Advent 3 -DEC 17, 2023
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, Psalm 126, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, John 1:6-8,19-28
Rev Julie Platson, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, Alaska
Opening Prayer: Today we lit the rose colored candle for Joy
Dear God, In the height of our Advent walk, grant us the courage to experience joy.
Joy in the face of apathy, Joy in the face of sorrow, Joy in the face of uncertainty. Amen.
Read pg 44 – Preparing the Way: Christian Practices for Advent…
For some folks…this time of joyful expectation during Advent, and in this holiday season, all this talk about joy can feel a bit too much…it can be hard to muster up any reasons to be joyful when one is missing loved ones who have died, or when one is experiencing other sorrows, or other overwhelming concerns that weigh heavily on their hearts and minds. We look all around us, there are so many places where war and conflict and violence are squashing any hopes of joy in the lives of God’s beloved children.
Yet today, we are invited to consider how it is…that joy can be present…even in the midst of such sorrows.
We are invited to consider that there is another story to be told and heard than what the world appears to tell us and teach us...
A different story, a hope-filled story, that comforts us in knowing that death, and sorrow and suffering do not have the last word. We hear that good news story during holy week and Easter in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection….and we hear that good news story in the words of scriptures during Advent, as we wait with joyful expectation for the coming of Christ again…
On this 3rd Sunday of Advent, we pause to be reminded that it is precisely into unsettling, uncertain times such as these…that Jesus, the hope, the peace, the joy, and the love and light of the world has already come…and will come again…and again..and again..into our lives…kindling a flicker of joy in our hearts…when we most need it…and open our hearts to receive it…
Yes…this world we live in is full of difficult and hard days…yet…in the good news story of God’s love come down to dwell among us, in the infant child whose birth we celebrate on Christmas Day, we can find hope, peace, joy and the love and light of God…in Jesus, who John the Baptist is pointing us to in today’s gospel…reminding us, once again this Advent, that we are never alone…that God is with us…Emmanuel... God is always with us…
That is what can fill our hearts with joy today…that good news that God is with us…Emmanuel... God is always with us…
In our 1st Thessalonians reading today, Paul reminds us to cultivate this good news in our daily lives…no matter the circumstances. He tells us to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you...
So…today…as we worship together on this 3rd Sunday of Advent…we pause to rejoice, to pray for one another, without ceasing, and to give thanks in all circumstances, and for this good news of God’s love, revealed to us in the scriptures, and in the lives of all who have gone on before us, and those who walk this Advent Journey with us once again this year..
God is with us… Emmanuel…God is always with us…
I invite you in the next few moments…to think about those you know who may be struggling this holiday season…lift them up in the silence of your heart in prayer…and take a moment in this time of quiet…to give thanks for the people in your life…who have brought so much joy to your heart…
Closing Prayer/HYMN 56: December 17
2 O come, thou Wisdom from on high, who orderest all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel
**Image - Inspirivity/Jennifer Wagner