Third Sunday of Advent
We have now reached the Third Sunday of Advent, which is also known as Gaudete Sunday or Rejoicing Sunday. While the past two Sundays have focused on preparation for Jesus’s coming, this Sunday focuses instead on rejoicing in the Lord and his coming. There are three particular reasons that the Lord invites us to rejoice on this Sunday: 1. We rejoice in his first coming, 2. We rejoice in all the ways that he comes to us right now, and 3. We rejoice in anticipation of his future second coming. So how can we do this well?
Starting with Jesus’s first coming as a baby at the first Christmas, we ought to remind ourselves of what the world is like apart from Jesus. When I made my 30-day silent retreat during seminary, the first week of the retreat was dedicated to reflecting on precisely this point. We were invited to place ourselves in the garden and see the first sin play out. From there we considered how sin intensified and caused more and more harm and reflected on how that same pattern has played out in each of our lives with no sign of stopping despite our best efforts. Then from that place of near despair at our own powerlessness over sin and death, we turned to the Annunciation and Nativity. God reaching out to us and making a way for us to overcome sin and death, to see Jesus’s coming as God’s rescue mission for his lost children. To the degree that we realize how desperately we are in need of a savior, our rejoicing in our Lord’s first coming will be enhanced. It naturally inspires gratitude in our hearts for what God has done for us.
But that is not the only reason we rejoice today. We also rejoice because God is present with us right now. Through the Holy Spirit, God dwells within us and we have become sons and daughters of God. We do not have to go to some far-off place to find God, he is always with us and constantly reaching out to us. Most of the battle of prayer is learning to just keep showing up and paying attention to the ways that God likes to speak to us because he wants us to know his voice. God does not just speak and work in the past, he speaks to us now and invites us to share in his mission of bringing life to the world. We rejoice because we are coworkers with God in the work of salvation and that is what brings us the deepest joy. God has created us with a purpose in mind and when we are following him, the greatest desires of our hearts find fulfillment. We discover a joy that can endure through all outward circumstances.
Finally, we rejoice as we look forward to Jesus’s second coming in glory. When Jesus was preparing for his death, he promised his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them and that he would return to take them there. What we look forward to is the resurrection of the dead and the new heavens and the new earth where we will live in unity with God and our brothers and sisters for eternity. We were created for life with God, to be fully loved and to love in return. This side of heaven, our love is flawed and our ability to receive God’s love for us is impeded by sin and its effects. God is always totally loving us, but we are like a man standing under a waterfall and dying thirst; we have to learn how to drink, how to receive the super abundance of his love in every circumstance. That is the work that has been given to us now as we prepare for that day. The path of holiness is one of genuine friendship with God, learning to hear his voice, receive his love, and let our love for him be purified. We rejoice that we get to walk with him here and now and that we know how our journey will end if we are willing to remain faithful to him. We have been promised life, and we will have it in abundance. May God bless you today and throughout this week as you lean into the joy that we have in Christ.
God Bless,
Fr. Randy Koenigsknecht