“3rd Sunday of Advent: Joy (Where Is It??)”

Zephaniah 3:14-20

December 12, 2021

“The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; [God] will rejoice over you with gladness, [God] will renew you in [God’s] love; [God] will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.” (Zephaniah 3:17-18a, NRSV)

Last Sunday I observed that there were only 20 days until Christmas. Which means that today, one week later, there are only 14 days until Christmas. Which means only 13 days to get ready for Christmas. Less than two weeks! But who’s counting??….

I need another deep breath….[BREATHE…]

So, today is the third Sunday of Advent. The Sunday whose theme is JOY.

Joy. 

A word, an emotion, that seems to often be thought of as fairly interchangeable with happiness. Perhaps joy is thought of as great happiness, but it’s often thought of as something pretty much the same as happiness. Or maybe some would say it’s more like delight… Or maybe elation… 

What would you say if I were to ask what “joy” means to you? 

Well, anyway, as with last Sunday’s theme of PEACE, and the theme of the Sunday before that, which was HOPE, I found that as I thought about JOY, and this morning’s sermon,  I was, yet again, of a split mind. 

As with hope and peace, I think we can all acknowledge that there are places in the world where joy seems lacking. 

And perhaps equally as true, if not more so, I suspect we can think not just of places, meaning geographical places, but situations–or relationships–or even just moments–in which joy seems, or in fact, is, absent. 

Situations, or relationships, or moments that are distinctly not happy. Where there is no delight. Where elation is far from what anyone is feeling.

Situations, or relationships, or moments that are marked by grief and sadness, or conflict and chaos, or loneliness and desperation.

Situations or relationships, or moments in which anxiety and scarcity and fear seem to outweigh peace and abundance and love.

Without question, there are situations, and relationships, and moments–and places– where joy seems scarce, and not just scarce but nonexistent.  

In the face of all of that, how are we to talk about “joy” in this season? 

Because for some of us, “all of that”–or at least some of it–is not just a distant reality. For some of us, it’s not a hypothetical situation. For some of us who are here, as well as for some of our neighbors, and certainly for too many folks around the world, it’s all too real. 

Is “joy” just another idea that we just have to pay lip service to at this time of year? 

There’s certainly a pretty widespread cultural expectation that we will all be joyful! And spreading holiday cheer! After all, according to Andy Williams, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!   

Is joy something that’s really only available to people who are happy? To those for whom elation is overflowing and conflict is absent? To those for whom peace is present and love abounds?

Or is there some way that we can all experience joy, even those of us who are in the midst of situations and relationships and moments that are not delightful, that are marked by grief and chaos and loneliness, that are weighed down by too much anxiety? too much fear? 

I think there is a way. 

I think that’s exactly what this holy season is about! 

It’s about joy in the midst of not-always-delightful realities. Joy in the presence of sadness. Joy in the face of conflict. Joy in spite of loneliness. Joy in the thick of anxiety.

Joy, in other words, in the middle of the messiness of real life.

But how?? 

Let me read the passage from Zephaniah again. Listen for joy:

Did you hear it? Did you hear the joy? The rejoicing? And not just by God’s people, but by God?? 

I’m going to read it again, and this time I want to invite you to close your eyes and really listen, listen for the emotions expressed:

“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.”

(Zeph. 3:14-20)

Open your eyes when you’re ready. No rush. 🙂 

So where’s the joy? Where does it come from? 

I hear it here: 

“The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies.”

We have been forgiven! We will not be judged for all the times, ALL THE TIMES, we’ve messed up, and let people down, and screwed up, and hurt the people we love… That’s reason for joy!

And I hear it here:

“The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.”

God is with us. Right here. In our midst. In the midst of life. In the midst of the hard stuff. In the midst of grief and sadness, and conflict and chaos, and loneliness and desperation and anxiety and scarcity and fear. And all of the other not-delightful realities of life. God is with us, in our midst. And we do not have to be afraid. That’s reason for joy!

I also hear joy here:

“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…”

There it is again: The Lord, our God, is in our midst! And not only in our midst, but God is a warrior, who fights for us, who strengthens us, who gives us victory! This God is with us, right here, in our midst. That’s reason for joy!

I hear joy here:

“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.”

God is rejoicing over us! Rejoicing over us with gladness!! God is so full of joy that God is singing, and loudly, over us!! A reason for joy? I’d say so!

And I hear more joy here:

“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…”

I hear tenderness, and compassion, and healing. And that bit about “I will bring you home…”? Beautiful… That’s reason for joy.

God, Creator of all that is, who was and is and is to come–

Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth–

God, Three in One, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–

That God is in our midst. 

That God has forgiven us. 

That God fights for us, and gives us strength. 

That God rejoices over us! With loud singing!

That God has come to be among us, to be with us, to be one of us. In the middle of the mess.

Reason for joy? Even in the midst of not-always-delightful realities? Even in the presence of sadness? Even in the face of conflict? Even in spite of loneliness? Even in the thick of anxiety?

Reason for joy in the middle of the messiness of real life?

I say yes. 

Yes!

God has come to be among us, to be with us, to be one of us. 

Thanks be to God!

Amen.