The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Season of Advent
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Overview and Connections
Last week we heard from the fiery character of John in the desert, calling us to a complete turn, a total transformation of life. Such deep-rooted change can feel overwhelming, so we are balanced this week by the theme of JOY!
There was a point in my spiritual journey where JOY took center stage, and I seem to be incapable of writing the word without using all caps! How can we talk about this word without entering into its invitation?!
Today is Guadete Sunday, the Latin word for JOY, and it takes its name from the Philippians reading. To use a musical metaphor: this Sunday is a crescendo of JOY as we inch ever closer to experiencing the coming of Christ in our lives.
We could ask what each of these passages has to say about JOY.
Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Zephaniah has only one positive section in his writings and today’s reading is it!
The reading begins with a summons to rejoicing, to JOY. Zephaniah is looking forward to a day of vindication when all Israel’s enemies will be called to account. Although this material is much earlier than Baruch and the exile, this is the same theme that we heard last week: a reversal of fortunes is coming. Things are going to get better. And the people are encouraged to act as if they already are better. Go ahead and rejoice!
V15 tells us that the LORD is already “in your midst!” He came, he’s coming. But he’s always here, in our midst. And because of that, there is nothing to fear.
Think about things you fear. Try to imagine Jesus standing next to you. Perhaps dialog with him about these fearful things. How does he respond? How does his presence interact with your fear?
The verbs in v17 are active: this is a picture of God leaping for JOY in uncontained delight, literally dancing.
It also says he will renew you in his love. The Hebrew for “renew” is ambiguous and difficult to translate. One alternate translation would be “He will sooth you with his love.” But it could also be translated as “he will be quiet or silent in his love.” Perhaps the ambiguous word was chosen because it is trying to express a love too deep to be expressed in words. As one commentary put it, “Whatever it means, the imagery is compelling: Yahweh in his love does not know whether to shout or be still.”
What does this passage tell us about Gaudete, about JOY? I go back to v17 – this image of God so full of JOY that she can’t contain herself – she is bursting with it. I think that gives us an image of the kind of JOY that we are invited into. And it also shows us the source of that JOY.
Philippians 4:4-7
The most relevant fact about this letter for the Advent season is that it is a prison epistle – Paul wrote it when he was in prison. Not the best of circumstances to inspire hope and JOY! And yet, the key theme of this letter is JOY. And this is not a facile JOY in the absence of suffering and difficulty, but rather a deep JOY that can spring forth out of a prison cell (1:7,13), the suffering church (1:29-30), and even the possibility of martyrdom. All those are situations that Paul addresses in this letter.
The Latin Vulgate of v4 gives this Sunday its name: “gaudete in Domino semper iterum dico gaudete.” Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!
The Greek word rejoice is actually the verb form of the word grace. It means literally to delight in God’s grace, to experience it, and to be conscious of it. Charis (grace) is closely related also to the Greek for JOY, which shares the same fundamental meaning. This is the same word the angel speaks to Mary: hail or rejoice.
Why does Paul repeat himself? Probably because rejoicing and JOY have not been the response thus far from his audience. Or the community has been challenged to rejoice. So Paul reminds them: rejoice, delight, in God’s grace. You might recall the image from the Old Testament reading: a dancing God unable to contain her enthusiasm. Perhaps Paul desires that same exuberance from us.
Out of that JOY, that grace, flows many fruits which Paul is going to mention beginning in v5. The first is an attitude of kindness. The King James Version translates this word as gentleness, meaning properly, equitable; “gentle” in the sense of being truly fair by relaxing overly strict standards in order to keep the “spirit of the law.” Not pressing people on the letter of the law, but exhorting them to its spirit. Maybe not condemning them if they eat meat on Friday in Lent, but rejoicing that they are trying to worship God as best they know how. It is indeed a kindness to give the benefit of the doubt at all times, in all situations.
Keep in mind that the audience of this letter is a community in conflict. Take a look at v2, just before this passage: “I entreat Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord.” Paul is talking about a gentleness that does not insist on one’s own rights or even one’s own interpretations. It is a kindness that is willing to forgo any form of retaliation, that is selfless in spite of the faults of others. This kindness or gentleness is an approach that flows out of JOY.
Another thing that comes from a life of rejoicing is knowing the nearness of God. Remember Zephaniah says, “The Lord is in your midst.” A common prayer in the early church community was Maranatha, Aramaic for “Come Lord” or “The Lord is coming.” “The Lord is near” could refer to the second coming or, if we read it in light of Advent, Jesus who is always coming. An attitude of rejoicing helps us remember and look for that.
