Today the 3rd Sunday of Advent – is known as Gaudete Sunday – Gaudete is a Latin word meaning Rejoice or be joyful! and there is lots of rejoicing going on in our readings today – ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances’ says Paul to the Thessalonians – and Isaiah speaks of good news, liberty, comfort, and the oil of gladness.
It chimes in of course with our journey towards Christmas and the rising excitement as we come close to such a great festival and all that we look forward to.
In the church calendar – Gaudete Sunday in Advent, mirrors Laetare Sunday in Lent – both are known as Refreshment Sundays – being a time to relax a little from fasting and penitence ahead of the last stage of preparation before the great feasts of Christmas and Easter – and both have the liturgical colour rose – we should have rose pink vestments! – in Lent we celebrate Mothering Sunday and in Advent we light the rose candle on the wreath.
Both Laetare and Gaudete mean rejoice – and both come from the opening word of what would have been not an Introit or Processional Hymn, but something instead that was called an Antiphon was sung as each service began. In the Roman Catholic Mass, a special phrase of scripture was sung as a way of setting the theme for the service. Today our hymns do this for us, and also the spoken introductions that we use – such as ‘Now it is time for us to awake out of sleep’ –
On the third Sunday of Advent the Antiphon is taken from Paul’s letter to the Philippians ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.’ Or, as it was then translated in Latin in the medieval liturgy- Gaudete in Domino semper – ie Gaudete Sunday.
I guess we all know the Carol ‘Gaudete’ – remember the Steeleye Span and that too comes from medieval times and calls us to rejoice because Christ is born! Rejoice – the Lord is near.
But hold on you might say – in Advent, we are looking forward to the remembrance and celebration of that first Christmas, but we are not there yet! Advent, like Lent, is supposed to be a time of preparation – of reflection and penitence – as a way of getting ready for something so wonderful that we need time to step aside from our everyday business and busyness, to make the space to prepare our hearts and our homes. The Advent Prayer Leaflets that Becka has been preparing for us are to help us do just that, along with the Advent Books from Reg and no doubt many other ways in which you personally are marking out the season.
But all around us, the world is in full on Christmas already! Work lunches, office parties, Concerts and carols, Trees already shedding, twinkly lights fading and Secret Santa presents already unwrapped!
And it’s no surprise that everyone is ‘doing’ Christmas right now – because as someone told me yesterday, some stores are already stocking Easter Eggs!
Into all this comes the warning voices of the Prophets – Stop! Watch! Pay Attention!
and John the Baptist, who we remember especially today – is the foremost among the prophets – crying out in the wilderness – ‘make straight the way of the Lord!’
In his own time, John called a stop to the endless busyness – the non-stop partying and seeking after superficial pleasures – stop, repent, and prepare– he said, or rather, shouted!
But hold on again – this doesn’t sound much like the rejoicing we started off with! If Isaiah and Thessalonians are all about rejoicing and joy, then what on earth is John shouting about and why should we listen to him?
John is saying that we need to stop and listen, to step off the never ending roundabout of things that prevent us seeing what it is we are really seeking for – the one who comes with light, with love, with righteous judgement – the one who comes to save us.
And Paul is saying – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.
Our world does not give us much cause for rejoicing right now – war and suffering, and unrepentant leaders on all sides justifying being the cause of yet more death and destruction – a climate in crisis, and powerful vested interests watering down commitments to reduce the use of fossil fuels – health and social services under-resourced and over-stretched, so that more and more people are unable to receive the care and support they need –
No rejoicing here for sure….
But then St Paul’s world, and John the Baptist’s world had some of these same challenges and more besides.
And rejoicing or joy, is not about being happy or about an easy life – the joy that the prophets and saints speak of is something very different – something much deeper and much more wonderful.
In the midst of their own struggles and shared problems in their day, they look to the light and to the goodness of God – tried, tested, proven through all ages. The one who calls you is faithful, says Paul to the Thessalonians, and he will do this – he will protect and save his people.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things – prepare the way of the Lord – look then for where God is at work, look for the signs of hope, hold fast to what is good – pay attention to the blessings, small as they may sometimes seem. Deliberately and intentionally give thanks – for a grateful heart can put a smile on our faces and change the world!
In difficult times, how we prepare ourselves in these days of Advent, how we behave towards one another, how we abstain from evil and seek to do good – how we do what it is that God has called and equipped us to do, and leaving the rest to God in faith and trust and hope, these are the ways that, like John the Baptist, we prepare the way of the Lord here and now.
Service: Reverend Michelle Dalliston. 17th December 2023. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)
Readings: Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-end; Psalm 126; 1 Thessalonians 5.16-24; John 1.6-8, 19-28