone. On the other hand, time on our
knees, whether literally or figuratively, must be a part of the daily rhythm of
our lives if we are to remain faithful. In prayer, we are drawn into the
intimacy of God's presence and are nurtured by His presence and power.
Paul
says, pray, not only at regular times – for him it was three times a day – but
at all times "without ceasing." He tells us to live a life in
constant dialogue and interaction with God, whether on our knees or seated at
our desk, in the chapel or on the bus, as well as on the street, at the
computer, the dinner table, in front of the TV or with a newspaper in hand.
Such conscious contact with God, faithfully added to our day, actually brings
God's power and holiness into our lives. The seventeenth century Carmelite
Brother Lawrence famously called it "practicing the presence of God."[4]
When our lives are in such constant dialogue with God, all that we see,
contemplate and do is held before God, while we are, in turn, strengthened with
a divine self-giving that happens inside of us. Here is the real power of
prayer--it is our divine lifeline--it sustains, strengthens and empowers us.
Prayer links us to life's power source as surely as the cord on any appliance
links it to the electricity that comes from the wall socket. Unplugged, it is
useless. Pray always, without ceasing, in every circumstance. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Give
thanks in all circumstances. Notice what Paul does not say: he does not say
give thanks for all circumstances. There are circumstances in life
that no one can give thanks for. Not every circumstance that comes to us is of
God's making, nor God's will for us. Evil is real and present in our world.
Yet, none of that--no circumstance in life--is beyond God's reach and God's
power. God's power is such that even the worst evil can be overcome with good,
transformed and folded into God's purposes. The ultimate example of this is the
cross. Those who wanted to destroy Jesus forgot about the power of God; and so
they simply created the opportunity for God to reveal the scope and dimension
of His goodness and power. Do not give thanks for every circumstance, but in
every circumstance give thanks for the power of God, thanks for the power of
the resurrection, thanks that our hope is in God, thanks that what we see is
not all that there is. Give thanks always, unceasingly, and in all
circumstances. This is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you.
The
life of holiness to which Christians are called does not necessarily demand
from all complete withdrawal from the world, nor does it fling us blindly into
life's corruptions and brokenness, to try to fix the world on our own. Instead,
God promises that holiness will develop in us as we rejoice, pray and give
thanks always, unceasingly, in all circumstances. In this way, the God of peace
is making us His own and giving us His peace; the God of holiness is making us
holy, sound and fit for Him in body, mind and spirit.We light the rose candle
to remind us of the joy we find in our life together in Christ; our joy born of
the reality that God became flesh and dwelt among us. The God of hope is
holding us in such a way, forming us in such a life, that we may be found
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This,
my beloved brothers and sisters, is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
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