Advent 3, Year A, Dec. 15, 2019 (full size gallery)
Moderate temperatures in the 50’s and plenty of sunshine were part of this Advent 3. In Christian Ed, we have been focusing on women’s roles in the Christmas stories. Today we studied the Annunciation story (Luke 1:26-38). It is all about how God came to Mary (and to us). Mary did not seek God but God sought Mary! The Christmas story is full of what we call impossibilities – a virgin conceives (Mary), God enters human history (Jesus), a woman well beyond child bearing years delivers a child (John). The angel’s parting words to Mary – “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
This Sunday we celebrated Cookie and Johnny’s 35th wedding anniversary. Cookie announced a sale on the ECW Christmas tree ornaments – only $5. The women’s quartet practiced “Sweeter Music” for Christmas Eve.
We had two instrumentalists. Helmut presented Mendelssohn’s “On Wings of Song” and the Choir “Advent Hymn” arr. P. Liebergen that featured Mary Peterman on flute. Some well known hymns on Sunday were sung including “Tell Out My Soul”, “Comfort, comfort ye my people” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.”
The 3rd Sunday in Advent is Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin meaning “rejoice”) which is taken from Philippians 4:4-5, the Entrance Antiphon of the day. We light the rose colored candle in addition to the other 2 violet ones. Purple is a penitential color of fasting while pink (rose) is the color of joy.
-Long ago the Pope would honor a citizen with a pink rose (or a rose) Priests then would wear pink vestments as a reminder of this coming joy.
-Rose is also used during Laetare Sunday (the fourth Sunday of lent) to symbolize a similar expectation of the coming joy of Christ’s coming in Easter.
The third Sunday of Advent is rose (pink) because pink symbolizes joy, the joy that Jesus is almost here.
There is joy in the sermon. It used one of James Herriot’s Animal Stories about Blossom the cow who finds her own way home from being taken to market. “As the drover leaves, Mr. Dakins says to Herriot, “Do you ever feel like some things just happen like they’re supposed to?
The promise in today’s passage from Isaiah comes true in this simple story about a farmer and his old cow– “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing: everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Things have come round right. Blossom is home, back from certain death, and the farmer has redeemed her (I’ll pay you for your time, Jack), and now everyone is happy.
In the readings there is a continuation of hope from Advent 2 but there is more concentration of what Jesus will do and to clarify the role of Jesus and John. There is an awareness that what Isaiah proposed may be a long time coming. Isaiah talks about a new Jerusalem and being open for returning exiles from the Babylonian captivity 500+ years before Christ.
Matthew gets more specific. Echoing Isaiah, he points out that the blind, the deaf, the lame and the lepers are being healed and good news is given to the poor. Anyone can claim to be a herald of the kingdom, but only in the presence of the Messiah will the true signs of the Kingdom be evident. These are not mere claims, but incontrovertible proof. Jesus actions are his proof
Jesus says to John that not only are the aspirations of Israel fulfilled in him, but that there is a direct connection between the deeds of Isaiah and the words of Matt 5. Jesus is a words and deeds "Coming One." And the deeds, which John focused on in his question, are different from the deeds that John imagined.