V6 is maybe the hardest thing in the world to do, and it’s one of the most concretely demanding commands from Paul: Have no anxiety AT ALL! The Greek word anxiety is merimnáō and it comes from the root merimna which means “a part as opposed to the whole.” Figuratively, it means “to go to pieces,” because one is pulled apart in different directions.
The opposite of anxiety is effectively distributing concern, in proper relation to the whole picture. For example, if we know that Christ is Lord of all, including the wind and the waves, then something like a storm can be properly placed in balance – we can respond to it as something under God’s control. If we don’t look at it in that bigger picture, then the storm becomes the only part we look at, and we become anxious.
Worry can be sinful because it is an outward and visible sign of the inward condition of not trusting God and God’s provident care. Paul says to rejoice no matter the external circumstances: this pretty much summarizes this entire letter.
Paul suggests that the alternative to worry is prayer. Specifically, thankful prayer for ourselves and for others. Thankful that we swim in an ocean of grace. I love the practicality of this. He doesn’t say we have to become saints or mystics. Just pray for others and yourself. And that prayer is intimately connected with a lack of anxiety.
What happens when we are able to keep the bigger picture through prayer? Peace that surpasses all understanding (v7). One commentary observed, “The phrase serves as a subtle reminder to us not to be prisoners of the Enlightenment, not to assume rationality (or our senses) is the only way of knowing. That mistake stunts the possibility of many kinds of growth in the interior life.” Allow some things to be beyond your understanding.
The heart is the core of the person, the center of willing, feeling, and thinking. “Mind” is Paul’s term for the rational, thinking self. “Heart and mind” is the whole of the person. An attitude of prayerful trust in God brings the reward of knowing that God cares for us in the entirety of who we are and in the entirety of all our circumstances. The peace comes not from escaping or changing the circumstances. The peace comes from conversing with a God about the entirety of who we are.
What does this passage tell us about Gaudete, about JOY? I think one of the things to point out here is that JOY is not a forced emotion. It’s not smiling and “chin up” when things are bad. JOY is a fundamental stance towards everything that happens to us. And we can cultivate that stance through things like kindness, gentleness, an awareness of God’s abiding presence, replacing anxiety with prayer – we can ask for the grace to do all those things. That’s where the JOY and peace come from.
Think of a situation that causes you anxiety. In what ways might you be seeing it in a narrow frame of focus? How can putting the situation in a right perspective ease your anxiety?
Luke 3:10-18
The 2nd and 3rd Sundays of Advent always focus on the figure of John the Baptist. Flavius Josephus was a Jew living in Jerusalem from about 37-100AD. He was a historian who wrote prodigiously, and he is the primary source for corroborating Biblical evidence of the time. He mentions John as an actual, historical figure, saying he was “a good man who commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness toward one another and piety towards God.”
John lived an austere life in the desert; his life was pared down by his desert experience. But there’s no record of him calling his disciples to emulate this. Rather, he challenges them to carry on their daily lives with openness and honesty. And he brings a message of JOY – the Messiah is coming! In today’s reading, his listeners react with a question: How are we to respond to the JOY of salvation?
The lectionary skips v7-9, I think because it’s not very JOYful! The crowds have come to John, and he calls them a brood of vipers, which was a huge insult. And then he follows that by telling them to produce good fruits as evidence of their inner transformation. He says that their Jewish blood is no longer enough; being in the covenant is not enough for this new era. This is a huge shift: being God’s chosen people is no longer about biological descent. This new age is about the internals, not the externals.
V9 says the ax lies at the root of the trees, and anything that is not producing fruit and is not transformed will be burnt up. Scripture often associates fire with the final judgment. I find it fascinating that the same people he just insulted are now going to respond very positively to his message. I think this speaks to what a charismatic person he must have been.
John has called the people to metanoia, and, in v10, the people ask what exactly does that look like. A reminder here, as is often true for scripture: John’s response might be different for us than it was for a crowd of people in the desert in first-century Judea. He’s not calling us to do these things specifically (perhaps that might be easier!). Rather, he’s calling us to a transformation of life and relationships, both with God and with each other.
Many of those following John and responding are on the fringes of Jewish society. They are the same people who will also respond positively to Jesus’ message. We might not expect such people to be the best responders, but a key theme of Luke (and scripture in general) is finding God at work in unexpected places, in unanticipated ways.
