That means I did not preach, but the texts this week were (literally) full of rejoicing:
Luke 3:7-18
First the word cloud:
Then the (unpreached) (mostly unpolished) sermon:
Remember that song on Sesame Street… “one of these things is not like the others…”
Our texts today seem like a really good version of that game. We start with Zephaniah saying REJOICE!
And then Isaiah says multiple times “Sing! Pray! For Joy!”
And Paul, in Philippians, says “REJOICE! And AGAIN I say rejoice!”
But then we get to the Gospel lesson from Luke. Wherein John the Baptist looks out at the people who have come to hear them, and calls them “BROOD. OF. VIPERS.”
Wut??
How is it, that on this third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday known for being a bit of a break from the heaviness of this season of waiting, that the Gospel according to Luke is so judgey while the Prophets (not to mention the sometimes curmudgeonly Paul) are all about rejoicing??
Isn’t the GOSPEL supposed to be GOOD NEWS? Isn’t the Old Testament just full of judgment?? What is up with this flip on that “common” knowledge?
Well… for one thing… it is always a bad idea to try to pigeonhole God. Because God can be (and is) judgey or rejoicing whenever and wherever God chooses. But for today… let’s dig in a little bit more.
It turns out that the rest of Zephaniah is super-judgey… although not about the Israelites. The words of rejoicing are because God has promised to deliver the Israelites from all the people around who would harm them.
Isaiah is talking about God returning to God’s people in the midst of much destruction, in the wake of the people ignoring God and simply not paying attention. God is saying – as God so often says throughout the Old Testament – that there will always be reason to rejoice. That even as the people turn away, they will all come together again. And what a day for celebration and rejoicing that will be for both God and the people. Together again, and loving each other anew.
In his love letter to the Philippians, Paul is pointing to the redemption in Jesus. The Jesus who came and lived and died and was resurrected so that the rejoicing is not a coming together after a big breakup, but ALWAYS. Because Jesus has healed our relationship with God forever so instead of rejoicing as we return from time away, we have reason to rejoice always. No more does God turns God’s face away. Because Jesus has walked among us as a real human person.
What we see, then, in each of these passages is a contrast… a contrast between the brokenness and wickedness of the world and the goodness of God. A contrast between all the ways we wander (or run) away from God, and all the ways that we never get very far because God is right there. Just waiting for the moment when we can realize that rejoicing is always our gift to God… and our gift from God.
You know that brood of vipers that John was addressing? Well, they were all people who would have been familiar with the judgment and rejoicing of Zephaniah and Isaiah. They were people who were so accustomed to thinking of the rejoicing side that it had not occurred to them that God might be unhappy about how they were responding. John is calling them to task, saying
Y’all! It’s not just the Babylonians! God did not preserve you so you could mistreat each other! Yet look what you do to your own people. God has consistently promised you all the good, so why are you so petty? How have you forgotten who God is? That God is the One who has loved you and been the reason for rejoicing since the beginning?
Just like that brook of vipers who had taken God’s goodness and turned it into judgment and meanness towards others, it is pretty easy for us to jump on John’s judging words and think
* Well, yes, how could they miss what God wants! Good thing we have Jesus!
* Or, The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!
* Or, What is WRONG with all those people? Why don’t they just do better?
* Or the biggie… “I’m doing ok and have enough money and things so I must be ok with God.”
And yet, that is basically what John was telling those viper-people that they were doing wrong!
So if we are acting like the people John was talking to, does that mean we will respond like they did when they said “Wait, what? What should we do?? How else are we supposed to see things?? If prosperity isn’t a sign of God’s love, THEN WHAT IS??”
If John were here today, right now, I think he would respond to us pretty much the same way he responded to the people then:
* Share from your abundance! If you have more than you need, give it away.
* Don’t put getting getting money above relationships.
* Don’t abuse your power to get more money and power.
If we all think about it, and admit the truth of our actions, those instructions are as weird and unbelievable to us today as they were back when John spoke them.
* How much stuff do you have cluttering up your space that you simply cannot afford to give away?
* How often does your work or your own personal interests take priority over the needs of other people (even the ones you love?)
