‘Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you.’ Zephaniah 3:14-15
Friends, we all remember Lockdown though it seems like a different time—a different world even—when we had to stay locked down in our homes, when we could have only one walk a day, when, if we got to see loved ones it was through a window. We wondered at the time if we’d ever get back to normal; now we struggle to remember quite what it was like back then. And because many of us struggle to remember what it was like back then, we may also struggle to remember the joy which accompanied the announcement of a vaccine. It was the 8th December 2020 when Maggie Keenan was the first person to receive the Covid jab… and what a difference it made. A vaccine meant that the most vulnerable could be inoculated which meant that we could—as it were—come out of hiding, come out of lockdown prison; no longer did we need to fear what a bug which we could not see might do to us and to our loved ones. I don’t remember—funny that isn’t it—I don’t remember the announcement of the approval of the vaccine, however, it would have been entirely appropriate if the Prime Minister had said ‘Rejoice’—not just because it was Boris Johnson and that’s the type of thing he might have said—but because that was exactly what we could now do. Rejoice, for we have light at the end of the tunnel. Rejoice, we can protect the elderly more. Rejoice, our lives may soon be back to normal. Rejoice, for our national imprisonment is at an end. Rejoice!
We’re three quarters of the way through Advent, which is meant to be period of reflection, of penitence, of saying sorry, and of seeking to change our sinful habits. Consequently Advent can be a bit dark something which is reflected in the usual colour for Advent, purple. Over the past few weeks we’ve been reflecting on the fact that Jesus will return to judge and when He does each of us will have to give an account. It’s a healthy thing to do, to reflect upon our lives now while we still have time to change. However, as with all health regimes it can become a bit overbearing, there can be a danger that if we enter into this season properly we might now be feeling a little depressed. Today, the Third Sunday of Advent is meant to be an antidote to any lingering depression, it’s meant to be the chocolate treat for those who have been dieting. Today we put off the purple and we’re commanded—ordered if you like— to ‘rejoice’. But how can we possibly rejoice with judgement on the way? Well, it is all down to knowing the One who is coming, the character of the One who will judge, and it’s all there in our first reading: ’Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you’. As we have reflected on a couple of times, for those who know Jesus—for Christians—His return will be like a loving father returning to a child who misses Him greatly. As we’ve been reflecting in this season—as we’ve just reflected at the beginning of this service—we, each of us, is far from perfect and so may question how can we rejoice even if a loved one—the loved One—is returning. When I introduced Advent I gave another illustration, this time of a naughty child being told by their mother ‘just you wait ’til your dad gets home’… is that what it’s more like, more like waiting for impending punishment. And yet while there is certainly an aspect of Jesus’ return which is like that, for Christians, for those who have chosen to love and follow Jesus, the answer is ‘no’… but why? As our first reading puts it: ‘Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! [because] The Lord has taken away your punishment.’ What we rightly deserve has been dealt with, our punishment has been taken away. Here there is no down playing fault, no imagining, or pretending we’re all perfect… however, we are promised that if we hold on to Jesus then our punishment will be ‘taken away’. How? Jesus takes our punishment away from us, first by coming to us, by being born as one of us, and then breaking the bars of our self-imposed prison by dying on the cross. Jesus does all that for us and so we can ‘rejoice’.
In 2020 we were waiting, longing, for the scientists to find a vaccine. We knew they would, we knew that eventually it was likely that a vaccine would be developed, but it seemed to take forever and, while we waited we were imprisoned—pretty much—in our homes. Similarly the Jewish people knew the prophecy of Zephaniah, they knew God would act but they waited and waited and nothing seemed to be happening. Almost out of the blue—it seemed—one appeared on the scene. This figure spoke about repentance and offered forgiveness through baptism and perhaps, then, it was no surprise that people began to wonder if John the Baptist was the one. Our Gospel reading: ‘The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ In other words ‘no’ John is not the one but he is preparing the way. John is the trailer, if you like, which prepares the way for the film; the less known warm-up act before the star hits the stage. The One, Jesus, is coming and so get ready. Here is the breaking news in the middle of the day. Here is the announcement everyone hoped for but no one really expected. The man appointed walks out on stage and says ‘the time has come’. I imagine back in December 2020 there were a few glasses of various sorts drunk in celebration of the vaccine announcement. I imagine many people ‘rejoiced’ at hearing the news, at knowing for certain that soon they would be released from lockdown forever, that soon they would be able to see their relatives, that soon the sick, and the lonely would be able to feel the touch of their loved ones. That is how John the Baptist’s announcement is meant to make all those who hear it feel, whether back then or right now. And that is why John is the right person for Gaudete, for ‘Rejoice' Sunday because what he came to tell the world is that there is a spiritual vaccine and it came in the Person of Jesus Christ. For all those who know that they aren’t good enough for God now know that God is good enough for them; that God-in-Jesus is coming not to condemn, but to free. That is the Good News of the Third Sunday of Advent, the Good News of John the Baptist, the Good News of the Gospel that Jesus’ coming both now and then, need not cause those who choose to follow Him to fear rather it should cause them to rejoice.
With so many here today there are bound to people in different places. Some will be feeling a bit Advent-ed out, a bit exhausted by focussing on the Second Coming. Others will be here wondering if Jesus’ return is good news for them as they haven’t paid Him much attention before. Others will look at their lives and know that if they are judged by their actions it can only be bad news. If you are in any of those categories Gaudete Sunday, ‘Rejoice’ Sunday, is the Sunday for you because it is today when we hear the announcement from John the Baptist, that Zephaniah’s prophecy of good news has finally come true: ’The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.’ That One is no other than Jesus Christ—Emmanuel God with us—who was born into this life to save all those who follow Him. Amen. (from Fr Mike).