Third Sunday of Advent

Call to Worship

Reader 1: When God’s people were surrounded by hardship, suffering, and grief, Isaiah proclaimed,

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit (Isaiah 61:1-3a).

Reader 2: We come today as people who are also surrounded by suffering and grief. And yet, the Spirit hovers among us, tending and anointing, inspiring freedom where there is captivity, declaring blessing in places the world has cursed, and igniting fierce joy where mourning and heartache prevail.

Congregation: We wait as people who experience hardship and pain, yet we are called to witness to the persistent joy that sustains our life as God’s people.

Reader 1: We light these candles as signs of our shocking hope, just peace, and fierce joy. May our lives shine with the fierce, tenacious joy of the Light who lives in our hearts as we wait and work for the coming of God’s kin-dom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Light three candles of the Advent wreath. If your Advent wreath includes a pink or rose candle, light that candle today.

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

“For I, the Lord, love justice;

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the Lord;

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up

and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

and praise spring up before all nations.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Is 61:1-4, 8–11.

Second Reading: Luke 1:46-55

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Lk 1:46–5

Sermon:

Today, as Christians, awaiting the King, we remain hopeful. We are well aware we live in a broken and fallen world but when Christ returns, when the King comes back, righteousness and justice will be restored. And most of us can’t wait. We long for this world be to “righted” again.

But last week, we learned that even while we live in this world, awaiting the King, we can have peace. Not just the absence of war but the sense of Shalom. Peace in the midst of everything that is taking place around us. Jesus told His followers He would give them His peace. He said, “Not like the world gives.” Which we understand to mean that the peace He gives is a whole lot better. And Paul in writing to the church in Phillipi says that God gives us a “peace that transcends understanding.”

And today, we await the King with joy. Now, I don’t know if it can be said often enough, but joy is different than happiness. You see, happiness is dependent on our circumstances. A few years ago, my father-in-law had a 2005 blue Corvette. It was beautiful and my father-in-law was meticulous about taking care of it. He kept it in pristine condition. He decided to sell it and advertised it. A gentleman agreed to his price and arrangements were made for him to come and pick it up. The money exchanged hands and this guy got into this wonderfully looking new to him corvette. I wasn’t there but I can imagine the smile on his face. So excited. A great purchase. An investment. Until the elderly lady ran through the stop sign at the intersection, and totalled the corvette. 3 hours of happiness over in just a matter of seconds.

Joy isn’t like that. Joy doesn’t depend on circumstances. It isn’t based on what’s happening to us or around us. It is, as Mary demonstrates to us in this text what happens in us as we see God at work in the world. This past week, some of us went to Paris theater and watched the movie, “Journey to Bethlehem” this year’s story of Christ’s nativity and like so many others, they try to consider how Mary might have felt being a pregnant virgin. How people responded to her. Would her family be supportive? What about Joseph and his family.

Based on our understanding of how we might feel we can imagine life was difficult for Mary. People looking at her with judgment saying, can you believe she says the child is the Son of God? or Can you believe she thinks He will be the Savior of the world? Judging her for her pregnancy. Even Joseph wondered how he should deal with this information. This young girl has never been pregnant but she is going to experience all of it firsthand. She will be agitated and uncomfortable, nauseous and anxious and all the other range of physical and emotional changes that occur when a woman experiences pregnancy.

Yet, according to Luke, she cries out in joy. She praises God for what He is accomplishing through her for His people. She may not completely understand what she will experience and she certainly couldn’t foresee Christ’s death on the cross, but she understood that God was bringing His salvation and that she was a part of it. She was a part of what God was doing in this world.

This morning, you and I are a part of what God wants to do in His world. The church is still God’s plan to bring the message of salvation to the world. And as His followers we are a part of His plan. We ought to be shouting, “How great our joy”. As we await the King, we are invited to be a part of the mission to bring salvation to the world.