* How often do you use your power and privilege to avoid consequences, even as you shrug and turn away as others receive far more than their fair share of (often underserved) consequences?
John got the people thinking and questioning… questions like
* Wait, isn’t money the indicator of how successful I am at living my life?
* Wait… don’t people get what they deserve? So if things are going badly it means they just aren’t living right?
* Now wait… it feels like I never have enough as it is… how awful would it be if I had even less stuff? Aren’t the people with all the riches and glamor and cool stuff the ones we should all be like?
As surprising as it seems there are people living right now who have found that the answer to those questions are not at all what they expected at first. They find that Yes I can live on less! No I don’t need all this stuff after all! Hey, I’m actually happier without the pressure to lead “the glamorous life.” And the hardest one… Maybe sometimes bad things happen to people who don’t deserve it any more than I do.
And in thinking those things, John had their attention. He had brought that brood of vipers to a point of noticing. They were ready to meet and pay attention to Jesus.
They were ready for a Savior who would exceed John in offering a message of hope.
They were ready to respond as the Philippians did.
They were ready for rejoicing, the rejoicing that had been promised by Zephaniah and Isaiah and so many others.
And so here we are, on the third Sunday of this year’s Advent season… ready for Jesus.
Ready for the Jesus who would live a life with no social power (and rejecting the social power that was offered to him.)
Ready for the Jesus who chose people and relationships over money and power every single time.
Ready for the Jesus who threatened the social order so thoroughly that they killed him on the cross.
Ready for the Jesus who would not stay dead and in whose resurrection we are given the freedom to do as Paul taught the Philippians in so much love: REJOICE! Again and again and again! REJOICE!
Rejoice! Be gentle! Worry not! Be at peace!
Because in this waiting time of Advent we know how the story turns out.
Against all odds, the baby Jesus is coming.
The Jesus who will survive secular rulers who were afraid of him.
The Jesus who will thrive and grow.
The Jesus who is here now, loving us in our confusion.
Loving us as countercultural radicals.
Loving us so much that we can actually do this thing.
We can REJOICE!
REJOICE!
And again… REJOICE!
Because Jesus is coming… and all is well.
Amen.
First the word cloud:
Then the (unpreached) (mostly unpolished) sermon:
Remember that song on Sesame Street… “one of these things is not like the others…”
Our texts today seem like a really good version of that game. We start with Zephaniah saying REJOICE!
And then Isaiah says multiple times “Sing! Pray! For Joy!”
And Paul, in Philippians, says “REJOICE! And AGAIN I say rejoice!”
But then we get to the Gospel lesson from Luke. Wherein John the Baptist looks out at the people who have come to hear them, and calls them “BROOD. OF. VIPERS.”
Wut??
How is it, that on this third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday known for being a bit of a break from the heaviness of this season of waiting, that the Gospel according to Luke is so judgey while the Prophets (not to mention the sometimes curmudgeonly Paul) are all about rejoicing??
Isn’t the GOSPEL supposed to be GOOD NEWS? Isn’t the Old Testament just full of judgment?? What is up with this flip on that “common” knowledge?
Well… for one thing… it is always a bad idea to try to pigeonhole God. Because God can be (and is) judgey or rejoicing whenever and wherever God chooses. But for today… let’s dig in a little bit more.
It turns out that the rest of Zephaniah is super-judgey… although not about the Israelites. The words of rejoicing are because God has promised to deliver the Israelites from all the people around who would harm them.
Isaiah is talking about God returning to God’s people in the midst of much destruction, in the wake of the people ignoring God and simply not paying attention. God is saying – as God so often says throughout the Old Testament – that there will always be reason to rejoice. That even as the people turn away, they will all come together again. And what a day for celebration and rejoicing that will be for both God and the people. Together again, and loving each other anew.
In his love letter to the Philippians, Paul is pointing to the redemption in Jesus. The Jesus who came and lived and died and was resurrected so that the rejoicing is not a coming together after a big breakup, but ALWAYS. Because Jesus has healed our relationship with God forever so instead of rejoicing as we return from time away, we have reason to rejoice always. No more does God turns God’s face away. Because Jesus has walked among us as a real human person.
