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This Third Sunday of Advent
is called Gaudete Sunday. We call it that because of today's reading
from Thessalonians, "Rejoice always! Pray without ceasing. In all
circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ
Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. May the God of peace make you perfectly
holy...and be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ." No purple today, but rose colored vestments because this is a
day of rejoicing.
The time of His coming is
almost at hand! Christmas is not about presents, parties, or even
the friendship of the season. It is fundamentally about our relationship
with Christ and his Father, in the Holy Spirit. Every year at this time
we hear this proclamation from Isaiah, "The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad
tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor
from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God..." When we hear it,
we pleasantly recall how it refers to Christ.
Remember Jesus reading this very passage to his own people in the
synagogue at Nazareth and then declaring the prophecy fulfilled in their
hearing. Recall their indignation — it brings us a smile at their
ignorance and naiveté. Oh, how they missed the point.
Here we are today, two
thousand years later, still missing the point. It is not just about what
Jesus came to do way back then. It is about what he comes to do today,
right here, right now, in you and in me. How will the prophecy of Isaiah
be fulfilled? Who will bring glad tidings and healing, proclaim liberty
and release, announce the Lord's favor and vindication? Who comes in the
name of the Lord? Not just Jesus back then, it must be Jesus right
now in you and me! |
