For the Third Sunday of Advent…
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love …
Zephaniah 3:14,17
Zephaniah primarily preached about the coming judgment of God, warning Israel against their spiritual laxity. Yet his message pivots toward joy—as he celebrates the restoration of Israel and the prophecy of the coming Messiah.
Six centuries later brings the coming of Christ in the Virgin’s womb. What is fantastic about this is not only this fulfillment of the promise of God to save his people, but that God himself will come to do so, in human flesh.
Fast forward again to the present day: We are to rejoice! God rejoices over us! A vivid memory of my daughter’s wedding is one where my husband and she enjoyed the traditional father-daughter dance. But what moved me, more than the dancing, was his singing the words of the song to her—literally singing over her—rejoicing over her! I have the same sense here in Zephaniah’s words. The Lord loves us, as if to sing over us, to rejoice and bless us.
Read the psalm and the epistle this Sunday: they also pick up Zephaniah’s theme of joy very well.
The rose candle on the Advent Wreath is lit in anticipation of the joy that lies ahead at Christmas. It not only reminds us of the first Nativity, but hints of the joy of Jesus’ Second Coming, and perhaps, most poignantly, at the coming of the Lord in our midst, today.
Lord Jesus, on this Gaudete Sunday, renew us with your love. May we deeply come to know how you are rejoicing over us.