What we see, then, in each of these passages is a contrast… a contrast between the brokenness and wickedness of the world and the goodness of God. A contrast between all the ways we wander (or run) away from God, and all the ways that we never get very far because God is right there. Just waiting for the moment when we can realize that rejoicing is always our gift to God… and our gift from God.
You know that brood of vipers that John was addressing? Well, they were all people who would have been familiar with the judgment and rejoicing of Zephaniah and Isaiah. They were people who were so accustomed to thinking of the rejoicing side that it had not occurred to them that God might be unhappy about how they were responding. John is calling them to task, saying
Y’all! It’s not just the Babylonians! God did not preserve you so you could mistreat each other! Yet look what you do to your own people. God has consistently promised you all the good, so why are you so petty? How have you forgotten who God is? That God is the One who has loved you and been the reason for rejoicing since the beginning?
Just like that brook of vipers who had taken God’s goodness and turned it into judgment and meanness towards others, it is pretty easy for us to jump on John’s judging words and think
* Well, yes, how could they miss what God wants! Good thing we have Jesus!
* Or, The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!
* Or, What is WRONG with all those people? Why don’t they just do better?
* Or the biggie… “I’m doing ok and have enough money and things so I must be ok with God.”
And yet, that is basically what John was telling those viper-people that they were doing wrong!
So if we are acting like the people John was talking to, does that mean we will respond like they did when they said “Wait, what? What should we do?? How else are we supposed to see things?? If prosperity isn’t a sign of God’s love, THEN WHAT IS??”
If John were here today, right now, I think he would respond to us pretty much the same way he responded to the people then:
* Share from your abundance! If you have more than you need, give it away.
* Don’t put getting getting money above relationships.
* Don’t abuse your power to get more money and power.
If we all think about it, and admit the truth of our actions, those instructions are as weird and unbelievable to us today as they were back when John spoke them.
* How much stuff do you have cluttering up your space that you simply cannot afford to give away?
* How often does your work or your own personal interests take priority over the needs of other people (even the ones you love?)
* How often do you use your power and privilege to avoid consequences, even as you shrug and turn away as others receive far more than their fair share of (often underserved) consequences?
John got the people thinking and questioning… questions like
* Wait, isn’t money the indicator of how successful I am at living my life?
* Wait… don’t people get what they deserve? So if things are going badly it means they just aren’t living right?
* Now wait… it feels like I never have enough as it is… how awful would it be if I had even less stuff? Aren’t the people with all the riches and glamor and cool stuff the ones we should all be like?
As surprising as it seems there are people living right now who have found that the answer to those questions are not at all what they expected at first. They find that Yes I can live on less! No I don’t need all this stuff after all! Hey, I’m actually happier without the pressure to lead “the glamorous life.” And the hardest one… Maybe sometimes bad things happen to people who don’t deserve it any more than I do.
And in thinking those things, John had their attention. He had brought that brood of vipers to a point of noticing. They were ready to meet and pay attention to Jesus.
They were ready for a Savior who would exceed John in offering a message of hope.
They were ready to respond as the Philippians did.
They were ready for rejoicing, the rejoicing that had been promised by Zephaniah and Isaiah and so many others.
And so here we are, on the third Sunday of this year’s Advent season… ready for Jesus.
Ready for the Jesus who would live a life with no social power (and rejecting the social power that was offered to him.)
Ready for the Jesus who chose people and relationships over money and power every single time.
Ready for the Jesus who threatened the social order so thoroughly that they killed him on the cross.
Ready for the Jesus who would not stay dead and in whose resurrection we are given the freedom to do as Paul taught the Philippians in so much love: REJOICE! Again and again and again! REJOICE!
Rejoice! Be gentle! Worry not! Be at peace!
Because in this waiting time of Advent we know how the story turns out.
Against all odds, the baby Jesus is coming.
The Jesus who will survive secular rulers who were afraid of him.
The Jesus who will thrive and grow.
The Jesus who is here now, loving us in our confusion.
Loving us as countercultural radicals.
Loving us so much that we can actually do this thing.
We can REJOICE!
REJOICE!
And again… REJOICE!
Because Jesus is coming… and all is well.
Amen.
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