John’s first answer is for them to share their excess clothing with those in need. Notice he doesn’t say to share the clothes off your back, but rather, if you have extra, give it away. Caring for the poor is a core teaching throughout the law and the prophets, but one that the Jewish people were always challenged to observe fully.
When I lived in Yemen, the vast majority of people there owned one set of clothes. At the end of Ramadan, most people would visit public baths and buy a new set of clothes for the next year. Having an extra set laying around would have been considered opulence for most people.
John says to live with only what you need, and he stresses proper use of material possessions. Luke will harp on this theme! Most of us have way more than two tunics. The challenge is to hear the underlying message of metanoia and discern what that means in our own concrete circumstances.
V11 was a response to the crowds in general. The next group, in v12, are the tax collectors. These were Jews employed by Rome, but the government didn’t actually pay them. Rome gave them the authority to collect money from people. It was implicit in the job description that they would collect enough to both pay Rome and live on. Some were very successful in extorting enough to live very, very comfortably. This is the group now asking John how to respond.
In v13, John says again, keep only what you need. Don’t collect more than what you owe to Rome and what you actually need to live on.
The next group that comes are the soldiers, or more likely, these were mercenaries. Soldiers in the Roman Empire were well known for terrorizing locals wherever they went, taking what they wanted with impunity. These soldiers might have been Roman or Jewish auxiliary troops working for Rome. Read John’s answer in v14 and you’ll see a theme: keep only what you actually need and share the rest. Don’t try to get more at the cost of your brother or anyone else.
In v15 the people begin to speculate on John’s true identity. Only in Luke and Acts is there the idea that John might be the Messiah. This probably reflects Luke’s community; perhaps they were the ones asking this question. Maybe it was a contentious debate. After all, John was the one who was martyred, whereas Jesus died a criminal’s death.
So John clears up any doubt. He says in v16 that Jesus is mightier, a Greek word implying physical strength; stronger. Jesus is The Strong One. The Jews of the time had a vision of the Messiah as a political figure, a king who would conquer the enemy and establish a new kingdom. Calling Jesus the Strong One might reflect this understanding, held even by John the Baptist: Jesus as a strong king who would conquer.
John says he is not worthy to loosen the thongs of Jesus’ sandals. This was a way of expressing the most menial person. Today we might say “I’m not worthy to clean his toilet or change his bedpan.” John puts himself in relation to Jesus so that everyone can see John is subordinate to him.
In Mark, John proclaims a baptism of fire only. Luke adds baptism in the Spirit here, likely a post-Pentecost addition, reflecting a deepening understanding of the Trinity.
John goes on to use imagery in v17 of gathering and burning. This evokes the idea of harvest, which was symbolically related to the last days, the time of the Messiah. John’s imagery is rather… forceful: winnowing fan (pitchfork), wrath (v7), axe (v9). This is diametrically opposed to Jesus’ ministry of healing and reconciliation. Curiously, the word translated in that verse as unquenchable is the Greek word asbestos.
Not included in the lectionary are the verses that show John being locked up in prison. Remember that Luke is seeking to remove any doubt in his community that Jesus, not John, is the Messiah. He does so here by establishing a succession that shifts attention away from John. But it also avoids the subordination of John. John in the desert was important for the duration of his ministry, and now his ministry is over.
The question what should we do? is unique to Luke. It helps lay out John’s mission and teachings. It’s interesting that this question gets asked in other places in Luke/Acts as well. A lawyer and ruler both ask Jesus this same question in Luke 10:25 and 18:18. It comes up three times in Acts: 2:37, 16:30, 22:10. There, each time the answer is baptism. One thing this tells us is that the good news requires action. We can’t just intellectually assent to it.
Imagine yourself sitting with Jesus. Ask him this question: what should I do? How does Jesus respond?
What does this passage tell us about JOY? Zephaniah had that image of God so full of JOY it can’t be contained. Paul says that JOY is this fundamental stance towards everything that happens to us, and we can do some things to cultivate it in our lives. I think Luke’s passage talks to us about the practical overflow of that JOY.
If we are united to a God so full of JOY it just overflows on and in and through us, and if we live in that JOY as a fundamental stance towards everything, the right ordering of our life and use of material possessions will be a natural outflow. Perhaps, like these groups in the gospel reading today, we’re always going to be asking the question what should I do? because the JOY overflows. So what do I do in response to a situation? How do I express that JOY?
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