Advent Lutheran Church

"True Joy (Advent 3 Midweek)"

Grace and peace to you from God the Creator and the Lord Jesus.  Amen.

                This past Sunday, the Third Sunday in Advent, is sometimes called Gaudete Sunday, “gaudete” being the Latin word for joy, or rejoicing.  Christmas, the Incarnation, is a little over a week away and we can almost see it from here, almost touch it.  And that brings joy!

The passage from Isaiah is the absolute picture of rejoicing.  The setting is the desert wilderness, a place that is barren, stark, parched, desperate; a place where all forms of life – human, plant and animal – struggle just to hold on.  And it is here, Isaiah says, in this place of no observable life, where life and liveliness will become abundant when God comes to rescue God’s people.

Here’s how Isaiah describes what it will be like: “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.  For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sands shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. … A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; … it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.”

OK, let’s hit the “pause” button and think about this for a minute.  Not even fools will go astray?  We’re fine up to that point, but fools will included on this road, the so-called “Holy Way?”  The first people who heard or read this story, thousands and thousands of years ago, would have stopped at the that word “fools,” because they would have understood that the word “fool” had a very specific definition.  It means “one who despises wisdom, one who is quarrelsome, one who is immoral.”  They’re going to be on this “holy way” with us?

We’re not trying to be prideful, but we don’t despise wisdom, we seek it; we don’t go around trying to pick fights; we’re not immoral – we have our moments, but we don’t intentionally lead immoral lives.  So what is God getting act here? 

OK, let’s hit “play” and continue.  We might think of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Remember the story that Jesus told about the kid who told his dad to drop dead because he wanted his share of the inheritance NOW! so he could go and live on his own and experience life on his own terms and he went off and lived like a knucklehead until everything was spent and it was then that he finally slapped his forehead and said, “I’ve got to go back and throw myself on my old man’s mercy and ask to be treated like a hired hand.  I’m fine with being on the bottom of the Totem pole.”  And he went, and you know what happened – his father threw his arms around him and loved him and said, “We’re going to throw a party like you’ve never seen!”

Meanwhile, the kid’s older brother is out in the fields, working, as usual.  He hears all the commotion and finds out what it’s all about.  He confronts his father and says, “Look, this is wrong.  I just want what’s mine, I just want what’s right; a little regard, a little respect; I didn’t go off and waste everything I’ve got, I didn’t go off and waste everything you’ve got; I played by the rules, did what I was supposed to do and now I get the short end of the stick.  This just isn’t right!  I just want what’s mine by rights!  I just want what I deserve!”

I occasionally talk with people about difficulties they’re having, whether it’s medical or family or other life issues, and the underlying issue tends to be that life is not fair.  They say, “It’s just not right!  I did what I was supposed to do, I didn’t submerge myself in crazy living, but things aren’t turning out in my favor.  I just want what’s right, I just want what I deserve!”

And I want to say, “No, trust me; when it comes to God, you’re just like me and everybody else I know: the last thing you want it what you deserve; what you want is what you need, and what you need is grace.”

And if we can accept that idea, that fact, that what we need most is grace, then we can begin to experience true joy.  Because if we can realize that what we need is grace, we can realize that that grace is needed most by others as well, including fools.  When we kneel in humility before this Christ child who is coming into the world, we not only experience joy ourselves; we also bring joy to heart of God.  Amen.