Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.
(Canticle 9, Book of Common Prayer, p. 86)
This is the Third Sunday of Advent.
We light the third candle on the Advent wreath, the candle of Joy.
A keen observer will note that the readings for this third Sunday (as well as last week, I might add) are missing a psalm. Instead, we hear from the prophet Isaiah. This particular selection of Isaiah sounds very much like a psalm, regardless of its location.
Another observation can be made that the Isaiah selection sounds like an echo of the Old Testament reading from Zephaniah.
Though the two prophets were born a century apart, the theme which binds them together is “joy.” Despite the challenging circumstances in which the people of Israel found themselves, both prophets speak in hopeful, joyful tones.
We also tie in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians that begins with the resounding exclamation to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice!”
The congregation at Philippi was also going through some turmoil, and Paul himself wrote these words while he was in jail.
All these urgings to be joyful in light of seemingly negative circumstances might sound insincere, as if Paul and the prophets are unrealistically looking at life through rose colored glasses. One could certainly argue rather convincingly that the critical social, economic, and political situations in which we find ourselves give us little reason or hope to think otherwise. We feel vulnerable, overwhelmed, depressed, and oppressed.
However, the Jewish Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl, writing from the German concentration camps, affirmed that if you have a “why,” or a reason for living, you can respond to any situation with courage and grace.
And here is our “why”:
This third Sunday of Advent, we know someone is coming. Jesus is coming and we are filled with joy. That joy has nothing to do with our circumstances. We can have joy in spite of them.
Joy is the most reliable sign of the presence of God.
When we remember that our lives and futures are already secure in God’s hand, we have a hope that nobody can take away from us!
As a result, we can rejoice.
Let us pray.
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.
